Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee Meta Stylie

  Back in college I used to have to analyse video games on an almost daily basis, amongst my struggling with software that I thought was stupid because it didn't work for me. That's the reason I'm here, writing this for you to read. Because analysing games along with their design and mechanics was my thang.

  Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee is a game that I have played myself and alongside family and friends for years, so there are plenty of fond memories with it. That's why I'm going to tell you what it means to me rather than a game review or whatever. (Fair warning: After re-reading this, that's basically what it turned into. Sorry).

  The game centres around the tentative but very adorable Abe, a Mudokon slave at the RuptureFarms meat processing factory. Upon discovering his race are to be slaughtered for meat, he takes it upon himself to escape and liberate as many enslaved Mudokons as he can.

  To me, Abe's Oddysee is a game that can be played over and over and over again. Myself, my brother and my dad have put hundreds if not thousands of frustrating hours into possessing Sligs, running away from Scrabs and lobbing Abe down a pit full of mines because we assumed the levels were unsolvable. It's a game that rears it's head every Christmas to drag up all the old emotions: resentment, fear, passion and love - though I will happily admit I play it far more often these days. It stands as the only game my father, 67 years of age, has ever completed.

  Honestly, it's the game that all my friends are probably sick of sitting down to play with me because I find it so sociable. You can play single player or co-op and it's still very much a game you can play with anybody sitting beside you. Die, hand over the controller, inevitably die again, hand it back. Repeat thirty seven times until you reach a checkpoint.

  Ever since New 'N' Tasty - Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee was released for the PlayStation 4, I haven't spent much time at all playing the PS1 version, (the fact that my PlayStation literally blew up is irrelevant because it can be played on the PS2). The reason being that the remake is just. so. beautiful. The colouring was dull and drab on the old 32-bit Sony GPU, yet still brilliantly charming. Now the level schemes are vibrant whilst retaining the ability to terrify players upon making a mistake. The overall layout of the levels now with their panning transitions is also an extreme upgrade after fifteen years of waiting at black loading screens. But I'm not too begrudging over that.

  'Clean the floors... or die!' and 'this one foot of floor will be shining!' are just a few things you'll hear from Abe's captive Mudokon friends while they go about their chores cleaning the floor and walls. Yes, you read that right. The little guys finally speak even when they're not being spoken to. This tiny detail had me completely enamoured with the remake within the first five minutes, while keeping all the old aspects that endeared me to the game in the first place. In a sense, the whole game is more of a re-DO than a remake. They kept everything that made the original fantastic and innovative whilst fixing glitches or making small alterations to improve the experience.

  The cinematic platformer's graphics were decent at the time, yet primitive in an oddly alluring way. Abe's Oddysee was a perfect stepping stone into the Oddworld franchise, and a magnificent beginner's piece from Oddworld Inhabitants, the developers of the Oddworld games.

  There were a few others along the way, (Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, etc), but none are really known as well as Abe's Oddysee and in my opinion, none fit the standard either. I wouldn't want to refer to it as a one hit wonder out of respect for the developers and the publishers, but... well, you get it.

Signed,
Elijah.
Meta Sentience.
23/06/2017