Oddworld: Abe's Odyssey New 'n' Tasty (PlayStation 4)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): July 22, 2014
- Release Date (EU): July 23, 2014
- Publisher: Oddworld Inhabitants
- Developer: Just Add Water
- Genres: 2D Side Scrolling Platformer
- Also For: PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
Game Features:
Single player
Local Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Co-operative
Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty, developed by Just Add Water and published by Oddworld Inhabitants, is a complete recreation/retelling of the first Oddworld game in the series, the 2D side-scroller Oddworld: Abe's Odyssey, featuring completely reworked HD graphics, remastered audio, and some new gameplay mechanics. The game was released for the PS4 on the 22nd/23rd of July, with releases for the Xbox One, Wii U, PC, and Vita planned at a future time.
Story - Score: 7/10
New n' Tasty follows the same story as it's PS1 version; New 'n' Tasty is about a Mudokun named Abe who is an employee at a meat factory located in “Rupture Farms” who is being chased by his employers evil mind-controlled army after Abe discovers an evil plot by the owner of the meat factory, Moluck, that plans to use Mudokuns in a new meat product after discovering a meat shortage in the Oddworld world. As you're escaping, Abe discovers many secrets about his own race and discovers he may be more important that just a mindless "employee" slave.
My only real complaint with the story is that there isn't much new that seemed to be added to the game, and while that is understandable for a remake I expected more for a "retelling".
Gameplay - Score: 8/10
The gameplay in this remake is almost cut and paste from the original Abe's Odyssey; you make your way through various side-scrolling environments (opposed to the original game, which featured separate scenes you would travel between) solving various types of puzzles, including jumping over various objects, controlling enemies to take out other guards, sneaking through various areas with traps and things etc. As you go through the game, you'll encounter many Mudokuns which you can either save by exploring levels and leading Mudokuns through portals, or you can completely ignore them and just go straight on through the levels.
Abe has a few unique abilities you must use to continue on with the game, he can use “gamespeak” to communicate with fellow Mudokuns, he can pick up bottle caps and throw them around at guards to distract them, he can “chant” which has multiple uses in the game such as summoning portals to get around obstacles or controlling enemies that can take out other guards and obstacles.
New 'n' Tasty also retained the "co-op" option from the old PS1 game, which isn't exactly cooperative at all, as instead of 2 players playing at once, you switch off every time one of you die. Unfortunately, this is a rather poor feature and doesn't show much promise.
Abe still has very "awkward" controls from the PS1 days, in the sense that he seems to have a lot of continuous momentum when jumping and running, he doesn't stop on a dime as other platformer's characters do. This makes getting through certain agility-based puzzles rather difficult, however it becomes manageable once you get the hang of it. After playing the PS1 game, I find this remake to be fairly easier than the older version one. This is mostly due to the fact that remake features an increased number of checkpoints, as well as a new quick-save/quick-load option that allows for quick trial and error runs. Despite these “easy mode” additions, the game still remains fairly challenging.
Graphics - Score: 9/10
Overall, New n' Tasty looks absolutely beautiful. The environments are gorgeous and detailed and give the players something to marvel at as you try to figure out each puzzle. The developers also opted to use 3D models for characters instead of 2D sprites as the original game, making the characters well designed and animated. I can't think of any real complaints here, the game looks great both on my 24in monitor and on my 50" TV at 1080p and may be one of the best looking games to come out of the Unity engine.
Audio - Score: 7/10
The soundtrack of the game features a remastered versions original songs as well as some new soundtracks being added in, and overall each song works very well for their paired levels. The ambiance as well as the enemy banter make the gameplay experience a fun and interesting one. My biggest complaint is the repetitiveness of the soundtracks in each level, while they do indeed sound lovely there's just not a lot of variance to it, and frankly it gets annoying listening to the same thing when stuck at certain areas.
Verdict
What We Liked ...
- Beautiful and detailed environments.
- The Soundtrack sounds good...
- Game is easier than it's predecessor, but still maintains a high difficulty rating.
What We Didn't Like ...
- Story is a bit stale, though expected with a remake.
- ...However the soundtracks are repetitive, almost to the point of annoyance.
- The addition of quick-save and quick-load removes a lot of the consequences for messing up.
- The Co-op is lackluster, and doesn't feature actual cooperative play.
8
Gameplay
Gameplay-wise, the game plays exceptionally well and manages to keep it's nostalgia charm while feeling like a fresh new game.
8
Presentation
The game is presented in a way that attempts to bring in both the Nostalgia crowd and new players alike.
8
Lasting Appeal
Oddworld: New n' Tasty is a fairly long game, about the same length as the original Abe's Odyssey, and offers a lot of content for all types of gamers. You can 100% the game, freeing all the Mudokuns and finding all the secrets, or you can half-assedly play through the story and finish off the puzzles and be done with it.
8.4
out of 10
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