Blogs From Mudos #1 - Saul's Soulstorm Sorrows
Hello, everybody! It's me, TheManFromMudos! Bet you all thought I was gone, didn't you? Bet you all thought I was dead, or in prison, or waxing floors at Rupture Farms? Well, you were wrong! Because here I am, once again. And with the latest news about 'Oddworld: Soulstorm' from last week's EGX presentation by the man himself, Lorne Lanning, it looks as though I've got plenty to talk about.
But first, let's just get a couple of things out of the way. First of all, no, I haven't been ill or anything like that recently. The only reason I haven't blogged for so long is that I simply haven't had anything worth blogging about. Secondly, since it has been a considerable while since the last 'Big Blog Friday' was posted, I decided to simply start a new blogging series, which you are reading now.
So, let's get into it, shall we? Here's the first of what will hopefully be many 'Blogs From Mudos' to come. And of course, the hot topic at the moment is 'Oddworld: Soulstorm'. You've all seen the EGX presentation by now. Maybe you watched it on Youtube, maybe you livestreamed it on Twitch. Or perhaps you were actually there in the audience, ready to soak up the dissappointment first hand.
But was there really anything to be dissappointed by? The artwork was phenomenal, the teaser trailer was chilling. And what about that adorable little scamp, Toby? Not to mention the array of other new or redesigned characters. This game seems amazing, a credit to the franchise. And then... the new mechanics. A follower management system? 'Ammo', 'Chi' and 'Moolah'? What is this, The Hand of Odd?
Yes, what's really driven people crazy about Lanning's EGX presentation is the changes that they've made to the gameplay. We all knew right from the start that this game was going to retell Exoddus completely. We all expected new areas, new characters, and new plot twists. What we didn't expect was to be burduned with 301 'Free Mudokons' as soon as we started the game. After all, they're supposed to be... well, free.
The fact of the matter is that Oddworld Inhabitants said from the very start that they wanted to 'completely re-imagine' Abe's Exoddus with Soulstorm, looking at the game from an entirely new perspective. And they have done. The only problem is, from what we've seen so far, they've done too much re-imagining. It's more re-imagined than we'd imagined. And so far, we've only seen the new UI. How much more can they have changed?
There's only one thing that I can say with some certainty after seeing Lanning's presentation: I'm uncertain. The game looks brilliant, they've really taken it to the next level with the diversity of these characters. And the backstory is thrice as dark as it ever was before. But while I like the idea of what at first glance seems to be an Oddworld-based strategy game, I don't think that 'Soulstorm' should be the one to introduce it.
That being said, I think we can all agree that further judgement should be withheld for the time being. Knowing OI, they'll still pull this out of the bag, and it'll turn out to be a corker of a game. All we can do is wait and see...
Or, of course, we could all share our own thoughts on the new direction that 'Soulstorm' appears to be taking. So, tell me: Do you like the new concepts and features that Lorne and the gang are bringing to 'Soulstorm'? Do you hate them? Or are you, like myself, still on the fence about the whole thing? Let me know your opinions, and I'll be back again soon for another 'Blog From Mudos'. Goodbye for now!
(By the way, 'Saul' is my first name, hence the title of this particular blog!)