Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee is a multi-award winning platform video game developed by Oddworld Inhabitants and published by GT Interactive. It was released in 1997 for the PlayStation video game console, DOS and Microsoft Windows in North America, Australia and Europe. The game was released under the title Abe a GoGo in Japan for the PlayStation by publisher SoftBank, with a PC version following in 2001. Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee was the first game in the planned five-part Oddworld Quintology, which includes Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus and Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee.

The game centers on the titular Abe, a Mudokon slave working at the RuptureFarms meat processing factory on Oddworld. When he discovers that he and his friends face death at the hands of their desperate master, he decides to escape and aid as many enslaved Mudokons as he can along the way. The player assumes the role of Abe, and must escape from the factory before embarking on a perilous quest to restore his once noble people.

Abe's Oddysee was widely acclaimed for having innovative gameplay, good graphics and engaging cut-scenes; however, its large learning curve and system of saving only at checkpoints received criticism.

Gameplay
Abe's Oddysee is a two-dimensional platform game. The game is split into screens; when the player moves into the edge of the screen, the environment is replaced. Most screens include various puzzles that must be solved through the use of player-character Abe's unique abilities: GameSpeak, possession, activation or deactivation of mines or levers, and rocks, grenades, or meat chunks that can be picked up and used in a variety of situations. Normal abilities include creeping, walking, running, rolling, hoisting, jumping, and crouching, all of which have a specific application and make up a necessary arsenal of moves.

The game features no user interface or heads-up display. Information is conveyed to the player in a number of ways; through instructive screens that can be activated by the player character, through scrolling messages in the background, or through groups of fireflies that can arrange themselves to produce words should the player character chant near them. No characters in the game have hit points; instead, being attacked (such as being shot or mauled) causes instant death. The player, upon death, will re-spawn at the most recent checkpoint.

Possession is the player character's ability to take control of Sligs in the same screen by chanting. Possessing Sligs is a necessity in certain situations, usually to kill enemy Sligs in the nearby screens or to give commands to nearby Slogs. When possessing a Slig, the player character remains immobile and vulnerable to attack. Upon abandoning control of a possessed Slig, the victim will burst into pieces.

Slave Mudokons are rescued through Bird Portals. If the player character chants when in the same screen as a Bird Portal, and other Mudokons are nearby, the portal will activate and Mudokons will run through it, disappearing. Rescuing Mudokons is not crucial to playing the game; however, rescuing at least fifty is necessary to achieve the more pleasing ending, and many secret areas revolve around rescuing one or two Mudokons in particularly complex situations.

At certain points late in the game, the player can gain the ability to turn into the Shrykull, a Mudokon demigod. This is usually earned by sending a certain number of Mudokons through a special bird portal at once, denoted by a number circulating with the birds. With the ability, the player can once go into a screen with enemies or explosives, chant, become the Shrykull, and vaporize everything on the screen. Afterward, he returns to Mudokon form. Achieving the ability and doing such is necessary to get past certain points in the game. The player can only become the Shrykull once each time they earn it, so where and when they choose to use it is important.

The purpose-created game engine and artificial intelligence for Abe's Oddysee is called A.L.I.V.E. (Aware Lifeforms In a Virtual Environment), and has been acclaimed for its realistic encounters and intelligent enemies.

Gamespeak
While the focus of the gameplay is surmounting screens, there is a secondary focus on rescuing enslaved Mudokons. GameSpeak is a pivotal ability in this respect; at the press of a button, the player character will utter short phrases that can be used to control allied non-player characters—to pull extra levers, to follow the player character, to attack enemy characters in the current screen, or simply to wait.

Allies, enemies, and wildlife
Allies in the game include Mudokons, humanoid species encountered either as rescuable slaves who willingly follow all GameSpeak-given orders, or free native Mudokons who give aid to the player. Native Mudokons are armed with slingshots, and will kill the player character without hesitation; to appease and gain the aid of one of these natives, the player must mimic various whistles that the native makes through GameSpeak combinations. Another creature is the Elum, a friendly, bipedal mule-like creature upon which the player character can ride for increased speed and longer jumps. When the player has dismounted, the Elum will follow GameSpeak-given commands unless distracted by dripping honey. In such a scenario, the Elum will ignore everything except coming under attack by bees, in which case the Elum will abandon the honey and flee to a safer area. The Elum can be summoned with a special bell at certain points in the game.

Enemies in the game primarily consist of Sligs, semi-robotic squid/slugs armed with automatic rifles. Sligs can be possessed by the player character, who can then control the Slig and utilize its weapon. Sligs cannot see in dark shadows, which prove to create natural hiding places. Often accompanying Sligs are Slogs. Slogs are bipedal dog-like creatures that, as with the Sligs, chase and attack the player character on sight. Slogs can be commanded by Sligs when possessed by the player, and can be ordered to attack and kill others. When encountered alone, Slogs can be distracted by chunks of meat.

Glukkons feature as antagonists. Glukkons are tall humanoid creatures who are ruthless, malevolent businessmen and capitalists. They possess only vestigial legs and therefore walk on their arms. They are the owners of RuptureFarms and the masters of the Mudokon and Slig slaves. Glukkons appear only in pre-rendered cut scenes, wherein they are crucial to the plot, except for the final screen of the game in which the player drops into the boardroom and vaporizes them by turning into the Shrykull.

Animals and wildlife consist of the Scrabs and Paramites. Scrabs are predators that primarily live in the desert regions. They are highly territorial and attack and chase any other life form upon sight; should they engage another Scrab, a short fight ensues in which one is killed. Paramites are pack hunters that live in dark caves within the forest regions. When encountered individually, Paramites are shy and will flee (though if cornered they will lash out and attack). When confronted in number, however, the player character ceases to threaten them and they will immediately chase and attempt to attack. Paramites can be distracted with chunks of meat.

Characters
Abe's Oddysee includes only four named characters, though there are many anonymous slaves and guards. The protagonist of the game is Abe, a Mudokon slave worker born into captivity and ignorant of his people's rich history and culture. Abe is often described as a "klutz" for his clumsy and simple nature. He is also different from the rest of the Mudokons, being the only one to have his lips sewn shut, Reportedly, because of his constant crying in his childhood, they sew his mouth shut to keep him quiet. It didn't do any good though. Midpoint through his adventure, Abe is joined by the Elum, a stubborn, yet loyal mule creature. "Elum" is the English word "Mule" spelled backwards; and the creature is described as one in the enclosed instruction book. It is unclear whether "Elum" is the name of the species, or merely of the individual. Abe and Elum were originally envisioned as beginning Abe's Oddysee together, living off the land and being thrust into an industrialized factory slave environment. The developers came to the conclusion that the story was stronger should Abe come from a factory existence and later reveal one of self-sustenance, and as such the concept was changed. A guiding leader figure enters the story in Big Face, the pre-eminent Shaman of the Mudokon people, who wears a large wooden mask, crafted by native mudokons, from which his name is derived. Big Face is a character whose spiritual power and knowledge remains a mystery; he saves Abe from death and sets him on a quest to rescue his brothers and face the trials of the Monsaic Lines, before acting in a more traditional leader's role to the eventual dozens of freed slaves.

The primary antagonist of the game is Molluck the Glukkon, the ruthless chief executive officer of the meat-packing factory titled RuptureFarms. Reportedly attractive by Glukkon standards, and having terrible cigar breath, Molluck is obsessed with success, doing anything within his power and cunning to achieve evermore wealth. Despite this, Molluck's business empire is failing due to decline of the wildlife whose meat he sells. Desperate to revive his trade, Molluck decides to use his Mudokon slave population in his food products to offset the declining profits.

Story
Abe's Oddysee begins with the titular protagonist as a prisoner in RuptureFarms, from which point he narrates his story. He and many other Mudokons have been slaves all their life to Molluck the Glukkon, who owns RuptureFarms1029, the biggest meat-processing plant on Oddworld. Abe is a contented floor-waxer First Class and currently Employee of the Year.

RuptureFarms is undergoing difficulties: the ingredients of their three major products: Scrab Cakes, Paramite Pies, and Meech Munchies, are quickly running out, with the Meeches already extinct. While working late one night, Abe chances upon the Board Room, where the various Glukkons are discussing their dilemma. After reviewing the situation, Molluck announces his plan to use the Mudokon slaves as new meat products called "Mudokon Pops!", frightening Abe into a resolution of escaping from the factory.

Abe proceeds to elude the authorities and escape from RuptureFarms; immediately out, Abe sees a large moon in the sky, with its face in the shape of a Mudokon handprint, signifying the Mudokons as the "chosen people". Abe suddenly falls down a cliff, smashing his head; as he lies on the ground, BigFace appears before him in a vision.

BigFace sends Abe towards his quest: to rescue his enslaved brethren and "restore the lost land". He cannot accomplish this feat without first completing the spiritual trials of the Monsaic Lines and Mudokon temples. Abe journeys into the Monsaic Lines, from where he travels to the forests of Paramonia and the deserts of Scrabania. In each land, Abe completes the tests of the respective temple; after each one, BigFace gives Abe hand scars, one representing the Paramites and one representing the Scrabs.

Once Abe has both scars, he can become the Shrykull, an all-powerful demigod creature. The Shrykull stands outside life as a dualistic god, of creation and destruction, and of fear and love. With this divine power, Abe returns to RuptureFarms, rescues his Mudokon brethren and comes close to shutting it down entirely.

Abe is surprised, captured, and bound so he cannot chant to invoke the Shrykull. It is at this point that he first appears in captivity at the start of the game. As Molluck enters the prison cell and prepares to drop Abe into a meat grinder, BigFace holds a meeting with freed Mudokons at the Monsaic Sanctum.

Endings
Here, there are two endings:


 * The good ending, which is triggered by the player rescuing at least fifty Mudokon slaves throughout the game, sees the Mudokons resolve to save Abe, and sees them chant together and invoke a powerful lightning bolt upon Molluck's pointy head. With Molluck incapacitated, BigFace teleports to Abe, frees him, and teleports him out to a cheering crowd.
 * Should Abe have failed to rescue at least fifty Mudokons throughout the game, the bad ending is invoked, wherein the few freed Mudokon slaves refuse to give aid to him. Molluck is given free rein to release Abe into a meat grinder, where he is instantly killed. Subsequent games and media treat the "Good Ending" as canonical.

Development
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee began production in January 1995 under the working title of SoulStorm. After GT Interactive acquired publishing rights on September 12, 1996, they changed the title to Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee. The game had a private showing at E3 '96, but it was not until E3 '97 that journalists took note of the game and it was generally well received. The version of the game shown at E3 '97 was remarkably similar to the release version, and Abe's Oddysee had a reportedly smooth development cycle with few late changes.

The game saw its first release on the PlayStation, DOS and Windows on September 19, 1997, on a day dubbed as "Odd Friday" by the developer and publisher; over 500,000 units were originally released worldwide. The Japanese version followed in October. A Sega Saturn version was also announced by GT Interactive, but it was never released.

Abe's Oddysee was the first major GT title that the UK development team, that had been taken in by GT following the acquisition of Warner Interactive, became involved with. The testing process of the game was unusual for GT Interactive as the UK team did game play testing whilst normally US developed games were only tested in Europe for language and other compatibility issues.

The soundtrack features mostly ambient music composed by Ellen Meijers.

Reception
Upon its release in 1997, Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee received mostly positive reviews. Edge described the game as "a tight 2D platformer that's packed with great innovative touches and some great character design". GameSpot gave the PlayStation version 8.4 out of 10 and praised the game as "the ideal platformer, balancing its action and puzzle elements perfectly to make the game intelligent, engaging, and, best yet, fun". Animation World Magazine applauded multiple aspects of the game, saying it "features some of the best graphics and animation we've ever seen" and commenting on the "sophisticated gameplay". The graphics struck many reviewers as being excellent, as while the game is two-dimensional, all elements were rendered in 3D programs. PC Zone remarked that "the developers have created an outstanding visual environment for Abe to leap around in", while GamePro described the graphics as "eye-popping".

The game's audio was often singled out for praise. GameSpot gave the music a score of nine out of ten.

Most criticism toward the game was directed at the save system. Edge said that "Oddworld demands a certain level of commitment to progress", while Science Fiction Weekly claimed the game's "innovative game play makes for a steep learning curve. This initial difficulty in figuring out how to play is aggravated by a save feature that often forces players to redo difficult sections." PC Zone stated that "progress does seem to rely on trial and error, which involves much replaying of levels and gnashing of teeth. All this can be frustrating at times, especially when Abe is plonked right back at the start of a level when he dies". The game's follow-up, Abe's Exoddus, notably implemented a suspend save feature that did not require the reaching of checkpoints.

Despite this criticism, the game won many awards, including the Nobel Prize from PC Computing Magazine in December 1997, E3 Showstopper 1997 from GamePro in August 1997 and the award for Best Director from the World Animation Festival in 1997.

Japanese version
For the release in Japan, the title of Abe's Oddysee was changed to Abe a GoGo by the publisher SoftBank. Other changes included the art for the "Mudokon Pops!" packaging, which originally consisted of a Mudokon head speared on a stick. Due to undisclosed current events in Japan, the design was changed to a more ambiguous, "happier" image. The design for the protagonist Abe and other Mudokons was also significantly altered. Certain Japanese pressure groups were offended by the Mudokons having four fingers, due to a historic Japanese subclass of meat packers who were looked down upon in society. Four fingers, or showing four fingers to another person, came to insinuate the other was a member of the subclass, because it had become symbolic of the meat packers who frequently had work-related accidents. Oddworld Inhabitants had to alter the design of Mudokons to having only three fingers, or else face legal battles and large fines.

Oddworld Inhabitants made the altered designs a permanent feature; subsequent versions of Abe's Oddysee released outside Japan included both the changed packaging and changed Mudokon hand. Future games and media also recognise these changes as canon, although Abe's Exoddus oddly features four-fingered Mudokon sprites, and scenes from Abe's Oddysee shown in the game were not altered.

Guardian Angel FMV
In the initial PlayStation version of the game, upon "perfect" completion of the game — completion with all 99 Mudokon slaves rescued — an extra full motion video (FMV) named "Guardian Angel" can be unlocked. The video depicts a captured Abe being harassed by "The Shrink", a mechanical creature with a sophisticated artificial intelligence. The FMV is notable due to its absence from the PC version and later PlayStation releases of the game, and its introduction of a new character to the Oddworld mythos. The character was reputedly part of an early advertising campaign, which included television commercials, but was eventually abandoned.

Game Boy version
The Game Boy port was released as Oddworld Adventures; it was developed by Saffire Corporation and published by GT Interactive in 1998. The game is a significantly cut-down version of Abe's Oddysee, with only a few similar levels and a condensed plot (Abe starts out as a native Mudokon, so the opening levels in RuptureFarms are absent from this version).