the fate of abe and munch

[steel scrab]

hi, I know everyones looking forward to stranger as am i but after playing abes exoddus,after a long time i just wonder if they ever will return. I know OI will do a good job with whatever game they make after stranger. I just hope people dont forget them two heroes who brought us to oddworld in the first place, abe maybe more than munch. I dont know, call me daft for posting this but its very late and I felt i should say something after playing abes exoddus after so long and still enjoying saying hello, wait, follow me, work and everything else. sorry for my rambling.

[Shell Man]

I don't think there's any question about them coming back, OWI is just waiting for better opportunities to tell the main Quintology story, since Munch's Oddysee didn't turn out how they wanted. They might even be done as movies, in any case, Abe and Munch are sure to come back.

[Wil]

Concurred, there's no doubt they'll be forgotten. Munch's Oddysee was supposed to be an 'epic' that failed primarily because of contractual time contraints limiting the amount of time they had to insert all the maerial they wanted into the game. The excuse that Lorne wants to wait for more powerful technology tell the story of the Quintology seems unrelated, but then when development of Stranger started, OWI were still with Microsoft. Perhaps with the greater freedom they have with EA (We all should hope), they can return to Munch's story after Stranger.

[Cyber-Slig]

I really doubt it.Abe started them off so Abe should finish it.Maybe they could end the quintology with more gameplay and the ability with weapons.....More like splinter cell action but none of that goverment crap.It's supposed to be a sneaking game but its not really is it?You get seen all the time.The only way you actually sneak is by possessing a creature and killing the rest to make it safe.....I mean it would be fun playing as abe and sneaking up on a slig and strangling the poor sucker or kicking away his pants.....Or they could remake MO and make it more epic.It wouldnt take long.All they'd need to do is transfer the game , give it a slight graphic update and make it epic.If it did happen it might not be till after Stranger and Hand of Odd.....

[Wil]

It wouldnt take long.All they'd need to do is transfer the game , give it a slight graphic update and make it epic.If it did happen it might not be till after Stranger and Hand of Odd.....

Good lord, that would take years off of OWI's production. I expect Munch's Exoddus, should there be one, to re-use ideas that couldn't make the final MO cut. The "make it epic" part alone would take months of co-ordination, and "slightly updating" the graphics is no simple feat. Each CG model would have to be re-crafted, re-textured, and if we're meant not to laugh at the dismal AI, re-programmed. It would be a step back for OWI. Onwards and upwards, I say!

[Nate]

And if they were to redo MO (which they won't) the main change would be the plot; not the graphics. Put back in Sam and Munch's Jekyll & Hyde thing.

[caracal]

does anybody think that much's jerkyll & mr.Hyde thing is a lot like what stranger's disease and his other form are like? it makes it seem to me that lorne has given up on Munch altogether...and decided to just do one game to satisfy all his dreams about jerkyll/hyde thing, and making a game that satisfies the general public in all the ways munch didnt.

that's what I think, but I do hope it's not the case...I mean why wouldnt I want a munch sequel I could play (on PS2 C_c) and stranger on PS2 as well? I just dont see Lorne going back to munch...but eh...what do I know?

[Wil]

I don't think Lorne has abandoned Munch. The Oddworld Quintology is his epic story, and his love for it won't ever extinguish. I think, on top of waiting for more powerful technology to tell the story, he just needs a break from it to get over Munch. The story of Stranger definitely sounds somewhat epic, so maybe this will help OWI in the future.

The deal with the Jekyll/Hyde plot point (or more accurately, the Hulk plot point, as Mr Hyde was not massive and powerful, merely evil) being incorporated into Stranger has already been noted, but I'm not so sure on the acuracy of that observation. It certainly seems similar. Perhaps the first inspired the second. But whereas the first seems to be a constant struggle between Munch's real nature and the one imposed on him by Vykkers experiments, the second one seems more like Stranger coming to terms with his true nature.

As for why Stranger conforms more to mainstream gaming, that's something we'll perhaps never know. In the green light meeting with Ed Fries on the X-Factor special, it was noted that the average gamer does not want to play a fish. I beg to differ, if given more gameplay, controlling Munch would have been great, but I agree it's not a mainstream idea. Perhaps OWI feel they needed to apease Microsoft by going mainstream, or perhaps they felt they needed to regain the trust of the gaming public by appealing to a larger share of them.

[Cyber-Slig]

Actually a SLIGHT graphic update would make it better.The graphics ae alright but a little change could help.I mean I'm not expecting superb MGS 2 Graphics.And if OW got involved with japanese productions e.g. konami they usually make the best games in like less than 3/2 years with good graphics and epic moments.It could be simple.Munch had no special moments.All of the cool stuff was in the cutscenes.I mean if you actually did the part where he got pushed in the well and went flying to munch and back could be way cool.And even sneaking up and possessing lulu would be fun.They could have been like mini games.That would make the game better.And much better music other than the cold , insdustrial music

[Wil]

I think the music in MO worked very well for what the gameplay involved. Maybe if there was more of a theme, even when no action was taking place, to help identify the mood and the atmosphere. I suppose when you're not doing anything, the long drawn out whispering sounds are pretty dull.

[Cyber-Slig]

Yep.I mean think about it.Playing as munch and jumping from vykkers lab to freedom would be pretty spectacular would'nt it?