Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee

"Could there be a better sequal? I think not..."

Oddworld: Munch's Oddysse is the sequal to the game Oddworld: Abe's Exodus. Sure, the name might make you think this is just another junky Oddworld game that the developers through together to keep it going. Wrong. One of the debut games on X-Box, it takes full advantage of the systems true power in graphics and sound alike. I have never personally played the other Oddworld games, but I can honestly say this game has got to be the best one yet. To start, it is naturally a 3d roaming game. There is a new character to control, and his name is Munch (hence the title). Munch is the last remaining gabbit on Oddworld, while the rest of the gabbits have been hunted to extinction for their lungs and eggs. Gabbits are one-legged amphibious creatures that look oddly like frogs... are there ever any regular animals on Oddworld? Your goal as Munch is to eventually get steal the last can of gabbiar back, to keep gabbits from going extinct. Gabbiar is considered a delicacy, and is really gabbit eggs. Naturally though, it just isn't an Oddworld game without 'ol Abe. Abe needs to rescue a bunch of Mudakon (I think that's how you spell it) eggs that are in possession of the Vykkers. The Vykkers are a group of weird aliens that look like Homer Simpson, but are evil purple scientists with four arms. They are the new villains to the Oddworld series. The can of gabbiar is also in the possession of the Vykkers food division, and our two heroes must come together to save their unborn kin...

Story- I personally like the story, and the fact that new villains and a hero have been added. You go through most of the game as both of them, switching between them with the press of a button. I'm just still trying to figure out why there isn't multiplayer. I mean, there is two heroes and multiple controller slots. What were they thinking?

Graphics- Oh my, where should I start? The in-game graphics have obviously not been thrown together. The cut scenes, oh my oh my... They are beyond good, not to mention funny. There is the beginning movie that explains Munch's background, and when it shows him in the water it actually looks real with just a really REALLY nice animated creature. Add a s-video cable for 700 lines of resolution and you truly have the best possible graphics there are. Sure, there are a few flat surfaces here and there but the levels are huge with non-clashing colors. You can easily tell changes like the sky and water becoming blue unstead of green once you activate a storm circle (they are like these places where you need about 6 or so native Mudakons to chant for you, and it makes the environment healthy again), and every character is just flat out gorgeous with detail. The trees still have 2d branches, but show me a game that doesn't. They still look great, like everything else. No bugs, no yucky places. All colors seem so fitting, and I would just love to see such a great game like this go on PS2 or Gamecube. (BTW, I'm being sarcastic if you didn't know. There is no way it could go on another system and look so good.)

Controls- Unlike what I've heard from the other Oddworld games, controls are not the downpoint of this game. Due to the fact the game is kinda based on commanding other people, the gamespeak must be there. Oh, you have all those commands to say and such! Well, every button does have a command and multiple buttons have a tap or hold function, but the controls are very easy to get the hang of without getting confused. Only bad thing is you may accidentally hold unstead of tapping. Basically, you shouldn't be running into much trouble.

Sounds- Like all Oddworld games, the high point is of course the sounds. Abe's types of commands each have a variety of phrases, all wildlife can be heard, background voices are audible, and of course Abe's farting is always a laugh. I didn't really notice much music, except when there is like an action scene and this really annoying music plays. It's really annoying when it only plays for a few seconds... Gosh, I don't know anything really bad about the sounds. I honestly jumped every time I was slowly trying to walk around mines, and everything seemed so quiet until BOOM. Yeah, the explosions are pretty dang loud and startling.

Gameplay- Oooooo, this has to be the best part. The game is pretty much a good mix of puzzle, action and adventure. You are constantly having to command Mudakons and Fuzzles (little poopy looking gremlin things that Munch goes around saving, and they protect you in return) to do chores for you and save you in combat. You can also upgrade you Mudakon natives to bigger brutaler paler guys that go around bashing in sligs with a club. You can also upgrade (more like transform) those dudes into bluish guys with sprooce bows, which are pretty much machine guns. Oh, its cool to get like eight of them... Munch also gets to control machinery (he got a sonar thing planted in his head from the Vykkers, those cruel meanies) like big cranes and a robot thing called a snoozer. Abe can still possess enemies if he has enough sprooce, and there is nothing funner than commanding a big brother slig to blow away all the little ones:)...

Difficulty- This can get really hard, and really easy. The first 5 or so levels where you are always Munch or Abe by yourself get pretty boring, being there not a lot of true combat and no possessing. Later on you have to run for your life and pull a bunch of switches and open sprooce locks and blow away other enemies using enemies and stuff like that. Unfortunately, you cant always poses, and only Munch can swim in water... It really gets hard in this one level where I was forced to just plain forget about like eight guys because I just couldn't figure out some of the puzzles. (It might have been a bit easier if there wasn't like at least 5 of the most powerful dudes with machine guns patrolling the areas...) Many levels are easy but very tedious, taking true skills to not just through down your controller and start jumping on it. As stated before, other parts are very hard and tedious and also take skills to not go completely insane...

Replay- Yes, yes, not much in the way of here. I would gladly bow down to whoever beat this game and rescued everyone down to the last pooy gremlin their first time through. I'm currently trying to go through the game now and rescue everybody, but o boy that means a lot of Munch doing his own dirty work to not risk his little Fuzzles lifes... You really might not want to replay it, but there is many a movie to resee. You can earn the movies once you see it, and replay it whenever you want. Its always fun to see the movie where Munch gets his head cut open and sonar planted in, those Vykkers just don't get along...

The Industrial Side- Wait, there are sligs without Glukkons? Oh boy, wrong again buddy. About like a fourth of the game is bustin into Industrial factories and such to do some very ingenious plotting. The game, if you play it, has a pud Glukkon named Lulu in it. During the game you need to possess the Glukkon CEOs and such to donate all their moolah to Lulu's fund (a stupid donation vendo thing that Lulu made, cause he's a lazy bum) so he can become rich. Now this isn't for fun, and destroying the industrial factories and making evil companies go bankrupt is just a nice side affect. You have to see the end of the game to find out what the true motive ends up being...
Overall, the game is nicely crafted with basically no bad spots. Sure, the game could use a few touch ups here and there, but its dang worth your 50 moolah (that is the Oddworld monetary system... how creative...) Great ending, though I won't tell you what it is.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/25/01, Updated 11/25/01