Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath - Review

Introduction:

When the next Oddworld game was announced to be a First Person Shooter, many fans of the series balked. After all, Oddworld Inhabitants had always made platformers! Why would they suddenly change after so many years? Others worried that the game wouldn’t keep the same Oddworld sensibility about it, that whole “We don’t care what other games do, we are going to make our own games. And yes, yes our artists are on acid” mentality. How could Oddworld Inhabitants keep the same feeling, while moving the series in a new direction? I, for one, was a bit concerned about how the game would fare. I’m happy to report that those concerns were unwarranted and that Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath is one of the most innovative games on the Xbox.

Stranger, the main character of Stranger’s Wrath, is a mysterious character who is slowly unraveled throughout the game. He appears to be a mix between a dog and your typical western hero. Playing off just about every Western movie cliché there is, Stranger manages to feel like a person despite his slightly, well, odd look. The game is a world filled with enemies and allies previously encountered in past titles, and some brand new characters as well. It manages to feel fresh, while still holding true to its roots.

Gameplay:

First Person games with platforming elements have always run into one major problem. That problem is that you can’t control jumps, or any other moves requiring fine control, in First Person. This issue has ruined many games over the years, and made the “jumping puzzle” among the most dreaded phrases in gaming. For Stranger’s Wrath, one of the biggest issues facing the development team was how to keep the platforming elements, while also allowing the First Person view for the action sequences. The answer? Just let the player move between third person and first person at will! This is accomplished by a simple press of the right thumbstick, and the transition is utterly seamless. This is a great way to fix the issue, and I envision that many more games will be adopting it in the future.

The game revolves around two main sections: shooter and platformer. Out of the two, the shooting manages to be the most original. Instead of the average assortment of rocket launchers and machine guns, you fire live animals. These take many forms, but among the most interesting are the Fuzzles and the Bolamites. Think of the Fuzzles as a living mine that jumps at any nearby enemy and eats them alive. The Bolamites are used to tie up your opponents. There are many other types of ammo, including Stingbees (rapid firing, semi-homing bees) and Boombats (delayed explosive critters), all of which are collected by finding the respective hives. When you find a live group, load up your trusty Zappfly (which happens to have infinite ammo) and drop a few. This makes every area interesting because instead of just looking for the next objective, you are also looking for ways to refill your store of ammunition. Selection of ammo is accomplished via the Control Pad, allowing you to load up your double barreled crossbow with ease.

Third Person combat is a bit more run of the mill, but that’s fine, because you will spend most of your time in the First Person perspective. Travel, however, is greatly aided by this perspective. In one of the cooler animations in the game, Stranger will get down on all fours and gallop at full speed when you run long enough. This makes long distance travel much faster, and takes away from the few and far between areas of tedium. You can attack enemies with one of two attacks, a Crash-esque spin move and a skull on skull bashing move ripped straight from the movies.

Objectives revolve mostly around bounties, which are awarded by the Bounty Stores spread throughout the many different towns you visit during the course of the game. At the Bounty Store, you are able to select an assignment, which is given a cash value. The bounties occasionally are for a specific item or the rescue of a character, but they are usually for the capture/killing of a boss. As expected, you receive far more money for the capture of the target. Assignments will take you into a new area, allow you to fight your way through hordes of enemies, and culminate into an often epic boss battle. The game always keeps this pattern fresh. The best example of which is a few hours into a game where you take part in a mine-cart battle, which just might be the best since the SNES Donkey Kong game it originates from. The mine-cart weaves in and out of enemies providing you with ample explosive barrels. Oddworld Inhabitants, maybe more than any other developer in recent memory, know the value of a well-placed exploding barrel, and it never gets old under their watch. And, just when you think things are starting to get even the least little bit repetitive, they send you off to a new city for you to complete the challenges there.

The entire gameplay experience is incredible, managing to feel fresh and innovative throughout. Whenever you think you’ve seen all the game has to offer, it throws you a curveball. There is never a dull moment. Innovation is key, and Stranger’s Wrath is bursting with it.

Graphics:

Stranger’s Wrath has the best graphics on the Xbox. Period. No competition. It has every single effect you’ve seen in other titles, except it has them all in abundance. The water effects are the best since Blood Wake, the heat blur is beautifully used, and the characters’ design is absolutely mind-boggling. Dust storms, lush rain forests, deserts, towns… this game has it all. The animations on all the characters are fantastic, especially on the live animals loaded in your crossbow. They all are fantastically detailed, and their movement mixed with the sounds of them is hilarious. The towns have a great western look to them, but also look sufficiently Oddworld; thanks to huge neon signs liberally applied to the most parts. There is aliasing that detracts from the graphical splendor somewhat, but it isn’t too distracting and is understandable given the amount of effects present. And that’s just the in-game graphics.

Cutscenes in Stranger’s Wrath are jaw-dropping. As surprising as it may be, these are some of the most realistic sequences out there, despite the outlandish setting. The action scenes are far and away the best on the system, and the comedy scenes are hilarious. These are among the very, very best FMVs in the industry, ranking next to the likes of Blizzard and Square. If nothing else, Stranger’s Wrath is worth a rent just so you can watch the opening sequence.

Audio:

In a word, hilarious. Everything is played for laughs, and all of the voice actors are perfect for the characters they play. Stranger talks in a slow, deep voice, just as you would expect from a spaghetti-western flick. Enemies are all sufficiently ignorant sounding, and have the funniest lines in the game. Everything in the game comes alive thanks to the sound, from the animals in your crossbow to the guy you just tied up. Running across bridges sounds as if you are actually there, with each thump of Stranger’s arms punctuated by a fitting metallic sound. Music is all epic, and the more rocking songs during boss battles all manage to feel fitting, unlike other titles that have been utilizing them as of late. The only possible issue with the sound in this game is the voice of the hens that make up the townspeople. Their shrill voices edge away from funny and move towards annoying. I found myself skipping any dialogue with them just so that I wouldn’t have to listen to their voices. Despite one bad casting choice, the sound still stands among the best.

Controls:

Everything in Stranger’s Wrath controls exceedingly well, thanks to the easy switching between First and Third Person views. Aiming and movement both feel very fluid. The button mapping feels great, and a host of tweaking options are available in the settings menu. If you want to invert just Third Person and not First Person, knock yourself out, Oddworld allows just that. Selection of ammo on the control pad is quick and painless, which is important for a game that requires you to switch out loadouts as often as this one. There really are no issues with control, if you miss a jump it’s your own fault, never once did I feel slighted by the control scheme.

Replay:

Stranger’s Wrath is an absolute blast the first time through, everything is funny and new and interesting. However, it’s not the sort of game that would be as good a second time through. The jokes just wouldn’t be as amusing, and overall things just wouldn’t be as much fun. The game will keep you occupied and entertained throughout the entirety, as it is quite lengthy. Unfortunately, the lengthiness is not enough to offset its one shot nature, and therefore is far more suitable for a double-rent than a purchase. Multiplayer is absent, which is probably for the best as it just wouldn’t have worked with the game. Stranger is a lone-ranger character, and furthermore multiplayer matches would have invariably turned into giant Fuzzle battles. All of this isn’t to say that this game isn’t worth playing, far from it; it’s just that you won’t want to play it twice.

Overall:

Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath is quite possibly the best single player experience available on the Xbox. Outstripping even the mighty Halo, it is fresh, unique, and unparalleled in its innovation of the genre. The cutscenes are mesmerizing; the graphics are fantastic, and the sound is near-perfect for the game. It all controls exceedingly well, and the switching of views solves the age old problem that shooters have faced since the days of Doom and Quake. Every single person who owns an Xbox should play this game. Every single person who considers themselves a gamer should play this game. The lack of longevity and multiplayer functionality unfortunately prevents this title from being a must-buy; but it is certainly a must-rent.