![]() Created by British developer Just Add Water, it’s been ported to just about every platform imaginable. This is Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD, the remastered version of the game that was originally released back in 2011. Again, it’s like OI looked into the future and knew what we wanted before we did. It’s also, somehow, exactly the kind of it-is-what-is weird bullshit that the internet adores. It’s kind of a lot to take in if you’ve never been exposed to Oddworld before. It clearly has a lot of love for westerns as a genre, but it isn’t afraid to take an off-colour swipe at them either. Its sense of humour is loud and mostly crude. Stranger himself is like a panther crossed with Clint Eastwood. The people you help are mostly chicken people with southern accents. The enemies you fight are mostly slugs in overalls. There are no humans in Oddworld, only animals and animal hybrids. Because of this, many players may not be familiar with the strange, somewhat offputting world in which the game is set. In fact, based on their Wikipedia page, Oddworld Inhabitants haven’t released a new game since 2014’s New ‘n’ Tasty! The last game prior to that was Stranger’s Wrath. #ODDWORLD STRANGERS WRATH PC PORT TERRBLE SERIES#It’s been quite a while since the Oddworld series had a new entry in it. The Switch version binds this to the right stick and you can jump between them at any time. Third-person is reserved for 3D platforming and exploration, while first-person is used for combat and planning your attack. The two perspectives allow developer Oddworld Inhabitants to experiment. Stranger’s Wrath also sets itself apart by encouraging the player to switch between third- and first-person perspectives. You need to use them all in different ways. Trying to skate by on only two or three will get you killed. As the strongholds become more challenging, finding creative ways to deploy your live ammo is the key to success. Critters that make a noise to attract attention. There are critters that stun with electricty, or tie guards up with webbing. Some act as a grenade, flung into mobs of enemies for huge AOE damage. Some have razor sharp teeth and can be placed on the ground, ready to chomp on unsuspecting guards. The crossbow can be loaded with Live Ammo, actual living creatures that all perform different actions. To accomplish this, Stranger uses a single weapon - his trusty crossbow. Dead men can’t be brought to justice, thus live capture is more profitable. Head back to the Bounty Store and cash in. Once you’ve slain or caught enough of them, your quarry will be drawn in the open. You infiltrate the stronghold and take down their gang one member at a time, capturing them dead or alive. You pick up a bounty, and head out to their last-known location. Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath follows a simple loop. He is a deadly and cunning foe, setting traps for his wily quarry to order to haul them in dead or alive. He mumbles and slurs his small words, pausing to think of the right ones mid-sentence, but his profession is such that he rarely needs them. Dressed in the manner of The Man With No Name from Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy, Stranger is a unique creation. It follows the mysterious Stranger, a feline-presenting Wild West drifter who ekes out a living as a bounty hunter. The game is set within the Oddworld universe, the same one that the famous Abe’s Odysee sprang from. That they’ve re-released it with an HD overhaul for modern systems pleases me more than I can express. Developer Oddworld Inhabitants created something that would stand the test of time, and no-one played it. It is truly remarkable how ahead of its time Stranger’s Wrath really was. 15 years later, I’m about to do it again. I urgently sang the praises of this accidental masterpiece to anyone who would listen. I was one of the few that bought Stranger’s Wrath at the time, a blind purchase based on nothing more than the cover art and a gut feeling. Released in what was then the late-January dead zone, Stranger’s Wrath was critically adored but sank commercially when Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords launched around a fortnight later. Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath first released back in 2005 on the original Xbox. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |