Oddly good news

Oddworld Inhabitants developer Lorne Lanning has confirmed that a remake of Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus is on its way.

Talking in a recent Twitch stream, Lanning added that after speaking with fans of the platformer series during the launch of New 'n' Tasty, it was decided that Exoddus would? be "the next logical one to go into pro??duction."

Though it's very early days and the game remains in early development, Lanning added that the subtitle of the game too could be decided by the fanbase and -- depending upon its success -- the studio hopes to bring other Oddworld titles to current-gen platforms, too.

The post Lorne Lanning confirms remake of Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus is happening appeared first on Destructoid.

Delicious

Like Chris, I had my first taste of Oddworld when it was new, back on the PlayStation in 1997. Abe's Oddysee and Abe's Exoddus were two of my favorite titles from that era, so when Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty was annou??nced, I was pretty stoked to revisit the adventure through RuptureFarms an?d the surrounding areas.

To my chagrin, the PC version would not launch for many months after the PlayStation 4 version. At the very least, the wait is justified; New 'n' Tasty runs beautifully on my aging computer, and it featur??es some of the bells and whistles that come with a Steam release too.

Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty (Linux, Mac, Windows [tested])
Developers: Just Add Water Developments, Ltd.
Publisher: Oddworld Inhabitants, Inc.
Released: February 25, 2015
MSRP: $19.99
Rig: AMD Phenom II X2 555 @ 3.2 GHz, with 4GB of RAM, ATI Radeon HD 5700, Windows 7 64-bit

A lot of the heavy lifting was already done for the console version, but it bears repeating: Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty is a fantastic visual upgrade from Abe's Oddysee. The environments are all rebuilt and rendered in-engine?, making the transitions between nearby areas smoother than the original. Seeing Oddworld in high definition is a treat. Loading times have been significantly reduced.

Control is a little strange with a keyboard, at least for somebody who is more familiar with console controls. With full controller compatibility this wasn't an issue past my initial experiments to see how it works on a ke??yboard. There were some issues with listed button prompts when switching between keyboard and control??ler mid-game, but for my only complaint, it's pretty minor.

The main point to note is that the PC p??ort is technically competent; it is comparable to the PlayStation 4 version. I experienced no bugs, glitches, or even slowdown, which is great considering my rig isn't exactly state-of-the-art.

Unsurprisingly, the Steam Achievements are the same as the PS4 Trophies, down to the artwork and descriptions. Steam Trading Card support is present, with Badges to craft and backgrounds to collect. A couple of the trading cards feature concept art unavailable in the console build. It isn't much, but it might be the ??one noticeable difference in the PC version.

There is no Steam Workshop support, as Oddworld would have to be significantly tweaked to include user-created content. As a pie-in-the-sky idea, it could have been fantastic, but its nonexistence doesn't hurt New 'n' Tasty at all. Coo?perative mode remains as bafflingly unnecessary as it has always been; it achieves the same thing that handing a co??ntroller to a nearby friend does.

Alf's Escape, the piece of downloadable content released last August for New 'n' Tasty on PlayStation 4, is immediately ava?ila?ble for PC.

Altogether, Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty transitioned well to PC. Although it doesn't take full advantage of the platform, it has not lost anything in translation. If ??anything, the Steam version is a marginal impr??ovement with a wider choice in control, the usual Steam baubles included, and a lower price tag.

So I can breathe a sigh of relief. One of my favorite games from the late '90s got a great remaster last year, and it moved to my platform of choice without a hiccup. Oddworld has always been a dark, fantastic place to explore, and the upgrade to New 'n' Tasty has only made it more consuming.

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Hello! Follow me

One of the first games I ever played on PlayStation was Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee. I remember opening up the jewel case, ?adorned by a creepy loo??king creature with his mouth sewn shut, with no idea of what to expect. Over the course of the next few weeks I became acquainted with that creature called Abe, and slowly made my way through the difficul??t puzzle platformer at a slow, but steady pace.

2014's New N' Tasty is basically a recreation of that same ex?perience from 1997, for better and for worse.

Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty (PC, PS3, PS4 [reviewed], Wii U, Xbox One)
Developer:  Just Add Water
Publisher: Oddworld Inhabitants
MSRP: $29.99
Released: July 22, 2014

New 'n' Tasty kicks off in the bleak, factory-like setting of RuptureFarms. The (formerly) titular Abe is a Mudokon, a peaceful shamanistic race that is now slaves to the Glukkons -- a parody of evil corporate businessmen, right down to the cigars. Before the game starts, everything is running at status q?uo. Mudokons are slicing up and processing other races into meat to profit the Glukkons, but recently, profits have been down. Abe wanders into the boardroom one day and spies a new strategy -- the Mudokons are going to be the next main course!

Without missing a beat, Abe is immediately forced on the run, and your journey to escape RuptureFarms and embrace your destiny begins. One of the best aspects of the original was its compelling world. Within the first five minutes of the game Abe's Odyssee exhumes more lore than many other titles provide in five hours. You'll see Abe's race, a pack of G??lukkons laughing over the demise of an entire species??, and plenty of backstory to give your quest purpose.

The moody atmosphere of the factory is sufficiently terrifying, as are most of the inhabitants that fill them up. So how does New 'n' Tasty play? Simply put, it'?s a puzzle platformer built around Abe's abilities (or lack thereof). As you can probably tell, Abe is a fairly meek ?individual. He has the power to run, jump, chant (more on this in a minute) and sneak, as well as use a rudimentary communication system by way of button combinations (hello, follow me, wait, whistling, farting, and laughing).

He'll use the latter ability to start conversations with fellow Mudokons, and lead them into set gates to allow them to escape. The main problem? His friends aren't so smart, and will literally keep on running into hazards or enemies unless you specifically tell them to "wait," clear the way, and then tell them to follow again. Clearly, New 'n' Tasty wears its puzzle tendencies on its sleeve, as you can't rush i??nto things head-?on every single time.

Instead, Abe can make use of three different principles -- wit, stealth, or confrontati??on. The former usually involves locating different switches, pulling levers that destroy or otherwise maim enemies in a deceitful manner. Stealth involves holding down the sneak button (which will in turn teach your friends to sneak around) to get by, carefully?? ensuring that you won't wake sleeping enemies.

But the third way is probably the most interesting. Abe isn't completely helpless, as his chant power not only opens up gates for his companions to escape, but it can possess destructive enemies to do some real damage. The catch is that he not only has to have room to chant for a full five seconds (if an enemy is in sight, they'll sh?oot you down), but foes taken in this manner cannot jump -- so it's not a fool-proof solution to every puzzle.

For the most part, taking control of enemies never gets old. You can walk around and communicate with other guards, start a conversation, and gun them down where they stand before you overload your subject's brain and make them explode. You can run your subject into a meat grinder and continue on your way. You can a?lso scout ahead and use your poor possession as bait. The possibilities are constantly changing depending on the situation, and that's what keeps the game fresh and exciting.

However, along with all that gameplay comes a few caveats. Developer Just Add Water has not only adapted the same great level design and aesthetic style, but the same wonky controls as the original. Abe's jumping, to put it lightly -- sucks. If you remember classic platformers like Prince of Persia where jumping from left to right moves you a certain amount of non-negotiable "blocks," you'll have the right idea of how i?m??precise leaping is.

It's very, very difficult to do some of the tougher platforming sections (think mines in clusters at your feet) with the control scheme. Sometimes you'll try to get Abe to do a small leap, only to hit your toe on a set of mines and explode. Other times it's tricky to get him to jump farther, leading to some unfun platforming portions where you're fighting the controls to get to th??e next part of the level. I get why they recreated a faithful set of physics, but it doesn't mean it's ideal.

Additionally, not all of t??he game's puzzles are created equal. Although the vast majority of the story is fairly open ended in terms of how to approach each problem (which is just as commendable now as it was at launch), some puzzles are either so obtuse that you'll be spe?nding quite a while divining the singular solution, or so easy that the concept feels completely wasted. As long as you're willing to put up with a few of these sections, you'll charge on through to the game's more rewarding moments -- but I have a feeling that casual puzzle fans will get too frustrated to continue.

One thing that does translate well though is the original style, overlayed on top of the beautiful new visuals. Oddysee's engine has been completely overhauled from scratch with Unity, and it genuinely looks incredible. For comparison's sake I even went back and popped in the original just to see how much New 'n' Tasty has improved, and it was like I wasn't even playing the same game. If you're a huge fan Abe's Oddysee, it's worth b??uying it again just to see the world of RuptureFarms c??ompletely recreated like this.

Although the campaign is rather lengthy (roughly 10 hours depending on your skill level), ??there isn't a whole lot on the extra side to tide you over outside of three difficulty levels, and the ability to go back and save more Mudokons for a better ending. There is a "co-op" mode (just like the original), but it solely consists of taking turns after each death, and simply cuts?? out the hassle of passing a single controller around -- that's it.

Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty is roughly the same frequently soul-crushing, yet unique and rewarding game it was in the '90s. Even if you hated it back then, it??'s probably worth investigating the remake just to see if your puzzle skills have improved, even if t??here aren't a whole lot of extras ready for you this time around. In the end, Abe's adventure is a tale worth telling.

_{[Disclosure: Destructoid writer Zack Furniss provided a voice in this game. This was reviewed almost a year before he was hired, we just figured that we'd disclose that fact anyway retroactively.] -- CC, 8/5/2015}

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Makes sense, actually

Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty! is an HD remake of the PS1 cult hit Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee. Lorne Lanning, the co-founder of publisher Oddworld Inhabitants, and a man who recently took an eight-year hiatus from the video games industry, sat down with Metro and spoke of ??his reasons for leaving the industry.

Lanning recounted the stress?es of being a developing studio. He said that it wasn't really the game itself that publishers were after, but the studios. He stated that almost all deals were based on cost to acquire the studios so that they didn't have to pay royalties for a successful game.

He also went on to speak about the fact that he considers Oddworld to be an independent game. Even though it is an established IP, the studio is 100% self-financed and self-published. He states that this can be a double-edged sword, as when people hear the word "indie" they tend to think of something with less polish than a triple-A title and that's a preconceived notio??n he's hoping to avoid. He believes that in this the age of digital publishing that there's just no reason for big name development studios to come back in vogue and for creative decisions to rest in the hands of the creators of the game, not directors in a boardroom who have never created a game.

What do you think about Lanning's comments? They sound just about? right to me. Check out the entirety of Metro's interview for more. 

Oddworld New ‘n’ Ta??sty! preview and Lorne Lanning interview – ‘we’ve become triple-A indie’ [Metro]

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Pricing revealed while teasing announcement of release date

Oddworld Inhabitants divulged a few salient details regarding the upcoming release of Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty, remake of the original Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee. Most notably, the studio? has announced that the game will be offered as a cross-buy title for? $29.99 (€24.99 in Europe) with cross-save feature.

We also know n?ow when we will know when we can buy the game, with the announcement of a forthcoming a?nnouncement regarding the release date to be delivered on June 9 (go ahead, read it again). Why, isn't that just one day before the Electronic Entertainment Expo kicks off? Wouldn't it be an interesting surprise if Sony made such an announcement a part of their press conference? Gadzooks, nobody will see that coming!

The post PlayStation cross-buy announced for Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty appeared first on Destructoid.

The definitions are so high

I've been a big fan of Oddworld from the very beginning. And the beginning is coming around again with the looming arrival of Oddworld: New & Tasty, a remake of the original classic Abe's Oddyssee in high-definition. I like my old ve??rsions just fine but, holy hell, the visual difference is staggering.

It would be so nice to get a new Oddworld game along the line here. It is a franchise which has frequently promised a lot more content than it has delivered,?? long seeming to struggle to find an audience large enough to match its ambiti?on. While I appreciate that this beautiful updated version is going to exist, I just don't get the sense that this pursuit of re-releases is actually going to get us anywhere different when all is said and done.

The post Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty looking good in new gameplay trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

Abe baby

"You know what? Oddworld wasn't built on selling out." That's what series creator Lorne Lanning had to say about Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty coming out on Xbox, prior to Microsoft's self-publishing 180. Now that Microsoft allows self-publishing, we could at least see New 'n' Tasty -- or perhaps future Oddworld games -- at least on the Xbox One. The 360 st??ill doesn't h??ave self-publishing methods.

Oddworld Inhabitants didn't appear on the ID@Xbox list of registered developers, but a tweet from the developer offers a glint of ?hope: "We're still talking to Xbox. We shall see!"

New 'n' Tasty is hitting? PS4, PS3, and Vita spring 2014. I? can't wait! PC, Mac, Linux, and Wii U versions are coming sometime after.

Oddworld may still come to Xbox One, but ??probably not Xbox 360 [OXM]

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Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty is a complete, from the ground up remake of the Oddworld developer's first game, Abe's Oddysee, ??which might be behind my difficulty in spelling ??"odyssey" correctly growing up.

It looks fabulous. I can't wait to hit up that odd world again. Speaking of, I should probably pick up Stranger's Wrath HD at some point. Sorry, Lorne!

New 'n' Tasty is hitting PS4, PS3, and Vita spring 2014. PC, Mac, Linux, and Wii U vers?ions are comin??g sometime after.

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