Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee

At first glance, _Abe’s Oddysee_ is daunting, even by the standards of your typical
lone-hero quests: the player character, Abe, is a malnourished fugitive with few tangible weapons to speak of against hordes of armed guards, vicious animals and genuinely challenging puzzles. But Abe’s apparent helplessness is only skin-deep, and forms just a part of an improbable web of themes in a brilliantly conceived story which is at once confrontational, inspiring and hilarious.

As a science-fantasy commentary on corporate greed, exploitation and environmental destruction, you might expect _Abe’s Oddysee_ to be another cyberpunk cartoon cliché. But it retains originality through its creative setting and cast. In the surreal alien dystopia of Oddworld, goofy protagonist Abe starts his journey as an employee of Rupturefarms, an obscene processed meat company. Upon overhearing that his corporate masters the Glukkons intend to turn
him and his fellow Mudokon workers into Rupturefarms’ latest meat product, Abe becomes aware of his exploited position and decides to escape the labyrinthine processing plant.

The level design and movement controls are somewhat familiar: essentially an early Prince
of Persia-style setup with discrete positioning of ledges, chasms and obstacles in a 2-D maze
of screens, often requiring carefully-timed jumps and patient manoeuvring in order to traverse the uneven landscape. But Abe can also roll, sneak, use fun tube systems and occasionally
ride on the back of a creature called Elum to get around safely. And Oddworld is not a safe
place; you will have to avoid and disarm landmines, evade motion detectors and trick deadly
beasts in order to progress.

But the game isn’t just about surviving, and by using simple button combinations Abe’s
more novel abilities and powers are made available such as talking to other characters, throwing things, breaking wind, and most notably chanting, which allows you to wield your psychic energy to interact with the environment. This smart and subversive side of Abe ultimately lets you turn the tables on his superior enemies, and is a defining feature of the game.

Despite its basic simplicity, the variety and unorthodoxy of the game make it overall fascinating and unpredictable. Like any puzzle game, _Abe’s Oddysee_ can be frustrating (a few poorly placed checkpoints add to this) and progress is mostly its own reward. However, freeing Mudokon slaves, killing Sligs and the prospect of ruining your own boss are all satisfying aspects of the game, and fantastic art and sound effects make it sensually immersive. The endearing Abe will make you want to fight through to one of the two endings and continue exploring Oddworld in the game’s many sequels.