Developer: Oddworld Inhabitants
Platform: Sony PlayStation & PC
Release Year: 1997
Rowan's Rating: 8/10
This time we have a guest reviewer, Rowan Bettjeman, who has played this game recently and who I thought would have a more educated analysis of the game. Thanks Rowan for writing this up!
Basic Plot
On the alien planet of OddWorld, a humble if not endearingly stupid race of humanoids called Mudokon's have been enslaved by the evil Glokkon's. They are forced to work in the Rupture Farms meat packing factory, mindlessly scrubbing floors and pulling levers. You play the character of Abe who appears to be just another slave in the factory (Has slightly bluer skin tone than the others). However one day Abe stumbles upon the Glukkon management talking about how all the animals that they butcher for the works (Paramites and Scrabs) are running out and that they need to come up with a new way to keep profit margins up. They need something new to cut up, package and sell...You guessed it, the Mudokon's are next on the menu. With this discovery, Abe realizes that he must escape and save all the other Mudokons.
Gameplay
Originally for the PlayStation 1 console, this is a classic platform game. You have no weapons and must solve numerous puzzles and use quick reflexes to get past various areas. As you journey through the extensive world, you encounter many enemy such as Sligs, Slogs, Paramites, Scrabs and the evil Glukkon. As well as a zillion other ways to die (falling rocks, cliff edges, electricity, poison, spinning blades, etc). Each enemy is unique and has various strengths and weaknesses that need to be utilized to defeat them. Most of the time, success is obtained simply by finding a way to get past them unnoticed.
Along the journey there is the non compulsory option to save all your Mudokon brethren. This is done by speaking with them and using simple voice commands, beckoning them to follow you to nearby groups of circling birds. Abe can chant to turn the birds into a portal which sends the Mudokon slaves back home. Although it is optional to save the Mudokon slaves, it does alter the ending depending on how many you save. The Mudokon are also INCREDIBLY simple and stupid. So a big part of the challenge is guiding them past the dangers to the portal.
The game is broken up into three main chapters: Escaping Rupture Farms, The trials of the ancient Mudokons in the forest, and going back to Rupture Farms to shut it down. The art work of the different parts of the world make for a beautiful refreshing game play experience. Even though they firmly stick to the 2D platform style, there is a nice use of layers to the platform style. So you can be right up close and then walk through a door and be way in the distance on a background platform.
Positives
A very well rounded game. Well thought out challenges that go just to the brink of requiring a walk through. This keeps it challenging but not impossible. Great artwork. Really nice sound effects and music. The best platform game of its generation.
Negatives
Frustrating save points. There are some really challenging points that require getting a whole lot of individual obstacles achieved over a long period. If you fail at any point you start back as much as 5-10 minutes earlier. This can get mind bendingly frustrating at points, when you fail a challenge 20 times. Also the load menu is very confusing and it's very hard to locate where abouts you were up to last time you played. These days games automatically check in at the latest point in the game. However in the second game 'Abes Exodus' they added a quick save feature, which allows you to save at any exact moment. This made for a much better playing experience.
It's quite difficult to save enough Mudokons to get the 'Happy ending'. It doesn't pre-warn you exactly how many you need to save. As a 'lawful good' player type, I found this very heartbreaking when I genuinely tried to save as many Mudokons as I could, but still got the unhappy ending.
No comments:
Post a Comment