Oddworld New ‘N’ Tasty Review

Oddworld New ‘N’ Tasty

Release: February 11, 2016
Publisher: Oddworld Inhabitants
Developer: Just Add Water Nephilm Studios
Genre: Adventure, Platformer
PEGI: T
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If you played Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee on the Playstation 1, then you’re familiar with Abe and his wacky world. If you haven’t played that game, then Oddworld New ‘N’ Tasty might be your introduction to this character and world. Does Oddworld still strike a cord or you should you stop following Abe?

Oddworld: New ‘N’ Tasty has the same story that Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee for the PS1 had and its still a fun story. Abe is a unique character and the world he inhabits feels like a well developed and full world. I love this game’s dialogue too! Abe is funny and so are his supporting characters (villains included).

As for Oddworld’s gameplay, it’s a real treat. Oddworld is half platformer, half puzzle game, and half adventure game. All of these elements work really well. The game is a 2D platformer, but at various times Abe can go into the background of a level, which adds a splash of 3D depth. Oddworld’s gameplay just keeps surprising you too! Just when you think you’ve seen everything the game has to offer, a new element is brought in to spice things up.

Oddworld can be a hard game at times, but the game does give you some help. The in-game tutorials via various signs are helpful and feel like they are part of the Oddworld experience. There’s also a Quick Save that allows you to save whenever you want! This is a very good thing and you should Quick Save often. Some of the checkpoint saves will take you back quite a bit.

If there’s one thing that I don’t like about the game, its how long you have to wait to get into the game or between levels sometimes. The load times can be a bit of a pain. That said, the pain is well worth it. Oddworld has excellent gameplay and its controls are great too.

Platforming is very responsive and the analog stick controls Abe well. I like the game’s use of the gamepad’s rumble feature too. Oddworld also have Off-TV play.

However, New ‘N’ Tasty doesn’t make any specific use of the Wii U beyond Off-TV play. There is no touch screen support or motion control. Both of these seem like a missed opportunity, because there seemed like some areas where puzzles could have used the touch screen or motion to deepen the Wii U experience. Even using the touch screen for the opening menu seems like a no-brainer since the tabs for each option are so big and touch screen friendly. Still, Oddworld is an excellent experience even though its not a Wii U specific one.

New ‘N’ Tasty is one of the best looking games on the Wii U eshop. The developer did an amazing job updating the first Oddworld game! From the stunning cut scenes to the excellent gameplay visuals, your jaw will be on the floor.

Oddworld has great audio too. There is so much excellent voice acting in this game. From Abe to his enemies to all of the NPCs, the voice acting is really funny. The game’s sound effects are good too. I also like the game’s music. There is one problem with the audio though and that’s related to the Wii U gamepad. I noticed during cutscenes, the gamepad audio didn’t always work. I’m not sure what the problem here was, but I hope its fixed via an update.

Oddworld New ‘N’ Tasty is a really great game. Its presentation and gameplay are top notch and it’s fantastic to have the game on the Wii U. I do wish the developer had used more of the gamepad’s functions, but overall, I love this game. If you want another great game for your Wii U, you should definitely pick up New ‘N’ Tasty. And lets hope that the developer will bring more of their games to the system. I’d love to see Stranger’s Wrath on Wii U!!

Thank you to the developer for providing a copy of the game for review. Oddworld New ‘N’ Tasty is now available on the Wii U eshop!

Positives

• Fantastic gameplay
• Lots of humor
• Great Visuals
• Excellent Audio
• Off-TV Play

Negatives

• Long load times
• Doesn’t Use Touch Screen or Motion
• Gamepad Sound Doesn’t Always Work

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