Oddworld: Soulstorm Reviews
Oddworld: Soulstorm is a free PlayStation Plus game on PS5 at the time of this writing, so PS Plus subscribers have no reason not to download it and give it a go for themselves. After all, there's still a lot to like about the game, like its dark story and engaging puzzle/platforming gameplay. However, those on other platforms who have to actually pay to play it may want to hold off until Oddworld Inhabitants fixes some of its more serious bugs.
Oddworld: Soulstorm is an excellent remake of a delightfully weird '90s platformer with tons of charm, challenge... and annoying bugs.
Oddworld: Soulstorm's charm, characters, and sincere narrative are imprisoned within buggy, erratic software.
Abe's Exoddus gets a generous upgrade in this slightly patchy adventure.
Oddworld: Soulstorm is clearly a labour of love, and I can see that in everything it does. The ambition that bleeds into its story, characters, and gameplay are all evident, but the execution is just sorely lacking everywhere it matters. Perhaps my perspective on past games is warped by nostalgia, but this isn’t the road I imagined Abe and company going down. It’s in the right direction, but they’ve veered off course and landed themselves in a ditch.
A highly enjoyable platform puzzler, with some cleverly complex set pieces and great presentation – but it lacks that final layer of polish that could have made it something really special.
Soulstorm has oodles of charm, but tedious design and annoying bugs make an experience that only the most hardcore and forgiving Oddworld fans might enjoy
Oddworld's newest revival looks incredible, but its classic stealth-platforming feels old-school in all the wrong ways.
Oddworld: Soulstorm took Oddworld Inhabitants over two decades to fully realize so it’s disappointing that it came out in the state that it did. Numerous bugs are just one part of the problem as its lack of a quicksave and unwieldy controls cause a lot of easily avoidable irritation. Solving its one-of-a-kind sneaky puzzles can be fairly gratifying at times and its impeccably animated cutscenes are nothing short of amazing, but this is a mixed batch of Soulstorm brew that deserved more time in the production factory.
There are some cobwebs to shake out of Oddworld: Soulstorm, and some that will remain even after a hot shower, but you'd be hard-pressed to name very many games that are doing what this series is doing in 2021. I'm glad that Oddworld Inhabitants is still around, doing their weird and interesting thing.
Oddworld: Soulstorm clearly comes from a very passionate, dedicated group of developers. Although it is very rough in places, there are parts of it that really do stick out as excellent examples of both gameplay and storytelling. With more refinement this could have been a shining example of what ground-up remakes could be, but it just falls a little short of the high standards set elsewhere. It's still charming and funny, just like the Mudokens you're trying to save, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating.
Soulstorm is a conservative sequel that improves on every aspect of previous Oddworld games. It brings back the 2.5D platforming and puzzle solving levels, with better controls and an impressive artistic design.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Oddworld: Soulstorm is an excellent adventure game and platformer, with cool mechanics that keep gameplay fresh. The environments are stunning, and the 2.9D animation makes the world feel three-dimensional and lived-in. Only held back by a slew of bugs, Oddworld: Soulstorm is a great installment in a classic franchise.
A great narrative Oddworld game, but with too many technical problems and a I.A. that sometimes will destroy your nerves.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Oddworld Soulstorm modernises and reimagines the series classic gameplay, but doesn't hold back on the difficulty
We like the Oddworld series, and we wish Soulstorm were better. The ingredients are there: the world itself and Abe's story have a uniquely grimy charm. No section of Soulstorm's 15-hour adventure feels quite like the last, with enough new enemies and mechanics introduced to keep things both interesting and challenging. Yet at the same time, technical issues mar the experience much like the dirt and rust that covers Oddworld, and small inconveniences add up to make completing the game much more trying than it should be. We hope one day an Oddworld game will be a must-play adventure worthy of the series' late-'90s prestige, but Soulstorm on Switch hasn't quite freed Abe and the Mudokons from the fetters of poor performance and archaic design.
In that image lies the appeal-and for some the off-putting twinge-of Oddworld: a bleak and black-hearted concoction, laced with snickering humour and shot through with hope.
Oddworld: Soulstorm should have been the definitive version of the second entry in the Oddworld quintology, while the new story and characters hold their own, the gameplay lets it down. A plethora of bugs make the game far more difficult and frustrating than it should be, ranging from inconsistent enemy movement and teleportation to traces of elements no longer in the final product. There are more than 1300 Mudokons needing your help, but it might be worth waiting a while before you take on this mammoth task.
Oddworld: Soulstorm is an advancement on previous games in the series in every way, but that’s both its biggest achievement and the source of its problems. The complexity and variety in its locations is commendable, as is the wealth of tools at your disposal for dealing with its many tricks and foes. But many of its systems don’t work together reliably, or don’t respond with the necessary speed, which leaves an experience that’s rarely as entertaining as it promises to be.
Oddworld: Soulstorm is rather a mixed bag. On one hand there's plenty of great gameplay mechanics, some innovative gimmicks, and a dramatic story to boot. But at the same time you'll have to deal with a boring color scheme for most of the game, that pairs with some unintuitive and chaotic levels.
Review in Russian | Read full review