This is not just a simple remake where the only stuff that changes are the graphics. Nope, New 'n' Tasty fixes many elements that the original game got wrong back in 1997. Yes, Abe's Oddysee came out 17 years ago when many of you weren't even born.
Now, to be honest, I myself have little memory of this game. I remember it was among the first games me and my brother pirated for our Pentium 3 PC back in 1999 (f@ck I'm old) and I remember him playing it. It was a very different game. It looked well, strange. The artstyle was very dark and the design for Abe himself was pretty scary, somewhat goofy and again, dark. I don't really remember much of the story, but I remember that he died in some gruesome and terrifying ways.
Well, after playing New 'n' Tasty, I can tell you that what made the original a classic are present here and the new features and fixes only add more value to it, but more on that later.In Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty, the you control a Mudokon named Abe. Similar to the original, the gameplay is a sidescrolling platformer with an emphasis on puzzle solving, with New 'n' Tasty reimagined in a 2.5D graphical style. While working on the meat processing plant, Abe discovers a terrifying plot that involves his employers and his fellow Mudokons. So he starts a difficult and perilous journey to save all of the Mudokons captured by the blood thirsty capitalists.
But the only thing he can do is run, jump and throw bottle caps and since that worked in the past, it still works to this day and the new fixes make the gameplay even better. Sure, Abe still looks silly and most of the times you will die from not executing a correct jump part your fault and part the game, but it's heck of a lot of fun. During your journey you will find stumble upon many different puzzles many of which may frustrate you or might get on your nerves, but that's part of New 'n' Tasty's charm. The original game was a difficult game if my memory is correct so streamlining the game a bit for today's audience well, makes sense.
The new aim and throw mechanic makes sneaking around enemies easier than it was before, but still you will get caught. But that's not really a problem since there are a lot more checkpoints in the game. Simply passing by these checkpoints automatically saves the game. In addition they added the ability to quick-save by simply clicking the touchpad if you are playing on a PS4 that is, and you load that quick-save by holding the touchpad down a moment. About to try a tricky roll through a bunch of grinders? Quicksave is your new best friend.
Another thing that got reworked as far as I know is the camera and how it works. In the original one the game had no dynamic camera like it has today that follows the actions, but it had single page areas that contained the puzzles and whatnot. This dynamic camera that New 'n' Tasty has works great with the pace of the game as it doesn't break the action.
As for the visuals well, New 'n' Tasty feels like the original game, but looks way way better. The environments are beautiful and the lighting only up the ante. This is a flagship game showing off the power of the Unity engine running on powerful hardware. Abe's animations to me look kinda crappy and silly, but they perfectly tap into my nostalgia for the game.
Bottom Line: Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty is not a simple HD remake of a classic game. The closest game I can compare it to is the also excellent Strider remake that released a few months ago. In these games, you can clearly see and understand that the devs truly loved the original games, that's why these new "reimagining" feel, look and play just like their ancestors and better. Thanks for reading!
