Oddworld Abe's Oddysee is one of the earliest games I remember playing. This game is super nostalgic to me. The atmosphere in this game is just Godly. The early levels of Rupture Farms especially, which I'd play through over and over as a kid, are just iconic to me. The huge factory with barrels in the background and blood all over the place. It really is unmatched in setting the tone of the horrible world this takes place in, and then you get beautiful locations like the stockyard at night, and the areas with all the giant statues of the unique creatures that inhabit Oddworld.
The game controls very well thanks to the consistency and tightness of controls, like a jump will always move you 2 spaces and a running jump will move you 3.
Gameplay varies between slow stealth sections that involve a lot of waiting, some puzzles which will have you feeling satisfied once you figure out how all the pieces come together and some intense chase sequences with split second decision making to add some faster paced gameplay into the mix. The faster paced parts are a nice break from the majority that require a lot of patience. I don't mind that, but what I do mind is the times when you need to throw a rock/grenade perfectly, and if you miss you need to waste time going back to get more.
It's not perfect, and there's some inclusions in the sequel that this game desperately needed, such a quick save to help with those stingy checkpoints - especially if you're trying to save all the Mudokon's. Also the fact you can only ever have 1 person following you at a time becomes a real time waster in some parts.
I'm also not a big fan of the Elum sections as he tends to be very slippery which makes those jumping sections that require perfect timing harder than it is with Abe who controls so smoothly.
Basically the game is unmatched in its aesthetics, while gameplay is generally very fun and unique, but can become a bit too slow, or even trial-and-error'ry at times.
Anyway I saved 98/99 Mudokon's and now I'm kicking myself for missing 1 and being unable to set the game to mastered :')
The game controls very well thanks to the consistency and tightness of controls, like a jump will always move you 2 spaces and a running jump will move you 3.
Gameplay varies between slow stealth sections that involve a lot of waiting, some puzzles which will have you feeling satisfied once you figure out how all the pieces come together and some intense chase sequences with split second decision making to add some faster paced gameplay into the mix. The faster paced parts are a nice break from the majority that require a lot of patience. I don't mind that, but what I do mind is the times when you need to throw a rock/grenade perfectly, and if you miss you need to waste time going back to get more.
It's not perfect, and there's some inclusions in the sequel that this game desperately needed, such a quick save to help with those stingy checkpoints - especially if you're trying to save all the Mudokon's. Also the fact you can only ever have 1 person following you at a time becomes a real time waster in some parts.
I'm also not a big fan of the Elum sections as he tends to be very slippery which makes those jumping sections that require perfect timing harder than it is with Abe who controls so smoothly.
Basically the game is unmatched in its aesthetics, while gameplay is generally very fun and unique, but can become a bit too slow, or even trial-and-error'ry at times.
Anyway I saved 98/99 Mudokon's and now I'm kicking myself for missing 1 and being unable to set the game to mastered :')