Platform: Xbox Genre: Action / Adventure Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: Oddworld Inhabitants ESRB: T (Teen) Released: February 2005
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Oddworld:
Stranger's Wrath
Score:
9.5 / 10
Pros:
-
Amazing story typical of Oddworld Inhabitants games
- Spectacular graphics and cut-scenes
- Bullying townsfolk not only is fun, results in getting some extra
money
Cons:
-
Camera gets helter-skelter at times
- Boss battles can be won with patterned strategy
- Too hard to defeat Bosses without killing them
- Switching from first-person to third-person perspective not a seamless
transition under fire
The
Oddworld games have always been known for their great storylines, great
graphics, and generally strange cast of eclectic
monster-looking-but-not-quite-a-monster characters. Well, their newest
game just got stranger. Or rather, it just got Stranger.
The Xbox-exclusive Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath (OSW) is the best effort
from a developer known already for good games. And OSW is much better
than the previous Oddworld universe Xbox-exclusive title, Munch’s
Oddysee, by bringing an absolutely amazing story, just as amazing
graphics, and a Sergio Leone spaghetti Western flair to both its lead
character and setting. OSW is a great action-adventure game that both
fans and non-fans of Oddworld Inhabitants work will thoroughly enjoy.
What helps OSW stand out is the story in tandem with the great graphics.
Most of us who’ve played games for a while have encountered
seen-it-coming-from-a-mile-away plot turns and twists. It happens not
only in games, but in movies and television too. It’s a moment in
games, movie, or a TV program that anybody with an IQ over 75 can see
coming. You won’t always be able to “see it coming” in better
plots, but it happens enough that we all have noticed it, especially in
games.
How many “save the princess” or “save the world” scenarios have
we’ve all played though in our gaming adventures? Well, OSW doesn’t
have a princess to rescue and you won’t save the world, although
there’s a tribe of strange, little creatures that need you to help
them out a lot.
You play as the Stranger, a mysterious and ornery bounty hunter who has
a mighty big secret besides what his real name is. OSW’s setting is
right out of a Sergio Leone spaghetti western, and the Stranger reminds
you of Clint Eastwood in one of his many western roles. You’re a lone
bounty hunter, only out for the next capture that will pay you a
handsome reward. You’re out to get 20,000 for an operation you deem
necessary to your survival.
There’s only one town “doc” willing to do the operation, but at
that steep 20,000 price and possibly risking the revelation of your
secret before you undergo the procedure. You find out later what kind of
operation it is and why the Stranger needs it in the first place. This
is the first “didn’t see that coming” moment in the story.
I won’t ruin it for you, but the ending, once you’ve helped out the
tribe and defeated the “really, really bad guy” that reveals another
great “didn’t see that coming, either” plot moment, setting up a
possibility of a sequel. You just don’t see many stories in games this
good. Place the top-flight story in a picture-prefect setting using some
of the best visuals in an Xbox game and playing OSW is a wonderful
journey that every adventure game strives to be.
Visually, OSW is a spectacular art-quality masterpiece times,
particularly during the game’s gorgeous cut-scenes. The game takes
full advantage of the Xbox in relation to the system’s visual
processing power. The style and look of the “typical” Oddworld
Inhabitants characters
are magnificently brought to life in
OSW. The
Stranger is reminiscent of some sort of feral, mountain lion-like
creature, while many of the townsfolk are fowl creatures and the tribe
appears to be is a bunch of gigantic walking tadpoles. Many of the
bosses are fat, slimy creatures and the final boss uses large
alien/spider monsters to fight you.
If you’ve played an Oddworld Inhabitants game, you’ll know what kind
of characters to expect, with the Xbox allowing a huge amount of detail
to their appearance. Water is stunningly realistic throughout the entire
game too. The cut-scenes rival
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the best that may
have been seen Final
Fantasy game or Tecmo-developed title. OSW is one of the best-looking
Xbox titles to come along in a while.
Controlling the Stranger is for the most part not problematic,
especially considering that the game must be played in both third-person
and first-person perspective to succeed. During third-person mode it is
relatively problem-free, save for a little bit of camera issues in close
quarters. In third-person perspective, the Stranger can run like a large
cat creature at high speeds. You can smash into enemies and knock them
out and also use a spinning punch and head-butt move to disable enemies.
Then, like another Xbox adventure title, Blinx, you then capture dead or
alive enemies in a vacuum-like device that you then will give to the
bounty shop and cash in on their capture.
First-person perspective comes into play when you need to use your
double-barreled crossbow to dispatch enemies. And while it doesn’t
come close to the first-person ease of Halo 2, it’s acceptable,
although switching on-the-fly from third-person to first-person
perspective can be a little clumsy in its actual application. The
crossbow has a unique quality all to its own, where “live” ammo
takes on new meaning. The ammo for the crossbow is little creatures that
live throughout OSW's world. These creatures must be hunted and captured
by the Stranger, and once they are, they are available for use to shoot
at enemies. Each little creature, with strange names like Boombats,
Chippunks, Stunkz, and Fuzzles, has a different ability: Some attract
enemies to a spot where you can trap them and defeat them (you can also
buy ammo and upgrades at the general stores in the towns). Others are
bombs that destroy them. Whatever their ability, using ammo is an
integral part of the strategy you’ll need to win the game.
Some of the humor you’ll find in OSW comes from the interaction the
Stranger has when he bullies townsfolk. The townsfolk’s oftentimes
hilarious (with some PG-rated cussing) responses and reactions come from
the intelligent A.I. that OSW possesses, where each creature can provide
some new and valuable information that can help you accomplish a goal in
hand. Townsfolk also drop money bags that you can retrieve when you
roughhouse or hit them, but if you hit too many townsfolk, they run into
the nearest building and town sharpshooters take aim at you until you
calm down or they tire of the indoors.
OSW has plenty of good, old epic boss battles throughout the game. It
will take at least 10 minutes to defeat most bosses. But using a
patterned movement strategy can get most bosses defeated. If you follow
the same pattern of movements, you can bring down the boss and corral
him for capture. Fortunately, even with the patterned strategy, most
bosses throw a major challenge at you. Also, while defeating a boss and
capturing him alive results in a bigger reward, it’s almost impossible
to defeat a boss without killing him. You’ll get to the point that the
reward amount won’t matter as much as simply killing the boss and get
to the next stage of the game.
This Stranger’s worth getting friendly with. There aren’t many
better action-adventure titles available for the Xbox today, and
clocking in at around 20 hours of gameplay, you’ll get your money’s
value out of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath. The visual and storytelling
satisfaction in gaming today across any platform doesn’t get much
better than OSW.
