Abe makes his first 3D platforming debut on the original Xbox.
Just like the other games, Munch has a tragic story to tell. Munch is a Gabbit, an amphibian with only one leg to swim or hop. The recent fish net trappings have reduced the Gabbit population down to one. Gabbits make for a good meal and their eggs as good gavia (basically cavia) but with the Gabbit population nearly extinct the mad doctors known as Vykkers have devised a way to use Munch as a tracking beacon to find more Gabbits. Abe and his pals learn of this and have set off on a quest to save Munch and any other survivng Gabbits.
With the transition to 3D the important thing is how this game plays. Like other 3D platformers you jump on platforms of different heights and distances to get around the environment. You can pan the camera around you with the D-Pad and communicating with other characters is handles with the Y, X and B. Possessing is still in the game but Abe will need to collect special mushrooms called spooceshrubs and this is handled with the L trigger. My first complaint would have to be the wierd control setup. It would have been better to have the camera on the right analog stick rather than the awkwardness of the D-Pad. Attacking could have also been handled on the R trigger rather than clicking the right trigger.
Abe and Munch can attack enemy Sligs and can command fellow mudokons to attack for them. Mudokons will be even more important to proceeding to the next level and if one dies all Abe does is chant next to a resurrection well. The emphasis is no longer on dying this time around as Abe and Munch have health in the form of birds hovering around them when you press the right trigger. So you're allowed to make a few more mistakes this time around without being punished and sent back to the start. And even if either character dies the other can just resurrect him without having to lose progress. This kind of makes the game a bit too easy and with a generous quicksave feature which makes it even easier. The real challenge is the puzzle solving which at times is fun but other times unimaginative and boring like herding sheep into an area. Jumping can also be a real challenge as Abe feels too springy and often I would miss jump which for a platform game is not a good thing.
Graphically the game looks good for a 2001 launch title. Character models are handles well and the lighting engine is used effectively especially when you see cloud shadows moving along the ground. Its a good transition to 3D for the series and still looks good compared to the rest of last gen games. Water ripples when Munch is swimming through, environments look good although it could have benefited with a lot more vegetation to bring it more to life. The game is still a bit violent but seems toned down a bit and when slaughtering Sligs the same death animation of meat on a bones flying about grows tiresome and lacks gruesomeness like the previous games where their heads or body parts would fly off.
Sound is good also but it's nothing special. Sometimes background music plays while other times not which kind of gives a lonely feeling playing this game to no music. Sound effects are still the same aswell as voice work with Abe who still sounds like he has a blocked nose even though he has no nose. He can talk to other mudokons and they respond back but it's pretty limited to what they say and becomes repetitve very quick.
As one of the original Xbox's launch titles it's a good game to play through although getting through is a question of how dedicated you are. The controls are awkward, the jumping is springy, sound can be repetitve and puzzle solving often uninteresting. This game can feel a bit bland at times and compared to other games of the genre isn't going to stick out. But for what it's worth (and you can pick it up dirt cheap) this game does have the Oddworld look and feel for those who enjoy the series.