Enslaved: Odyssey to the West – Pigsy's Perfect 10

Sometimes it's better to avoid enemies entirely, taking advantage of Pigsy's devices, his green vision filter to observe movement patterns and the bounteous environmental cover to scamper through areas undetected.

Each chapter is split into large rooms, courtyards and clearings where you follow this formula –sneaking or jimmying your way into positions suitable to engage until you reach the right door, grapple point or lever to continue. It's not all stealth and shooting thanks to some energetic cameos, including a welcome spin on the traditional platform chase sequence.

With Andy Serkis' Monkey and Lindsey Shaw's Trip yet to descend on Pigsyland, actor Richard Ridings is left to carry the story. However, it's Truffles who really makes the game.

Flapping his little wings furiously as he beams or frets, he also acts as a beacon to light the way forward, and as an audience for Pigsy's endearing observations about the world around him. The final few sections of their adventure drag on somewhat but Pigsy and Truffles are welcome companions.

Pigsy's Perfect 10 is less fun to play than it is to watch, though, and to a greater extent than its host game. Controlling your charge still feels woolly and imprecise, which is more of an issue now the onus is on stealth. After a few soft introductory encounters it becomes rare to make it through any room in the game without dying several times and having to stare at the loading screen.

Pigsy's gadgets should allow him to manoeuvre through this world elegantly but in practice this is not the case. Scoring the requisite headshots while your devices are active is fiddly, they don't always have the desired effect anyway and enemies are frustratingly good at spotting you.

There are a lot of enemies, too. Towards the end of the game the developers spam you with adversaries through convenient doorway dispensers and respawn points. By that stage, when you're not dying repeatedly you are often crouched in a corner somewhere staring at the icons for each gadget, waiting for them to recharge for another use and hoping it will happen in time.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West was able to sustain itself through some low points and filler content thanks to its beautifully arranged platform sequences – the bridge or the windmill, for instance. It was also saved by the fact progress was consistent, requiring only a light touch and a few moments' consideration to maintain.

Pigsy's Perfect 10 is fairly long and well-rounded for a downloadable add-on, but by the time the credits roll you will be glad to see the back of it. Its redeeming features are those it shares with Odyssey to the West – a sweet and nicely told story, an essential humanity. However, their redemptive powers are outdone by anachronistic trial-and-error gameplay, which grinds its gears and snaps your patience once too often.