By the Many Arms of Odd, I am honored to be among all you wonderful weirdos in Oddworld.
I didn't know where to put this particular first topic of mine. I thought of doing it as a discussion of official Oddworld stuff, but this is more of a fan idea for what I wish to be an Oddworld game, so I thought it would be more fitting for the Fan Corner. What I have to discuss is a proposal for what I want to see as a new Oddworld game, and it takes cues from both the original Abe series and from Stranger's Wrath. Here's the proposal.
Oddworld: Devine Intervention
The setting is based off Ancient India, albeit a futuristic one, with locales which take inspiration from South Africa and Northern England mining towns. Presumably, it is set in the same continent as the main games. In this setting, the religion, the government, and all the industry are under the supreme control of hybrid creatures who resemble a cross between elephants and cows, and multiple arms like Vishnu. This part of Oddworld operates under a system combining India's caste system and South Africa's Apartheid, where the upper echelon are called the Blessed Dudes, and everyone else, who compose of varieties of different Oddworld species who have an average number of arms, are referred to with revulsion as the Icky Thingies. The Blessed Dudes believe that their many arms signify that they were chosen by their Oddworld gods, and have been given the divine right to rule and harvest the land however they wish. All the characters have Indian accents, but their names are Irish and English.
The Icky Thingies are forced to work in these vast crystal mines and the factories, for an industrial purpose I'm not exactly sure about yet. Enter the hero: Devine. Devine is a purple Mudokon with a moustache and spectacles (looks like a cross between Abe and Gandhi), who is shorter than most Mudokons, very old, but ripped like Bruce Lee. His family were killed long in a crossfire during a Icky Thingy Revolt while they were searching for another home further away from Glukkon territory. He was discovered by soldiers for the Blessed Dudes, and was instantly classified and raised to be an Icky Thingy miner. Devine has worked in the mine for all his life. Although he is very strong, and practices daily a form of Oddworldian Fighting Yoga to keep himself fit, he has never held any resentment or violent intent for the Blessed Dudes. However, that all changes when he grows four, or six, extra arms. The Blessed Dudes Overwatch, upon witnessing this sudden metamorphoses in the mines, instantly brand him as a blasphemer and brand him for death for growing arms he didn't deserve, because only the Blessed Dudes are supposed to have extra arms as a sign that they are chosen by the Gods. Naturally, Devine goes on the run, and in order to survive, puts his Fighting Yoga abilities and extra arms to use.
While escaping, Devine has a vision from the Gods of his land, who tell him that the Blessed Dudes have forgotten their ways and and succumbed to decadence and corruption. They tell him that inevitably, the Icky Thingies are destined to evolve with many arms, and will displace the higher caste soon. In order to spread the message of the Gods and bring hope to the Icky Thingies, Devine is tasked by the Gods to infiltrate all the mines to liberate the miners, and then infiltrate the higher temple and enact divine retribution upon the high priests and the CEO of the city.
The gameplay I have in mind is very similar to Stranger's Wrath: players can alternate between third-person and first person modes any they wish, but the third person camera would be more under the player's control, and the combat would be primarily melee. The stealth would be a combination of the original Oddworld's and Deus Ex 1's. You can lure enemies to your direction, hide in the shadows, and easily dupe them. The environment would be more useful to your advantage than it was in Stranger's Wrath, and you can more easily sneak into crowded areas without alterting everyone to your presence instantly. The melee combat would be inspired by the old film
Kung Fu vs. Yoga, which involved doing bone crackingly insane movements that seem to defy natural anatomy. It's also inspired by an interview with Bruce Lee, where he said that humans would have to create a completely new style of fighting if they had extra limbs. Bruce Lee's philosophy was about being adaptable, "like water," and that the best form of fighting was to not strictly adhere to technique. After growing the extra limbs, Devine must learn to take his Oddworldian Fighting Yoga to the next level, where he must abandon he past notions of fighting with only two arms and his two legs, and become adaptable to every situation.
His best means to survive is to stealthily take down his enemies one by one with specialized multi-armed Yoga takedowns. Depending on where the enemies are standing or what they are doing, Devine would have a vast variety of Yoga stealth kills to implement upon them. Because Devine did not grow up knowing his Mudokon heritage, his ability to chant open portals or possess enemies is very limited, but they are there. He just has to learn them gradually, while at the same time learning new abilities from the culture he was raised in.
The locales outside of the mines, Devine would wander through city streets that a cross between Blade Runner's LA and a mythological ancient Indian setting inspired by the Bhagavad Gita and other Indian epics. Outside of the city, the terrain would resemble Northern English and South African mining towns, with all the creatures speaking with Indian accents but dressed like a cross between early 20th century English miners and the Indian Untouchables. Slogs would be rampant around this territory, as well as large and extremely venomous Paramites.
The choice for Devine to be a cross between Abe and Gandhi was inspired by the GOG.com interview with Lorne Lanning about Abe's Exoddus
"For one struggling against servitude and helplessness, some might wonder if Abe's ability to unwillingly possess a foe and bend him to Abe's will is hypocritical. To Lanning, fighting for your life, the only life you're ever going to have, is anything but hypocritical.
'I’m a big Gandhi fan, but I always thought he took the pacifism thing too far. He didn’t believe we should pick up arms against the Nazis, but I could never subscribe to that. I believe people like the Nazis gave up their right to live as soon as they started selfishly taking the lives of others. Sometimes good people need to do bad things so the rest of us can have a chance. Abe was born a natural pacifist and lover of all things alive, he marveled at the smallest things in life, but he finally realized when it was time to stand up and put up a fight.'"
Devine was pretty much an Oddworldian re-imagining of what would happen if Gandhi, or someone like Gandhi, had to take even greater risks in order to ensure the survival of his people, or other peoples. I just like the idea of having Gandhi's traits combined with that of Vishnu and the a Fighting Yoga Master, and I think this Odd combination would fit well into the Oddworld universe.
Do you think it might work as an Oddworld installment?
Oddworld: Devine Intervention
