Who has lived the generation fully PlayStation in the 90s, he still carries in his heart several titles that have proved capable of marking his videogame career. Mascot like Crash, Spyro o sir Daniel Fortesque they are still extraordinary icons today, returned to new life thanks to splendid remakes that have been able to bring even the latest generations of gamers closer together. In the ranks of these heroes, we cannot fail to add the unfortunate Abe. Protagonist of the saga of Oddworld Inhabitants, the eternal runaway Mudokon is back, as you can read in our review, in great shape in Oddworld: Soulstorm, revisiting of Oddworld: Abe's Exodus and sequel to the most recent Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty.
Released on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 e PC, Oddworld: Soulstorm takes the classic and successful formula of its predecessors and raises it to the nth degree, in its strengths and weaknesses; Soulstorm, as we will be able to tell you, it is in fact an Oddworld in all respects. If it's never been the kind of platformer that touches your strings, this new incarnation of his will certainly not make you change your mind. But if you loved Abe's misadventures, if reason between one jump and another is a welcome variation on the theme for you, and if you live on bread and completeness, Oddworld: Soulstorm will be a godsend. Take a deep breath, read our Oddworld: Soulstorm review and get ready to race. Mudokon hunting season is open again.
I will save you
Oddworld: Soulstorm begins immediately after New 'n' Tasty ends. Rescued his fellow slaves from the Zulags of RuptureFarms, Abe and the Mudokon they seek shelter to allow themselves a well-deserved rest. However, the treacherous Glukkon of the Magog cartel have no intention of letting them escape, and they set out on a desperate chase to get revenge on Abe. Our unfortunate protagonist will discover the hard way that the road to freedom is still long, and that for save his 300 companions will have to awaken the voice of the Mudokons and uncover the mystery behind one new and delicious drink, Soulstorm.
Pad in hand, the novelties of Soulstorm are immediately evident. The story of this new chapter is much more grown up and grim, differentiating from the previous chapters that showed a light and cartoon style, although even in Soulstorm there will be moments of black humor characteristic of the saga. During his adventure, Abe will then move into much larger and more open environments than those of RuptureFarms, allowing us to discover the fantastic world of Oddworld in all its facets. Soulstorm, like its prequel, is a 2D platformer with 3D graphics (which the developers define 2.9D). However, the structure of the new levels will allow us to move with a whole new depth, which will give a wider breath to the setting, hiding the collectibles from view.
The juicier news, however, will show up as soon as we launch into the action. The gameplay of Soulstorm, in fact, completely revises that of its previous incarnations, finally bringing the saga into modernity. Leave the woodiness and heaviness of New ”n 'Tasty, Abe is finally free to escape with renewed agility. Soulstorm's platforming is definitely more fluid and frenetic, and the banal but fundamental introduction of double jump it allowed developers to build much faster and more vertical levels. You will be free to run, jump, climb and grab objects without having to think about Abe's position in the scenario, and above all without repeatedly falling over the precipices due to a bad positioning of the protagonist. No more millimeter calculations, it was time.
The hunt for the Mudokon is on
As with the previous chapters, the aim of the game will be to go through the levels trying to save as many Mudokons as possible. Each level of Soulstorm offers a different setting, never boring the player either from a visual or gameplay point of view. Each game section, in fact, offers always new ideas, and although the title structure remains the same from start to finish, there will be many actions we are going to perform, peculiarity that allows the experience to always show itself in great shape. The actions that our protagonist can perform will be those typical of the saga. We will move with the left stick, while with the directional cross we will give the orders to the Mudokons: once found and freed, we can order them to follow us, wait, be passive or aggressive. The management of our companions will be essential to overcome the puzzles of each level. The Dualsense is then exploited properly, especially from the point of view of the vibration, which will follow our heart and our steps, and of the haptic feedback, which enters the scene with each of Abe's chants.
With the dorsal keys, in fact, we will be able to sing - the native ability of Mudokon -, useful for solve puzzles, open portals, and control enemies, but also to throw items; and this is where another Soulstorm novelty comes in. In this new chapter, in fact, Abe will be able to count on a vast inventory to craft your own equipment. By rummaging around the map we will be able to obtain resources to create our arsenal, useful for solving puzzles and eliminating our opponents: rock candies, Molotov cocktails, flares, smoke bombs, we will have to use all our imagination to overcome the most difficult sections. And if we just can't go on, we can always sing and take possession of the wicked Slig. Soulstorm will put us in front of a wide range of enemies, to overcome each in a different way; and even outdated them, we should also deal with some environmental bosses, which will threaten us all along the level.
Oddworld: Soulstorm is an old school platformer
For our review, we played Oddworld: Soulstorm on PlayStation 5 and, from a technical point of view, the title convinced us. The frame rate is stable, as well as the resolution, although the graphics sector, net of some glitches and interpenetration, don't make the next-gen scream. The audio sector is perfectly in keeping with the series, with inspired music and an English dub that perfectly portrays the grotesque spirit of Mudokon; the subtitles in Spanish however, unfortunately they present some typo. The news and improvements of Soulstorm are however undeniable. The 15 levels of the campaign will keep you busy between 10 and 15 hours, which vary according to your skill and desire to find them collectible medals, and above all to save all the Mudokons: a difficult challenge to complete on the first attempt, which ensures a fair replayability. Save them all or kill too many enemies then it will make the end game truly fascinating, but we leave the pleasure of discovery to you.
Unfortunately, however, it's not all pink and flowers. Despite the improvements, a fairly palpable background woodiness remains. Abe must be positioned precisely in front of the lever or button that you need to press, he will not always climb the way you want, and sometimes it will fail to attract the attention of the Mudokons, which still lack aartificial intelligence not always up to par, leading them to death. That said, Oddworld: Soulstorm still has nothing to envy to modern titles, while winking back to its distant origins. A different platform, reasoned, but at the same time fluid and profound. As said at the beginning of the review, Oddworld: Soulstorm will not change the minds of those who have never loved it, but we are sure that it will make old and new fans happy.
