Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee

I'm just gonna say it, this is easily the worst game in the Oddworld franchise as it has an identity crisis that makes it a far cry from the other entries the series has to offer.

The biggest problem is that for its grand transition into 3d, the game it wanted to emulate was bugs and Taz in time busters, a multiplayer game that was designed from the ground up to be played in co-op even if it's possible to play it in single player. The issue here is that this is a single player game that retains the biggest flaws of that game, namely that you're expected to control two characters in an open environment one at a time with areas that can only accommodate each of them separate from each other. Whereas time busters got around this flaw by having a warping mechanic to warp the inanimate character to where the playable character was, this game instead has a speaking mechanic where the playable character orders the inanimate character to follow them or else they remain stationary until the player switches control to that character. I'm guessing this was done to avoid warping character to areas they're not supposed to be in as our two heroes are very different from each other as opposed to the two heroes from time buster which are very similar with their respective gameplay. Whereas Abe has a similar gameplay style to what he had previously (which translates poorly into 3d I might add) munch is an aquatic creature which makes him useful in water areas where Abe can't swim but a liability on land unless he's using a wheelchair to help him get around. If that sounded ridiculous to you, then you won't be a fan of the games humour as it trades the dark British humour of the ps1 games in favour of something akin to a Saturday morning cartoon, further accentuated by the voice cast including Rob Paulsen who reprised his Busby voice for some of the mudokons which is sure to irritate those who know of the existence of Busby. Another issue here is that the puzzles are way more monotonous this time around, this is largely due to the spacious level design which thankfully isn't as lifeless as most early ps2 and Xbox games but is regardless a bore to look at even for its time. It appears that mudos has been reduced to paranomia fields and factories as that's the extent of the landscapes this game had to offer.

If there was a game that was an obvious victim of studio interference, this would be that game as it wants to be a loony tunes entry but set in the Oddworld franchise. This would be forgivable if the gameplay and environments weren't so monotonous but alas, they are. It's not horrendous but given it's an Oddworld game copying the homework of the loony tunes franchise and doing so poorly, it might as well be.