Like so many other twenty something gamers out there, Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee was one of the first games I ever played on a console. I can still remember playing it now, I’ll be honest at no older than 10 it was pretty tough going.
Over time I began to progress slowly but surely often sharing the controller with my brother. Countless miss jumps and blunders into meat grinders or explosives. New ‘n’ Tasty is a complete recreation of the same PS1 cult hit experience way back from 1997, the good and the bad still all there, but in glorious HD.
You start off in the dark and gloomy, factory-esque setting of RuptureFarms. Abe (who is a Mudokon) is from a peaceful shamanistic race that’s enslaved by the Glukkons. These Glukkons are your stereotypical evil businessmen, everything from the evil maniacal laughs to the executive cigars they smoke.
Glukkons are in the food industry, to put it bluntly they are slicing and dicing other races into meat products for profit, kind of like us humans. One day Abe is walking past the boardroom and stumbles upon a meeting which shows the Glukkons new strategy for maximising profit. Abe and the rest of the Mudokons are the next RuptureFarm’s meaty treat.
Without any hesitation, Abe realises he needs to get the hell out of there. You’re journey and bid for escape from RuptureFarms begins here.
When you fall into the first level you instantly get a feel for the dark and repressive atmosphere, it’s all a little reminder from all those years ago that Abe’s world is a pretty unwelcoming one. Everything that inhabits this bleak world seems to want to kill or eat you.
The game is basically a solid platformer, Abe must embrace his destiny and use his abilities to save his fellow workers from the impending doom. If you played the original 1997 title then you’ll remember there being 99 workers to save, well the workforce has tripled since 1997 so you got your work cut out for you.
The control system is still in large, the same. You use A to jump and pull yourself up from ledges, with down on the analogue stick allowing you to hang and fall to a platform below. B allows you to go into roll mode which is great for in between cover and can be coupled up with jumping for some serious Mudokon leaping action. You can also use objects that you pick up such as grenades and rocks to trigger a series of explosives. Lastly sneaking is a large part of New ‘n’ Tasty, you’ll also often find cover between smoke if you are still enough which enables Abe safe passage through some tricky spots.
As Abe is a fairly weak and unlikely hero, don’t expect to be able to swing any punches or take on any inhabitants, you must run, jump and sneak around the enemy patrols and traps. Oddly enough the challenge, despite all these years of gaming under my belt, is still tougher than a lot of games I can think of. Something about Oddworld just reeks of frustration and the need for perseverance yet ultimately is very satisfying.
Another fun aspect of New ‘n’ Tasty is that you have the ability to communicate with your fellow Mudokons, which gives you the opportunity to get fellow Mudokons out to safety. The initial problem you find though is the fact they are fairly simple, similarities could be drawn with Lemmings as they have no sense of self-preservation or danger.
I often found myself making my work mates “wait” while I cleared the areas, or until I at least worked out the sequence. You can also chant to take control of the sligs which is extremely satisfying, especially when you decide enough is enough and make them explode everywhere.
There are multiple ways of dealing with scenarios in New ‘n’ Tasty and it feels like it lets you do what you want…which is awesome. One example would be when I needed to “sneak” past some sligs I decided, no…bugger that!, so after a few attempts I figured I could speed it through with the right timing, and it felt so much more fun than sneaking for me.
The majority of the story is open-ended when it comes down to problem solving which is admirable, especially considering its original release was back in ’97.
If you can get past the tricky jumping and sometimes infuriating puzzle sections, then the journey is completely encapsulating, the story is absolutely brilliant and will take you some time to make your first play through. On the flipside, the addition of a quick save is extremely helpful.
Just Add Water (Developments) have done an amazing job of bringing the original style, with visually pleasing HD graphics (powered by Unity) that are genuinely astounding when compared to its ’97 counterpart.
To conclude, apart from being infuriated with the clunky controls and the odd obscure sections, it’s an extremely enjoyable experience and one that is just as good if not better, almost twenty years down the line. Older gamers will appreciate it the most as nostalgia will be rife, but I urge all you younger gamers out there to give it a shot, you won’t regret it.
Just Add Water (Developments) have done a great job of keeping Oddworld new and refreshing, giving us a tasty throwback to the 90’s.
Be sure to let us know whether you plan to revisit RuptureFarm in the comments below or reach out to us on the forums.
^Jack, @Jack_XboxMAD
Jack contributed 16 articles to ICXM between 2014–2015, covering game reviews, and Xbox news with a focus on hands-on impressions and verified-source reporting. Their bylines on the site span the Xbox One’s first full year of post-launch coverage, including the early days of Backwards Compatibility and Windows 10 gaming. They post on X as @Jack_XboxMAD.