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GameSpot updates preview
GameSpot has written an Updated Look Preview, they saw some of the later levels and they are even more excited about the game! The preview comes along with 12 new ScreenShots.
New media on IGN
IGN gives us ‘new details, impressions, screens and movies’ in this brand new 2 page Feature! Some exclusive art for everybody, and a new movie but only for insiders!
Official site updates, December 2004
Oddworld.com has been updated for the month of December, with all‐new What’s New, an Inhabitant Interview with game tester John Clayton, a few new magazine covers, brand new questions asked and answered as Alf goes through more fan mail in Dear Alf, and an interview with the newest Fan of the Month, the Oddworld Forums’ and Oddworld‐Web’s very own oddguy.
There is also a link to a new promotional site for Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath by EA Games. It includes exclusive screenshots, an exclusive video, and a page summing up the features of the game. Be sure to take a look at the editorial.
New videos on GameSpot
There are 4 new Gameplay Videos over at GameSpot! Make sure you saw them! Live Ammo in nature, Destroyable items, Sniping, Stealth Killing and a Boss Fight are some of the things that are showed.
Prima Guide pre‐orderable
Prima’s official game guide to Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath is now available to pre‐order from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, where it is retailing for $10·19 and £7·06 respectively. Thanks to Incognito for finding and reporting this.
Sources: Incognito
Oddworld: La Fueur de l'Étranger
The December issue of Le Magazine Officiel Xbox contains a cover article on Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath, which has recently been given the official title Oddworld: La Fueur de l'Étranger according to ‘MaX’ at Xbox Atomic. Le Magazine Officiel Xbox en Ligne features an editorial by Cyril Berrebi, chief editor of MOX.
XBOX MAG.net is offering readers the chance to win a copy of this magazine signed by Lorne Lanning! To enter, simply follow the link ‘Participez vite !’ and fill in the poll and your details. (Xav believes anyone can enter, but there is no option to select your country.)
Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath is now at 38% in the U.K. EA Games website poll entitled What game are you most looking forward to?, beating LoTR, The Battle for Middle‐Earth by a full 4%.
Oddworld Needs You!
Vote now for Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath as the game you are most looking forward to on the UK EA Games website. Currently Stranger is lagging at just 3%, the next highest entry being TimeSplitters Future Perfect at 13%. LoTR, The Battle for Middle‐Earth stands in a secure first position with 55%.
Once again, Oddworld needs you!
PAL Movies of Oddworld up for grabs
Well done to all the Oddworld fans who have contributed to lifting Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath up to a grand 36% in the poll on EAGames’s U.K. homepage, bringing it into equal first position, shared by Battle for Middle‐Earth. Esus has also spotted that the Stranger’s Wrath box art appears on the game’s page on eagames.co.uk, also.
Alf has also reported on the Oddworld Forums that an English PAL version of the bonus DVD being given away on the U.S. EBGames website with every pre‐order of Stranger will be released, though an Australian distribution could not be confirmed.
Sources: Alf
Gigex interviews Lorne
There is a new interview with Lorne Lanning over at Gigex. Thank you to Oddguy to first mentionning it on the oddworld forums.
GameSpot updated a second Character Profile, this time it’s about Live Ammo! They updated it along with 19 awesome pieces of artwork.
Sources: Oddguy
Kikizo preview
There is a new preview over at Kikizo featuring old pictures and an old video, but you can still take a look.
OXM prints Stranger advert
Issue 39 of the Official Xbox Magazine contains an advert for Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath on pages 12 and 13. Many thanks go to REGNARTS for sending this to us.
Sources: REGNARTS
GameSpot provides Stranger goodies
Oddworld Universe found out some major updated over at GameSpot: they updated 13 hiress pieces of ArtWork and 2 new videos (introducing some new areas). They also updated a page about Stranger’s Character Profile. (Warning there may be some spoilers.)
Sources: Oddworld Universe
Spectrum 11 released
Spectrum 11 is out now! The 11th issue of Spectrum ‘The Best In Contemporary Fantastic Art’ features four images from Oddworld Stranger’s Wrath, plus some personal art by Raymond Swanland. (you can see some previews of the art inside over here.)
Oddworld Junkie scans EDGE
Esus of Oddworld Junkie posted some artwork scanned from Edge over here.
Sources: Oddworld Junkie
Charles Bloom speaks Stranger
Charles Bloom, lead programmer by Oddworld Inhabitants has some things to tell about Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath:
Oddworld : Stranger’s Wrath is almost done. I think it’s a very good game. Not nearly as good as it could have been, not as good as Halo 2 or Half Life 2 (probably, we’ll see), and of course we’re just talking about the single player, they have great multiplayer and we have none, but still one of the better single player experiences in the last year. Our lovely friends at EA are doing almost zero marketting for us, so I thought I’d do some here—
Clearly the semi‐innovative thing about it is the 1st to 3rd person gameplay. This is the first game I know of that has a really fully functional 1st person shooter and a 3rd person platformer/melee/driving put together, and quite seamless and smooth where you can switch back & forth and it feels good and natural. You actually switch in combat to do various moves, unlike some games where you move in 3rd and snipe in 1st, etc. The 1st and 3rd are also actually different, it’s not like Heretic or Everquest or something where you can use either view, but the 3rd person is really just 1st person on a stick behind the axis of rotation.
In 1st person, the game is basically a shooter, but the weapons are a bit quirky. Many of the weapons are not basic damage weapons, they’re tools for manipulating the enemies, and you can combine them in sequences for “combos”. One of the basic combos is just to freeze a guy with bees so you can lay a thudslug or boombat on him. Another common one is to skunk a mob then drop a boombat in the middle of them. There are also lots of environmental traps that you can make use of; there’s lots of knocking guys through glass to their death, things like that.
In 3rd person, the game is like a platformer/adventure/driving/melee game. Here, you are fast, very fast, and control sort of like a car or motorcycle (actually the controls morph from standard walking at low speed to more like a car at high speed). You can ram and meelee. One move few people know is that if you jump before you ram a guy, you keep your velocity and go through him—very useful.
One of my favorite things about the game is the twist. I won’t give it away (we’ve asked all the press to keep it a secret), but part way through, there’s a big story twist. That’s pretty standard in movies and games, but there’s a difference—the play actually changes a lot as well. Unlike most games where you get a story twist, or play as the enemy, and the gameplay is basically identical, here the whole feel of the gameplay changes a lot, the pacing changes. It’s a cinematic thing, there’s a shift and suddenly the feel is different for the 3rd act building to the climax. In the beginning, you’re a bounty hunter, in the end?
Sources: Charles Bloom
New Stranger logo revealed
Worth Playing has posted 9 ‘new’ screenshots along with the new logo! (Warning, there may be some spoilers)
Sources: WorthPlaying
Movies of Oddworld bonus DVD revealed
GameSpot is very kind to us oddworld fans today, they provide us a new 2 pages preview, 7 ‘new’ screenshots and one Developer Interview with Lorne Lanning, Erik Yeo and Raymond Swanland… Thanx to Oddworld Universe and to Di$array.
Plus there is a special promotion if you preorder Stranger via EBGames: Receive a bonus DVD! The DVD consists of high quality cinematic from past and current Oddworld games!
Sources: Oddworld Universe and Di$array
Stranger’s final title registers
Some big game sites have reported the game name change and the final release date: GameSpot, IGN, TeamXbox, Voodoo Extreme, GameSpy, DailyGame, Game Asylum, TVG and EuroGamer…
EA publish Stranger game page
Alcar from Oddworld Universe points out that EA Games have finally published the Oddworld Game Page! 9 amazing new ScreenShots for you! (Warning they may contain some spoilers!)
The Oddworld Forums are back online, you can discuss this news over here!
Sources: Oddworld Universe
Oddworld Stranger’s Wrath title confirmed
Oddworld next game’s name is officially: Oddworld Stranger’s Wrath and will be released the 2005‐01‐25 according to Gamespot! The name has been confirmed by the EA info page (if you are a registred member you can also download the new box‐logo in high quality).
Sources: GameSpot