This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
Oddworld: Soulstorm follows on the events of Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee (New ‘n’ Tasty). The graphics, character models and environments have been improved 10 fold on it’s predecessor, and the cutscenes look beautiful, with great attention to detail. The story is engaging with some funny dialogue here and there too, but I think the script could have been better in places. The voice acting in the cutscenes is entertaining and mostly true to Oddworld’s unique style - but the amateur cameo YouTube voice overs in-game don’t fit at all, and distort the immersion. The Gameplay:
The game itself was quite buggy upon release; with clunky controls, wacky hit boxes, unresponsive enemies and Mudokon followers, sound issues and crafted items sometimes not working at all. This I feel has unfortunately damaged Soulstorm’s chances at making a great first impression on new players and returning long-time fans of the series. The levels themselves vary in size and difficulty, with some very expansive levels such as Necrum, and unforgiving tower defence-style rescue missions. Some of the environments stay true to Oddworld’s legacy, such as the Slig Barracks’ grotesquely beautiful scenery, and Necrum’s haunting blue mines. Phat Station was by far my favourite level of the game; with fair difficulty, varying platforming segments and a true Exoddus-feel to it. Crafting was an interesting addition to the series, when it worked. Whilst it helped compensate for the Slig’s increased intelligence, allowing them to now look up and down... It somewhat took away the vulnerable essence of Abe, who took down Rupturefarms without the aid of flamethrowers and Flammable Brew. It wasn’t a terrible addition as in some areas it works well. No Quicksave. This was a really handy feature not only in New ‘n’ Tasty, but in the original Abe’s Exoddus too. This is not present in Soulstorm, and you must rely on the checkpoints alone. Annoyingly, a lot of checkpoints are either in questionable locations (either direct lines of attack, or before vending machines to stock up on), so the only way to save your progress before entering a particularly challenging segment is to return back to a previous checkpoint and deactivate it. Some locations are no longer part of the story (Mudanchee, Mudomo, Bonewerx), and for the most part, it makes sense why those trials were not included; they were essentially filler content in the original PS1 game (they only had 9 months to release it!). However, It feels like major parts of the story are missing. Necrum Mines presumably still digs up Mudokon bones, but there’s very little mention in the story. Instead, Abe must explore the mines to find “The Keeper” - seemingly now ignoring that his dead ancestor’s bones are being ground up for the brew. Tear extractors make a reappearance in the brewery, but there’s no story reference to them, so new players wouldn’t know the relevance of them.
There is a disappointingly low variety of creatures and enemies in the game, with it heavily focused on Sligs. Scrabs and Paramites are no more, Fleeches have even been seemingly retconned (and they were the most terrifying part of Exoddus!). Instead, we’ve been introduced to “Sleeches”, which have a very basic model, and are almost non-threatening entirely.
Overall, Oddworld: Soulstorm is an ambitious sequel to New ‘n’ Tasty. Quite possibly over ambitious in some areas, with sometimes too much going on, or mechanics that just don’t feel right (I’m looking at you, tower defence/climbing levels!). The cinematics and story are engaging and beautifully crafted, but it’s the game’s actual gameplay that lets it down. I wish I could pick up the game each time psyched to play the next level, but I just dread them and what ever they may throw at you next. It’s quite possibly the first Oddworld game I won’t replay once beating it, and that’s quite sad for me as I love the Series and what it stands for and symbolises... But once is enough for me. I hope Lorne and the team still obtain great success from this title, and I hope they can continue Abe’s story.
Pros:
> Beautiful graphics, cutscenes and characters
> Interesting soundtrack
> Long playthrough - 20ish hours
> 2.9D gameplay works well for its style
Cons:
> Very buggy/glitchy upon release ~ Questionable checkpoint placements
> Clunky controls ~ Double jump doesn’t really fit the style ~ Hard to control Abe sometimes ~ Crafting isn’t entirely user friendly > Bad voice acting in-game ~ Mudokon voices ~ Broadcasts (some even mispronounce Mudokon!)
> Level Design ~ Mudokon Ladder Levels are tedious ~ Lack of Quicksave like in previous games ~ Disappointing variety of enemies I love you Oddworld, this was a difficult write up, but I am still a huge fan of the series and look forward to see where Abe ends up.
- Josh… Expand
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