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Oddworld New 'n' Tasty

Playstation 4 Edition

            The literal inception of the Oddworld gaming saga begins with one of the most unique video gaming experiences of the Playstation’s original era: Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee. Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty is a ground up remake of the original Playstation game complete with updated graphics and additional features. The fourth game in the Oddworld saga, Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath, happens to be one of my top ten favorite video games of all time, and it’s certainly not easy landing a spot in such a bracket.

            The player starts off as member of the Mudokan species named Abe, who works at a meat processing facility known as Rupture Farms. Not only does Abe discover that he’s actually a slave, as opposed to a legitimate employee, but he also discovers that the head boss of Rupture Farms (Molluck the Glukkon) is on the verge of developing a new type meal using Mudokan meat. Completely petrified, Abe immediately decides to escape the facility, and in the process, free as many slaves as possible. With Molluck watching Abe on the surveillance camera, the intensity of the gameplay picks up right away.

             The poetic language Abe displays during cut scenes is equally as unique as the gameplay of New ‘n’ Tasty. The game has an element of puzzle solving, but interestingly enough, there’s equally an element of stealth. Since Abe doesn’t have a direct way of attacking enemies (until far later in the game), he either has to kill them using environmental methods, tricking them, or sneaking past them. This makes for some seriously intense gameplay, however, since it really does make you feel like an under-dog. One of the most notorious bad guys in the game is called a “Slig”, who’s a really nasty looking creature. Equipped with an assault rifle, a bad attitude and plenty of profanity: these “Sligs” can be so intimidating to sneak past that it will make you jump right out of your seat if you make a wrong move. The good news is that, in certain circumstances, Abe is able to completely take over these creatures with the use of a chanting feature. Upon taking control, you can use the Slig to kill other Sligs (and/or creatures), kill his own self, or open up access to certain areas that Abe wasn’t able to reach on his own.

          As Abe continues his journey, the player gets to see a wide range of different landscapes, and compared to the original game, the graphics look absolutely spectacular. Even outside of the confines of Rupture Farms, a main focus of the gameplay is finding and rescuing other Mudokan’s using various portals. Abe can speak to the Mudokan’s using the directional pad to issue various commands (called gamespeak), and he can also modify which commands are available by holding the L2 button.

          In addition to bloodthirsty Sligs, various traps, and environmental hazards, Abe ends up running into equally violent enemies throughout the game. None of these enemies can be taken control of like the Slig, however, so it’s generally required of the player to either solve a puzzle or find a way to sneak past the enemy. Some areas of the game also provide Abe with a mountable companion, named Elum, which can dramatically change the speed of the gameplay from a slow, stealth based approach to lightning fast platforming. These sections with Elum were a THRILL to play, since players are required to quickly make their way through obstacle course areas complete with traps, pitfalls, enemies and explosives.

             Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty is an OUTSTANDING upgrade compared to the original Playstation version. The updated graphics are gorgeous, and the world of Oddworld is a breed of its own. The game can (occasionally) become frustrating in areas requiring the player to tightly navigate troves of booby traps and enemies, and loose controls certainly don’t help the situation one bit. Aside from these minor grips, however, I’m still hoping that this remake of a truly unique Playstation title is an indication that Oddworld developers are interested in reviving this unique gaming franchise. With Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath being one of my top ten favorite video games of all time, I’d be ecstatic to discover the announcement of a Triple A Oddworld title in the making. After all, Oddworld is an incredibly unique gaming franchise that would make a welcome addition to current generation consoles, and that holds especially true with today’s over-abundance of violent video gaming titles.

Overall Rating

7.4/10

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