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Review: Oddworld Inhabitants worlds have always been full of character and their stories entertaining, and Stranger's Wrath is no different. You play as Stranger, a bounty hunter without much to say, but with a need for a large sum of moolah to pay for a mysterious operation. And the best way to make moolah is by collecting on the bounties of various outlaws, as a chicken-like Clacker helpfully points out in one of their many and funny remarks, "You're a bounty hunter and we have a Bounty Store. Anything click?" The Bounty Store is where you are issued with the latest quest and offers different rewards depending upon whether you deliver the outlaws dead or alive. Bring them in alive and you get much higher reward than for a dead outlaw. It's the tools that Oddworld Inhabitants have given you that really set this game apart from others. Stranger is armed with a double-barrelled crossbow that fires small creatures that he captures. These can be used for a straight forward assault or for laying traps. For example, Fuzzles can be shot directly at an outlaw as a form of attack, or attached to floors and walls where they wait until an unsuspecting target walks by before pouncing in them. Shoot a trail of insulting Chippunks leading to them, and an outlaw will run around trying to stamp on them and unwittingly step right into your trap of Fuzzles. Or you can always use exploding Boombats and Stingbees for a more visceral form of attack. And it is not just as weapons that these live ammo creatures add to the game. They are also full of character, staring and blinking up at you from your weapon before being catapulted to their bloody fate. The Fuzzles growl at you, all teeth and red eyes, whilst the Chippunks hurl insults at you: "For a warrior, you're all p*ss and vinegar!" The various creatures that Stranger encounters along the way are also full of characters, the Southern-farmer-folk like Clacker's, all cowardly bravado, "What has two wings and doesn't give a damn - Me!", one of them spurts when asked what you should do next. However, it's the Grubbs that steal the show, being as cute as anything you're likely to see in an Oddworld game. It's the Grubb's that really move the story along at the games halfway point, and without wanting to give too much away, they are the underdogs, being exploited by a megalomaniac corporation, that you have no choice in battling against and protecting the Grubbs in the process. It is also at this point that the gameplay changes focus, gone is the cautious bounty hunts, replaced by a war environment that echoes Halo in its epic scale. And it is with Bungies opus's that Stranger's Wrath bares the nearest comparison - massive levels, beautiful graphics and environments, memorable set-pieces, an intelligent and engaging story. Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath is another excellent reason to own an Xbox. |
PC & Video Games
