Game: Oddworld: Soulstorm
Verdict: Odd by name, odd by nature
What is it?
Oddworld: Soulstorm is a platform game published by Oddworld Inhabitants. It is the sequel to 2014's Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty! and a re-imagining of 1998's Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus. Similar to its predecessor, the game is a 2.5D side-scrolling platform game. Protagonist Abe returns in the game and his goal is to save his fellow mudokons from slave labour.
Gameplay
The remake remains just as diabolically difficult as games of the PS1 era: each level finds a new way to imperil the lives of you and your followers in a devious test of your cleverness, creativity and patience. One area might require you to sneak past armed guards who you’d have no hope of challenging in open combat, while another asks you to keep waves of enemies busy long enough for hundreds of your followers to run away.
Graphics
Unfortunately, Soulstorm has a ton of glitches and bugs. These range from visual oddities to potentially game-breaking issues like followers disappearing from the level altogether. In the vast majority of cases, backing out to the main menu and reloading the level or closing and relaunching Soulstorm fixed the issue, but bugs are so common it’s likely to increase your frustration in a game that revels in pushing you to the limit on purpose as it is.
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