ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.02 - MAY 2000

Oddworld Inhabitants: Weird Name, Great Game
(continued from page 1)

Oddworld keeps pushing the visual edge with games like Munch’s Oddysee. © Oddworld.

Following the first two games that sold nearly four million units worldwide, the Inhabitants of Oddworld are working hard to deliver OddWorld: Munch's Oddysee for the PlayStation2. "Our deadline is Fall of 2000 and we have never missed a deadline. Sherry and Lorne originally come from Hollywood and the mentality there is if you say the production will be finished by a release date, then you deliver by that date," explains Jones. "Oddworld is known for its timeliness with their games which is important in an industry where other games have missed their promised deadlines consistently."

Enhanced PlayStation2 technology lets Munch's Oddysee bring new layers to Oddworld by adding realistic world simulations, character behaviors and a controllable eco-system to create a "living, game impression."

Where Abe's Oddysee and Exoddus were two dimensional platform games that allowed the person to scroll up, down, left or right, with Munch's Oddysee, players become Abe in a first-person play scenario.

"Munch's Oddysee is a huge feat with some incredible storytelling and game play," says Easley. "It is amazing what the real-time people are doing. They are amazing. What they are doing is matte painting on a computer a beautiful tree and then putting it onto four polygons. Wait until you see a 4 polygon tree."

The world created in Munch is a highly imaginary world that sucks players in. © Oddworld.

Munch's Oddysee is promising an environment that is effected by more than the occasional explosion. It is a living, breathing place where things live and die. Where gamers will use their moral conscious as well as their game playing skills.

Throughout the Oddworld sagas and new technical abilities, the moral under story or objective is there, even if it is not always obvious to the player. For Oddworld Inhabitants, the goal is to tell the story in a manner to suspend disbelief, to make believe that the characters exist with a sense of life that brings the player into new levels of environment immersion.

The Story
For a universe to continue and grow, the artists of Oddworld have to believe in what they are creating as well. "A lot of people think that video games are only a sophomoric medium, but I don't believe that’s true," says Easley. "I think that gaming will evolve into a medium that, on any number of subjects, will bring forth a social consciousness that can teach as well as entertain."
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