Oddworld Stranger's Wrath

"Oddworld Stranger's Wrath- Red Star Reviewed"

Oddworld just got a little stranger......or so I'm told. Lorne Lanning and company jump start the new year with the latest title in their collection, Oddworld Stranger's Wrath. This is the first game in a new series (outside of the Oddworld series featuring Fan Favs, Abe and Munch) and it's making some noise

Presentation
The game as a very simple, easy to use menu screens and quick loads. The overall art style mixes classic oddworld and the western vibe perfectly .

Graphics
The graphics in OWSW are just amazing. The CG cutscenes are brillianty done and the in game graphics are so good. I would just sit there with my controller in my hand thinking I was still in a rendered cutscene when in all actuallty I was in game and good move my character. It also uses the occasional cinematic camera angle when moving around towns but nothing during exploring/combat

Sound
The sound in the game is quite good. The score is a good mix of spaghetti western and cinematic. The sound design is exceptional with onspot effects for running and falling and overall the voices are cool (expecially the live ammo). My only complain audio wise is that during the in game cutscenes (not the rendered CG ones mind you) the bitrate quality is a little low which makes it hard to hear some times but other that the sound is good.

Gameplay
Stranger is all smoke and mirrors, it backs up the presentation with solid gameplay. It's a very unique combo of third person adventureing and first person combat. What sets the combat apart from most games is that you don't use guns, you use a double barrel crossbow which can you can load with two types of Live Ammo, animals with attitude. You have stingbees (machingun), chimpunks (attracts/distracts enemies), boombats (grenades), thudslugs (shotgun), Skunk Bombs (Makes enemys vomit), and many more. You have to find and kill ammo yourself which adds an interesting element to the gameplay. Once you subdue an enemy, by either killing or knocking out, you suck them up in your bag and then you trade them in for cash at the Bounty Store. On the adventure elements, there is the occacsional jumping puzzle and some cool running parts. Oddworld Stranger's Wrath really hits it out of the park with gameplay

Overall
This not only one of my favorite Xbox games, Oddworld Stranger's Wrath is one of my favorite games of all time. I highly recommend all Xbox owners to try this hilarious, action packed game. I'm going to give

Oddworld Stranger's Wrath a 9.5 out of 10

On The Positive Side
+ Great Gameplay
+ Awesome Audio and Graphics
+ Funny Game
+ Great Storyline

On The Negative Side
- Some of the audio in the In game cutscenes has low bitrate quality

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/28/05