Oddworld: Soulstorm is a modern re-imagining of the 1998 title Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus. It serves as a direct sequel to Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty. The player controls Abe, a reluctant hero who inadvertently sparked an uprising and now must lead his fellow Mudokons in their fight for freedom against the Magog Cartel and the planet’s ruling power.
Released on
Genres
Reviews View More
Graficazos increibles, el retorno de ABE
The new Oddworld brought me to my knees. It's true that I like the first game - it's a classic in many respects and remains a very original production to this day. However, I did not expect that the creators could go in such an intriguingly creative direction. Because apart from the well-designed levels and some limitations due to the platformer genre, we managed to build a really engaging and fascinating story in the background. Apart from that, the visuals are great, and aesthetically it's something extremely fresh. It captivates us from the very first minutes! A very positive surprise.
Great game
Aussi louable soit la volonté de faire plus qu'un simple remake d'Abe's Exoddus, le jeu se perd dans une accumulation de systèmes mal maitrisés et tire à la ligne à n'en plus finir. L'illustration parfaite du diction "qui trop embrasse mal étreint." et une bien belle déception après autant d'attente.
I don't know why I really wanted to play this game. Then when I realized I was struggling to play it, the game is so boring and frustrating
I was a freshman in high school when this game was announced. For someone who had just gotten into the Oddworld series, this was going to be big. A promising re-imagining of what is, even to this day, my favorite game in the series. A much darker interpretation of Exoddus, it had to be very good! Come 2021, a year after I had graduated HS and waited delay after delay, and Soulstorm was unworthy. In almost every way a step down from its predecessors. A game whose sting has hurt deeply for someone who had started it excited and left very disappointed.
The Oddworld games, at least the first two, were lovingly crafted cinematic platformers with many a trial and error moment. Abe's Exoddus got it down better, with the quick save acting as a means to not be as deeply frustrated with the game. Since everything acts roughly the same, it made the originals fun, if mildly frustrating to 100%. Soulstorm lacks a quicksave. It lacks many things. A variety of wildlife to possess, environments different from bleak industrial facilities and train stations, the heart and soul of its predecessors. Trading this for a hollow crafting system and tedious sections where you have to defend your Mudokon friends ad nauseum until everyone (or whoever survives) is on the train.
Hope you enjoyed the puzzles where you whistled, farted, or even took control of bells after hearing a chime. They aren't here! There's a laundry list of things it lacks, and Soulstorm even fails at the one thing an Oddworld game sets out to do: Immersion. Where this has been fixed with updates to turn elements of the UI off, it's still saddening. Perhaps the video game stylings of Soulstorm were meant to make it appeal to a more mainstream audience? But many a person was turned away after the first level or so, and I bet not many more played to even the middle or the end of the game.
To praise a few aspects, graphically the game is solid. It's not as obnoxiously washed with bloom as its 2014 predecessor, New 'n Tasty. Abe and friends look very good. Glukkons look nastier than they ever have. Its story is even solid, but it's not like Oddworld games are bad in that department save for whatever the hell Munch's Oddysee was. Given my familiarity with the games, I wasn't bothered by the multiple endings as much either. Some could argue Soulstorm's bad ending was on par with Munch for the darkest bad end in the series.
Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I don't think any game since Soulstorm has disappointed me as hard as it did. Where I have been critical, I should extend sympathy towards the developers for still pushing out a product in the midst of a global pandemic. Harsh as this review may be, no one deserved to have a game they spent years on crippled by a delay as severe as COVID. One thing I do find unforgivable is the greed that followed later the same year this game released.
After Soulstorm came out and got mixed reception, OWI released an "Enhanced" edition for PS5 and Series S/X. And unfortunately, they fell into the 6th & 7th gen clutches of creating levels exclusive to either console. From what I hear, neither level is worthwhile, but it still sucks to see this happen. This was a trend that plagued two generations, and hearing about it rear its ugly head in again was rather saddening. With the actual product being the way it is, "Enhanced" isn't the word I'd use to describe a broken house built on poor foundations.
At the end of the day, Soulstorm saddens me. A game with so much great ambition for a series I adore that utterly disappointed me in its gameplay direction. If Oddworld Inhabitants tries again, my expectations will be certainly lowered. And to close this review out on a positive note, I hope OWI tries again. The Oddworld series is hands down an all time favorite for many reasons. Its snarky jabs at capitalism, its immersiveness, there's much to love about these games. Despite Soulstorm failing to capture it, I can only hope OWI has learned from their mistakes and can come back around.
The Oddworld games, at least the first two, were lovingly crafted cinematic platformers with many a trial and error moment. Abe's Exoddus got it down better, with the quick save acting as a means to not be as deeply frustrated with the game. Since everything acts roughly the same, it made the originals fun, if mildly frustrating to 100%. Soulstorm lacks a quicksave. It lacks many things. A variety of wildlife to possess, environments different from bleak industrial facilities and train stations, the heart and soul of its predecessors. Trading this for a hollow crafting system and tedious sections where you have to defend your Mudokon friends ad nauseum until everyone (or whoever survives) is on the train.
Hope you enjoyed the puzzles where you whistled, farted, or even took control of bells after hearing a chime. They aren't here! There's a laundry list of things it lacks, and Soulstorm even fails at the one thing an Oddworld game sets out to do: Immersion. Where this has been fixed with updates to turn elements of the UI off, it's still saddening. Perhaps the video game stylings of Soulstorm were meant to make it appeal to a more mainstream audience? But many a person was turned away after the first level or so, and I bet not many more played to even the middle or the end of the game.
To praise a few aspects, graphically the game is solid. It's not as obnoxiously washed with bloom as its 2014 predecessor, New 'n Tasty. Abe and friends look very good. Glukkons look nastier than they ever have. Its story is even solid, but it's not like Oddworld games are bad in that department save for whatever the hell Munch's Oddysee was. Given my familiarity with the games, I wasn't bothered by the multiple endings as much either. Some could argue Soulstorm's bad ending was on par with Munch for the darkest bad end in the series.
Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I don't think any game since Soulstorm has disappointed me as hard as it did. Where I have been critical, I should extend sympathy towards the developers for still pushing out a product in the midst of a global pandemic. Harsh as this review may be, no one deserved to have a game they spent years on crippled by a delay as severe as COVID. One thing I do find unforgivable is the greed that followed later the same year this game released.
After Soulstorm came out and got mixed reception, OWI released an "Enhanced" edition for PS5 and Series S/X. And unfortunately, they fell into the 6th & 7th gen clutches of creating levels exclusive to either console. From what I hear, neither level is worthwhile, but it still sucks to see this happen. This was a trend that plagued two generations, and hearing about it rear its ugly head in again was rather saddening. With the actual product being the way it is, "Enhanced" isn't the word I'd use to describe a broken house built on poor foundations.
At the end of the day, Soulstorm saddens me. A game with so much great ambition for a series I adore that utterly disappointed me in its gameplay direction. If Oddworld Inhabitants tries again, my expectations will be certainly lowered. And to close this review out on a positive note, I hope OWI tries again. The Oddworld series is hands down an all time favorite for many reasons. Its snarky jabs at capitalism, its immersiveness, there's much to love about these games. Despite Soulstorm failing to capture it, I can only hope OWI has learned from their mistakes and can come back around.