My opinion on Strangers Wrath

[scrabinator]

I recently finished Strangers Wrath for the first time and it was a great game. Congratulations to OWI. But, there are a few things about the game that bothered me:

It just didn't feel like oddworld (in my opinion) - It just didn't have that oddworld feel to it and I think a big reason for this was the lack of familar oddworld creatures. A lot of the time I would get to a certain part and just think: This isn't Oddworld. But I must say when I got to the grubbz, it just felt a lot more like it should (maybe it's because they remind me of mudokons or something). But the only things in the game that really reminded me of Oddworld were the grubbz, the doc, the fuzzles and Sekto...

The "humaness" of the vehicles - I would never have expected Oddworld to have such human - like forklifts, cranes, and even schoolbuses! This really detracted from the atmosphere of the game.

The fact that they seem to have just created an entire new species for one particular outlaw - Although this didn't seem so bad when I played through the second time and noticed that a lot of the outlaws were being doubled up on, like Blisterz, Boilz, and Xplosives Mcgee or D. Casteraider, Fatty McBoomBoom, and Lootin' Duke. But It still would've been nice to have some species names.

The pathetic excuse for an instruction booklet - Need I say more?

Lack of CG movies compared to the other games - The realtime movies just don't have the same effect as the CG ones...

Slegs - I mean , seriously, what's the point? I don't see any significant difference between Slegs and Slogs! So why not just have Slogs rather than creating a whole new creature?

Other than that I really like the game and am happy to accept it as a decent Oddworld game. So please tell me your thoughts on these issues as I'm dying to know what other people think about them. And remember, this is just my opinion, so don't start flaming me for saying that I don't like the game (which is a lie), I simply don't like some of the things in it (as I've mentioned above).

[Cyber-Slig]

Too short. Really, man. If I died to much on trying to get a bounty, I just rush through the level till I get to him/her. The addition of cheats also ruined it.

[Voodoo Hand]

The addition of cheats also ruined it.

Wow, i must have been lucky, no one came in to my room , put a gun to my head, and said " Cheat, bit*h, or i`ll blow pee brain out".

[Xavier]

gee that was stupid to use cheats the first time you played it.

Anyway I don't agree when you say there isn't the oddworld feel in there. It's there all the way simply it's a bit different then the older games.

But I have to agree with you on the CG movies, I expected more then what I got.
Don't get me wrong, the ones in the game were great, but I think there could be more of them. Don't tell me the CG departement put 3 years in doing those.

I think the Game was absolutly superb!!! Realy immersive and ALIVE! When you walk trough the world you can feel it's a real world with things going on and people living their life.

The Graphics are simply outstanding, best looking game on Xbox, no problem with that.

The Gameplay is perfect, I was afraid of the FPS element at first, but OSW proved me wrong. The game is simply 100% fun to play.

This is perhaps the best Xbox game I played.

[Cyber-Slig]

I never said I used the cheats, I said they ruined it. I didn't use them, but for those that did use it, runied the game.

[Scrubs]

Theres only two animators! Plus first the script has to be written , then storyboards finalised, then creature designs approved then modelling etc plus animating takes along time especially when its this good!! Just watching the end clip is getting me physced for an oddworld movie

[TheRaisin]

I didn't think the graphics were anything to write home about. Except in the cinematic cut scenes. OWI has always been awesome with the cut scenes. There should have been more. And too often in SW the ones they did put in just used regular gameplay graphics.

The gameplay disappoints me a little bit. It's fun strategizing and using the different types of ammo in cool ways, and capturing outlaws alive presents a challenge, but for the most part it's just kind of a straightforward hide/kill/hide again FPS.

Also, just the fact that it was more shoot-'em-up than sneak-around-doing-cool-stuff made it feel less like an OW game. The first two OW games were really cool and realistic: you sneak around, you kill people with what little you have at your disposal, you rescue your homies, and if you get shot you die. MO was a little less realistic: it was more possessing enemies and relying on homies to help you out than strategy, and you could take a lot of damage. And in SW it has come full circle. I mean, a health bar?

Also, a lot of the Oddworldishness was created by the dark industrial environments and the cool creature-filled wilds. So far I haven't seen any dark industrial environments in SW, the wilds seem to consist almost exclusively of uninteresting narrow canyons, and the only wild creatures I've seen were slegs (which were a terrible idea, they serve the exact same purpose as slogs but they're not nearly as cool).

I have enjoyed SW so far. It just hasn't lived up to the standards set by its predecessors. I hope when making the next game, OWI gets back to its roots a little.

[Abe16]

Serously, i beat the game without cheats. Slegs were a disappointment to me, I didn't like the way that they took the name slog, and made it into sleg! And the only thing i thought was the original oddworld, was Doc, the vykker and the fuzzles. But, the game was awesome.

[samtesla]

I've also beat the game nearly twice with no cheats (3/4ths of the way the 2nd time). Given the knowledge of the first run (what works, where, and so on) I've been able to get thru most boss scenes in minutes, and even get several of them alive. Once you figure out what works, there is little challenge. In the 2nd part of the game where the mode of acquiring ammo changes :-), there's even less of a chance to strategize.

I agree with the original poster, tho. The game was way too short, little resemblance with the rest, and too much FPS. Feel sorry for the poor devils like us who paid $49.95 only to see Best Buy drop the price to $34.95 a month later.

[OANST]

I loved this game but that doesn't mean I didn't see problems with it. I have no complaints about characters or environments as some do. I actually find them to be beautifull and fleshed out much better than MO. My problems are the glitches and shoddy animation in parts. There is the shadow glitch to start with. Those shadows were not only unrealistic looking but they also like to pass through walls. Then we have the slegs that evaporate after attacking. Finally, The minions in the cg movie where Stranger loses his pants look only slightly better than they do in real time. They looked awfull in that movie. Plus I would have liked more FMV's. That being said I still love this game and have beaten three times now.

[Oddish]

You don't use the cheats first, you can use it after you finnished the whole game, so you get a litte bit extra.

I thought the game great! I mean the size the of the locations were huge, and there was loading, only saving then you enter a new place. The first tutrial level wasn't great, but later the games get's better and more exciting. And I loved the jorney, it had the best plot in game. And I loved the part when the plot twist start, when they discoverd Stranger secret, I just loved De Cast Raider reactions "freak boy!" That level was like whaching a movie. And playing as a four legged creature was pretty cool too.
I loved the Wolvarks, they were like Sligs in some ways "I got'em I got'em I got'em, die you filthy beast!" I thought the water effects were real looking, and being in a boat was fun. The were were great, having critters sitting on your cross. I like the third person more, I like ramming into things, and it's fun as a steef. The plot the quite interesting and mysteryous. It has some the suprise too.

The downside is the pre rendended moive had to be in real time engine I think (it stills confuses me) , that's why they look blocky, and a bit more CG would nice. I also didn't like some earthy stuff they put in there (cloths, tractors, chickens, fort lift, corn, towns,)

And also I thought the the last time level was a bit of a rip-off of Halo's last level, but then I relised they used that feature on almost every game they've made. S

Some of the bosses were a bit hard, but not inpossble. And when you start from an early level, the cut scenes which you have saved in the option dissapear.

In the end it's a good game.

[Esus]

Yes, I noticed the cut-scene disappearing thing today when I wanted to re-watch the ending now I have to play from Jo'Momma to the end all over the again!

[Oddish]

Try saveing it on the last level , instead of quick save, you just do the last time you've saved if ,you don't overight it.

[Havoc]

Even though Im not completely trough the game yet, already I can say this is one of the better one's. My current list goes AO, AE, Stranger and then MO. With MO being a total outcast.

I think its kind of hard to compare AO and AE to Stranger, cuz their two completely diffrent games in so many diffrent ways, the perspective being the greatest of all. We all agree that Oddworlds roots lie in the 2D games, but lets face the fact that Oddworld would go bankrubt the second they make another 2D game. And the whole FPS shooter thing, thats one of the reasons they made Stranger apart from the quintoligy in the first place, they wanted to try something new without interferring with the true story. And they did a great job. Even though the game has a health bar, a 'gun' and a hero which will barely die, Oddworld IMO still did a great job giving it that Oddworld feel. Live was everywhere and you could interact with everyone and everything. Hunting for ammo was also a real nice touch.

I think we can blame EA for the lack of CG movie's, as well as for a whole bunch of other stuff that went wrong in the game.
EA is all about money, time and money are two things EA does not have. I wanna bet that Lorne and co would have put a CG movie after every bounty if it were completely up to them, and I would also want to bet that they would have taken the time to fix those engine glitches (even though they did a great job in the engine). And, Im pretty sure Lorne and co had great and better designs planned for the random machinery like cranes and vehichles, but that EA just simply didn't give them the time. A company like EA games can not respect a great gameing company like Oddworld Inhabitants.

Most of the games which are made by company's mainly funded by EA are 'good' as to the opossite great games they could have been. Cut backs, cut outs and time restrains are part of EA's daily bussiness. And thats not an opinion, thats a fact.

None the less, I think OWI did a great job making Stranger one of the best games they did so far both engine and story wise even with the presures from EA.

[ConkerTribe]

I think we can blame EA for the lack of CG movie's, as well as for a whole bunch of other stuff that went wrong in the game.
EA is all about money, time and money are two things EA does not have. I wanna bet that Lorne and co would have put a CG movie after every bounty if it were completely up to them, and I would also want to bet that they would have taken the time to fix those engine glitches (even though they did a great job in the engine). And, Im pretty sure Lorne and co had great and better designs planned for the random machinery like cranes and vehichles, but that EA just simply didn't give them the time. A company like EA games can not respect a great gameing company like Oddworld Inhabitants.

Actually, money is something that EA DOES have, and they were very supportive of OWI. In fact, I remember hearing Lorne himself commending EA on helping them with funding the project (or something along those lines) on a show on G4. Don't get me wrong, I think EA is as shallow and money grubbing as can be, but don't mistake EA's interest in OWI

That would have been nice, to have CG movies after every bounty, but then again it might have lessoned their meaning. In Munch's Oddysee, I felt that the cutscenes were too plentiful. I mean they weren't all special and beautiful in meaning as Stranger's was. Every cutscene was meaningful and made you watch it over and over again. You know what they say, Quality over Quantity. But I do agree that there should have been more of them.

[Esus]

No, they would've put in a pre-rendered cinematic after every bounty. They want to move forward in real-time game engine movies. It's faster and, in most cases, more bang for buck.

[ConkerTribe]

Just curious, who are you saying No to? I said nothing about the in-game movies so perhaps you mean someone else? I can't tell, sorry...

[Kimon]

Just curious, who are you saying No to? I said nothing about the in-game movies so perhaps you mean someone else? I can't tell, sorry...

He was talking about the pre-rendered cinematics, not the in-game cutscenes.

[ConkerTribe]

This: real-time game engine movies = in-game cutscenes

So he was talking about them, I just don't know who to.

[Nepharski]

My only real complaint with the game is the Clankerz...I hate them. I often find myself searching for (usually obscure) justification to beat them up.

[Kimon]

This: real-time game engine movies = in-game cutscenes

So he was talking about them, I just don't know who to.

Oh, my apologies. I though you were refering to the beginning of the post.

[Esus]

Sorry ConkerTribe (Heh, I wondered if you had an OWF account afrer seeing your posts on Gamespot ), I was talking to Havoc.

[Leto]

Try saveing it on the last level , instead of quick save, you just do the last time you've saved if ,you don't overight it.

Well, I save about every five minutes. There goes 20,000 blocks on my Xbox, but totally worth it!

And now, time for my views on Oddworld: Strangers Wrath...

I am usually quite the error seeker, but in this case, I found not many noticable errors. Firstly, there was the occasional water reflection error. The first actual error I encountered was when you exit the first town, just past the broken bridge. By some foliage, there is some tearing in the ground, and you can see a line of grey-ness. I know, it's great. And otherwise, I only really noticed when enemies were above you, and you were underneath the surface they were standing on, you could see their shadows through the surface.

I've only really punched a Clakker twice, usually provoked. "What did the five fingers say to the face..?", type provoktion(Real word?). I was slightly disapointed that the Clakkerz did not cry. In the mission where the trailers were blocked from town, they cried in their trailers, which made me feel for the Clakker characters. If they applied this when you attacked the Clakkerz, it would make it seem as if you have done something really bad to them emotionally. Not saying ther is no emotion in OWS, but I just wish if you punched the guy he would cry.

Hah hah. Female Clakkerz and Grubbs ahve the same voice of the Male Grubbs and Clakkerz. I find this amusing, slighty. Weirdly shemale peoples!

The last boss was far too easy. I mean, the Glocktogi before Sekto were really easy in comparison to him. Get rid of the blocks falling down to protect you, now that would have been a challenge.

Stranger seemed to seamlessly change life-style, instantly. He went from badass bounty hunter, to noble Steef. I mean, what reason did he have to protect the Grubbs, except that he was part of their religion? He could have easily said "Scru you." and walk off. I aint complainin', I love Grubbs. I just thought this was slightly phony.

The lack of cut-scenes. But hey- give the guys a break, the cut scenes that were there were movie quality. They could use that intro movie when/if a Stranger movie is ever concieved.

Weird spread of difficulty. I mean, Jo'Mamma and Packrat Polooka were the two most annoying bosses I fought. And they were pretty early on. At least they prepared you for later, easy battles.

[Havoc]

He didn't change his lifestyle, and at first when he runs into the grubs he aint all thay noble either. Like I said earlier, he just helped them out in the first place so they would fix his boat. It was later on he started to slowly turn around to their protector when they told him they would fight along side of him, obviously on a suicide mission, to get rid of Sekto. For them Sekto was someone who held back their water supply, for Stranger it was someone who needed to die becouse if he didn't kill Sekto, at some point Sekto would kill him.
I think the thing in the story that turned Stranger around (though its not noticable, or barely anyway, you don't see Stranger react to it since its in mid game) is when Sekto says: Just like your ancestors, you will die at my hand. That combined with the help and loyalness the grubs gave him, that turned him around and in the end he finaly accepted himself for what he was. Ofcourse that huge plot twist in the final movie was a big help also :P.

And, like any Oddworld game, the game aint complete without a moral. Moral of the story: Accept yourself for who you are, don't try to be like others just to fit in.

[AWWW]

I acually found it quite hard to understand what the Grubbs were saying, which leads to the point that I really hope that all Oddworld game's in future would have a subtitle option.

This could mainly be caused by my TV having bad audio or that I' m half deaf...

I guess the game did not really offer alot of things to buy because it want to show Stranger acually saving up for the Operation.

Oddworld is really small company and making games require heaps of people, espically at the size of all their games. To see their real size just compare the length of the games credits to other games that have heaps of FMV and you'll know what I mean.

[scrabinator]

Well, I just recently finished the game for the second time and it was so much more...relaxing. I was able to just take it easy and enjoy the game a lot more, rather than trying to rush through and find out what happens next! I must say that the second time around it felt a lot more like Oddworld (maybe because I'm just getting used to it and accepting it more). It's still not as great an "Oddworld feel" as in AO and AE but I am noticing it now. One of my personal favourite parts is rowing through the native tunnel just after Last Legs and just before the dam. I just love the ropes and vines going accross the screen... However, I still think it would of been really great if they'd just threw in some elums, paramites, or sligs or something. But anyway, that being said, I still stand by everything else I said in my first post.

[Nepharski]

I know I said earlier that my only complaint was the Clakkerz, but that's not true. There is a technical problem that really bugs me.

What's with the save system? You play for an hour and have around a million files. I always have to go out of my way to erase all but the most recent. What's up with that?

[Xavier]

I never got that... I think the save system is superb!

[Nepharski]

I never got that... I think the save system is superb!

Well for me, every time you save it starts a new file. It doesn't save over the old file unless you tell it to. Obviously, it would be less of a problem to one person, but both me and my friend are playing it, so we have a mountain of save files with each of our names. Bleh.

[Xavier]

well try tu quicksave rather then save them... I only got a few saves when I played the game