Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus

"Abe's Exoddus" was for "Abe's Oddysee" a kind of expansion pack, an addition to the Oddworld series of games, but not a wholly new chapter in the Oddworld story (unlike the next one, "Munch's Oddysee"). According to Lorne Lanning, it was developed in just nine months, which is frankly amazing in retrospect.

If it wasn't for the ludicrous difficulty (further amplified by the infamous lack of quick save), "Abe's Oddysee" would have been a tad too short. "Abe's Exoddus" is considerably longer (you have a lot more Mudokons to save) and, at times, it can still be challenging, but hardly frustrating. Ok, the Glukkon-controlling parts remain pretty darn frustrating even so.

On the other hand, there is a slight loss of atmosphere, as there are slightly fewer impressive backgrounds (in spite of the slightly improved animations) and, aside the Necrum or Slig Barracks sequences, the industrial landscapes are fairly monotonous, distinguished especially by colors and textures. It's only something like the gruesome revelation of the "Tear X-Tractor" towards the end which makes me fill with shock and awe as much as I was in the first game. Yes, I know, that means I got used to fairly easily to the fearsome sight of Slogs, Greeters or.. hmmm, no, Fleeches are still pretty scary everytime.

Otherwise, the routine tends to install. There's quite some grinding involved, especially if you want to save all the Mudokons, but at least the gameplay is varied enough to keep you focused. The variety of the Mudokons and of the GameSpeak improves things a lot. It's a pity that the old 2D form will be so quickly abandoned in favor of a more spectacular 3D engine...