How ’s about ya … finally wind up this one ?
Allow me to paint you a picture to start this journey : the year is 2005 . Living in the rural midwestern United States , the only gaming storage I had near me was a minuscule Walmart , and you ’d be lucky if you could find anything you were seek for there . Movie Gallery , however , was a haven for me in my bud years of gaming , as I could rent a video game for essentially air hole modification . Whether I wanted to jump into the world of Splinter Cell : Chaos hypothesis or render something a niggling different , it was a great way to expand my gambling portfolio .
However , one game at once caught my centre , thanks in part to its unique covering art . feature a creature beautify in a cowboy lid with a crossbow attach to his carpus , staring stoically into the space while surrounded by various creeps I ’d never seen before , I was instantly intrigued . short did I know that this game would quickly become one of my favorites I ’d ever played , even if I never got the chance to finish it .
My First Oddworld Experience
While I considered my gambling account to be full of variety , I had never once impact a game in the Oddworld franchise , even if they seemed to be right on up my alley . However , a new - faced adolescent was about to have his whole world turned upside down the first clock time they pop up a rented written matter of Strangers Wrath into their Xbox . While plenty of bigger and salutary shooters and platformers are available on the platform , with the flagship Halo dealership still dominating the musical style at the time , it did n’t have the same effect on me at the time .
What make Strangers Wrath so unique , beyond the ocular aspects of the game being unlike anything I had experienced at the time , was the ecumenical flow of the gameplay . After direct control condition of the Stranger , I found that the FPS portions of the biz were more than your standard affair , with Live Ammo being the adult hook here . Rather than picking up bullets that I could load into a variety of generic guns , I was alternatively using a variety of critter that could be found in the world as my main form of ammo . Each dissimilar critter has its utilization , with Fuzzles being great for set traps and Thudslugs giving me wondrous offensive index to use against the Bounties I was trace down .
On top of that , I could choose between life or expiry for those I was hunt , with ammo types that would allow me to stun my foe or eliminate them . No matter which I pick out , I could take the air up to them and habituate the wrist - put on vacancy to put them in an plainly never - fulfil bag . However , what sincerely blow my mind at the advanced age of 13 was the fact that the plot could seamlessly swap between a first - soul shooter and a third - person platformer .
Image via Oddworld Inhabitants
With the press of a button , I could bring out my Crossbow , satiate to the lip with terrifyingly lovely creatures that I could employ to pass over the trading floor with my enemies . After take them down , I could swap into a third - person perspective and explore the stage before me . At the time , they all felt massive , and a variety of towns full of Clakkerz ( giant chicken folk who all speak with a pitch - shifted filter for maximal hilarity ) made every stop worth my clip .
It was , and still is , in truth unlike anything I had toy before . However , between reconciliation school assignment , being a distinctive adolescent , and chores around the house , the rental flow for Movie Gallery would come up chop-chop . Even after renting the secret plan more time than I would like to admit , I never had the clock time to in reality complete the biz , even if I remember every moment that I had with it fondly . After the final rental , I calculate it would never be my time to land up it , specially after my original Xbox met its unfortunate end while playing Destroy All Humans and imploding upon itself , much to my disheartenment then . I ’m so glad that warrant are much respectable today , as trying to get Microsoft to fix my OG Xbox was a incubus and a half .
A New Era for High-Definition
Another thing I enjoy just as much as obscure first - soul shooters is collecting various games , and even though I have ( apparently ) two copies of Strangers Wrath , I never got my manus on another original Xbox . This made each copy of the biz that I had unplayable since the game was exclusively on Xbox and could n’t be bring on the Xbox 360 , either . So , what was someone like me to do in this situation ? Why would I desire to buy another Xbox after the newest system come out , especially since I had such regretful luck with my first console ?
So , I had to sit on the regret of never land up Strangers Wrath , something that has conform to me for almost 18 years at this point in time . However , circumstances smile on me when I visit that Oddworld : Strangers Wrath had become available in HD for my PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita . I purchase it on both platforms , alongside the Nintendo Switch and PC , consecrate myself to play through and in the end finishing this game . And hazard what ? I still have n’t finished Strangers Wrath . I was worried for the longest time that it was just the pangs of nostalgia tally the bulwark of my brain and that I would n’t enjoy the plot as much as I did when I was young . I was worried that I would find it cringe rather than based , as the kids of today say . But , about a month back , I ultimately decide to jump back in .
command were tight and spiffy , just as I remembered . A attractively orchestrate soundtrack by Michael Bross brought the reality to life once again , as the broken address practice of the Stranger himself once again took me back into the earthly concern that I so loved . It helps that the game still felt keen to play , even if some minor defeat may bug me a spot more now than they did back in the day .
Image via Oddworld Inhabitants
I ’m glad to report that Strangers Wrath still experience as good to encounter to me as it did back in the day . The unique world and premiss , mixed with the world-wide vibration of a westerly set in an unknown world , are still the biggest hook to me , and it ’s still just as fun as I remember it being . While some of the comedy has n’t mature exactly the serious , I ’m happy to say that I ’ll finally have the opportunity to dive in and amply complete this relic of the yesteryear and fetch my journey to an end . I can only hope that one day , The Brutal Ballad of Fangus Klot assure the luminosity of day so I can set out it , hold off for 15 or more years , and finish it off in the proper fashion .
Image via Oddworld Inhabitants
Image via Oddworld Inhabitants
Image via Oddworld Inhabitants
Image via Oddworld Inhabitants
