Will Abe’s return win over the player?
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Oddworld Soulstorm (PS5)
Oddworld Soulstorm introduction
Oddworld: Soulstorm is a 2021 video game developed and published by Oddworld Inhabitants. belonging to the Oddworld saga. The game is a reinterpretation of Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus, with a different story development and is the sequel to “Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty!”. It was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X / S and Xbox One.
After the disaster of the slaughterhouses, Mullock is found dying and trying to garrison among the glukkon of the Magog cartel, he will alert everyone about the danger of the mudokon and Abe revolution, both causes of the closure of the factory.
However, he will not be believed by the other glukkons, as they will think that his is a strategy to get the money from the damage insurance and to profit from it. It will be thanks to this that Abe and his 300 mudokons will be able to make their way in their enterprise: destroy the Magog cartel and discover the secret of the Soulstorm drink.
Gameplay
Soulstorm’s gameplay is roughly the same as ever, and anyone who has played “New ‘n’ Tasty” should know well. The adventure is divided into levels, with variable duration but all quite long. There are 15, plus two that are unlocked through a specific requirement that could take you for half an hour as well as for one or two hours, depending on your performance, and even a little luck.
You go from point A to point B in a series of locations full of traps, guards and Mudokons to rescue. They are asked to follow us or to stand still while we clear the path and hopefully get them to safety. Abe jumps, runs, rolls. He can also tiptoe to not wake the Slig sentries.
And if he begins to sing the sacred song of the Mudokons, he can even take possession of enemies, as long as they have no mind control guards or devices ready to electrocute Abe on the first note. A novelty of the title allows us to create explosive bottles, elastic balls to bounce in the scenarios to hit enemies, mines to be placed on the ground or that enemies stick to each other, and even a flamethrower.
The necessities are found in the garbage cans and in the lockers: Abe is on the last step of the Oddworld society and is not afraid to rummage through the scraps. Artistically Oddworld: Soulstorm is more akin to modern digital animation, abandoning that dark and dirty mood it had on the first PlayStation. Here there is more cleanliness, more light, but in some industrial settings, the soul it had can be glimpsed.
Style and innovation
This new style was necessary to better impact the audience of the present, so it is promoted. It certainly gives its best in the interlude scenes, between deserts, iron trains and ancient alien-punk-style buildings. All seasoned with the great slapstick humor typical of the series. Mudokons don’t shine for intelligence, of course, but they have a lot of willpower.
They don’t deserve the artificial intelligence we find in Oddworld: Soulstorm. When they are called they do not always position themselves close to us, at least one or two remain further back, often this is arranged by ordering the group to wait and then calling them all back, which is, however, infeasible if you have to position yourself in a small space between two huge hammers tires, which will end up killing half of them, forcing you to try again.
I know it may seem normal to happen, which is in the difficulty of the game like that of twenty years ago on PS1, but I assure you that you can clearly see how the NPC on duty goes crazy for a few moments because he is confused by our command.
And worse still in front of the rows of lockers. There is a specific enemy that must be overcome by coming up behind him while he is patrolling, after which the group is ordered to hide in a row of metal lockers, this one goes back and as soon as he passes them obviously we go out with our friends and continue.
Just press the action button twice and Abe enters the closet, with the other Mudokons immediately rushing to the adjacent ones. Except one or two. Always… or almost! The enemy arrives, roasts him and off to the checkpoint to try again.
Final report
For those who like the genre, the plot and above all to see Abe again to play with him, it is certainly a must-play game for fans of the old guard, as well as for newbies. The gameplay is a little different than its predecessors, plus there are some additions that can make the game as varied as possible and give the player more entertainment. There is a lot of the original Abe, historical fans will not be disappointed, the Oddworld universe has a lot of charm. Furthermore, the difficulty will not make the game experience monotonous. The true fan will observe the landscape around enjoying the plot and gameplay along with Abe and the rest of the Mudokons. Definitely a recommended game for true fans of the genre and for those who like me, like and will always like the world of Oddworld and Abe’s adventures.
Final Score
- Narratively and graphics are exciting.
- The world of Oddworld is always fascinating.
- Old Abe is still the same Abe
- Technically fluctuating.
- A few bugs during gameplay.
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