Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee (Xbox) review "Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, may very well be one of the best platforming games you can possibly play. Yeah, I know, another big statement, but the proof is coming. Like a legal case, this review has several exhibits for you to review before you declare a game playable or guilty of gameslaughter 1. "

Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, may very well be one of the best platforming games you can possibly play. Yeah, I know, another big statement, but the proof is coming. Like a legal case, this review has several exhibits for you to review before you declare a game playable or guilty of gameslaughter 1.

Exhibit 1: Immersion

This game is one of the most engrossing you can possibly play. You won't want to put the controller down until you've found every Mudokon and Fuzzle (rescuable fellows in the game) and taught those evil Sligs and Glukkons (evil corporate dudes) a lesson. Puzzles are well conceived and interesting. What you may not be able to accomplish with one of the characters you play, you may be able to with another. So, that's the immersion factor.

Exhibit 2: Charm

This game has more charm than Barry Manilow. (Whether that's hard or not is up to you.) Your two characters, Abe the Mudokon and Munch the Gabbit have very unique personalities and senses of humor. They also have differing abilities. Example: Munch can swim, Abe just drowns. Abe is the fastest thing on two feet, and Munch is the slowest on one.

But the charm isn't just in the playable characters, it's in the NPC's as well. Your rescuable friends will have something funny or odd to say almost all the time. Your enemies will taunt you if you die. (Don't worry, the character that didn't die can bring the other guy back by using a reincarnation egg.) Also, Munch's belching ability and Abe's farting ability will get some interesting responses from their freinds.

Exhibit 3: The Cinematics

These are hilarious. Filled with humor, they will no doubt bring a smile whenever you see them. A small point, but necessary.

Exhibit 4: Interface

There is no interface! No menus to bring up, nothing! Nada! You get to play without confusing or useless platform menus! Joy of joys!

Exhibit 5: Sound

If there is one thing this game should have gotten an award for, it would be sound. Voices, abilities, water, everything just sounds perfect. Even if it is perfectly odd.

Exhibit 6: Graphics

This is where the game both shines and falls flat on its blue Mudokon butt. The characters looke terrific, as do the special effects. However, some of the textures were obviously ported from the PS2, a big mistake. I think that they probably should have just redid some of the textures. Despite that fact, the game is still very good looking most of the time.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, it's your call, but personally, I give the defendent an 8 out of 10.

Community review by xboxaddict318 (April 06, 2003) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.