I think the biggest difference between Stranger's Wrath and the older games is the character types. Stranger is sort of a self-made, more traditional type of hero. Strong on the outside, which makes his plight mostly an emotional one. Abe just wound up by fate or random chance as the savior of the Mudokons, and he's none to happy with it. He's physically very weak and clumsy, which is naturally going to lead to more slapstick events, and the same is true even moreso with Munch.
The opening scene in Abe's Exoddus should tell you that the old games definately hit home as much as Stranger's Wrath. The first living creature you see in the game is a slave with his eyes sewn shut so he won't know he's mining the bones of his own ancestors. That ruthless, oppressive nature of mankind has always been apparent in Oddworld games. That's actually been the entire driving force behind them.
I like Stranger's wrath a lot, not because of the difference in serious to humorous ratio, but because it tackles some of the same ideas in a completely different way.
|