Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath | Pixel Pursuit

[@Tchernobog]

agreed with the cosmetic changes to Stranger. I remember saving so much moolah and you know what happens and you lose it all. I felt some slight costume adjustments, or even armor would have been good.

[@PixelPursuit]

I completely agree! I feel like if this game was made today and had a big enough budget, it probably would have had a lot more extra stuff to do. It would have probably been more of an open world, it would have had side quests and it would have had cosmetic stuff to unlock. Maybe if we ever see a sequel we might get that stuff, but we'll have to wait and see how Soulstorm turns out first! :D

[@RapturePlasmids]

I found this game recently on steam and really loved it. Im amazed how good the gameplay is from a game that came out in 2005. I especially love the theme; and the ammo/creature gimmick is something id love to see more of.

[@PixelPursuit]

Yeah for sure! It was pretty ahead of it's time and it doesn't feel all that dated even playing it today. Plus I imagine the PC version looks even better than the version I played too!

[@da3879]

It was this, Tony Hawk Underground, Halo 2, Ninja Gaiden Black and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory that I think was definitely what made me like Xbox in general, because I was more of a Playstation guy before. Metal Gear Solid 1-3 still being some of my favorite games of all time, but these 4 were definitely the games that definitely got me sold on the Xbox. I preferred the Xbox version of the Tony Hawk game I think because while there is music in the game itself(and that is just the version I got at the time), you were also able to add your own music to the game as well. Honestly the only game that I haven't played in a while is Tony Hawk Underground, since that is still not really available on PC nor is it available on Xbox backwards compatibility list. Beyond that I still play the other ones from time to time. Also, Stranger's Wrath certainly does seem like it ended on a point where it felt like there should have been a second or something to explain more of what was going on, but of course you know the game while it is really good apparently didn't sell very well, so maybe part of the reason we don't have another story to at least explain more.

[@PixelPursuit]

I think the games that got me into Xbox were Halo, Oddworld and Fable. I remember being blown away by Halo when I first played it and I was trying to find similar games on the PS2, but nothing really compared! TimeSplitters was a good alternative though! That's awesome, I know THPS2X allowed you to add a custom soundtrack but I didn't know you could do that with the other games too, that's a pretty big positive over the other versions. It's a shame Underground isn't more readily accessible because I'm pretty sure that out of the post-Pro Skater era, Underground 1 is my favourite! Hopefully it'll be backwards compatible on the Series X. Yeah it definitely set itself up for a sequel and it's a shame it never happened. At the same time though I feel like if Stranger's Wrath had been successful and we would have gotten a sequel to it, the Oddworld series might have lost a bit of focus from the main ongoing story with Abe. I think it's an amazing idea to do side games like Stranger's Wrath but they should probably keep them as self contained stories without sequels. I just want to one day see the end of Abe's story!

[@ViewtifulBeau]

Really good review on probably my favorite game for the Xbox. Even more than Halo. Happy you're putting the good word out for people who've never heard of it. I desperately want and NEED a continuation of this game world and character specifically. So good.

[@PixelPursuit]

Thank you, and yeah I would probably agree that this is better than Halo! Not sure about Halo 2 though, I have extremely fond memories of that game! It's a shame that more people don't talk about Stranger's Wrath, despite being a part of the Oddworld series which is quite well known, hardly anyone seems to care about it. Oh man, can you imagine what they could do with a sequel to this game if they had a big enough budget? It could be incredible. I hope one day they do come back to this setting and do something else with it!

[@ViewtifulBeau]

@@PixelPursuit i can only imagine. The voice of Stranger is perfect. I'd somehow like him to come back to reprise the role if possible.

[@PixelPursuit]

For sure, it wouldn't be the Stranger without that bassy voice!

[@ScherrHrenner]

I just finished this game on the Switch and jumped to your review immediately after the credits (I wanted to avoid any spoilers), and I must say this game is really awesome; I enjoyed it a lot. Since it was my very first experience with a first-person shooter, I had a relatively slow start at first, but I got used to it rather quickly. Even the platforming worked quite well for me, although I usually find that part in 3D-platformers quite frustrating. Maybe it helped that the game is more of a shooter than a platformer. The "third act", as you called it, however, was quite interesting in and of itself, but I found the shift from the rest of the game a bit too drastic, e.g. the Western aspects and the money system were dropped completely. Even the enemies (aside from Slogs) and Stranger's design changed. It made the first two acts feel rather pointless in hindsight since the money you collected and the boss battles with their outcomes (capturing the bosses dead or alive and turning their bodies in at the Bounty Store) basically amounted to nothing. At times I even had the feeling that I would play two different games that share some basic game mechanics. But that's my only major criticism of an overall really well-made and enjoyable game. By the way, the game plays indeed really well on the Nintendo Switch.

[@PixelPursuit]

It's probably a good job you finished it before watching the video because I literally ruin the whole plot twist haha! This is a great game to be your first FPS game, with it having third person elements too it's a good place to start for sure! But yeah the first person platforming is kept fairly minimal in Stranger's Wrath so that's probably why it's not too bad! I definitely agree with you about the third act of the game. It's really different to the first parts of the game in every single way. Literally the entire progression structure of the game transforms and it becomes far more of a shooter too. It was a risky move to do something like that but I actually kinda like how it makes the first parts of the game feel pointless because I feel like that was the intent of the developers. I guess they were making a point about capitalism not being the answer to your problems and embracing who you are even if it has risks. It's the only way to make a change! That's good to know! I've actually had the game on Switch for ages now but I've not yet actually played it!

[@VikingVern7]

22:22 in a recent playthrough i eventualy learned that to capture each boss alive is actually a unique puzzle each boss individually that involves figuring out which combination of ammo types effect each boss's stamina bar the most. And Zap flies was almost never the correct answer usually being the second or third best stamina drainer to use while the best one is reloading. I remember alot of times it would be supriszing where this one boss would have his stamina bar drained greatly by the usually lethal bomb bats, and another would get tired out by the upgraded beez only, and often the rolly polly bug slug would be good. I remember going into each boss and it seeming like taking them alive would be insanely difficult, usually cause of their differing stamina regain factors, and i would die a few times until i figured out which two ammo types effected their stamina bar the most and once that happened capturing them alive would suddenly become easy.

[@PixelPursuit]

I noticed that with some of the enemies but sometimes even the ones with weaknesses to certain ammo types are really tough to capture alive, especially on hard mode! It's kind of weird how there's actually very little incentive to capture anyone alive though. Sure you get more money to spend on upgrades but if you're going down a more lethal route anyway, you don't really need the upgrades. I kinda feel like maybe there should have been a part at the end where you're helped out by the people you've captured alive in a massive difficult fight against Sekto's army, but if you killed everyone then you have no-one helping you which makes it more difficult. That could have been interesting!

[@jaborsey_joseph]

Fun Fact: Stranger's Wrath was originally the sequel to Munch's Odyssey Munch's Exodus and featured Stranger traveling with Munch to hatch the Gabbit eggs.

[@PixelPursuit]

Is that true? Where did you hear that? There's so many little tidbits of information that people give me like that and I'm always thinking, how didn't I already know that 😅 I've researched the Oddworld series extensively and yet I still don't know everything about it!

[@ChristianFrates1997]

That’s not true.

[@mourningdove5679]

I actually like munch’s odyssey. I guess the mobile gameplay is better. I also have an oddworld plush collection on my channel

[@agamaz5650]

same i enjoyed it

[@agamaz5650]

when I played Munch's Oddysey it felt more like an atmospheric experiment, Stranger's Wrath feels much more like a sophisticated game imo

[@PixelPursuit]

I think I'm a bit of an 'odd' one out by not liking it. I can see why people do like it but it's definitely not for me. Nice, I just had a quick look at that, are they homemade?

[@knate44]

Heck yeah, new hidden gem game for my vita.

[@PixelPursuit]

Yeah! I'm pretty sure that if you buy it on Vita you also get the PS3 version too, so you have the best of both worlds! :D

[@jacksonvega7751]

Comparing the first two game to the 3rd n 4th games is pretty bizarre, the first two being beautiful classics n the latter lookin like turgid crap. Abes Oddysee was such a special game, it had a massive effect on me n my tastes

[@PixelPursuit]

Yeah they're very different games so it's pretty difficult doing any sort of comparison between them. I don't think Stranger's Wrath looks that bad but it doesn't hold a candle to the graphics in the first two games. Abe's Oddysee and Exoddus also had that same impact on me too! I think they affected a lot of people in that way which is why they remain so beloved!

[@agamaz5650]

my favourite Oddworld! really good review, not much to say (then I started writing and realised I have much to say lmaooo) This game is so fucking good. Like Call Of Cthulhu Dark Corners Of The Earth, both games originally Xbox exclusives, and instead of huge hits they are sadly underrated gems. I truly hope the Nintendo Switch port will be mindblowing (I asked Oddworld Inhabitans, they said the game should run at 60 fps, really really hope it is stable) 25:56 wtffff haha i played like a half of the game and thank god i watched this video before i finished it and 26:37 WHAT THE FUU 31:19 yess could not say it better, absolutely agreed this game is incredible, I only played half of it but I can say this is probably one of my favourite games I ever played yeah that sounds incredible that it works, maybe someone in Oddworld Inhabitans was high when that idea came into his head haha 31:43 absolutely that would be amazing, ROB OMG Imagine if Oddworld Inhabitans collabed with Rockstar Games that will blow people's minds... IMAGINE how sick it would look and play like, if Oddworld Inhabitans collabed with open world masters! surprisingly, this game is actually A LOT more demanding than Munch's Oddysey on PC, that game run flawlessly at 60 fps with no drops, Stranger's Wrath could not hit 60 fps on my laptop with i3 and HD 4400 in 720p... although I played it on my PC with GTX 1060 and it runs FLAWLESSLY in 1440p max settings. So the game is properly optimised, it is obvious it is demanding since it looks ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. (I played this game at school one time and my classmate thought I was lying when I said the game came out in 2005 haha) So the framerate is not that stable on PS3 but the PC version is almost flawless. I don't get why you would play it on a PS3 if a much better PC version exists... Hmmm I didn't mind the simplistic story since the gameplay is so brilliant, but yeah the game could have been more open world, but bro open world games are so expensive, to be quite honest if they made the game more open world with their budget, they could fuck it up easily, so I am glad they chose to make a more simple path, but make it well. (Look at Manhunt, (it is my second favorite game of all time btw). That game is made by Rockstar, it is extremely linear but feels so satisfying to play on PC, I do not mind at all. Bruh.. the sound design is very average imo.. not very interesting. Altho, a while later I was watching a movie Phenomena (love that movie btw), and as a certain guitar sountrack hit, I immediately thought of playing Stranger's Wrath. It was a very comfortable feeling, so maybe the soundtrack can go to your head a bit. To be honest I think 8 out of 10 is fine rating, maybe a bit higher but you are right the story, soundtrack, and open world could be much better, but tbh it is so good already I havent even noticed the story, soundtrack and open world could be better, and that is amazing. Oddworld Stranger's Wrath is probably the peek in gameplay and originality. Imagine if it had racing that game would have almost everything. Stranger's Wrath is a piece of art, and honestly it is almost a mirracle that game has a flawless PC port

[@PixelPursuit]

Thanks! And yeah haha, it turns out you had a lot to say after all! I think there's a lot of hidden gems on the original Xbox, I never really collected games for that system outside of the big hits, but there's so many I've heard about that look really underrated. Maybe because of the original Xbox not being as big as the PS2 or the GameCube. That's good news. I'm sure it'll be a great port, they've been working on it for quite a long time now and it'll probably be the definitive version of the game. Plus being able to play it portable will be awesome. It really is an incredible game, I'm just shocked because even though I've played it before multiple times for some reason it feels like I appreciate it a lot more now than what I did back then. Maybe it's just aged really well or like I say in the review, it might be that it was ahead of it's time in a lot of ways. It's way better than it gets credit for. Yeah I figured it would probably run a lot better on the PC, which makes sense because obviously PCs are far more powerful than a PS3. The reason I reviewed the PS3 versions is kinda just because I prefer consoles over PC games. I'm not really sure why that is to be honest, maybe just because I'm into retro games I have a certain attachment to consoles haha. But another reason is because I feel like with PC games you could run into issues because of your PC rather than it being the game, so like if your PC isn't powerful enough to run a game properly and it drops frames, but then other people with more powerful PCs wouldn't encounter that problem. So for a review it makes more sense to play the console version because then everyone is on a level playing field and any issues you encounter are to do with the game and not the system. Hopefully that makes a bit of sense... True. In an ideal world they would be given a massive budget to create a huge game on a scale bigger than Stranger's Wrath and maybe make it open world. I normally say that open world games should have been more linear because it's difficult to pull off open worlds and actually make them interesting to explore. Like with Metal Gear Solid V, that game had no reason to be open world and it should have been way more linear and focused. Breath of the Wild is probably the best example of an open world that I've ever seen, and I do also like Fallout 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2. But yeah, some games feel like they're doing the whole open world thing for no real reason. The sound design isn't anything special, I'll admit that, but it's not bad either. It does a decent job of selling the environments to you and I love the music which, for me, elevates the whole soundscape to another level. Yeah, the scores I give games are very subjective because it's obviously only my opinion. I personally wouldn't give it a 9/10 because it's not quite polished enough to earn that and there's not a lot of side content to take part in either. But still, 8/10 isn't a score I give easily! Yeah, that's the sort of stuff I would have liked to see, just something to do outside of the main story progression to keep you wanting to play it and come back to it after you've finished. That would've made it even more amazing.

[@evatothnefarkas389]

you gonna review the hanheld games of oddworld?

[@PixelPursuit]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that I am. It might be something I do early in the year in 2020 because I need to buy all of them first (I don't actually own the Game Boy ones at the moment).

[@slav9279]

Dude really just revealed a huge spoiler without even putting a warning 😐😑

[@PixelPursuit]

I definitely could have made it more obvious that I was about to talk about spoilers. I’ve made a point of doing that in my more recent videos. Having said that though I do feel like there’s enough of a warning in this particular video because I do say that I’m about to talk about the story. But yeah, I could have put a time code on the screen to jump to if you wanted to avoid that section entirely. Sorry about that… Hopefully I didn’t completely ruin the plot for you… 🙁

[@cdxxIV424]

That's a ps3 controller in your hand

[@PixelPursuit]

That's because I was playing it on PS3 😅

[@evatothnefarkas389]

i am the only one who dont like this game

[@agamaz5650]

it is an obscure piece of art brother, definitely not for everyone, maybe it could look ODD at first but then after the gameplay I was hooked af

[@PixelPursuit]

Not to worry, some things just don't connect with certain people, it's all down to your own individual tastes. I didn't like Munch's Oddysee and it feels like I'm the only person who doesn't, so I know how you feel haha!

[@loudneiv4653]

You're not alone. This game was pretty boring overall. As an absolute fanboy of the first two PS1 episodes, I struggled a hell of a lot to get to the end, several years after release, because I had to, to check by myself whether this game was really that stale