Oddworld: Stranger? Wrath is insidious. Few games have so thoroughly hooked me and absolutely compelled me to play for way too many hours while neglecting all other responsibilities. It offers such a mix of modern game genres that pretty much everybody will find something to love and many, like myself, will find a lot to love.



As Oddworld: Stranger? Wrath begins the player is introduced to Stranger, one tough bounty hunter who is a composite clich·of every western tough guy ever seen in the movies. He seems to take little pleasure in the bounty-hunter work beyond doing it well and getting lots of moolah (Oddworld? currency) for a very secret surgery he very much needs. But like other Oddworld games before it, that is only the surface. Not to give away any spoilers, but before the game is over Stranger will become a very unlikely hero and the savior of the planet? native Grubb people. Of course the whole thing is held together with Oddworld Inhabitants usual off-beat humor and message of the strong worth of the individual. It is a terrific story that draws the player in and really gives him a feeling of pride as he helps Stranger fulfill his destiny.

In a major departure from its previous action/adventure offerings, developer Oddworld Inhabitants has taken the best 3D action/adventure elements and combined them with solid shooter elements to create a killer gaming experience. What makes this possible is the extremely smooth transition from third-person perspective to first-person-shooter combat and the well laid out and responsive controls for each mode. Clicking the right joystick button switches between the two views. Each of the modes has its place in the game with its own set of capabilities.



The third-person mode is the view most players will find comfortable for exploring the environments of Oddworld. The left joystick moves Stranger while the right joystick manipulates the camera to help the player look around corners or just see more around him. While in this mode Stranger has a limited hand-to-hand fighting repertoire consisting of a spinning punch attack with the left trigger and a head-butt with the right trigger. Stranger can further inflict damage by getting up to a run and ramming into enemies. The run is achieved by keeping full forward pressure on the left stick until Stranger builds up a head of speed. This also allows him to get across open areas fast to avoid enemy fire and to get places quickly.

In first-person mode Stranger has access to his double-barreled crossbow arsenal and the game controls very much like one would expect in a post-Halo world: the left joystick controls movement while the right looks around and the left and right triggers independently fire the two barrels of the crossbow. Stranger retains a punching capability by clicking the left joystick button, but the first-person punch it is not the powerful melee weapon the punch is in the third-person mode. The double-barreled crossbow is a unique weapon. The player may load it with two different types of live ammo to suit the particular situation he finds himself in. When I say ?ive ammo,·I really mean ?live·ammo. The projectiles are actual living creatures that have evolved with some unique properties. Zappflies are the player? primary ammo and are inexhaustible. They deliver little damage when fired in rapid succession, but pack a nasty shock when allowed to charge. Fuzzles are vicious balls of fur that are all teeth and can be fired directly at enemies to keep them a bit busy and inflict a little damage or they can be fired and stuck to the ground or a wall like some kind of rabid proximity mine that will launch itself at any enemy foolish enough to blunder near it.



Boombats are living grenades that pack a nasty punch while Stingbees are lighter on damage but make up for it with their machinegun-like rate of fire. In all there are nine types of ammunition, of which seven may be upgraded to more deadly varieties in the course of the game. Since the ammo is alive, it must be hunted with the Zappflies. Shooting the beasties with a fly knocks them out and then they are collected in your ammo bag. Every now and then there are crates of pre-caught ammo and later there is another way Stranger keeps up his supply (spoiler if I told you), but early in the game, hunting ammo gives the player great practice at engaging moving targets with his crossbow and keeping the ammo racks full.

There is a fair amount of strategy in using the types of ammo. An example is the use of Chippunks (obnoxious little critters that will actually talk to and insult you as they sit on your crossbow waiting to be fired) in one barrel to lure an enemy to a secluded location and then a quick Bolomite round from the other barrel to incapacitate him with its web for easy capture. Or a Spark Stunkz to draw multiple enemies to one spot and stun them with its odorous vacuum and then a Boombat Seeker to put them all out of the way quickly with one big blast. The first-person-shooter elements are so well done that many may question why there are no multiplayer or online options. In my opinion, the weapon balance is just not made for combat with someone armed in a similar fashion. So much of the ammo is meant to distract or incapacitate for capture rather than for straight up kills that it just would not lend itself to a multiplayer environment of any kind.

There are a number of mission types to enjoy in the course of the game. Some work best played mostly for stealth, others require nothing less than going in guns blazing, and some will just make the player get from one place to another as quickly as possible. Along the way Stranger will creep, walk, run, jump, ride runaway mine cars and even paddle a boat.



The environments where these missions take place are nothing short of amazing. The whole world is alive. Fluffy seeds float on the air, fireflies light up dark caverns, water looks like you could drink it and the sky appears as real as walking outside. (Good thing too, this game has kept me inside for a while and I have not seen the sky.) All the characters are great too. From the Stranger and the outlaws he hunts to the native Grubbs and the chicken town folks, called Clakkerz, who are not only scared of the outlaws that besiege their towns but really are physically chickens. Both their design and animation are terrific. The cut-scenes that move the story along are a joy to watch. This may be the best looking game ever to appear on a console. Audio is almost equally impressive with great primary sound effects and music. Terrific ambient sounds serve to fill in the world and make it lived in.

There are some very small camera issues now and then, but they are quickly corrected by the game program, and the one small glitch I ran into late in the game is so unlikely to occur with the average person playing the game that it is not worth docking any points for. I probably would have actually rated Oddworld: Stranger? Wrath at about 4.75 Sharks out of 5, but we only do halves and I?e had way too much fun with this game to round down. A perfect 5 out of 5 gaming experience and the first great Xbox game of 2005.