We have all seen the videos and the screenshots from this year's E3. We have read the reviews from the media who attended the event. So what of the fans? What do the fans think of Munch's Oddysee so far? Impressed? For sure we are. This game is to be one like none other, and with the power of the Xbox behind it, we are going to see a game that will exceed our expectations.

Why? One may ask. What does make this game stand out from the rest? E3 say a myriad of games on display, not only for the Xbox, but for the PS2, Gamecube and PC. Many games with brilliant graphics and interesting game play. But none could beat Munch's Oddysee. OK, so we are a bit bias over here at Oddworld-Web. We're Oddworld fans, and that's the way it goes. But the fact that many gaming sites named Munch's Oddysee as the Xbox Game of E3 is a thing in itself.

So what makes this game? Is it the gameplay, the graphics, the characters, the Oddworld humor? All of these and more. So sit back and read about our impressions of Oddworld at E3 - the game and the show. One word sums up what fans were thought of the game play movies - impressive! Well there are more words, but we don't have enough time or space on this site to list them all.

First off, the movies simply showed the stunning detail of the game. Brilliant textures, lighting, effects and more. One movie that can be found at Gamespot shows clouds rolling over the landscape, but we also see the shadows on the landscape that these clouds leave. This is certainly paying attention to detail! How many games actually worry about something like that. Munch's Oddysee is for sure. Water showed ripples - another example of attention to detail.

We mostly saw outdoor scenes in the movies, which gave lush environments and contrast of areas such as water, cliff faces, grass, plains and more. These environments were filled with characters and creatures. Mudokons a plenty, Sligs, and Scrabs too. Although the demo movies did not actually show any indoor areas, we could see detail on the outside of buildings, etc. The movies allowed us to see how the game was played. One movie over at Core Magazine was actual footage of a person playing the game. Certainly very interesting indeed, as it allowed us to view the game as a player would play it... including those little mistakes! From what we could tell game play seemed smooth and easy to control. The camera movement worked just well to enable the player to view the play just at the right position. No getting stuck behind a wall like we see in so many other 3D games today. Oddworld seem to have got this right!

Many examples of Gamespeak were used in the movies. We often saw Abe talking to many Mudokons at once. It was awesome to hear a chorus of 10 Mudokons all saying 'hello' when they were spoken to.

We saw Abe interact with Munch - the way that both characters are switched between seamlessly during game play. The actions of the characters proved to be very realistic. Munch's swimming for example, Munch shows the grace of an amphibious creature when he is in the water. The controllability of him in water looked to be very easy. In some games swimming is very awkward and most gamers hate water areas as a result. But from what we saw, the manoeuvring of Munch in the water looked very easy to control. Yet another bonus for any gamer that is considering buying the game when it is released.

As Munch was in water, Abe was on land. Still that lanky long striding Mudokon we know and love, the way he sped around the landscape collecting humshrubs and avoiding bad guys made it all look so easy. Like the movies, the screenshots showed even further the beautiful detail that is in this game. Attention to every detail such as rocks and walls give the game a bit of "life" and "realism". A total of 19 official screens were released for E3, with a bunch of other screenshots appearing on the web also later on. In these pictures we saw the first glimpse of Fuzzles in the game. We also saw bird portals, vending machines, Glukkons, factories, wells and more. Once again... stunning!

When one sees these screenshots and is actually able to view up close what they look like, only then can it truly be appreciated the work that Oddworld Inhabitants has put into the game. Many criticized the move to the Xbox from the PS2, but the PS2 would not have allowed for the detail that we see on the Xbox. Oddworld is not only a game, but also a work of art! What's an E3 report without mention of Oddworld's booth? Being an exclusive Xbox title and also the flagship title, Microsoft made sure that Munch's Oddysee was one of the main games featured in their area. A statue of Munch and Abe, huge Munch's Oddysee cans, holographic posters, large screens, box cover mock-ups, stations to play the demo and more. This was just a small indication of what attendees of E3 were shown.

The large screens overhead played a movie entitled Passport to Oddworld. This humorous movie took people on a "tour" of Oddworld... designed much like the old travelogues from the 30s and 40s. People not familiar with Oddworld were shown many aspects of Munch's Oddysee including the creatures and what does go on at Oddworld.

The promotion that Microsoft gave Oddworld at this year's E3 certainly shows that Oddworld took a step in the right direction by gaining Microsoft as their publisher. Never before has Oddworld had this kind of promotion behind them, which just goes to show the right decision that they made.

Throughout E3, Lorne Lanning demonstrated the game to different audiences, including press, retailers and buyers. Reports that his demonstrations went well, and footage of one of the demonstrations on Xbox.com, shows the humor and entertainment that Lorne gives in his presentations.