Although Velocity isn’t free on PlayStation Plus any more, I think it fits nicely with the recent theme we’ve had around the service, and we may as well continue the trend with Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD. The HD addition to the game’s title makes it status as a remake of the 2005 Xbox game perfectly clear, although the troubles that developers Just Add Water have had in bringing it to XBLA means that 360 owners aren’t getting the remake for now.
Stranger’s Wrath follows Stranger, a bounty hunter, and switches in gameplay somewhat from earlier games in the Oddworld series. As you’d imagine from a game starring a bounty hunter there’s a lot more shooting coming into play in Stranger’s Wrath than in other Oddworld games, although you’re still encouraged to stun rather than kill.
In fact it was the way the game’s only weapon, the crossbow, handles that seemed to leave Dan the most impressed in our review of the game. You can follow the link to get a more in depth look at just why he loved the game’s “Live Ammo” system so much, but I think the fact that the game allows you to fire things called Stingbees and Thudslugs makes some of the appeal evident.
He was less impressed with the game’s random difficulty spikes though, saying that “there were times about halfway through where the difficulty level didn’t just ramp up; it took an elevator to the top floor.” That doesn’t sound all that pleasant. He was also frustrated by the sluggish nature of the game’s third person camera, finding it particularly irritating in boss fights.
Despite finding a few issues with the game, he happily gave it a 9/10 and had this to say about it:
There’s no doubt about it, Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD is punching well above its £9.99 price bracket. The production values coupled with over ten hours of quality gameplay mean the game would easily be worth £40 if stuck on the shelf of your local retailer.
Frustrating difficulty spikes aside, Stranger’s Wrath had me hooked throughout. If TSA did half marks, this would be a well deserved 9.5.
So with Dan’s view on it out of the way, it’s time to throw the doors open to you. Just how much do you like the HD remake of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath? Do you feel it stacks up well against the original? Have you only come to it recently via PlayStation Plus, or has it been on your hard-drive since release? Does the Live Ammo excite or irritate? If you feel like sharing the answers to those questions, or anything you have to say about the game at all really, just drop a comment below.
As well as your comment, you need to leave a rating for the game. Following Peter’s precedent last week, I’m going to drop the Rent It and Bargain Bin It options for digital games, but for games that are free on PlayStation Plus I’m going to add a Plus It option. Plus It means that whilst you liked the game, you only really feel it’s worth getting for free on a PlayStation Plus subscription. Overall you’ve got three choices: Buy It, Plus It and Avoid It. Pick one of those, add it to your comment (which you need to have in by Sunday afternoon) and you’re done!
Now go on, go shoot something with a Thudslug.
posem
buy it. nuff said.
Taylor Made
Buy it, it’s a good game & if you are a plus member & didn’t download it, u don’t deserve ps+
For some reason when I play this game, it lags almost every second it’s pain. I thought it was memory problem so I freed some space it still lags
Stewart Gilray
Lags? on PS3?
impossible, it uses streamed data and runs at 60fps 98% of the time
Taylor Made
Lags on mine like a bad pirate DVD, dunno why that is. Maybe I need to delete & re download it
Stewart Gilray
Buy it
Forrest_01
Haha – I had a suspicion you might say that! :)
Stewart Gilray
I did :D as has 140k other people :)
Forrest_01
You should get a lot of results that are ‘buy it’ – Everyone i have spoken to has either enjoyed it or totally raved about it. :)
Bodachi
One of my own favourite games of all time. Got it as a birthday present back when it first came out on Xbox. Played it through a couple of times. Brought it day one on PSN and it just looks beautiful, far better then it ever did on Xbox. I’ll be picking up the Vita version when it comes out so definitely BUY IT.
Izorpo
buy it
colmshan1990
Argh!
I keep meaning to sit down and play this, along with the last 15 or so games PS+ gave me, but I can’t stop playing with the Vita in my gaming time, which for some reason is still short even in the summer. :(
It does look really good though. I’m looking forward to the Vita version, it looks to be the fun, light-hearted action game that every console needs a few of.
Origami Killer
Only half way through the game at the moment, but from what Ive played so far it has been quite enjoyable, only issue is the random difficulty spikes. On hard it becomes a real struggle, put me off playing the game for 6 months. I paid full price for it but torn between buy it and plus it. Plus it.
MadBoJangles
Barely played it, what I did play was good though :)
Not tried it in 3D yet though, definite BUY IT from me!
matthangzhou
I loved the premise for the game and tried to enjoy it but it felt like a grind for me. Bad camera, repetitive gameplay and linear design. Bargain bin it.
element666
I’m playing this at the min,I’m having a blast bar the difficulty spikes as mentioned.
I love the different ammo types and stranger is a bad ass!
Buy,buy,buy!!!