647th played so far

Genre: Action/Adventure
Platform: Xbox
Year of Release: 2005
Developer: Oddworld Inhabitants
Publisher: Electronic Arts

We played Oddworld games before, as a story based platformer that was about these characters gaining freedom. Here, a few games later in the series, we get a 3D action adventure instead, quite a different challenge. I’m wondering how it will integrate into the world.

Our Thoughts

For the most part, we have a 3D platformer here – like the Banjo Kazooies and Ratchet and Clanks we’ve played before, though with more of a set path through these levels, which are mostly different paths leading from the towns where you get your bounties. I didn’t feel like there was much reason for backtracking, with no real secrets to find, just approaches.

While a 3D action adventure, the game puts a lot of focus on stealth and nonviolent methods of taking out the villains. You are, after all, a bounty hunter, and you bring in those you defeat (with a magical capture gadget, of course) dead or alive – but they are worth more alive than dead. It’s an interesting approach, on some level one I prefer more as it feels more puzzle like, but I did end up just going all out a few times to take them all out.

One of your main tools is your crossbow, and it makes the game more interesting and stealthy. Similar to Thief‘s different arrows, you can collect different types of ammunition for your crossbow based on different critters dotted around the landscape. They give you the ability to distract and influence behaviour, for example,

I’m not sure it is enough to sustain the game for me, but it looks like I’d already gotten a lot further in than I thought – possibly over halfway through. It feels like the right length – the relative lack of exploration (so far) means that the large combat encounters work, but the remainder becomes a bit samey for me. It’s a good setup with some solid systems, but there’s something missing still.