Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty Review

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Abe is back and ready to kick some Slig and Glukkon arse all over again in Oddworld: New ’n’ Tasty. For those who don’t already know, New ’n’ Tasty is a remake of Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee but seems to do what other remakes don’t. Instead of delivering an exact replica of the game, New ’n’ Tasty goes further by adding vastly improved graphics and a few bonus features. The game has been completely redone by correcting certain frustrations that were present in the original and adding more puzzles – along with more Mudokons to save. The question is, is New ’n’ Tasty better than Abe’s Oddysee? In order for me to properly review New ’n’ Tasty, I decided to purchase the original PS1 game and compare them both, side by side.Â

Oddworld: New ’n’ Tasty has the same, unique story as Abe’s Oddysee but for those who haven’t played either of the two games I will briefly summarize. You play as Abe, a slave, along with the rest of his kind (Mudokons) and is forced to work at the largest meat processing plant in Oddworld. This plant’s called “Rupture Farms” and is owned by the evil Molluck the Glukkon. As Abe was scrubbing the floors he stumbled across the meeting room of the Glukkon, involving Mullock himself. Apparently, Scrabs and Paramites are going extinct and the company is in need of new meat. The council promptly decided to use the Mudokons to create Mudokon Pops. After finding out, Abe fled from the scene only to be chased by Molluck’s henchman. This is where you come in and help Abe free his kind. Although both stories are virtually the same, New ’n’ Tasty features somewhat different cut scenes throughout the game. An example would be Abe awkwardly escaping Rupture Farm. Rather than Abe falling into a meat-process barrel he is thrown onto a cart and forced to jump off by being pinned between two spergings.

Gameplay-wise, New ’n’ Tasty and Abe’s Oddysee are entirely different from beginning to end. The opening title screen presents good ol’ Abe as he comments on your selection. Aside from the original game, New ’n’ Tasty offers extra features including a movie player and online leaderboards. New ’n’ Tasty also has multiplayer where you and your friend can take turns assisting Abe through each treacherous puzzle. Also, there are difficulty levels before starting the game that range from easy to hard.

The game begins with Abe running from sligs, and lets you immediately take over by showing you some basic controls. These are projected on a digitized screen around each encountered puzzle. As far as keyboard controls go, AWSD is used to move Abe about and the arrow keys allow Abe to interact with his fellow slaves. Although the keyboard controls are frustrating at times, the functions can, thankfully, be reconfigured. A game pad can also be used but the game has some trouble recognizing whether it’s connected or not as of now. This can be fixed with an easy patch but still is a nuisance.

Comparing the puzzles, New ’n’ Tasty remodels most of the levels by cutting out or rearranging certain challenges we’ve faced in the original. Remember that annoying meat grinder followed by the mine and electric force-field? Well it has been modified by adding save stations. No more countless deaths and having to respawn two or three slides back. Speaking of countless deaths, there are the employees. Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee exhibited 99 Mudokon employees (one hundred, counting Abe) to free but Oddworld: New ’n’ Tasty shows 299 Modunkon Employees to rescue. This entices veterans to travel through the familiar platformer of Oddworld released in 1997 but with three times the amount of creatures to rescue. It’s pleasant to see New’ n’ Tasty adding Achievements which offer even more replay value.

Graphically, New ’n’ Tasty goes above and beyond to try to present an old-timey game to the next generation. The graphics are truly phenomenal and an immense upgrade from the original game. Backgrounds are constantly in motion from meat barrels moving on conveyor belts to the awe-inspiring environment you’ll have the chance to see leaving the Rupture Farm. Another interesting thing is that the developer didn’t shy away from changing certain objects and making them more easily visible. An example would be the bypass sensor bars. In Abe’s Oddysee these sensor bars are bright, red lines moving across the screen but in New ’n’ Tasty the bars are displayed as shifting sensors.

Lastly, the audio between both games is about the same. Abe’s nasal voice along with all the sligs and glukkons are all transferred from the original and can be heard throughout the game and cut-scenes. The real difference between the games is how New ’n’ Tasty has higher quality audio then Abe’s Oddysee. Also, the fact that you now have the ability to go into the audio options menu and switch the subtitles on for players who can’t understand Abe or any of the other creatures in the game.

In conclusion, New ’n’ Tasty is a superb rendition of Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee from beautiful graphics to exceptional gameplay and crisp audio. The only two problems to stand out while playing were Abe’s lack of ability to gather more than one Mudokon at a time and controllers generally being fidgety. Apart from that, Oddworld New ’n’ Tasty is priced at $20 which is a steal for how much the game offers. Abe needs your help – get him outta there!

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