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Published
by EA Games
Developed by Oddworld Inhabitants
Release Date: Out Now
Price: £39.99
Oddworld
Stranger's Wrath, an introduction.
The
Oddworld games have long been a favourite amongst gamers.
The early games in the series appeared on the PlayStation
console and Oddworld Munch's Oddysee was a successful launch
title for the Microsoft Xbox. The games in the series so
far have been a unique blend of platforming with a decent
sprinkling of puzzles. Oddworld Stranger's Wrath adds a
FPS element to the game and it makes for a different feel.
This may seem like a peculiar design choice from the developers
but it's a decision that has paid off very nicely and the
game even has the potential to appeal to gamers who didn't
like the previous games in the series.
What's
the game about?
Essentially
the game begins as a mixed Oddworld/Wild Western flavoured
experience with you playing as Stranger, the bounty hunter.
Stranger is attempting to claim as many bounties as he can
to save up enough cash to afford an operation (the operation
itself leads to a nice twist in the game). Stranger is not
your typical bounty hunter though and has some rather unique
weapons. The game successfully combines FPS and platform
game elements in a way that's never been done before. The
game is a single-player only experience with no multiplayer
element in the game.
What's
good about the game?
If
playing as a bounty hunter wasn't good enough, you also
get to use live ammo. You have an assortment of little critters
that can be caught and fired from your crossbow. Critters
such as Chippunks, Zappflies and Bolamites are fired as
ammo and each of these critters has different effects on
your enemies. Naturally with your ammo being of the live
variety (even though it's live it can be upgraded), you'll
have to catch it yourself and this adds a welcome twist
to the game formula. Stranger's Wrath allows you to play
the game in the first and third-person. When carrying out
the platforming actions such as jumping and climbing (and
generally moving about of course) you'll prefer to use the
third-person view and this view is also preferable for carrying
out spin attacks. When you capture the enemies (in order
to collect the bounty on them), you'll also switch to the
third-person view. When you're firing your live ammo though
you'll want to use the first-person view and it's great
to see that you can move around in this view. In fact the
game actually feels like a quality FPS in the first-person
view and the developers have done a great job of making
both the first-person and third-person views feel very good
and blend so well. The game isn't exactly a linear affair
either as you can choose which bounties to pursue. You can
save anywhere you like too and a quicksave feature has also
been included. Such a friendly save system helps to prevent
the game from becoming frustrating.
What's
not so good about the game?
The
real disappointment with Oddworld Stranger's Wrath is its
lack of subtitles (mentioned below). Apart from being a
diluted experience for deaf gamers though there isn't much
else to complain about. Some fans of the Oddworld series
might take a dislike to the FPS elements that are in the
game (if they don't like the genre of course) but in all
honesty the game feels more enjoyable than Munch's Oddysee.
How
does it look?
Graphically
Oddworld Stranger's Wrath pushes the graphical abilities
of the Xbox and looks very good. It's no surprise that the
game appears to have been cancelled for the PlayStation
2 as it's doubtful the game would have looked or performed
as well. The developers deserve praise for not only the
look of the environments but also Stranger and other characters
within the game. Even your live ammo looks nicely detailed
as it sits in your crossbow waiting to be fired. Loading
screens have been kept to a minimum and the game seems to
run rather smooth thanks to a solid frame rate.
How
deaf gamer friendly is the game?
Disappointingly
Oddworld Stranger's Wrath is not ideal for deaf gamers.
There's no option to enable subtitles and you'll find that
the game's cutscenes and numerous items of speech are not
subtitled. Throughout the game you can converse with town
inhabitants and none of these conversations are subtitled.
It's a small consolation that the tutorial messages are
shown in text but at least you'll know how to control Stranger
and perform the various actions. Your objectives can be
recalled at any time by pressing the back button which is
of some help. You are notified in text if Stranger is hidden
or has been spotted which is helpful when you are closing
in on a target, which is a nice touch. It is a shame that
you'll be unaware of the conversations and comments that
take place though and it does take quite a bit away from
the experience.
Final
thoughts.
Oddworld
Stranger's Wrath is another enjoyable game from Oddworld
Inhabitants and the chances are that if you liked their
previous games, you'll appreciate what this game has to
offer. You have to admire the way the developers have changed
what was a successful formula in quite a significant way
and yet have still managed to turn out a very enjoyable
game. That said it's very disappointing that the game isn't
subtitled and for this reason alone it's probably wise to
rent the game first to make sure you can put up with missing
out on the game's dialogue.
Overall
Game Rating: 8.0/10
Deaf
Gamers Classification:
(Click
the letter or here
for details)
All in all it's a great Oddworld
game and it's a brilliant mix of FPS and platform game elements.
There are some disappointing omissions for deaf gamers though.
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