Oddworld: Soulstorm was first announced by developer Oddworld Inhabitants back in 2017, and after a number of moody, stylish CG trailers, we’ve finally been given a look at gameplay in a new trailer, which you can see below.
Soulstorm is billed as a direct sequel to 2014’s New N’ Tasty, which was a remake of the first game in the series, though don’t expect this new entry to be a straight up remake of the original sequel, Abe’s Exoddus.
As you can see, Soulstorm retains the side scrolling nature of the original games while giving the 3D environments an incredible amount of scope, scale, and depth. New N’ Tasty was described as 2.5D, but Lorne Lanning and his team are calling this “2.9D”, on account of the way characters and objects almost seem burst out of the screen.
The footage shows us that, once again, we’ll be leading our fellow Mudokons on a journey through a variety of side-scrolling levels packed with enemies, obstacles, and puzzles to over come. As in previous games, we’ll likely be able to issue commands to our followers to keep them safe, while sometimes using them for the greater good.
Much of the game is still shrouded in mystery, but a brief synopsis from the official site reads:
Witness Abe’s horrifying conflict with a terrifying new machination. A fresh narrative – a complete story retake inspired by our original tale. A big visual and cinematic leap aiming to break new ground for Oddworld. Intelligent new mechanics, twisted new devices enabling highly explosive deviousness. A dark parable that tells an epic tale of a volatile society pushed to its limits.
Oddworld: Soulstorm currently has a release window of early 2020, and will act as more of a retelling of the second game, with tons of new ideas but a selection of familiar faces, locations, and story beats.
The last time we saw Oddworld: Soulstorm was at GDC, where the developers showed off some of the sexy rendering techniques they’re using to make the game look as great as it does. I can’t wait to see more soon.
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via stories@unilad.co.uk
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.