Black Myth: Wukong is pure monkey business (Game Science)
Black Myth: Wukong is one of the biggest games of 2024 but if you’re after more Journey To The West inspired games, there is another option.
With its Soulslike combat and stunning graphics, Black Myth: Wukong has become one of the surprise hits of the year, selling over 20 million copies worldwide in its first month.
Created by Chinese developer Game Science, the action role-player is inspired by the classic Chinese novel Journey To The West, with the game’s lead character based on Sun Wukong from the book. (Older readers might know the story best from the Monkey TV show from the 70s.)
The game’s portrayal of Chinese mythology is a key reason why the game has been so successful in China, with the impressive visuals and elaborate boss battles attracting plenty of other players.
What should you play after Black Myth: Wukong?
If you’re craving more action games (loosely) based on the same source material, Enslaved: Odyssey To The West is an interesting choice. Originally released in 2010 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the action adventure gives the novel’s events a post-apocalyptic future spin, led by another Sun Wukong-inspired character named… Monkey.
Unlike Black Myth: Wukong, Enslaved is closer to an Uncharted style adventure game, where the combat is punctuated with dramatic set pieces and puzzles. It’s less intensive but, on a cinematic level, it was pretty advanced for the time.
Enslaved is an oddity, led by some surprising star power. Andy Serkis plays the lead, while writer-director Alex Garland, who is best known today for films like Ex Machina, Annihilation, and Civil War, helped co-write the game’s script.
Despite receiving positive reviews, Enslaved was a financial flop for developer Ninja Theory. The Cambridge-based studio was known for Heavenly Sword at the time, but it has since gone onto make DmC: Devil May Cry and the Hellblade series.
Where can I play Enslaved: Odyssey To The West?
If you don’t fancy digging out your PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, Enslaved: Odyssey To The West is available to buy on Steam for £14.99.
It’s not available on the PlayStation Store but the Xbox 360 version is backwards compatible on Xbox Series X/S, and available to buy from the Xbox store for £11.99.
Many other games have been inspired by Journey To The West too, between the Dragon Ball series, Saiyuki: Journey West for the original PlayStation, and deck-building roguelike Journey To The West.
There’s also a great boss battle in Bayonetta 3 based on it, with many Japanese games also featuring similar nods and references, even if they’re not adaptations of the story itself.
Enslaved: Odyssey To The West is a one-off oddity (Bandai Namco)
Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter.
To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.
For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.
MORE : Sony reveals PS5 Pro enhanced games at launch from Black Ops 6 to Dragon Age
MORE : PS5 Pro unboxing video leaks online thanks to German retailer
MORE : Insiders argue over Black Myth: Wukong PS5 exclusivity deal that probably doesn’t exist
Sign up to all the exclusive gaming content, latest releases before they’re seen on the site.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.