Oddworld: Abe’s Exodus

This is the second game in the Oddworld series, and is my favourite. You play as Abe, the same guy from the first game. You have to try and save the Mudoken (that’s the race you are. They’re like people, but really thin and blue/green) Ancestor’s bones from the evil guys, who mine it for the main ingredient on their beer, soulstorm brew. The evil guys are the Glukkons. Anyway, the Glukkons are using Mudokens to mine these bones, and you have to save all, and I mean ALL the Mudokens to stop the mining. You traverse through a huge expanse of mines, while trying not to die. You have no weapons, but can possess enemies with weapons.

The gameplay is very innovative, and makes you think constantly. The “no weapons” thing makes the game insanely hard, but its also what makes it fun. You can, however, possess enemies by chanting. Only problem is that they usually run away, but some can’t, giving you an opportunity to wreak some havoc, or open a door, etc. Oddworld really takes a step away from the platforming games, where you can kill almost everything, and makes you use strategy and cunning to win. Another cool thing is that some Mudokens won’t follow you right away, while others have disabilities. For example, a lot of the later stages have blind Mudokens, which you have to tell to stop or go, in order to keep them from being crushed/ground up/eaten/shot/electrified/fall off a cliff. The alternative is killing all the Mudokens.

The graphics in this game are average. There aren’t any breaks or empty spots, and everything looks okay, but its nothing special. And everything is way too grey. The walls, the ground, a lot of the enemies, even Abe is a greyish blue. I know its supposed to be underground, but its a little ridiculous.

The sound in Oddworld is great, and can sometimes be hilarious. Abe has a lot of vocal commands, which help him get Mudokens to follow him. He can apologize, slap, tell people to follow, and many other things. But, best of all is the fact that he can fart. It’s random, unnecessary, and hilarious. The fart also makes other Mudokens back away, so I guess it can be helpful. There isn’t much music, though, and when there is, it isn’t interesting and/or repeats a lot. The sound effects are very good, can be easily understood, and fit in with what is happening

Oddworld: Abe’s Exodus is over 20 hours long, seeing as it has two discs, is very hard, and requires EVERY Mudoken to be rescued or killed.

Starcraft

Starcraft is a classic RTS by Blizzard, and is widely seen as the best RTS ever. I agree that it is fun, and is one of Blizzard’s best games, but not the best ever. I picked up the game, along with the expansion “Brood War”, for $19.99 at my local EB Games.

I installed it on my computer, and began to play. I decided to start out on the original, and play the Terran campaign. The first couple missions weren’t bad, but I noticed them getting harder…and harder…and harder, until, around level 6, I could not win. I didn’t know if I was just terrible at the game, or if I had missed something, or if the game was just too hard. I decided to play a couple skirmishes, to get the hang of the game. I chose the Terrans, and made my foe “random.”

I started playing, collecting resources, buying units, exploring, etc. I THOUGHT I was doing well, but after about 10 minutes of playing I was attacked by a massive horde of Zerg, who completely obliterated me in about 60 seconds. I tried again, this time using the rush tactic, and was again obliterated. I gave up, and went to play Guild Wars.

Over the next month, I continually attempted to play, and was thwarted every time. I wasn’t getting better, and I could not find a difficulty setting. I had fun playing, and on the occasion I did okay, found it to be very fulfilling, even though I lost every time. Overall, Starcraft is a good game, but quite a bit too hard for newcomers.