This was written for another website around valentines day, enjoy!
What better way to spend another card-less, bitter Valentine?s Day than to sit down with the most sour humoured and twisted series of the past century? Ah yes, love is in the air, along with the flesh of a thousand dead Mudokons. What, you don?t know what a Mudokon is? Sit down, dear child, and I?ll tell ye a story...
Oddworld: Abe?s Oddysee (and that is spelt correctly, by the way, it?s ?odd?ysee, get it!?) is set inside Lorne Lanning?s mind. Well, no, that?s not true; it?s set in Oddworld, a place where industrial giants destroy the land and enslave the hapless race of Mudokons to push up profit margins. Sound familiar? Well that?s where the normal ideas end because Mudokons are green little alien dudes who have sewn lips and can possess certain animals (if given enough time to do their little chant) and the Industrialists are Glukkons, tall, armless cigar smokers who all wear smart sleeveless shirts and have glowing red eyes. See, I told you this game was weird!
Well, anyway, the plot. Abe is waxing the floor of the giant meat plant Rupture Farms one evening when he listens in on a board meeting being held by the meanest, most ruthless Glukkon, Molluck. To his surprise, he discovers that profits are down because of the steadily declining wildlife (they even declare one race extinct in the first minute in!) and the shareholders are going nuts. Molluck remains calm though, and explains his sinister plan. He?s going to turn Abe and all of his pal into delicious meat pies! Scared, and spotted, Abe starts to try and escape Rupture Farms, but he can?t just save his own hide; there are 99 Mudokons who all need a saviour too! You just know this is going to be tough...
Tough is probably the best word to describe Abe?s Oddysee. The game is a 2d platformer (one of the last on a home console I believe) and it really is... well, tough. It?s very similar to Prince of Persia (the original) with its arched jumps, learn the animations and duck and roll style of gameplay, but the difference here is that Abe has no attacks of his own, and is in fact, completely unarmed. This means you have to rely on stealth, move in the shadows, and when given the rare opportunity, possess a Slig guard. (Sligs are yellow, slug like creatures given mechanical legs by the Glukkons to guard their halls. Armed with a machine gun, these guys are your worst nightmare.)
The game has a more puzzle type feel to it, being based on learning the outlays of certain areas and mastering the timing on certain encounters. It?s all very reaction based, and you have to get good fast because the puzzles have a ridiculously hard learning curve. You are going to die, a lot, and rescuing Mudokons makes the game even harder, because it means you can?t just run past guards and get lucky - all your mates will become lead pumped corpses if you dare. The rescuing itself is not only hard, but it requires the use of communication between Abe and his chums by using Gamespeak, a great little mechanic that lets you talk to your pals and issue instructions. It can also be your downfall, because asking a Mudokon to follow you in front of a Slig usually results in a multi kill.
Now this is all very well and good, but is the game a looker? Well, yes. Yes it is. I?m not much of a graphics whore but my oh my, this game is a stunner. The world is so well realised and the designer of the characters is spot on. The art direction is amazing and it sucks you from the start with its gritty industrial hell, as well as its broody temples and wastelands later on. Oddworld is a horrible place to live, and Lorne and his development team aren?t going to let you forget it. This is complimented by sinister, atmospheric music pieces that build so much tension it?s hard not to break a sweat at times. The actual in-game graphics are fully 3d sprites and they all just melt into the beautifully rendered backgrounds. The FMV sequences are better than that of Pixar and most modern games, and this was for the PS1! Nothing has made me drop my jaw in astonishment since I saw the graphics for Abe?s Oddysee, and I doubt anything ever will.
So in conclusion, is Abe?s Oddysee a good game? No. It?s an amazing game, and was only topped by its sequel, Abe?s Exoddus. The tough but rewarding gameplay coupled with the most amazing story telling and beautiful environments make this a landmark in games. Go and get this game, by buying, begging or burglary, just find a way to play this wonderful piece of gaming. Actually screw gaming, art.
Score: 9
Just buy the damn thing...
And you can buy this game off Steam for about £5 including the basically better sequel, I did.
What better way to spend another card-less, bitter Valentine?s Day than to sit down with the most sour humoured and twisted series of the past century? Ah yes, love is in the air, along with the flesh of a thousand dead Mudokons. What, you don?t know what a Mudokon is? Sit down, dear child, and I?ll tell ye a story...
Oddworld: Abe?s Oddysee (and that is spelt correctly, by the way, it?s ?odd?ysee, get it!?) is set inside Lorne Lanning?s mind. Well, no, that?s not true; it?s set in Oddworld, a place where industrial giants destroy the land and enslave the hapless race of Mudokons to push up profit margins. Sound familiar? Well that?s where the normal ideas end because Mudokons are green little alien dudes who have sewn lips and can possess certain animals (if given enough time to do their little chant) and the Industrialists are Glukkons, tall, armless cigar smokers who all wear smart sleeveless shirts and have glowing red eyes. See, I told you this game was weird!
Well, anyway, the plot. Abe is waxing the floor of the giant meat plant Rupture Farms one evening when he listens in on a board meeting being held by the meanest, most ruthless Glukkon, Molluck. To his surprise, he discovers that profits are down because of the steadily declining wildlife (they even declare one race extinct in the first minute in!) and the shareholders are going nuts. Molluck remains calm though, and explains his sinister plan. He?s going to turn Abe and all of his pal into delicious meat pies! Scared, and spotted, Abe starts to try and escape Rupture Farms, but he can?t just save his own hide; there are 99 Mudokons who all need a saviour too! You just know this is going to be tough...
Tough is probably the best word to describe Abe?s Oddysee. The game is a 2d platformer (one of the last on a home console I believe) and it really is... well, tough. It?s very similar to Prince of Persia (the original) with its arched jumps, learn the animations and duck and roll style of gameplay, but the difference here is that Abe has no attacks of his own, and is in fact, completely unarmed. This means you have to rely on stealth, move in the shadows, and when given the rare opportunity, possess a Slig guard. (Sligs are yellow, slug like creatures given mechanical legs by the Glukkons to guard their halls. Armed with a machine gun, these guys are your worst nightmare.)
The game has a more puzzle type feel to it, being based on learning the outlays of certain areas and mastering the timing on certain encounters. It?s all very reaction based, and you have to get good fast because the puzzles have a ridiculously hard learning curve. You are going to die, a lot, and rescuing Mudokons makes the game even harder, because it means you can?t just run past guards and get lucky - all your mates will become lead pumped corpses if you dare. The rescuing itself is not only hard, but it requires the use of communication between Abe and his chums by using Gamespeak, a great little mechanic that lets you talk to your pals and issue instructions. It can also be your downfall, because asking a Mudokon to follow you in front of a Slig usually results in a multi kill.
Now this is all very well and good, but is the game a looker? Well, yes. Yes it is. I?m not much of a graphics whore but my oh my, this game is a stunner. The world is so well realised and the designer of the characters is spot on. The art direction is amazing and it sucks you from the start with its gritty industrial hell, as well as its broody temples and wastelands later on. Oddworld is a horrible place to live, and Lorne and his development team aren?t going to let you forget it. This is complimented by sinister, atmospheric music pieces that build so much tension it?s hard not to break a sweat at times. The actual in-game graphics are fully 3d sprites and they all just melt into the beautifully rendered backgrounds. The FMV sequences are better than that of Pixar and most modern games, and this was for the PS1! Nothing has made me drop my jaw in astonishment since I saw the graphics for Abe?s Oddysee, and I doubt anything ever will.
So in conclusion, is Abe?s Oddysee a good game? No. It?s an amazing game, and was only topped by its sequel, Abe?s Exoddus. The tough but rewarding gameplay coupled with the most amazing story telling and beautiful environments make this a landmark in games. Go and get this game, by buying, begging or burglary, just find a way to play this wonderful piece of gaming. Actually screw gaming, art.
Score: 9
Just buy the damn thing...
And you can buy this game off Steam for about £5 including the basically better sequel, I did.
