Oddworld: New ‘N’ Tasty Review
Oddworld: New ‘N’ Tasty
Publisher: Oddworld Inhabitants
Developer: Just Add Water
Genre:
PEGI: T
Comments:
If you haven’t played an Oddworld game at some point in your lifetime, you are definitely missing out. Fortunately, the Original Abe’s Odyssey was remastered and rereleased on Xbox One just this past week. For only a fraction the cost of a triple A title, gamers can relive and old classic in stunning HD when they play Oddworld: New ‘N’ Tasty!
The objective in Oddworld: New ‘N’ Tasty is pretty simple: when cleaning the floors one day, our protagonist Abe realizes that the board of directors of the food plants he works at are planning to use the employees (the Mudokons) as their next ingredient in their next line of food products. Abe attempts to escape the packing plant and to get as many employees as possible out with him.
Abe lacks a weapon, which puts this game in that “it’s violent but not really violent” realm. Abe’s only weapon is his mind, which he can use to manipulate guards, solve puzzles, and wreak havoc on the games baddies. Players attempt to set traps, avoid pitfalls, and overall attempt to escape.
Porting From Old to New
If you played Abe’s Oddyssey back on the original Playstation, then you’ll find lots familiar and very little different. Yes, the graphics have been improved, and gone are the frame-by-frame, shifting screens which are replaced with a more fluid screen typical of more recent side scrolling games. Playing Oddworld now on a controller with a joystick is a bit odd, especially since a small miscue in where your thumb is directing could make Abe jump or crouch instead of moving left or right. Fortunately, an alternative control scheme is available that allows you to map jump and run to button presses, making the game much more enjoyable; still problems are evident which resulted in a few deaths I felt were not necessarily my fault.
Abe can run, sneak, crouch, and jump, all of which will be needed to complete the games many ‘worlds.’ Each world has a bevy of hidden areas to find, and more often than not, they won’t be that obvious and may take some looking around. Once I completed the game the first time, I read up on some hidden areas and began to play again. Soon, you as the player are just trained to know certain things that look like they could be explored further; I found many more secret areas the second time around.
Graphically, the game looks great. Yes, it is basically just a port of the original game with a few added, in game bonus (hence the New ‘N’ Tasty tag line), but the team of developers working on this have done and excellent job. It holds up well against some of the best, smaller and less expensive titles currently available on Xbox One.
Oddworld: New ‘N’ Tasty Conclusion
If you haven’t – and frankly, even if you have – played Abe Odyssey way back when, now is a good time to jump in. The game still holds up really well, and remains one of the best platform titles not available on Nintendo consoles or handhelds. Outside of the control issues, there is very little to not like about Abe’s newest (or, technically, oldest) adventure.
Trailer
Article By Adam Roffel
Adam Roffel has only been writing about video games for a short time, but has honed his skills completing a Master's Degree. He loves Nintendo, and almost anything they have released...even Tomodachi Life.
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