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Oddworld was the first game I played on the Xbox. I was standing in a Target, trying out the demo of the system prior to launch. Although I only got a taste of one level, there was something intriguing about the teamwork between Abe and Munch. Ever since that moment, the desire to play deeper into the game floated in the back of my mind, but it was never quite enough reason on its own to make me buy an Xbox. Two years later, finally motivated to buy the Xbox by other games, I got my chance.
Unfortunately, the gameplay did not progress very far from the demo, featuring a similar style in every level. At its core, the main gameplay hook is that you play as Abe, who is more mobile, commands fellow Mudokons and can take control of enemies, or you can switch to Munch who has sonar powers, commands Fuzzles and can use remote control booths to control various machines.
Many of the tasks before you will involve rescuing Mudokons and Fuzzles before guiding them through some sort of obstacle course en route to the release point. The more you save, the higher your Quarma, and the better the ending you receive. I don’t know about you, but a better ending feels to me like a pretty flimsy reason to strive for more than just the minimum result. Other goals come as a result of collecting hundreds of SpooceShrubs that are turned in to open doors or accomplish other mundane tasks. Considering the fact that Abe can regrow them at will, it is as plain a collection task as you’ll find in any game.
These puzzles are somewhat interesting, but partly due to your characters’ ability to be regenerated, it is not much of a challenge. Instead, it just takes time and a lot of patience at points rather than creative thinking or manual dexterity.
Perhaps it is a good thing that the tasks don’t involve great manual dexterity, because the controls are sloppy, loose, and would look even worse if they were put to an active test. In one of the dumbest decisions in gaming I’ve witnessed recently, the developers chose to assign camera controls to the d-pad rather than the right analog stick like EVERY OTHER PLATFORM GAME does. There is a standard layout for a reason: it works. By having the camera controls on the d-pad, you are forced to either let go of movement or action abilities completely to adjust the camera (although the center behind ability is assigned to the white button). The right analog click is assigned only to the somewhat rarely used attack. Why they couldn’t combine the attack and the camera controls on the right analog is beyond me. Camera issues aside, the movement controls prove too loose, making precise movement difficult. Fortunately, even though they are quite bad, the controls are utilized so passively that the problems prove only minor.
The production values are Oddworld’s one major strength. Standing out most of all is the brilliantly created original story of animal abuse by those at the top of the food chain. It is a very thinly veiled complaint against humans in general, and especially Americans, about abusing the resources of the world for their own greedy purposes. This story is told through stunning FMV and unusual voice acting that both fits and adds to the general tongue-in-cheek humor of the game. Within the game, the graphics and voicing are less impressive but still very capable.
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8
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8
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7
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5
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6
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6.3
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At around 20 hours, Oddworld is sufficiently long, but the quality issues that litter the game make playing it tiring rather than exciting. Since the game is being offered so cheaply at the present, it makes more sense to simply buy the game rather than rent it, but even at that, it is only questionably worth playing at all.
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