The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants: The First Ten Years 1994-2004 edited by Cathy Johnson and Daniel Wade.

My first thought upon thumbing through this slick new book was: “When are these guys going to print some posters?” The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants: The First Ten Years 1994-2004 contains so many beautiful images that I’d find it difficult to choose just one to have as a poster; I would want them all! Putting my poster greed aside, I realize these folks know they’ve got something amazing to offer and are careful with how they exploit it. An example is the book cover art; it’s barely a tease. Depicted on the cover is a strange embryo lying within something that looks like an ancient artifact. They could have used almost any image from within the book. Deciding instead to tempt readers with this brief glimpse at what lies inside is clever.

For the uninitiated, Oddworld is a universe filled with freakish yet lovable creatures, living in a crazed, hyper-real yet still cartoonish universe. Oddworld has all the grit, grime and mysterious ambience of the best film noir. In addition to the insane level of detail is the equal attention paid to the story of Oddworld. There is a rich and complex back-story tying this series together, some of which is revealed in the text of the book. The book gets the image to text ratio just right, something that is not always true in this type of book. The book makes for an excellent companion to the games. The games are so action filled you’ll hardly have time to take in the lush art while playing and will most likely find yourself delving into the book after each gameplay session for a better view of the creatures and their surroundings.

If you are unfamiliar with Oddworld, you may have been surprised to learn that this is a videogame universe. It’s true: all of this intensity is focused on making videogames. Perhaps you haven’t heard: games have not only evolved they’ve arrived into something of a renaissance. With considerable sums of disposable income, 24- to 35-year-old men now make up the majority of the gaming audience. Aimed right at this demographic, the Oddworld series is best known for its sometimes crude, sometimes political and always visually stunning elements. Where else will you find a gangly, alien, slave laborer who struggles to liberate his people by utilizing his gift for passing gas? Ahh, games… I love `em! Mixed in with the elementary school humor are some deeper concepts. In particular, the Oddworld universe pokes fun at advertising and propaganda through its use of fake product placement and political posters. While by description alone they may seem disgusting and juvenile, the posters that identify the cuts of meat on a Mudokon are surprisingly funny yet sad. I’m not sure there is a deeper explanation for the digestive humor, but then again who hasn’t felt this pain.

Abe is one of these Mudokons, and the star of the first game in the series, the appropriately titled, if questionably spelled, Abe’s Oddysee. In fact, he’s the aforementioned odiferous liberator. The basic premise is that you play as Abe and free your people. You have numerous tasks to complete in varied environments. These environments receive some attention in the book, but the characters in Abe’s Oddysee are given more attention.