Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee

"Ode to Oddworld"

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee is an Action\Platform developed by Oddworld Inhabitants. There are many games that I truly love, I've been a gamer for almost all my life you know… but to say the truth there are only a few games that actually reflect the love and devotion of their respective developing teams. Blizzard is one of the few companies that truly loves its products, (at least until now), Id Soft and some designers like Hideo Kojima and Shigeru Miuamoto are some other that pop into my mind but there is simply no other team with the dedication of the people behind the Oddworld franchise. Oddworld Inhabitants haven't made some games… they've made a whole world!!! A world with unique species and regions, its own special mythology\background and not only that but they've made great games to show that world to us. This game is our first trip into Oddworld and by far one of the best of the franchise!

Story: 8/10
Presentation: 7.5/10

You are Abe one of the many Mudokon slaves working at the Rupture Farms the biggest meat house in Oddworld. While doing your work, waxing the floor around the place where the Big Boss of the place is making a meeting about a new delicacy. Extremely curious as you are, you try to eavesdrop a bit, just to find out that the new delicacy is… you and the rest of your race!!! So you run away with one though on your mind too save our odd ass and everyone you can along the way.

The plot is good. It's not a masterpiece but it is good, especially for a heavily gameplay oriented game. Also the presentation helps a lot and makes you feel part of it first with its great cinematics and secondly with the overall game design.

Gameplay: 9.2/10
Replay Value: 8.4/10

Abe's Oddysee is a Platform game but not the typical cute and fluffy Kirby, Mario, Sonic, etc. You won't run around jumping like crazy and stomping on enemies like a super hero, in fact this time you control the weakest character of all time. Your mission is first of all to stay alive and secondly to save as many fellow Mudokons you can. You do so by guiding them via commands like, “Follow me!” or “Wait!” and leading them near portals you can use to help them escape. There are 99 Mudokons in the game and you must save most of them to see the good ending, but be warned that the game will give you hell and in your first playthrough there is a high probability that you will see the bad ending!

How hard is the game? Very! The controls won't give you any problems since they are absolutely flawless and quite realistic. Abe walks, runs, sneaks past enemies, hoists, rolls like a ball, jumps, hides in the shadows and many, many more… Now what makes the game hard is the fact that you must think before you act and have excellent precision and timing… not to mention a great deal of patience. You have to avoid traps or carefully time your commands toward the Mudokons so that they won't fall into the traps themselves, run from strange beasts and other enemies, disable bombs or make enemies fall on them, use whistles and… farts in some small puzzles and other great and innovative stuff. The think that makes Abe's Oddysse even better though is the ability of Abe to chant and possess the body of a guard. After possessing somebody you can use him to kill other guards, or command a dog-like creature to attack enemies for you!

Generally the game is very fun and innovative but there are 2 problems, one small and one big… very big! First of all the game relies too much in a trial and error. Way too much! There are many occasions where you can't observe the scene and predict what will happen, like for example when you're being chased and don't know what trap will be set off or if an enemy is on the other side. This results in a lot of experimentation and numerous retries just in order to complete a tiny part of the game… and these retries make the game look longer than it is, although it is a very small one. The second and biggest problem is the fact that you can only save in checkpoints. Believe me in that game that isn't a laughing matter! You've wasted ten minutes to save 5 Mudokons there, 3 over there, avoided the enemies, disabled bombs and many more only to die near the end by a hard to avoid enemy\trap and had to start all over again, AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

Graphics: 9/10
Design: 10/10

Oddworld is odd! It is unique, unlike anything else you've ever seen in a game\comic\movie\whatever… but in a way it feels so… real! I love the dedication of the developing team in creating a whole universe and not only that but it looks bloody good! Abe's Oddysee is a 2D game but it looks extremely good, far better than many of the 3D games of the Playstation and by far the best looking 2D game in the 32-Bit era along with its sequel. Everything in the game, from sprites to backgrounds are pre-rendered 3D models and scenes and they are top quality.

First of all the level design is flawless and not like some other games where you feel that everything looks the same. You'll fight your way through a mean looking meat factory that actually looks “used” with the various rusty machines, scattered blood and the distant piles of canned meat! You'll wonder outside the factory in a great starry night, trying to escape from motion sensors and strange flying Bots, find refuge in the wild, on an extremely tall misty forest, delve through dark and mysterious temples and many more that all are absolutely magnificent and very detailed!!!

The various characters are even better than the levels. There are only a few enemies in the game but all look fantastic, have very good, if not perfect animation and their design is like no other creature you've ever seen. Forget about the typical animals, mobsters and things like that you've seen 1000 times in Videogames, here enemies are strange alien beings like for example the Paramites, a strange creature that has long fingers for feet and small ones where its mouth should be, big scary “horses” with giant jaws and four sharp feet that are connected to a strange human-like torso and many, many more. Of course the protagonist of such a game couldn't be an exception to the overall oddness of the game since he is a weird, ugly but very cute wimpy being that has a life of his own with its perfect animation.

Oddworld is a vast and extremely diverse world, highly detailed and with an excellent and innovative art direction. The game apart from its great design has very good special effects, like distortion effects, explosions, lighting and many, many more. Simply Perfect!!!

Sound: 10/10
Music: 7.7/10

Perfect even in the sound section, Abe's Oddysse sounds good and for a lot of reasons. First of all like with everything in the game, sound effects and music in this game are quite original and not the usual sounds we'd have in any other platform game. First of all talking in this game is very important, not that you will fully converse with someone… it is just, “hello, follow me, wait!” and things like that but they sound very good and very funny in some occasions, like for example when you fart the other characters laugh in a hilarious way and the same goes for the main enemy of the game who is equally funny. Generally Oddworld bursts with life, with the various beasts growling and screaming, great ambient sounds that inform you about you surroundings but also sound great.

The music tunes of Oddworld consist of great atmospheric ambient themes that fit like a glove to each area and various more “specialized” music that starts playing when you're being chased or something like that and creates an almost cinematic feeling!

Positives:
-Fun, challenging and innovative
-The ability to control enemies and command allies
-Very good controls
-Few but excellent enemies with very good and realistic AI
-Excellent art direction, unique and bursting with atmosphere
-Great work in the sound\music department

Negatives:
-You can only save in checkpoints making the game even harder!
-A trial & error marathon
-A bit small

Also Play:
Heart Of Darkness (Playstation, PC)
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee (Xbox, PC)
Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus (Playstation, PC)

Overall: 8.7/10

I consider Abe's Oddysee one of the best games of all time even though I haven't given it a 10/10. Despite its 2 main, (and only), flaws it is a great and very challenging game, not like anything else in the gaming industry, so I highly recommend it!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/14/09

Game Release: Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee (EU, September 1997)