Patreon button  Steam curated reviews  Discord button  Facebook button  Twitter button 
3DS | PC | PS4 | PS5 | SWITCH | VITA | XB1 | XSX | All

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee (PlayStation) artwork

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee (PlayStation) review


"With a forebodingly somber score and intricately detailed, pre-rendered backgrounds, Abe’s Oddysee is a sensual luxury, but the gameplay is straight from Out of This World, and just as hard."

What does it take to be a video game hero? Is it flashy armor, Prozac-resistant angst, car-hurtling strength, or a sword the size of Texas? It could be any of these, but I suppose poor Abe will just have to make do.

As far as Mudokon slaves went, Abe had it pretty good as a janitor for Rupture Farms - makers of such fine snacks as Scrab Cakes, Paramite Pies, and Meech Munchies, until the Meeches went extinct. Little did he know that the company’s future was in jeopardy. Profits were down and meat sources were running dry, but boss Molluck had a tasty new treat in mind – Mudokon Pops. It might be time for Abe to find a new line of work.

Armed with a loincloth and sheer determination, gangly, blue-skinned Abe’s first goal is to escape the factory, and preferably not wrapped around a wooden stick. Moving ahead one room at a time, he will have to maneuver past booby traps, treacherous drops, and an army of gun-toting Sligs. The odds are already stacked against him, but this big-hearted Mudokon can’t turn his back and abandon his fellow slaves to the meat grinder. With a little ingenuity and a surplus of luck, Abe just might be able to save a few on the path to freedom.

Abe does manage to escape, but his victory is only a prelude to the heroic destiny that lies ahead. Through the premonitions of a native shaman, Abe sees a purpose for his own pitiful existence, and a future without brooms or floor wax. He will venture beyond the Monsaic Lines, holy caves of the native Mudokons, and into the proving grounds of Scrabania and Paramonia. In these tainted, but still sacred lands, Abe will gain the skills and perseverance to return to the factory and become the savior of the Mudokons and the hope of restoring Oddworld.

Abe is not completely defenseless. He does have a mouth after all, but he isn’t much of a biter. He laughs, whistles, greets, groans, and says, “Follow me.” It’s not the most impressive skill-set, but it comes in handy when Abe needs to distract a Slig or lead a slave to safety. His true special ability though, is chanting. With this rhythmic mantra, Abe can unlock certain doors, activate teleporting bird-portals, and even possess the simple-minded Sligs. Now, combine them all. Possess one Slig, command the slaves to duck, drill the other guard full of bullets, and watch the possessed Slig’s body splatter the room as your power makes a nasty exit.

With a forebodingly somber score and intricately detailed, pre-rendered backgrounds, Abe’s Oddysee is a sensual luxury, but the gameplay is straight from Out of This World, and just as hard. Abe can run, jump, and roll, but this is far from being an action game. The environments are broken into a series of static screens, and each screen brings a new puzzle to be solved. Some will be as simple as leaping across a small gap or rolling under an obstacle. Others will have you dumbfounded, anxiously memorizing enemy patterns from the safety of the shadows. If one thing is for sure, it’s that you will die, a lot. Thank goodness for infinite lives.

The difficulty alone will keep most people from ever completing Abe’s Oddysee, but the maddening checkpoint system will seal the deal for all but the most devoted. One automated checkpoint may be in the next screen over, and then, five screens over. It isn’t long before the difficulty gets dialed to eleven and you will be doing the same multi-screen puzzles so many times that the word ‘repeatedly’ doesn’t quite cut it. Flip a switch in one room, dodge some enemies in the next, deactivate a bomb, make a few death-defying leaps, and just when you get to the end, a rock falls from the sky. It’s all about trial, error, and restarting. Get one section wrong and you have to do it all over again. At least Abe’s Oddysee is a beautiful game, because the scenery will be burned into your retinas.

With buttery-smooth controls, inventive puzzles, and disgustingly lovable cast of character, Abe’s Oddysee is nothing short of stunning. I just hope that you are ready for a challenge. Turning a cliché upside down, Abe’s Oddysee is a game that you will hate to love. It will beat you relentlessly without mercy while you cry in agony and curse its very existence, but in the end, it will be one of the most endearing games you have ever had the displeasure to play.



pup's avatar
Staff review by Brian Rowe (July 25, 2007)

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.

More Reviews by Brian Rowe [+]
Turok (Xbox 360) artwork
Turok (Xbox 360)

Dinosaurs don’t need help to be scary. They’re stronger, faster, more resilient, and better hunters than you’ll ever be. That leaves one, powerful weapon that many FPSs frequently ignore – wits.
Turning Point: Fall of Liberty (Xbox 360) artwork
Turning Point: Fall of Liberty (Xbox 360)

What makes the invasion of the U.S. different from that of France? Who would fight back, and who would manipulate the situation for personal gain? Instead of seizing the opportunity to dissect the American experience, Spark slapped some fedoras and Brooklyn accents on the scene and called it a day.
Shadowgate (NES) artwork
Shadowgate (NES)

How are you supposed to know that a ladder has no bottom end, or that a passage will suddenly collapse upon your skull? You do it, say hello to the reaper, and try again until you get it right.

Feedback

If you enjoyed this Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee review, you're encouraged to discuss it with the author and with other members of the site's community. If you don't already have an HonestGamers account, you can sign up for one in a snap. Thank you for reading!

You must be signed into an HonestGamers user account to leave feedback on this review.

User Help | Contact | Ethics | Sponsor Guide | Links

eXTReMe Tracker
© 1998 - 2024 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee is a registered trademark of its copyright holder. This site makes no claim to Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, its characters, screenshots, artwork, music, or any intellectual property contained within. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors. Staff and freelance reviews are typically written based on time spent with a retail review copy or review key for the game that is provided by its publisher.