Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD

I got through the game, I am mostly satisfied, and it has so many interesting aspects and beauties to it, that I can overlook the flaws - mostly, If you like FPS, and are okay with different mechanics than "shoot enemy in head, move on to next", than this is a wonderful game for you. My mature down points were: 1) I was expecting an open world, I guess from the screen shots. It is partly open, but mostly strictly linear in its levels. You can approach your targets different ways though most of the time, so you have some freedom how to proceed. (Stealth only works partially though) 2) From the screenshots i got the impression, that you will fly with a kite or something ingame. That's not there. its a mine cart where I interpreted to much into surrounding architecture. 3) The game changes pace - and somehow also style - about halfway through quite a lot. The "do it your way, take your time" approach gets partly replaced by pressure to proceed. 4) On hard, some aspects of the game are harder than others. You have the option to take people alive, and on hard, especially bosses are very hard to get alive, its much easier to kill them. That took some fun out of me, and even amde me have a major break in my playthrough. 5) I still don't understand the ending. Maybe you have better luck ;-) All in all, even though it has downsides, it is worth the five stars, because of the experiments and creativity in style, weapons, setting, etc. that other FPS lack. Oh and one of your Ammo talks to you. Its so much fun I sometimes switched it on even I used it rarely ;-)

You don't often find a unique twist on a classic formula like this too often. The writing is fun and enjoyable, the 3rd person shooter elements are unique and interesting, and the game feels good to play

OK, This is nothing like your typical FPS, the guns do not have bullets but instead are loaded with different little creatures that each perform a different benefit like the skunk who stinks the place up or the spider who wraps the bad guys up or the firefly who shocks them, etc.... get the idea? each have their strengths and weaknesses and each battle usually requires a different thought out approach for success. On the surface it looks silly and easy but if you do not approach and solve each battle with the correct ammo you will die fast. There is a stealth element but not really any stealth kills and the upgrades are fun and useful too. If you enjoy FPS and want to play one with a twist and not to serious then this is the game for you, also switching between 1st and 3rd person is essential and flows very natural. The dev's really thought out of the box on this one and deserve a lot of credit, the light hearted fun factor fits perfect too.

Stranger's Wrath is perfect example of how to make very different game from its predecessor and how to make it work really, really good. Nowadays game developers just can't make them like that(Fallout 3 being exception). Syndicate and Final Fantasy are great examples, their latest installments were very different from previous games and they weren't that good. Some games are meant to follow the tried and true classic formula and try to improve on that, but Oddworld is a series that evolved in a meaningful way with this. Really hoping they'd revive this series again and try to evolve it the same way, it's high time we see a new Oddworld game.

Ever since this game came out in January of 2005, (I still remember), I was attracted to this game just by looking at the case. Good thing that I tried out on my Xbox and it was the game that hooked me into the Oddworld universe. This game is atmospheric, beautiful, challenging at times, and one of the best shooters out there. I really recommend this game to anyone that is at least mildly interested in a game with a unique story and atmosphere, definitely an awesome Oddworld game.