Oddworld - Abe's Oddysee - Platinum (PS)

You play the role of Abe, a clumsy but highly amusing Mudoken working as a floor-waxer in the dangerous slaughterhouse, Rupture Farms. You and the other Mudokens have been the slave labour force for this evil organisation practically all your lives. The introduction shows Abe stumbling across a meeting (accidentally of course) with Molluck The Glukkon and his mean bunch of corporate weasels. He discovers that their products have been in short supply as Rupture Farms have driven Meeches, Scrabs and Paramites to the edge of extinction. Of course the only way to boost their profits is to turn Abe and the rest of his race into lunch, and thus begins your adventure in aiding Abe escape before he's on the menu.

Like with most games, the first few minutes are designed for the player to become accustomed with the controls and are useful for this game as there are quite a few to master but will become second nature once you get involved. And trust me, you WILL get involved. It's impossible not to, unless you have a serious aversion to 2D puzzle platforming games. Otherwise, there are many things that will draw you in. For a start the graphics. Although not stunning 3D visuals, the pre-rendered backgrounds are detailed well and really bring the environment to life. The character animations are quite impressive too and prove 3D isn't always the best, even for a platinum Playstation title. The characters themselves are something else. Not exactly your average bunch of heroes and enemies, and not exactly your prettiest. But they are original and you can't help but love Abe for his charm and repetitive fart noises, which will always bring a smile no matter how many times you make him do it, and you can't help but hate his enemies, whether it's from the Scrabs, Paramites or the room temperature IQ Sligs.

The sheer size of the game is immense, you'll have yourself running and jumping and talking your way through endless different sections. The puzzle elements are also well thought out, although a gaming pro could complete it in a day if they went without food, drink or even sleep if needs be. For anyone who likes a challenge however, this will take you a while to finish, and even then you'll probably get the bad game ending as you'll have missed out so much the first time round. Some puzzle answers will be staring at you straight in the face and others will require your highest intelligence to solve, even if they have you cursing at the screen and throwing your controller around the room. Other puzzles will require you to perform a series of actions in a chain, and if one isn't right you'll have to start all over again from the beginning. Puzzle games do often cause frustration among gamers just because they can spend most of their day trying to get pass one simple stage. But as they say, "Without disappointment, you cannot appreciate victory.", so a sense of achievement is to be found in there somewhere.

The highlight of the game however, is the ability to talk to your characters. It may not sound that impressive even if you can't talk but the "Gamespeak" function is it's key feature and certainly something you need to master to get through the game. They are simple command phrases. "Hello.", "Follow Me.", "Wait!" and so on but it's not just a case of running and jumping anymore. The talking function is mainly used to gather Mudokens and send them through various portals to set them free from the hellhole that is Rupture Farms and the rest of Oddworld, or use them to do things for you feel lazy. You'll have to use it against friend and foe at some point, but you'll always get a reply. Sometimes it's great to watch you and a group of Mudokens partake in a conversation consisting entirely of "Hellos" whistles or even farts. The communication aspect brings some of its originality, and without we would have a boring game indeed. Another of Abe's fascinating abilities is the power to possess other creatures, thus opening up pathways you could not previously open up with Abe. You can take on the role of more creatures in Abe's Exodus (the sequel) but Abe and a Slig should be more than enough to keep you happy in this game.

The game is a great deal of fun to play and would have achieved 5 stars if it weren't for the short game length. Okay, so it isn't perfect, but if you can push the minor disadvantages aside, you have another Playstation classic. And while after completing it several times you may not return to it, it will most certainly satisfy while it lasts. And when you do complete it properly, there's always Abe's Exodus to enjoy.