Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee

"Odd is putting it mildly."

It’s too bad that so many game companies and game players today feel that the 2D platformer is passé, especially when a game like Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee proves what a fun and challenging genre it can still be when done right. Abe’s Oddysee is a double rarity on the Playstation--it’s a 2D game without gobs of polygons, and it is a game that actually requires quite a bit of intelligence and patience to get through. If you’re looking for a game with a high twitch factor and tons of action, you’d better look elsewhere.

First off, Abe’s Oddysee isn’t a typical 2D platformer from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. It more closely resembles games that originated on the PC such as Prince of Persia and Out of This World than Super Mario Bros. and other console mainstays. What this means is that you will spend more time solving puzzles and avoiding trouble than simply jumping from ledge to ledge smashing baddies. The developers, Oddworld Inhabitants, have graciously allowed the player infinite lives to get through the game, and, trust me, you’ll need all of them. The game is fairly difficult.

You start the game at a pretty serious disadvantage: unarmed, alone, and ugly. You control Abe, employee of the year at Rupture Farms, who has unwittingly discovered that he and his fellow Mudokons are going to be turned into tasty snack treats to try and help the company’s sagging profits. Your primary goals are to rescue the other Mudokon employees and bring down the top brass at Rupture Farms. And getting out alive wouldn’t hurt either.

The storyline for Abe’s Oddysee is pretty cool and the game’s FMV presents it very humorously. It’s nice to see a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously, even though the main plotline has some rather dire stuff in it. The graphical style never gets too dark or murky, even in the Rupture Farms plant (the Mudokon slave labor does an adequate job keeping it clean and presentable). In fact, the graphics are nothing short of extraordinary in the game, and not just in the FMVs. The backgrounds are often quite beautiful, and the characters are all quite detailed and well animated. Sure, Abe and the other Mudokons have faces only a mother could love, but they are still somehow enduring despite that. Maybe it’s out of pity that I felt that way, I dunno.

The great animation of the characters comes at a rather high price, unfortunately. As with Prince of Persia and its ilk, the control in Abe’s Oddysee is definitely an acquired taste. It is easily the worst aspect of the game. Don’t expect to just pick up this game and start cruising through it; it takes time to get adjusted to Abe’s moves and speed. Of course, if you’ve played any of those games with similar control problems, you’ll probably take to this game rather quickly. The game tries to help you get used to Abe’s moves as you progress through the game with signs that tell you what control motions to do for certain moves. This is a nice touch, though I found a few times that the in-game help came too late to help me in some situations.

Another rather annoying feature that should be pointed out is the lack of clearly defined save locations. While you can actually save anywhere in the game, if you haven’t reached a certain point in the level, not all of your progress will be recorded. In the more difficult areas of the game, this can lead to some brutal backtracking.

One of my favorite aspects of the game comes in the audio department. A large part of Abe’s arsenal is his Gamespeak, which is absolutely critical to progressing through Oddworld, so you should learn it well as quickly as you can. Abe can talk to other Mudokons (via certain controller button combinations) to help them escape and to get their help in certain situations. Abe’s vocabulary isn’t too complicated: a few words, whistles, and bodily noises, and they’re delivered in a funny munchkin voice. I must say that I really like Abe’s voice. Even after falling to his death for the umpteenth time, I couldn’t help but smile at Abe’s dying cry (am I that sadistic?). I also love Abe’s understated “Oops” that he utters as he’s being disintegrated by a force field. Great stuff. Abe’s most important Gamespeech is the chant, which serves multiple purposes, my favorite of which is to possess the gun-toting Sligs. I wish there were more games that let you take control of your enemies and have them do your dirty work for you.

The music in the game takes a backseat to the sound effects; I would describe it as atmospheric, with few discernable melodies. It’s there, but it’s not terribly noticeable. The tempo does pick up during tense situations such as chase scenes, but it’s mostly stuck in the background, neither memorable or distracting.

I think Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee is well worth picking up; it’s loaded with well-designed, challenging levels and plenty of originality. The replay value depends on whether or not you feel compelled to go back through and rescue all of the 99 Mudokons, plus there are a couple of different endings depending on how well you do in saving your people. The game will keep you busy for a while either way, though. Despite the control and saving problems, Abe’s Oddysee is a lot of fun.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/18/00, Updated 08/18/00