By Abe Babe

I have had Munch's Oddysee for four days now, and after a seven hour session the first day I got the game, I have been playing on and off. I must say that the game is everything I expected it to be and more. I was blown away from the moment I turned my Xbox on for the very first time. From when I had my first tastes of the game over a year ago when I visited Oddworld Studios, I, like many other Oddworld fans had been wanting to play this game. And although as I type this I have only played a small percentage of the game, these are my initial impressions. It was pleasant to see the original introduction to the game that we saw back in the pre-PlayStation 2 days. Although the graphics were a lot superior to that we saw online, and there was a hint of the "original logo".

The menus look like the previous game menus, but feature Munch instead of Abe. A good feature seemed to that you could go back and view "unlocked" FMV sequences. These consisted of a backstory and introduction. The backstory was simply pieced together from the first two games. Although and improvement of the graphics for the Xbox made these old PlayStation/PC graphics come to life. We see these in a quality they have not been seen before.

The opening FMV is sad, moving and touching. We are introduced to Munch for the first time and are told his story. Oddworld have done a great job here of setting the scene of the game. The opening FMV also makes you think as you can relate Munch to an endangered species of animal here on earth. Abe and Munch are adorable, especially Munch! Abe's vocabulary has been extended, he now says a lot more than just "hello", "follow me" etc. The movements for both characters seem to be spot on. Abe is fast on land, Munch is slower, but very graceful in water. I actually enjoy controlling Munch in water, I was just letting him swim only yesterday just to watch his movements. Likewise it is fun to have Munch speed around in his wheelchair. Like the previous games Abe can command Mudokons to follow him. A bunch of Mudokons following Abe is a cool site. But even cooler is seeing Abe being followed by Mudokons, Munch and some of Munch's Fuzzles! The first couple of levels are pretty basic. Like past Oddworld games they focus on introducing you to the game and getting familiar with the controls. You start off controlling Abe and you must find Mudokons and get them to do various things to allow you to get through the level. Soon after you switch to Munch and are made familiar with his controls. You also get to control him both on land and water. We are also introduced to some of the powerups that are in the game.

But past the first couple of levels gameplay gets to be more complex. Not too difficult at this point in the game, but we start seeing the puzzle theme introduced in the game. This is especially the case once Munch and Abe meet up, as you have to use them as a team in order to get through a level. I found that the puzzles enjoyable to do. I am now at a stage in the game where the difficulty level is getting to be a little more, and I even had to restart a level because I couldn't find a Mudokon I needed!

Levels seem to have enough in them to keep you occupied. Collecting spooce is "sometimes" needed, but not always. It allows you to do cool things like upgrade your Mudokons to a Tomahawker or resurrect ones you have lost. I guess the only complaint I would have is that so far they are not big enough. But this is mainly due to personal preference, as I am a game player who loves to explore. I haven't come to any levels with hidden areas yet however, so I am looking forward to seeing these when I get to them. Before I played, I wasn't sure how the controls would go. The Xbox controller looked a bit large from the images, and some game sites had some concerns about the controls and camera system of Munch's Oddysee. My fears were soon put to rest however. I found the controller, although larger than a PlayStation controller for example, to be quite comfortable and easy to use. It seems to rest in your hands just right. Microsoft certainly done some research for this design!

Likewise I found the controls very easy to use. The "action" button is an excellent idea. Rather than having to remember which button jumps and which picks up and which pulls a lever, you just use the one button. The action button allows you to perform a specific action depending on where you are standing or what you are doing at the time. Gamespeak also is a lot more simpler than the previous games. Remember where you had to remember button combinations on the first two games? In Munch's Oddysee it is a simple click of one button. The only thing you need to remember is whether to tap it or hold it down (i.e. tapping the Y button will greet one Mudokon, but holding it down will greet the group).

If anything, the only thing that took some getting used to is how to sneak and walk. And this is probably because I hadn't played a game before where the pressure you use on the analog stick determines your speed. But once I got over that small obstacle, I found that to be fine also. The camera system was something else that some sites criticized, but so far I haven't found a problem with it. Actually I think it is a great system. One thing I liked is that when you ran across a narrow area (i.e. a wooden bridge with nothing to stop you falling off), the camera seemed to adjust to allow you to run across it easily. Nothing worse than a game where you really have to "go slow" to get across such an area. And in general I found the camera movement to get me looking at the right place. Sometimes I would have to look around if I wanted to see areas away from my current view, and there will always be the times where you don't find yourself looking at the right place, but from any other 3D third person game I have played, this will always happen (no game is perfect, especially since what may be good for one, is not for another). Mind blowing! I've never seen anything like it in a game (then again, not many in Australia where I live have seen an Xbox). The Xbox is totally stunning graphics wise. Munch and Abe are more realistic than they have ever been, and the environments too. In one of the native environments I noted that even the leaves on the trees were given attention to, which I found very impressive. We had all heard a lot about Munch's Oddysee before it was released. Some things didn't make it to the final version. Of these, there are a couple I noticed so far. Firstly I found that you can't simply "unpossess" an enemy creature and let him live. You seem to have to let them explode. Secondly I found there was no difficulty level, only a set number of "birds" that you started with in each level. However the inclusion of these doesn't make the game any less enjoyable, and just would have been nice inclusions. Overall, so far I am impressed with the game. I am probably bias because I am a huge Oddworld fan, but I do genuinely love this game. I just seem to find that this is a very playable game which keeps you wanting to play. If I were to give a rating to the game I would give it 10/10.

As this is my initial impressions only, I will write more on the game as I get more in depth, and finally a final review. Although I am certainly taking my time to enjoy it and discover everything about it. This is one that I don't want to rush!