Oddworld Inhabitants (producers of the Oddworld titles) have always been masters at the art of creating unique tales and fables that leave audiences with wide, toothy grins. Whether it be the old and classic Stranger’s Wrath or remakes of the originals (referring to Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee being remastered into Oddworld: New ‘N’ Tasty) the developers never disappoint, providing timeless tales and mesmerizing experiences for audiences from all walks of life.
Luckily enough, come late 2017 we are being graced with a new title directly from publisher Oddworld Inhabitants with a sequel to the 2014 game Oddworld: New ‘N’ Tasty named Oddworld: Soulstorm.
According to the game’s official website, in Oddworld: Soulstorm we will get to “Witness Abe’s horrifying conflict with a terrifying new machination”and enjoy a “fresh narrative” in the form of “a complete story retake inspired by our original tale”. The game also will feature intelligent new game mechanics and huge cinematic leaps that promise to break new ground for Oddworld. The website also states that this game is a “dark parable that tells an epic tale of a volatile society pushed to it’s limits”.
In Oddworld: Soulstorm‘s announcement press release, Lorne Lanning, the creator of the series, stated that “there was a deeper, darker, and more sinister story that we never got to tell. Soulstorm gives us the opportunity to flesh out more meat on the bones of an original spine, but re-tell the fable from a very different angle.” The executive producer of the game, Bernie Terry, can also be quoted as stating “We think Oddworld fans are really going to dig what we’re brewing, and we’ve got some great surprises in store this time around we don’t think anybody’s going to predict.” he also added “I’ve been tasting it, and it’s definitely got twice the twisted flavour.”
In Soulstorm we will get to see Abe as we’ve never seen him before. This Abe is desperate, ravaged, and leading three hundred Mudokons across a harsh landscape. The website makes use of tense words such as volatile, devious, devilish, and nasty to help paint the brutal landscape that we get to explore. It can be assumed that in Soulstorm the world is just as much against Abe as Abe is against it, and it is up to us to help lead him and his three hundred hungry mouths towards the defeat of the latest soul-sucking consumer product.
Soulstorm seems to be a title in reference to a drink produced by the dubious Glukons. In the game’s canon, it is a highly addictive beverage that is used to get the Mudokons to work for the Glukons. The choice to use this beverage as the title for the game could be seen as a way to even further flesh out the feeling of rebellion that we can expect to experience in the game. It can also be extrapolated that this game will serve as a form of remastering of Abe’s exodus seeing as Oddworld Inhabitants said last April that an HD remake of Exoddus was in the works, the use of the important elixir in the title, and the fact that this game serves as the sequel to Oddworld: New ‘N’ Tasty (the remake of Oddworld: Abe’s Oddyesee which was followed by Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus).
Currently Oddworld Inhabitants is running a social media campaign in which the amount of followers that the Oddworld twitter gains determines how much of Abe will be revealed (such as his hands, chest, and face) though a strange announcement makes a point to add that Abe’s lips will remain stitched.
To help reveal Abe follow @OddworldInc on Twitter (https://twitter.com/OddworldInc). For more information on Oddworld: Soulstorm please visit the games website (http://www.oddworld.com/soulstorm/) and keep checking here at Informed Pixel for more updates!
