Collection essentials #371: Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee (PS1)

Here we have the first game developed by an American company called Oddworld Inhabitants, and it’s one of those “cinematic platformers” that has more realistic movement than what you’d see in something like Super Mario Bros. and controls that purposefully feel a little “stiff”. 

The character Abe mentioned in the title, as you’d guess, is the rather ugly-looking alien (a race called Mudokons) right there on the box art. The game opens with a well-made cinematic sequence narrated by Abe telling the backstory of the game. He tells of how he was a slave working for a meat factory called Rupture Farms. Despite being a slave, he mentions that he thought he had a good job…until he eavesdrops on a company board meeting while working late one night and discovers the truth. The company’s big plan for their next hot product is…Mudokon meat products! Abe instantly recognizes that he has to escape and help his fellow Mudokons do the same, and so begins the game.

Abe is able to do some basic actions that you’d expect in a game like this, such as run, jump, throw, crouch, etc. But the coolest ability Abe has is his “chant”. When Abe chants, he can possess certain enemies! The player then controls the enemy directly, and can self-destruct them when they’re done. Abe can also say and do various things by pressing a button while also holding down L1 or L2, to communicate with his fellow Mudokons which he must escort to safety. This includes words like “hello” and “wait”, a snarl, a couple different whistles, and even…no joke…a fart!

But perhaps the biggest thing you have to know about this game is that…it’s TOUGH. The game is extremely treacherous, with tough enemies and hazards that are very difficult to navigate, often requiring a lot of precision from the player. To make things bearable, you do have infinite lives, so you’re never going to lose all that much progress from dying. But be prepared to die over and over and over again. Not only is it difficult and rather lengthy for a game of this kind, but you need to rescue a certain number of Mudokons in order to get a proper ending. Some of them are pretty well-hidden, too. I have made it to the end, but have not put in the work to actually rescue that many dudes.

As a kid, Abe’s Oddysee was a game that I encountered at the homes of family and friends. It instantly made an impression with that opening cutscene, which freaked me out a little! But I was certainly amused by the chant ability, and the fact that you can fart. I didn’t bother to play through it until I was a young adult many years later.

I wouldn’t call Abe’s Oddysee one of my top favorite PlayStation games, but it’s pretty memorable and stands out well among its contemporaries. The game sold very well and kicked off Oddworld as a series, though I don’t think any other Oddworld game has done as well as this first one. There’s a sequel here on the PlayStation that I do think is a better game, but it’s actually not making my list, because I have nostalgia for this first game and it’s more recognizable in general. There’s also a remake of this game which released a decade ago, and I do own it but cannot comment on whether it’s better or worse. If what I described sounds fun and you don’t mind a lot of futility, you certainly may well enjoy taking the first Oddworld game out for a spin.