Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee - Review
Oddworld is a series of games that break expectations with each release, the first were hardcore platformers, in the vein of the original Prince of Persia and we have also had Stranger’s Wrath, an FPS with a difference, but between the two of them is Munch and his oddysee. The question remains, is his journey worth taking, or is this too odd for you?
The story of Munch’s Oddysee is actually two parts, the tale of the titular Munch and our believed Mudokon, Abe, star of the original games. With two different heroes, the gameplay is twice as diverse as the games that came before it, but it also is the first game that enter the 3d space, which also granted it some new options. The story is that of Abe, attempting to complete a mission provided to him by the Almighty Raisin, an ancient oracular, that mission is to locate and help Munch. The titular character starts out the game held against his will, by Vykkers, a race of creatures that test on other creatures, under the orders of yet more creatures, in this case the Glukkons, who have harvested Munch’s species to extinction, well except for Munch, but they plan on using his lungs in order to save the Glukkon Queen, Lady Margaret. The story makes little sense, but it has enough charm to cover up for the number of creatures that all tend to want to kill others, the gameplay is where things are fun.
For those that played the previous games, Abe’s abilities are mostly the same, he can interact with other Mudokons in the world, getting them to help solve puzzles and such, and he can still posses enemies to have them do this bidding. Things are a little different now though as previously Abe had to be near someone in order to possess them, now though, when you chant, the longer you chant the large a ball of energy is created. Once you have the ball the size you want, you can steer it around the world, taking control of anyone that you choose, including some new folks that were almost instant death before. The catch with this new power is that in order to use it, you have to collect spooceshrubs, these green mushroom looking things that lie all around the place, but they are also used to power up doors and such, so you have to balance the use. Thankfully, Abe can chant next to one, causing it to regrow, which is helpful, as Munch also needs them, but can’t grow them himself.
Speaking of the little amphibian, his skills are somewhat similar, with two very major differences, one he can swim, throw Abe in some water and he dies. The second ability is that he can interact with things like the grabber, giant cranes that are littered around the world, these can be used to pick up explosive barrels, enemies and even Abe. While Abe will save Mudokons, Munch uses this unexpectedly obtained cerebral implant, to help free the Fuzzles, one of the ammo types from Strangers Wrath. These little guys can be used in combat, allow Munch to take down Sligs and other enemies that block your way forward, but Munch is not as helpless in a fight as Abe, as long as you down some mysterious elixirs. Dotted around the world are vending machines that can provide speed boosts, enhancements to Munch’s shocking ability and more, these abilities, whilst temporary, do help you out.
The rest of the gameplay is broken up by puzzles, they are not terribly hard puzzles, but they do insert a little variety into the mix, the problem is, they don’t offer enough of it on their own. By the time you have solved your 3rd puzzle, you have seen all the basic types and they just repeat them from that point on and while I can understand it, a little more difference between some of them would have been very welcome. The other issue I had with the gameplay was the controls, they are way to complicated, which can lead to many a frustrating moments, now they are complicated in their use, just their functions. Most of the face buttons have different actions, depending on your character state, standing still, or moving, or if you press or hold them and the difference between a press and a hold is microscopic. There were times when I wanted to tell the folks following me to stop, but instead I would fart, or when I would try to run, I would fart, and while that was funny a few times, after a while it wore itself out. But there were also times when I would want them to attack enemies, but I didn’t hold the button down long enough, which meant that I instead told them to get to work.
Of course, the game has been around for a while, but this is just the latest version of it to hit and as a HD version, there are some genuinely nice elements to the presentation and some not so nice parts. For the most part, the game does look solid, textures are clear, character models are detailed, and the world is not full of fog, the problem is though that the world was not meant to be this clear. There are sharp edges everywhere, because when the textures were created, they were blurry, now they have been cleaned up, the geometry of the world shows a lot of hard lines around the place and while in man-made structures, it is possible to accept it as part of the build, outdoors, it is not. The other issue I had with the presentation was the audio balance, characters are way to loud and the sound effects are even worse, in most levels you can hear enemies, long before you see them, but that matters not if you have any Mudokons chanting as that will drown out all other noises and for some reason, you need to move a considerable distance away, in order to tune them out.
Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee is a fine game, it has plenty of charm and uniqueness that, even though it is an older game, still finds a place in the world today. The problems it has come in two parts, one is the original game design is pretty boring, with the reliance on puzzles that fail to puzzle, and the presentation is not as clean as it needs to be, with sharp lines and odd audio levels. By a large margin, the biggest problem are the controls, with multiple functions, being attached to the one button, should you adapt to that, then it might not be an issue, but for me it was.
The Score
7.5
Review code provided by Oddworld Inhabitants
The Pros
+Plenty of charm about, from the characters to the settings
+Swapping between both Abe and Munch means that there is always something different to try
The Cons
+A lot of the games puzzles still feel old and boring by the end
+The controls are a bit messy and take to much time to understand, let alone use
