Oddworld: Munch's Odyssey (PS3)

Munch's Odyssey is another story in the Oddworld series. We play as both Munch and Abe from the earlier games.

The game starts with Munch, a frog-like sea creature whose species is fished to make a delicacy in the supermarket. After being fished to near enough extinction, Munch is captured and tested on. Abe is tasked with helping Munch escape and the two must work together. It's single player but you can switch between the two. Each has their own abilities and you can only use each character to do certain tasks.

It's a puzzle game where you must find the exit, while also saving trapped Mudokons and Fuzzles. The more of each you save, the better your karma is at the end, which has a huge impact on how your story plays out. You can collect SpooceShrubs, which are used to upgrade your fellow Mudokons to better fighters. These are so useful for taking out large patrols. You can also meditate to to regrow SpooceShrubs over and over.

Some levels give you a lot of space to roam around, but most levels are quite linear and easy to know where you're going. Only Munch can swim, I like the swimming mechanics too, as Munch can swim fast and jump high over obstacles. Each character can die while you play, you will only fail of both characters are dead. You can revive a fallen friend by locating the respawned egg.

Munch is a very slow mover, but once you find a wheelchair, he can navigate far quicker. He can also operate cranes which are often used to pick Abe up, and lift him over high walls. Munch's powers allow him to jump even higher in water, faster walking speed and firing a zap to attack enemies. Abe can carry Munch and throw him, to lift him over obstacles. He can also posses enemies and have them attack each other, which is a great way to dispose of your foes. Abe can also command fellow Mudokons to attack enemies and wait to stay safe. There are a number of different enemy types, each have their own ways attack, but most can be possessed and made to attack each other

The humour is easily one of Oddworld's strongest points. Some of the puzzles can be quite challenging and it's often frustrating. I don't think it done a good job at indicating you to save Mudokons and Fuzzles, I often forgot that was an objective. The worst part was that I had been forgetting to save friendlies, which lead to poor karma, they didn't even let me do the last mission, I just got game over practically. I was furious, you could only complete the game if you had good karma, I felt like I wasted time after not being able to finish the last level.

I love the Oddworld series, but this falls short of Abe's Odyssey, but it's still worth playing (once).

6.7/10