[Volsung]

My last two sentences are joking, in the sense that I doubt you weren't sober when you posted. The other points I made in them still apply. If you think that the heavier comedy severely impairs the emotional impact of seeing the mudokons beaten and routinely electrified in AE, then you're a much more thick-skinned person than I am.

I may have been harsh, but it bothers me that you would equate a change of tone with an increase in realism. (I'm not entirely sure why.)

Stranger feels no more based on earth than the previous games, in my opinion. The Abe and Munch games are like Dark Comedies; you laugh, and then have to think about why you're laughing when all these terrible things are occurring. Stranger's a Historical Drama, only funnier. If one or the other reaches you better, that's fine, but don't imply that the former sends a weaker message or has less "truth" to it.

I guess my underlying point here is what Esus and Angalok have already stated--namely, that the inspiration for Oddworld has always been drawn from Earth and events that transpire here. A sub-point being that the plots have always been hung on equally serious issues: Genocide, Slavery, Imperialism, Racism, etc.... You won't find a single Oddworld game that doesn't incorporate these issues (though SW has opted to marginalize and systematically destroy the Grubbs instead of enslaving them. A slight break from the historical plight of Native Americans).

Still, its possible I'm finding slights where there are none. Its been known to happen. I just think that what sets Stranger apart from the other games (aside from the obvious) is that they're pursuing a different way of telling the same story. I don't think that anything other than the designs are becoming more Earthly than they were before.

Oddworld is a way of looking at the past. If OWI wants to be "real" I believe that they'll show us the future, via Citizen Siege.