Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus

Abe’s adventures continue in the latest high-quality release from GT Interactive. The protagonist, Abe, looking something like a cross between a frog and a walking fish, is the most unlikely of heroes: timid, frail and ugly. In the previous episode, Abe's Oddysee, Abe successfully shut down RuptureFarms. Unfortunately, more of his kin have been enslaved to produce SoulStorm Brew , which requires Mudokon bones and tears, and Abe is the only one who can save them.

For those not familiar to the world of Odd, Abe’s Exoddus is a side-scrolling platform game -- something that hasn't been tried much in the last couple of years. After a long series of similar console games in the '80s, many gamers were more than happy to abandon this format. Abe’s Exoddus however, breathes fresh air into the old genre. Puzzles involve figuring out a solution rather than timing jumps or button presses.

Even though the game is strictly 2D, the quality of the graphics is high. Each screen is rich with detail and the scrolling within each screen is faultless. The characters that Abe meets are like a genetic engineers nightmare with random mismatching of slugs, bulldogs, spiders and crabs. All these characters move as life like as possible. If you can imagine what life like is for a bulldog cross crab type character.

The sound quality is superb, right down to the gravel-toned voices of the Mudokons.

Abe is unlike any platform character I've seen, with no real weaponry in the traditional sense. What he does have are some unique magical abilities that he must utilise to overcome the Glukkons rule. Rather than fighting through the levels, he hides in shadows, distracts beasts by feeding them, and chants to inhabit the bodies of his enemies. A great deal of his charm is in the way the player uses him to talk to other characters. Abe has unlimited life and when he’s nuked he returns to the start of the scenario.

The Mudokons express genuine emotions -- they can be happy, manic, spiteful or suicidally depressed. Abe hugs, begs and even slaps his friends into shape.

His vocabulary has improved since the last outing, allowing more variations to the puzzles. Abe has also mastered his flatulence, he can now wreak havoc with his noxious fumes. Included in this new adventure are some new power-ups: Abe can turn invisible, heal sick Mudokons, become the god-like Shrykull, and drive mechanical engines of destruction.

You'll either love or hate Abe's Exoddus. I highly recommend this game to puzzle and action lovers, as well as those interested in an amusing game without an original plot.

by Andrew Ritchie