Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath Megathread - Coming 2011

Apr 17, 2009
7,729
San Diego, CA
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Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath is an action-adventure game that details the adventures of Stranger, a fearsome bounty hunter. Throughout the game, Stranger pursues and captures outlaws in order to collect bounties. The goal is to ultimately earn enough moolah to pay for a mysterious life-saving operation. One of the most notable features is the "live ammunition" system, which is literally ammunition made of living creatures like fictional insects and small mammals, each with different uses and effects against enemies.


Gameplay

The premise of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath is that the bounty hunter Stranger must earn moolah (in-game money) by tracking down outlaws with bounties on their heads and apprehending them, bringing them in dead or alive. The game utilizes both third and first-person perspectives. In third person, the player controls Stranger when travelling long distance, platform jumping, rope climbing and melee combat while first person is like that of first person shooter games where ranged weapons are used. Enemies can be approached head on like a straight up action game or stealthily by hiding in long grass out of enemy sight (as indicated via mini map) and luring foes away from or toward the player. Once enemies are encountered, they can be killed or knocked down/stunned temporarily; in this state they can be captured, thus earning more moolah than if they had been captured dead.

Upon an attempted capture, Stranger is unable to perform other actions and thus is vulnerable. The player has two status bars, health and stamina. When damage is taken, the health bar drops; if it fully depletes, it will result in the death of Stranger. Stamina drops when the player performs actions like melee attacks or falls from a great height. While it refills itself over time, it can be used to shake off health-bar damage, thus healing the player, but draining the stamina quicker.

One of the game’s main features is the Stranger’s crossbow that is used in a first person perspective that literally uses live ammunition in the form of using small fictional versions of real creatures as projectiles for differing effects. Live ammunition can be bought from the game’s vendors or found scattered throughout the game world (except for Zappflies, which the player has an unlimited supply of). When acquired, two different kinds of ammo can be assigned to the crossbow at any given time for two kinds of firing attack.

There are nine critters in total that can be used as ammo, such as Stunkz for stunning large groups of enemies, Thudslugs that work as cannon balls, Boombats that work as rockets, and Wasps that are fired at foes like a sniper rifle.

The game incorporates many role-playing elements in the form of earning moolah with each bounty fulfilled allowing it to be spent on upgrades such as crossbow, ammunition, storage and armour upgrades and other items such as binoculars and knuckle dusters.


Story

The game begins with a bounty hunter, known only as the Stranger, catching various Outlaws and criminals to try to raise money for a mysterious operation. Later on, he hears a story about a town of creatures called Grubbs that is being tormented by a demon. The town used to be protected by a race of creatures called the Steef, but they are extinct.

When the Stranger arrives in the town, he discovers that the river near the town has been dried up by a dam, which was built by a person called Sekto. It is revealed that Sekto is responsible for the extinction of the Steef. Sekto is offering a bounty for the Steef, believing that there are still a few around. Sekto believes that the Stranger knows where the Steef are hiding, so he hires an outlaw named D. Caste Raider to capture the Stranger and interrogate him. During the interrogation, Raider discovers that the Stranger is a Steef. After this revelation, the Stranger escapes from Raider’s hideout and makes his way to the Grubb’s town.

When the Stranger meets the Grubb leader, he discovers that Sekto is the demon that stole the water from the Grubbs. The Stranger then confronts Sekto. As they battle, the dam is destroyed, flooding Raider’s hideout. As Sekto lies dying, they discover that he is a Steef, possessed by the demon. The Demon is then seen swimming away from town in the river.

PS3 Features

+ The game will be released on the PlayStation Network
+ Enhanced 720p visuals
+ More detailed character models
+ Re-mastered dialogue
+ Bonus material
Support for the PlayStation Move peripheral
 
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Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath hitting PS3 in 2011

The guys at VG247 have confirmed that the PlayStation 3 will be getting a HD makeover of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath courtesy of developer Just Add Water in spring 2011.

Originally released on Xbox in 2005, Stranger’s Wrath will be released as a download title only and will mark the first Oddworld outing on a PlayStation platform since 1998’s Abe’s Exoddus.

PS3 owners can look forward to an array of swanky new features, including 720p visuals, normal mapping, self-shadowing, revamped dialogue, PlayStation Move compatibility, and more.

Just Add Water studio head Stewart Gilray commented: “Since word got out that we’ve been working with Oddworld Inhabitants there have been many rumours circulating about what we’re working on.”

“Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath is the first project in what we believe will be a long and fruitful relationship. Having the chance to update this great title and release it on PS3 is just a brilliant opportunity, not least for us, but for the fans too.”
 
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath is PSN-only release for now

Speaking on its official blog, developer Just Add Water has indicated that its HD revamp of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath will only be appearing on PlayStation Network for the time being, with the firm having encountered numerous issues in its attempts to bring it to Xbox 360.

The company revealed that while it is working with Microsoft in order to get the game out on 360, it’s hit a number of stumbling blocks along the way, meaning it’ll remain exclusive to Sony’s online service for now.

Apparently, the size of the game is the main culprit, which weighs in at 2.1 GB and therefore doesn’t mesh well with Microsoft’s self-imposed Xbox LIVE 2GB size limit.

“Now with regard to Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath on the 360 there are a number of factors that are currently sitting in our way to announce a 360 version of the title, whilst we can’t go into all the details, what I can say is we are working with Microsoft to get the title on that platform, however the final decision is NOT ours,” said the company.

“One thing we can discuss in regard to the 360 version is the size of the game. On XBLA there is a 2GB size limit we have to adhere to, currently the title weighs in at 2.1GB and that is without any updates, so either we have to pull a miracle out of the bag with some type of amazing compression system, or ask Microsoft to increase their 2GB limit, however this limit is apparently hardware led, so please let us try and make a miracle happen.”

Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath was originally released on the Xbox back in 2005. The PS3 update will include enhanced 720p visuals, tweaked dialogue, bonus material and PlayStation Move functionality, and is pencilled in for release next spring.
 
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath aiming for April/May release

Just Add Water’s PlayStation Network remake of the Xbox classic, Odddworld: Stranger’s Wrath, has been dateless since its initial announcement. A recent comment on the PlayStation.Blog, however, reveals that the developers are aiming for launch in the late April to early May window next year.

“We have a release window in mind,” wrote Just Add Water CEO Stewart Gilray in a comment response, “Late April/Early May 2011.”

It shouldn’t be too long before they pin down an exact date. Expect more information and details on Stranger’s Wrath “over the coming weeks and months,” if Gilray’s word is anything to go by.

scrawlfx.com/2010/12/oddworld-strangers-wrath-aiming-for-late-april-early-may
 
Debut Trailer: Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD For PS3


Hey everyone! It’s been a while since we visited these hallowed halls to talk about our upcoming PS3 and PS Vita game Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD. If you’ve been following the game’s development closely, you may have caught our announcement that we delayed the release of Stranger’s Wrath HD on the PS3 into the summer from its intended spring release. While summer is almost at an end, we wanted to tell you that the game is in the final part of development right now. We’re in beta and fixing bugs, and doing some last-minute optimizing where we can.

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It’s been a long road for us, and we’ve made a whole truck full of updates. We’ve updated EVERY one of 83 characters in the game, the vast majority of the environmental textures, and a lot of the environment geometry. We’ve also completely updated the user interface, added some easter eggs into the game, and a whole raft of unlockable extras — some never seen before, and some rarely seen.

To celebrate being at the end of the development cycle for Stranger’s Wrath, we wanted to share this trailer with you. The trailer looks great but the game looks better: you just can’t capture 60 frames-per-second action in a web trailer!