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Intelligent, but odd...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 36 / 38
Date: November 24, 2001
Author: Amazon User

In Munch's Oddysee, the third installment in the Oddworld saga, Abe is
joined by Munch, the last of the Gabbits. They must work together to
rescue enslaved Mudokons and fulfill Munch's quest for other Gabbits.

This is the first Oddworld game that is fully 3D. It is only available
on the Xbox, and the graphics are obviously tuned to take maximum
advantage of the platform. The environments are richly detailed (the
water is incredible) and a lot of effort went into making beautiful
cut scenes. And while the visuals are a quantum leap over what was
possible in the previous Oddworld games, the dark humor and
personalities of the characters still shine. The only visual flaw in
the entire game is some barely noticeable sparkle along a few texture
seams.

The gameplay is very addictive. The game is well paced; levels in the
beginning are super easy, but don't be deceived! Things really heat up
near the end. There are one or two places that use repetition as a way
of adding difficulty; however, for the most part the game doesn't fall
into this trap. The two leading characters complement each other
well. Each has abilities the other lacks; for example, Abe can
sometimes possess and control his enemies, while Munch can operate
machinery. Many of the puzzles require Abe and Munch to work in close
cooperation. Add the ability to order around Mudokons and Fuzzles
(little furry creatures with big teeth that adore their savior Munch)
and you've got a very fun game. There's a decent amount of gameplay,
too; the entire game took me about 30 hours to complete.

The controls in the game are well mapped out and feel natural
quickly. As much as possible, the controls are similar no matter who
(or what) you happen to be controlling. The only flaw in the control
scheme comes from the third-person camera. Occasionally the camera
makes it difficult to perform a task. The camera can't always be
made to go behind a character because there's a wall in the way. This
makes it difficult to see what's directly in front of the
character. Also, the camera will sometimes pan or dolly while the
character is running, forcing the player to adjust the stick left or
right just to keep going in a straight line. (To be fair, almost every
third-person game made suffers from these problems). A control to
temporarily make the camera first-person would have solved both these
problems.

Overall this title is very compelling. Oddworld always does an
excellent job of creating a believable world that's fun to play in,
and Munch's Oddysee is no exception. I would recommend it to anyone
who likes puzzle games, but likes some intelligent action and mayhem
thrown in as well.

Not your typical platformer

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 27 / 28
Date: November 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Munch's Odyssey is definitely NOT your typical platformer. While it's suitable for pretty much all ages, it's humor is aimed at a more teen or adult audience.

The graphics are incredibly realistic, especially in the cut scenes. And even if you are familiar with the back story of this series, you have to watch the introductory movie. Hysterical.

The gaming is easy at first, and you get lots of help early on to get you into the flow of the game. I haven't finished it by far, but I've heard that the puzzles will get harder as you progress, but that only means that you shouldn't get bored with it very easily.

If you're tired of the well-done, tried and true Mario-like platform games, and are looking for something that has it's own unique (albeit wacky) style, give Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee a try!

For lovers of the wacky adventure game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 14
Date: November 16, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Yeah I admit it, I really love this game. It is just so chock full of character and personality it's really hard to not love it. Once you get by the wackness of it, there's a lot to like here.

Anyone who likes adventure classics like Monkey Island doesn't need to think twice here. Munch's Oddysee is five times as wacky as Monkey Island is at its wackiest (and that's pretty damn wacky). The characters are loveable and hillarious in their various twisted ways, and the story reads like something that a psychedelic proponent might come up with. The graphics are believable and chock full of eye candy that really give this game life.

That said if your a big action gamer that only likes fast paced games, you'll probably be bored stiff at this stuff. Slow going to be sure, but a lot of fun nonetheless. Maybe give it a rental first to see if its your style before buying. Personally though, I think its the best launch title for the Xbox after Halo.

Second only to Halo, and in some ways better

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: January 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This was the first game I ever played on my Xbox, and it gave me a very good first impressions of the console. Its full of personality and humor, has beautiful arty graphics and even better cutscenes, wonderful voice acting despite the fact that only 3 people did every single voice and 80% of the voices was the done by Lorne Lanning, company CEO, game creator and designer, and script write. The music is wonderful, though not that memorable. Gameplay might be somewhat slow and frusturating for some, but you have unlimited lives, so there are no restraints, thought the difficulty level is still perfect. The gameplay is also very well done in the way that on every level after the first 2 or 3, Abe and Munch must work as a team using their abilitys- Munch can use mechanical things, swim very well, command fuzzles(Cute little creatures with nasty bites) and go fast on land when in a wheelchair. Abe can command Mudokons(His race) posess and control enemies, go faster on land then Munch and jump higher. The game is very well balanced between the two charecters. The game is also enjoyable for all age groups- 8 year olds will love this, as will 50 year olds. I highly recommend this title(And when your done, buy Halo!).

The Evolution of OddWorld

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: January 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I've always been a big fan of the Oddworld series, ever since Abe underwent his first Oddysee, back in the glory days of the PSone. I think the real hook for me with that first game was realizing there was a button entirely dedicated to forcing your on-screen character to fart. I'd never seen anything like it before and it's one of the major reasons I went ahead and bought my first Playstation, along with Oddworld: Episode I as my first game. It had inspired gameplay, an offbeat sense of humor that hit all the right notes, great voice acting and incredible replay value.

Fortunately enough, many of those qualities have remained intact beyond Abe's second game and now into Oddworld's third chapter. My one major qualm about Abe's Exoddus (the second game), the change in voice actors for Abe himself, has now been repaired. With the old feel back again, a new character, a stunning jump to 3-D and a continuation of the old story, there should be nothing holding this game back from perfection... right? Well, not entirely so.

Despite everything it's got going for it, there are a few little factors about this game which serve to do nothing more than irritate. Nearly every operation required of your character is performed with one button. The Xbox controller's "A" Button is used to jump, press buttons, pick things up, pull switches, activate portals, climb into a wheelchair, operate machinery, or grab a drink from one of the game's vending machines. The rest of the controller's buttons are used for conversing with non-playable characters, a task which was completed by holding in one of the L or R buttons and pressing another button in earlier games in the series. As a result, you'll often jump to your doom when you'd rather lift something up or something equally as silly. In addition, controlling Abe in the open field is notably difficult. There are points where precision is an absolute necessity, but Abe's veering left when you want him to go forward. For a game of this magnitude, with a control system that was already tweaked to perfection, it's silly that they muddled things like that. You'll eventually get used to the inadequacies of the system, but will never get to the point where Abe or Munch does exactly what you want every single time.

Another thing that slightly irked me was the length of the game. Though it's certainly nothing to sneeze at, I completed everything in around eight hours. Maybe nostalgia has fogged my mind, but I don't remember the first two games as being that short. But, as I said, it's a minor issue and not one I'll really take anything away for. Just don't go into this expecting an epic on par with Final Fantasy or Grand Theft Auto.

The way this game looks is simply amazing. As a first-wave launch title for the Box, I'll admit I had set my expectations a little loftily, but Munch's Oddysee surpassed even my steep hopes and wishes. Every step of this world is visually stunning, from the soft gradient of the outdoor skies to the brown, crusty grime gathered around the toilets in the later stages. The attention to detail is off the charts, and I'd occasionally just set the controller down and take everything in. It's that good looking.

In addition, the pre-rendered CGIs maintain the standard set forth by the previous episodes. The cinemas were always one of my favorite parts of Oddworld, and the envelope continued its trend of moving forward here. Just great, great stuff, brought full circle with some spot-on voice work.

The audio tells you everything you need to know when first gaining your surroundings in a new area. With Dolby support, it's possible to locate a lost Mudokan with your eyes shut. You can hear the click-click-click of an enemy slig down the hallway. The music is fresh, maintaining a beat in the background but never overpowering the scene. It picks up when you're being assaulted or chased, and dips back down when you're just patiently exploring. The cartoony sound effects are occasionally out of place and unnecessary, but on the whole don't interfere. My one problem with the audio was more a planning issue than anything else. Every once in a while, you'll run into a 'spiritual advisor', who tells you what you need to be doing in that part of the stage. It's pretty important you understand what he's saying, yet subtitles aren't available in case someone you can't hear him for some reason. A vacuum cleaner was running elsewhere in the house one afternoon, and I had to wait for some time before I could continue because I needed to know what he was telling me. Subs should've at least been an alternative option...

The story is pure Oddworld. It kept me intrigued every step of the way, even if what I was doing was repetitive. There's an overlying theme of lightheartedness, and the same issues of extinction and over industrialization are covered in a new and interesting way. With rumors claiming there are three alternate endings, depending on how many innocents you save through the game, there's also the promise of enjoyable replay value without identical results.

All in all, the series has made a successful, albeit rocky, jump into the world of 3-D. The graphics are very impressive, even by today's unrealistic standards, the audio isn't flawless (though it's close), the controls need some work, and the story has never been better. This is a really fun game to play, and though it does get a little easy, there's always just enough challenge to keep veteran players occupied without losing interest. It's a great way to kick off your Xbox collection, whether you're young or old, new to gaming or hardened from years of battle.

Family Fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: November 24, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Abe and Munch are two of the weirdest characters in video gaming. They must work together, which sounds good but they are two completely different characters with different skills and abilities.

Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee is a puzzle game, with a little action thrown in to keep most players interested. The puzzles are easy to understand so that even younger players can determine how to solve them, even though they may not have the skills to easily complete them. Most levels require no violence, and even those that do are distant, bloodless, and somewhat funny.

This power of Xbox really shines with this game. The graphics and sound are really good. The characters travel through forests, valleys, mountains, towers, etc. while using a whellchair, cranes, beverage dispensers, etc.

This is fun for most of the family, although the females might not laugh as loud as the boys at the green clouds of gas or noisey belches.

Quirky.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 14
Date: September 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

With a messed up sense of fun (the central character is a fish confined to a wheelchair - I laugh cruelly!), it looks like this is going to be one of the launch games to watch. If you've played the previous Oddworld games, you'll feel right at home with the truly wacky style and strangely infuriating but addictive puzzle-type gameplay.

Note: not really for younger kids unless you want them having nightmares about their mouths being sewn shut and getting attacked by vicious alien monsters. But if you're old enough to appreciate black humor you'll love it.

One of the best X-Box games out there!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: November 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I got this game so I would have something different than the fight or war games, and boy am I glad I did. The entire family gets involved and has a GREAT TIME! The graphics were the best and the audio is fantastic. The one-liners are funny. Worth every cent and a must have for any X-Box gamer! Everyone will love it!!!

A kinder, gentler Oddysee

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: October 19, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The original Oddworld game, Abe's Oddysee, was pretty challenging. (I never got around to playing Abe's Exxodus.) It was definitely a thinking man's game. It appeared to be a platformer, but in truth it was a puzzle game through and through. The controls and character animations were not geared towards true platforming action. It was about figuring out what precise series of steps you had to take to reach areas, and also how to help others to reach areas. For the most part, Munch's Oddysee is the same sort of game. [Arbitrary edit by one of Amazon's faceless editors.] I never encountered any puzzle that was as tough to crack as the toughest puzzles in Abe's Oddysee. I don't object to the few levels in which you send a squad of allies to attack enemies. When you spend so much time in the game sneaking around and fearing for your life, turning the tables on the bad guys once in a while feels great. One thing that hurts the challenge level is that you can literally save anywhere. ANYWHERE. In the original, if you had to run a long gaunlet of several tough manuvers, you just had to keep trying over and over until you were able to perform them all in one try. In this game, if you're faced with a series of 20 demanding jumps, you can make the first jump, save, make the second jump, save etc. If you miss the final jump, rather than have to start back at the beginning, you can just reload your last "quicksave" and try that final jump until you get it.

Not the most technically impressive XBOX game, but great FUN

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: February 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I LOVE this game!!

I hate the Playstation so I have never played any of the earlier Oddworld titles. Taking a chance, I got this for Christmas based on early XBOX game reviews and I have not regretted it yet! While on the surface Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee looks like any other PS2 game out there, don't let that stop you from buying and enjoying this game. What's it like? Picture a game like Super Mario 64 or Sonic Adventure but with a much deeper plot, brain-busting puzzles and tons of technique and variety.

Yes, this game will require a great deal of thought and planning to complete. Don't wimp out and buy the [price] strategy guide just yet (wait until you beat the game on your own and then replay it with the strategy book to get to all the items/areas you may have missed!) part of this game's appeal is figuring out the puzzles yourself. There's a great deal of satisfaction that comes with overcoming a particularly tricky area of the game!

Your job as Abe and Munch is basically to rescue your friends and to pass through levels. When I mentioned variety, there are levels where you must switch between the two heroes, possess enemies, use a crane to drop explosives on unsuspecting rivals, and resurrecting fallen comrades. The powerups are actually useful and the story is both funny and interesting....I actually found myself laughing along with the nicely done between-level CGI movies! Control is crisp and I found it to be really fun when you get Munch in his wheelchair! Good stuff indeed! Oh, and you get to save at any point in the game-this is the way it SHOULD be!

Replayability is high because you are graded on your Qarma, in other words, the more friends you rescue, the higher your score. This is difficult in that you must also utilize your friends to engage the enemies and some will be killed in the process. The trick is to use your friends to fight only when absolutely necessary and only when you have sufficient numbers to do so.

All in all, I love this game! Buy this for your Xbox, you won't be disappointed!

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