Why did they make Stranger's Wrath???

[GlukkonGluk]

Here's what I don't get. OWI knew that Abe was a very popular character. They knew that fans wanted more of the Quintology. But what did they do? They decided to wander off and randomly create a completely random game, Stranger's Wrath. Now, I'm not saying it was a bad game- I enjoyed it loads. But it just wasn't really an Oddworld game- it was a completely unrelated game made by the same people. I mean, there are a few fuzzles and a Vyker. If they weren't in it, could you tell it was meant to be part of the Oddworld series? The style was completely different. I'm sure people would have preferred more Abe, or at least more of the Quintology. Any idea why they made Stranger's Wrath?

[Sanssouci]

Cos Munch's Oddysee was shit and Halo was popular

[Havoc]

I think that at the time Abe wasn't very popular at all (still isn't, Oddworld isn't ranked with the major names in top 10 lists anywhere). The genre of 2D puzzle games with a story about some weird guy's fantasy universe as a whole was quite daring really. The games were good enough to make an impression and get good ratings but couldn't compete with the rise of 3D shooters and good race games. So to go with the time OWH made Munch's Oddysee, which was a HUGE flop, both for the game industry and the fans. So in order to both expand the universe and put Oddworld Inhabitants on the map as a decent modern day developer, they decided to make a shooter like game that was likely to appeal to many gamers, even if they never heard of Oddworld. And by teaming up with EA at the time they got a decent amount of PR for the game and the company.

Above anything else I think the decision came from Lorne wanting to draw attention to OWH in order to show off to investors they were up to the task of making modern games. In basic terms they just needed a really good addition to their portfolio.

[Xavier]

Munch wasn't a huge success and they wanted to have a break from the quintology and do something else...

It's hard to work nearly 10 years with the same characters

[Bullet Magnet]

Tell that to Kelsey Grammer.

[moxco]

Strangers Wrath added a twist to the series and was a rather nice change. I reckon it's the most enjoyable (Oddworld) game in fact.

[AlexFili]

It definately feels like an 'odd' game, but the lack of mudokons and sligs is a bit strange.
BTW Kelsey Grammer rocks as Sideshow Bob

[Fuzzle Guy]

I think that at the time Abe wasn't very popular at all (still isn't, Oddworld isn't ranked with the major names in top 10 lists anywhere).

Ask almost anybody I know at school for their top ten Playstation One games, Abe's Oddysee (or Abe's Oddworld as they like to call it /holds back anger) will appear pretty high on their list.

BTW Kelsey Grammer rocks as Sideshow Bob

[Sanssouci]

Guys I finished this thread in the first reply please stop posting

[Bullet Magnet]

You will find that to be a fringe opinion.

[Chronicler]

While Abe is quite popular, I'm sure his popularity would have run out, especially among snooty fans with their flawed ways of judgement.

Anyhow, I'm not sure why they made it. The best I can come up with is because they want something new and fresh to the Oddworld series. If we keep recycling Abe, the series would get old. The Quintology might've needed a break.

Personally, I liked the decision. While I dislike many creature designs in SW, least it brought in some new ideas. Plus, I just LOVE Wild Western Flicks.

[GlukkonGluk]

I very much doubt Abe's popularity would have run out...Mario, sonic...even characters like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon have new games all the time. I'm not comparing Abe to them, but if they can stay popular all this time, surely Abe could have lasted one more game...

[Wil]

There are all sorts of ways in which Stranger’s Wrath differs from the previous Oddworld titles, so it’d help to know what you have in mind. The fact that Abe and Munch are excluded in favour of a non-Quintology hero? That it’s an FPS when previous titles were more adventure puzzlers? That it ignores the Glukkons and Mudokons in favour of new industrial and native races? Or that there’s a lot less industy vs native ways and for the first time ideologies more grey in their morality, like Clakkerz and Outlaws? There are different answers to each.

Munch’s Oddysee broke Lorne’s heart. He had such huge intentions for it, but the combination of time and technical limitations made his dream impossible to deliver. Such huge compromises were made. They were made for Abe’s Oddysee too, but Lorne knew from the start there would be huge compromises for the sake of establishing Oddworld as a promising series. He was lucky to have the chance at an Exoddus to include more of his original ideas. The difference with Munch was that for a long time Lorne really believed there wouldn’t be the same limitations. Disappointing sales and critical and fan reception was just kicking him while he was down. Abe had and has plenty of life left in him, but you can’t blame Lorne for wanting to try something different.

Maybe it was too different for some. When contrasted to past statements Lorne has made about the nature of Oddworld, it certainly seemed hyprocritical to have a physically strong, badass character in an FPS—exactly what he’d promised Oddworld would never be. You can tell how much they were trying to mask that. Iain Simons once noted how Lorne tried very hard to have guns without actually having guns. But the basic heart and soul of Stranger’s Wrath isn’t as different as it might at first seem. It’s a downtrodden individual at the bottom of the industrial food chain who discovers his true nature and learns to fight against oppressive industrial practices for the freedom of his kind, and that’s not shoehorned into the plot. Issues surrounding fishing and genocide were just waiting to be included in Oddworld, especially if you know about Lorne’s love of fly-fishing. Munch may never have gotten his own Exoddus to make up for lost content, but Stranger’s Wrath included more from Oddworld than just Vykkers and Fuzzles. The Mongo River, Oktigi, settlers and outlaw races were all imagined for Oddworld long before Lorne found himself wanting a break from the Quintology.

Much of everything else has already been said. The video game market at the time was clear to everyone. There’s no reason to assume Oddworld without Abe can’t work: I would argue that Stranger’s Wrath illustrates that it absolutely can work. There are criticisms you can level at SW, but—while I’m not accusing you of overreacting—it is too easy to over-criticize. It’s an inevitability of the series suddenly changing somewhat. The important thing to do is not dwell on the cheap shots but celebrate the greatness of the game.

[GlukkonGluk]

ah...I am constantly forgetting that many people didn't like MO as much as I did- but then, I just chanced to see it in a shop just after its release, I had heard nothing about oddworld since AE and had never looked into it at the time. I see your point, perhaps SW is more related to oddworld than i thought. But maybe what annoys me the most is that SW was the last game they made. I could understand why they would want a change of scenery if they had then carried on with the Quintology, but as they shut down- and I'm not saying that was their fault- I just felt it was a poor way to finish, with a game so unrelated to oddworld. As I said, I personally enjoyed MO, both the gameplay and plot. I think that one of the main reasons that people didn't like it was because OWI had promised so much more. If they hadn't said some of the things about it that never in the end got put into the game, more people would have liked it.

[AlexFili]

The sonic franchise is not nearly as popular as it used to be. Nowadays, sonic = crap.
It's a shame that they just simply fail to impress or do anything original at all.

I think SW works well as a stand alone from the quintology, but I think that SligStorm might have worked nicely as well.

[Bullet Magnet]

I have never heard of a single instance where overexposure did anything good for a game in the long run.

[Fuzzle Guy]

Russian Roulette?

[azim]

Oddworld inhabs were lacking violence in their games and like someone here said, I recon the game was done for extra money... pity they did'nt carry on with other 2 games

[Slog Bait]

Oddworld inhabs were lacking violence in their games and like someone here said, I recon the game was done for extra money... pity they did'nt carry on with other 2 games

I think that was the main reason why I wasn't too pleased with MO. I was expecting flying body parts when you ran into mines, not a body that fades away within seconds, as well as the blood spurting out of a wound when getting shot by a slig.

The whole Vykkers hacking at you and you turning into meat wasn't a very satisfying replacement, same goes for the recyclers and depossesing.

[Bullet Magnet]

Visceral gibbing may not have fit well with the tone and rating of the game.

[moxco]

I very much doubt Abe's popularity would have run out...Mario, sonic...even characters like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon have new games all the time. I'm not comparing Abe to them, but if they can stay popular all this time, surely Abe could have lasted one more game...

Stranger makes Abe look boring.

[GlukkonGluk]

You can't compare Abe and Stranger, They're just too different.

[Chronicler]

You can't compare Abe and Stranger, They're just too different.

How?

While their differences are great, their similarities are quite ..... similair. Both are looked up to as messiahs. Both are rather much quiet (for different reasons I suppose). Both are "at peace" with nature around them. Their personalities especially are pretty close.

[GlukkonGluk]

Well, for one thing Abe is more of a coward, preferring to sneak around and make his enemies tear each other apart from a discreet distance, whereas Stranger just runs in and beats them up. I see what you're saying about the being looked up to and the being one with nature thing, but what that really tells us is that while their goals may be the same, their methods are completely different.

[Bullet Magnet]

There is nothing cowardly about Abe. Rushing face first into combat when you neither have the skills, resilience or arms to defeat your opponent under such conditions is not brave, it is stupid and suicidal.

[GlukkonGluk]

True, but Abe still doesn't strike me as the type to do things the same way as Stranger even if he did have the skills, resilience and arms. Let's take the opening cutscene of MO. When the Almighty Raisin instructs Abe to free Munch, he stands and stammers for a bit, then trails off mumbling about the "stress and pressure". Not the kind of talk you'd expect from a braver character, is it?

[Bullet Magnet]

He has no problem doing it, but unfortunately he is on his way without the tactical information he needs since Raisin fell asleep mid-sentence again. Besides, I think you are wrongly equating "bravery" with "gung-ho", which so far no Oddworld character has been.

I mean, seriously, think about real people: how many soldiers, generals, world leaders, whatever, do you think are actually happy about going into a combat situation? They do so, they do so with honour and incalculable courage, but do you really think they're happy about it? Can you only be brave if you visibly hide your fear with a gung-ho veneer? Come on, you're not that shallow.

[Nate]

If anything, a gung-ho attitude implies ignorance of the risks. And I would say that you need to be fully aware of the risks (and, even, afraid of them) and make a conscious decision to face them in order to be counted as brave.

[Andrelvis]

Abe appears quite brave to me, specially since he usually shows that he is afraid, and overcomes that fear. Look at the video where the weirdos are talking to him, after going through the mudanchee and mudomo vaults. He's clearly (and rightfully so) afraid of going into SoulStorm Brewery to shut it down, but he accepts going.

[Chronicler]

GlukkonGluk, there's nothing cowardly about being smart. In fact, Abe shows alot of bravery throughout his journey. Stranger is different from Abe because he's a Steef equipped with a crossbow and has ammo all around him, he has the skill and power to take on Outlaws and other enemies. Abe on the other hand has no true weapons and shows little to no skill in combat. Do you expect an armless Abe to actually attack an armed Slig head on? That's not brave, that's stupid. Courage is the ability to stay strong and smart, to help yourself or others, even if something big and nasty is in your way. If Abe is to help others, he must stay ALIVE and not risk getting shot down by a Slig. Which is why he would go in the shadows to carry out his plan. Abe has shown bravery when going past the many tests of scrabs & paramites, facing up to his own boss after rescueing many mudokons, and he even has the guts to rescue more Muds from the grasp of Soulstorm. It might a bad plan if ya ask me, but least he has the tactics to get through it and help a great deal of people.

While their styles and tactics are different, I meant their personalities are roughly the same in some ways. I see some hint of Abe in the creation of Stranger.