What I always thought was that Elum provided too much of an advantage- Abe was never supposed to move fast or jump very far, he has to use his brain. His physical limitations are what make him that much more of a good hero character. It was kind of dissapointing, then, in MO to see abe jumping all over the place like mad and taking multiple hits before dying- at least Munch is still pretty feeble. I still like their idea of having Munch ride around in your backpack, making noise when he's hungry and weighing you down- the more disadvantages you have, the bigger underdog you are, and the better dramatic value.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand, I guess it would make sense to bring back Elums, but maybe not interactively. Have them as background creatures, like prey for a herd of scrabs in a cinematic. Not every scrap of life on Oddworld has to be playable at all times. Or, have some big Star Wars Episode one-esque war sequence with Mudokens riding them, or using them as pack animals - that would figure in very nicely to hand of Odd, as, from what I've heard, it's more of a sim-like strategy game (Probably more like Warcraft or something, but you get the gist)
In short, I think Elum as a tool like the mine cart for Abe to use is probably a thing of the past, just like we probably wont be seeing fleeches again as enemies in an action level sense of things, but it's not like they're extinct and will never be refferred to again.
Whoo, that was a long one.
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