Soooooo I have finally gotten round to doing my first post of 2016 and I might as well start by wishing you all a happy new year.
And so my first post this year will be on a video game (one which I have been (and still am) playing!) from the good old days of 90s Playstation console gaming and the game in question is Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus.
So without my further mucking about let's give this un a look......
And yeah the usual applies, game PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!
STORY
So the story begins right after the events of the first game (Abe's Oddysee) where Abe returns to the mines of Oddworld with some friends who all drink a substance known as Soulstorm brew but they end up being sick from drinking too much of it. Abe however soon discovers that the brew is in fact made for his own race's bone, the Mudokons. From here Abe then decides to overload the boilers that power the mines and he escapes just in time before they explode. Abe soon encounters some Mudokon spirits who tell him he must shut down Soulstorm brewery which is cruelly exploiting the Mudokon slaves. The spirits then give Abe the power to heal his friends who had drunk too much brew, which Abe uses to heal them and from he embarks on his dangerous mission to try and rescue the Mudokon slaves at the brewery.
THOUGHTS
As a follow up to the very successful Abe's Oddysee, Abe's Exoddus is an excellent and highly entertaining sequel which expands on what made the first game alot of fun. It also sees a continuing storyline from the original game and it nicely expands on the world that we had seen in the previous game. As for the game's production it was actually completed in just 9 months which when you think about it is quite an achievement in itself and the director, Lorne Lanning said it was a "brutal" experience trying to get the game completed in that time. But I'm sure many people would have thought ultimately it was worth it.
GAMEPLAY
As for the gameplay its pretty much the same as the first game with not many great differences although Abe does have some new features and aspects to his gameplay such as his gamespeak which is greatly expanded from the previous game. And its here that Abe can like before communicate with his fellow Mudokons saying "Hi" "Follow me" or to say "Wait" to blind Mudokons for example to prevent them from blindly walking into say a grinder. As a new addition to the gamespeak this time around however Abe can say other things such as "stop it" to angry Mudokons who are "wired" to which he has to say "sorry" to them to calm them down and angry Mudokons can be dangerous as they could slap other Mudokons near them or activate traps by pulling levers. Abe can also encounter Mudokons who are depressed and he can also help them by saying "sorry" but if they witness other Mudokons being killed they will hit themselves on the head until they end up dead (so its up to Abe to preven that!).
Abe like he did in the previous game can also possess the game's primary henchmen, the sligs and make them do tasks such as activate levers, access other areas of the game that Abe can't, shoot other sligs or other enemies. The sligs can also give commands to their guard dogs, the slogs who are mindless and aggressive creatures that would kill Abe on sight. Abe can also even possess later on in the game, the Glukkons, the bosses of the factory workers (one of which is amusingly called Vice President Aslik!) and the sligs and they can give commands to the sligs to perform actions on their behalf (especially as the Glukkons walk on their arms and their feet are up against their head!). And Abe can also possess other creatures in the game such as the ones in the wildlife areas of the game, the paramites and the scrabs. The scrabs will attack Abe on sight but he can possess and use them to perform an attack on other scrabs nearby. The paramites however will only attack Abe in packs or if Abe ends up cornering one of them. The game also features another enemy, the lethal worm-like creatures, fleeches which can attack Abe with their large tongues and if they hit him enough they will swallow him whole.
As for Abe's movements he can carry out a number of moves such as running, jumping, rolling, walking, and crouching. Abe can also pick up various objects such as meat which he can use to distract the slogs or paramites or bombs which he can throw to destroy anti-chant security machines or indeed sligs, slogs or other lifeforms. And in addition to Abe's usual movements he can also perform one of the game's most amusing moves, which is to fart but not only that if he drinks some Soulstorm brew it makes his farts explosive and he can possess them to move around and explode over a specific target (either that or let it just go off itself in 5 seconds). Now that's what I call good gameplaying! ;-)
In terms of the game's practical aspects of saving, you can now save the game anywhere you like (unlike I believe the first one) and also make quick saves of your progress as well as making a full save. This certainly is something of a Godsend in the game given that it is filled with some pretty tough moments for the player to navigate through.
GRAPHICS, SOUND AND MUSIC
Getting onto the game's graphics well given the limitations of the 2D nature of them, they are actually pretty good for their time. The game is split into many screens which see Abe running from the start to the end of the screen before it moves onto the next one so it is purely 2D and almost side scrolling. The character models for their time are also quite good although by today's standards it is pretty basic but the detail of the environments around Abe are pretty impressive and the game has some excellent effects, such as gas, fire, explosions as well as lightning etc. So while the game is pretty dated looking today its still a fine visal presentation for a 2D game from the tail end of the 90s.
As for the game's sound its great and it features alot of amusing voice acting particularly from the sligs and one of whom acts as a newsreader for the factory and says intro lines such as "News you can't abuse!" or "News for your blues!". Abe as in the first game is voiced by the game's director, Lorne Lanning and he does a good job at doing it although it makes you wonder if he held his nose while doing Abe's voice as that's what his voice sounds like!
And lastly getting onto the game's music it features a fine score by Ellen Meijers which is very fitting to the game's fun yet at times sinister and dark tone and it is atmospheric, enjoyable and suspensful all at once. The score itself is pretty much mostly electronic but it does a fine job at fitting the world it is meant to convey (in that its all a bit odd anyway!).
FLAWS
As for the flaws......yessss Abe's Exoddus has some.
So to start off I will say that Abe's Exoddus's main flaw lies in its difficulty level, which is I have to say still pretty manageable but it is a game that will often leave you in a state of sheer frustration as there are several parts of the game you will need to repeat time and time again! This is particularly notable in the sequence where Abe is about to exit the paramite lair and he has to perform a series of timed moves or else he is dead and let me tell I had to redo that section probably at least 50 times! And I think its safe to say there are certain parts of the game that are easier than others and that is notable even later on in the game where you expect the game's difficulty level to be a bit more consistent.
Another issue I have with the game is in Abe's movements in that there are times where he moves fast but at times not quite fast enought to escape enemies such as the scrabs or slogs which appear to to move like lightning and kill Abe before he has a chance to flee. This is particularly annoying when Abe has to perform a running slide jump down below and hit his head which knocks him down which slows his progress, which when being chased by his enemies will surely see him end up a dead yin.
I also think that while the game's main incentive to save as many Mudokons as possible (and there are 300 in total) is its primary objective it leaves you hunting high and low for some of the Mudokons in very secret areas, which can be pretty tough to find! And it often takes you to look at Youtube walkthroughs to find out just where all the Mudokons are located and it sure isn't an easy thing to get them all. This is also of course another area where the game itself can be very difficult in that the game's secret areas feature some pretty tough traps and moments for Abe to navigate before he can save his pals.
And lastly I think this game has to have some of the most infuriating enemies in it aswell particularly the slogs, paramites, scrabs and fleeches all of which are too quick in killing Abe. And when they do kill him off you often find yourself shouting at the screen in wanting to kill them off instead lol! And while sure there are more frustrating games out there OAE's enemies are surely among the most annoying out there.
Anyways that its for the flaws.
SUM UP
So in summing up Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus is a highly enjoyable game which is alot of fun and certainly will provide you with plenty of hours of gameplay as it is quite a long game with plenty of puzzles and action and it expands on the original very well by being at least twice as big. The game however is also pretty tough and its difficulty level is one area that might put some players off it but if you persevere with Exoddus then you will eventually get there and find it that bit more rewarding once you eventually do!
Right so that's it for now and I'll be back another time with my 2nd post of 2016.
Till next time, have a good one!
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