Title: Oddworld New N' Tasty
Format: PS4
Release Date: July 22, 2014
Publisher: Just Add Water
Developer: Oddworld Inhabitants
Price: $29.99
ESRB Rating: T
Oddworld New N' Tasty is a great remake of the classic Playstation 1 platformer, which will satisfy veteran fans of the series, as well as attract new fans.
Story and Presentation:I'm sure most of you are familiar with the game's narrative, but if you aren't, you play as Abe. Abe is a former slave who breaks free after he finds out that the company will start to use his people as the main ingredient in a new tasty snack. He then makes his way through the giant factory trying to escape, while trying to help out his fellow Mudokons that are still slaves. Its a cool story, and it's very humorous even with the dark undertones the game exudes. The game's visuals took a huge step up, and seeing as how the original was on the PS1, this was expected. The game was released over a decade ago, and for that time, the game actually looked very nice. The game also made use of the GameSpeak tech, which allowed you to talk to the Mudokons. Given flatulence was the extent of communication, it was still pretty cool to have on the PS1. The game on the PS4 looks completely overhauled, but Just Add Water managed to keep the core style of the original game. Backgrounds are no longer static, they are fully realized and highly detailed. Instead of shoehorning in a bunch of modern day gimmicks, the devs just cleaned up a lot of the annoyances the PS1 version possessed. The soundtrack as well is impressive, it perfectly compliments the game's atmosphere. The audio as a whole as been reworked. The original voice work was pretty low quality, and the devs decided to rerecord the entire game in hi-def. The game's visuals and audio have benefitted greatly from the remake.
Core Gameplay and Multiplayer:The visuals underwent a serious facelift, but in terms of gameplay, the spirit of the game hasn't changed too much. This is a 2D sidescrolling platformer with a ton of environmental puzzles thrown in. Abe is extremely weak, and he must use his wits to outsmart his captors and lead his friends to safety. You don't destroy your enemies, Abe mostly sneaks past and outruns his enemies. Abe can hide in steam vents, lead guards into land mines, zap them by activating electric fields, and more. Each enemy is more powerful than Abe, and it makes each encounter a thinker. You can't just haphazardly stroll through each level without checking each your surroundings. Seeing that every enemy has their own identity and behaviors, it will take some time to learn each enemy's weakness. There is a lot of trial and error here, and death is unavoidable. It's similar to Dark Souls in that respect, but it's not as brutal. Thanks to the new quick save function, you just tap the touch pad, and you can save your game. This may upset some of the purists, but it's a great function to have if you don't want to get stuck in a particularly tough level. One of the biggest improvements is the control scheme. The original game was a chore to control on the PS1 controller, but thanks to the DS4, the controls have been simplified. The precise controls are a requirement for pulling off some of the more demanding platforming levels. Pulling off jumps and timing sprints were a lot tougher back then, but it's no longer an issue. There is local multiplayer in the game, but it simply has you switch between controllers every time someone dies. We could easily do that with one controller, so I didn't see the reason to include this.
Final Thoughts:OddWorld New N' Tasty on the PS4 is a hell of a remake. From the new 3D hi-res visuals to the simplified and refined controls, this game is a love letter to fans of the original game.
+Gorgeous 1080p Visuals
+Deep Puzzle Mechanics
+Remains Faithful to Original Game
S&S Rating: 9/10 @whatsPlay
