How do you create a likable hero? You take an average Joe, or Abe, and you make him go-lucky, a bit goofy, with big eyes and no shirt. Then you give him a worthy cause. In Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty, the remake of the 1997 classic, Abe’s Oddysee, the cause is freeing fellow Mudokons from slavery. What happens if he fails? They become lunch meat, literally. Now, that’s a worthy cause. If Abe saves 50 Mudokons, then he lives the rest of his life in happiness and fame. If he doesn’t, even one fewer than 50, then he gets William Wallace dead. To be precise, he gets shredded into pulp. But hey, those 49 Mudokons he saved are free!
The remake by Oddworld Inhabitants offers “new visual effects, refined gameplay and explosive new sound design”. It’s still a side-scroller but is 2.5D to give Abe a bit more perspective. Most of the levels are the same as the original. So is it a useless remake like Van Sant’s Psycho or Lee’s Old Boy?
It really doesn’t matter. What matters is that Abe is a hero, and possibly a martyr. And it is your job to free them 50 Mudokons and get him the love and fame and all the hot Mudokon babes he deserves!