Oddworld: Munch's Odyssey Review

Abeâs adventures on the Playstation were arguably the only successful 2D titles of that era, gamers and developers alike were caught up with the move to 3D that 2D games simply fell by the wayside.



After a much talked about move from the Playstation2 to the Xbox, Abe has finally made the move to 3D in the enjoyable adventure Oddworld: Munchâs Oddysee. 



Once again the story focuses on Abeâs quest to rescue his fellow Mudokens, however by a stroke of fate this time around heâs joined by Munch, the sole survivor of
the Gabbit`s.

As with previous titles, gameplay is focussed on puzzle solving, to this end Abe and Munch must team up to use their different skills in order to solve the various puzzles that frequent the levels. Abe can lead and order his fellow Mudokens, and with the aid of Spooce â“ the mystical fruit that you collect through the levels â“ possess enemy creatures. Munch meanwhile is an adept swimmer, who can also operate machinery and control imprisoned furballs, whoâve also been captured by the Sligs. As the game progresses more abilities become available, and therein lies the games structure, itâs a puzzle game where the solutions become increasingly harder as you progress through it. 

With the puzzles goes an equal measure of platform and adventure elements,
initially these prove to be a little difficult as the controls are very twitchy
whilst the characters move at a fair pace, making precise jumping and
positioning a frustrating experience at times.



Much has been made of the games eco-system, which changes depending on the state of the unscrupulous work of the greedy Glukkons and the sadistic Vykkers. Taking a look at the water, the trees and the sky reveals the state of the environment, when there is poor environmental health; the region becomes more toxic, drier and brown. In this case itâs up to Munch and Abe to help out by activating Storm Circles, that freshen up the environment, as the state of it directly influences how many Spooceshrubs grow, and thus how much Spooce you can collect.

The trademark macabre humour that was present in the first two titles is evident in this latest title, and thanks to some slick presentation and voice directing this helps to keep you enthralled in the adventure. Youâll want to complete each level, despite their slightly monotonous nature, just to see the superb cut-scenes and what Munch and Abe will be up to next.



Visually the game pulls out all of the Xbox special effects that weâve come to expect, bump mapping helps to give everything that extra
shine making water look stunningly realistic, whilst textures are overly detailed and help to bring everything to life. Worryingly there is a fair amount of fogging, used to hide a significantly low draw distance, however due to the gameâs camera angle you never really get the chance to look out
as most of the game is played looking slightly above you, which occasionally causes some annoying visibility problems.