Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee HD remake in development at Just Add Water

by Griffin McElroy on Jan 29th 2011 4:00PM

Though the studio is still hard at work on its HD renovation of one installment of the Oddworld Inhabitants franchise, Stranger's Wrath, it seems Just Add Water already has a second remake underway. EGM recently teased an interview (which will appear in its upcoming March 2011 issue) with series creator Lorne Lanning, in which he reveals, "Abe HD is going into production," later adding, "It's basically Abe's Oddysee being redone in a 3D physics engine as a 2D side-scrolling platformer."

Though pickings are slim in the EGM preview, Lanning did mention that the studio is "not trying to reinvent any wheels. It's like, 'Can we make that experience in a new engine, with new tech, in the old way?'" We bet you can, if you really put your mind to it. We've got our fingers crossed that more details about the Odd remake will surface in the full interview, when the new EGM hits newsstands next month.

Source: EGM

Tags: hd, just-add-water, lorne-lanning, oddworld-abes-oddysee, Oddworld-Inhabitants, remake

Reader Comments (54)

Now with Nvidia APEX-powered fart physics.

@Unvrfd

*Hello*
*Follow me*
*farts*

I have been itching to replay this game. I really enjoyed it when I was younger.

So buy the PSOne version on PSN like I did?

@crazedaku

I know i'll be voted down for this, but i tried several times to get into the Oddworld games, i own them on Steam, but i just can't get into them. Does it take a while for them to get really good or something.?

@Shadsy I use a PSX style USB controller and it works fine with it, though if you don't know the original mappings you might get some things wrong.

I bet it will be on the ps3 >_> they seem to be doing alot of these HD remakes.

@JnRx
Apparently, the only thing stopping Strangers Wrath HD from being released on the 360 is the size constraint XBLA has. So I would expect Abe's Oddysee will be released on both consoles (unless it also goes over the 2GB limit).

Yes! I'm so excited. I love me some Oddworld.

Sold!

Oh my sweet lord.

Just add awesomesauce! You have a guaranteed buy from me. I'm gonna play this game whilst listening to The Cure's Faith album just like I did the original back in PSOne era.

This news made me officially happy :D

@Pure Black World Tendency

Throw in a little bit of 'The Head on the Door' and 'Disintegration'. Such amazing albums.

Any Cure album up to and including Wish is good in my book. But there's something about Faith that's just so very Oddworld. :)

Oh hey. Cool.

Start something new when you haven't fixed the half-done scam that is the PC version of Stranger's Wrath.

@Cleric

Actually, at least on my machine, they have fixed that game completely. Granted it was broken as shit on release which pissed me off at the time, but now it runs just fine.

Oh HELL yes.
*Does happy dance*

one of my first PSone purchases and i stuck with it right to the end when my attention span was at its lowest :)

I like Munch's Oddysee. So underappreciated.

@KungFuChaosNinja

I actually prefer Munch's to Stranger's Wrath.

@KungFuChaosNinja

i don't think it was necessarily under-appreciated because i think that most everyone who actually did play it appreciated it. the thing is that, being an xbox exclusive, not many people actually got to play it. same thing goes with jet set radio future, otogi, panzer dragoon orta, and phantom dust. all were excellent, yet did not receive the attention they deserved. it's really a shame...

@Liquidfingers

oh, and breakdown too. not sure how many people played that game, but i loved it!!!

@KungFuChaosNinja

Good post. I agree. The original Xbox had tons of cool games that didn't receive the recognition that they deserved. I'd add Shenmue II (tons of recognition, but mostly as a Dreamcast title), Otogi 1 & 2, Voodoo Vince Galleon, Sudeki, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (tons of recognition on PC, but it went pretty much unknown on Xbox), Sudeki, Amped 1 & 2, Transworld Snowboarding, Scrapland, Toejam & Earl III, Advent Rising, etc.

I also liked stuff like Raze's Hell, Kakuto Chojin, Tao Feng, Bloodwake, Brute Force, Knight's Apprentice, Azurik, etc., but most people didn't.

I love how Nintendo gets hammered for "always reselling us the same games", but higher resolution games from everyone else is perfectly acceptable.

@thebear308 Sorry, I left out the part about these just being old games with higher resolution.

@thebear308

The rate at which Nintendo does that is award worthy. Once in a while from another company is totally fine with me.

@Funkmaster General

This isn't really once in a while. Stranger's Wrath and Munch's Oddysee were just ported to PC, midway through development of an HD remake of Stranger's Wrath. And now another remake?

Games in this series have been or will be rereleased five times over the course of a year and change. That's a touch over-saturated in my opinion, and a bit worse than Nintendo.

@thebear308 Thats because we haven't been paying for the same Oddworld rehash for 15 years. How many times have they sold you the same SNES or N64 game across how many consoles? I used to love Nintendo, but after the 64 they became the running joke amongst hardcore gamers. The only time my Wii gets turned on is when I want a few rounds of Smash Bros.

@Colin A port and remake aren't the same. Giving the PC a game that they didn't get a chance to play isn't the same as rehashing and reselling. If that's the case Mass Effect 2 on the PS3 is a remake. Think before you post.

@thebear308 & @ Colin

Nonsense, I haven't played Abe's Oddysee since I was a child.

Nintendo has released how many metroid games since the first one? How many Star Foxes? How many Mario titles?

I think you are exaggerating a little. A HD remake of a game that was underappreciated at launch is totally cool with me. Mario Galaxy 3 on the other hand is generic ¬_¬

@thebear308 I think a better comparison is the upcoming "3D-makes" of Star Fox and Zelda for 3DS. Somehow, I get the general feeling from that those aren't okay, but the Sly collection, the POP trilogy, the Ico/Shadow bundle and the rumored MGS one all are, when the only thing changing on any of those games is the graphics.

@thebear308

Yeah, but those games were damanded by the PS community, simply because PS3 isn't backwards compatible. Right now, the only way you can play these games is if you go out and buy a PS2 and how many people really feel like doing that?

These games were superb in thier original form, which is why only graphics and trophies are being added, there is no reason for anything else.

Nintendo games are just a continuation of the same thing over and over and over again, how many Super Mario games can one tolerate? Its popular, but you can't deny it's rehashed.

ICO wouldn't bother HDfying SotC if it wasn't for the rabid fanbase, a fanbase of some people who haven't even played the game yet but have seen videos and now want to play it. But then SotC was a niche game, so was Abe, so very few people got to enjoy them at the time they came out as much as they would like to now. Mario isn't ¬_¬ Everyone has played a Mario game at least once in thier life.

@Spunky Monkey 190906

"but you can't deny it's rehashed."

Uhhh... yes I can. SMG2 was the only direct sequel we've seen in like, what, two decades? Sorry for the pun, but SMG1 totally turned the franchise upside down. Everybody criticized Sunshine for being too different, even! But I loved it for all the things it did. Then before that SM64, which is already over a dozen years old, that game doesn't even need an explanation for why it totally revolutionized the genre.

You people and your parrot squawking of rehashes. Go play your FPS games where every entry in the whole damn -genre- is the same thing.

@Spunky Monkey 190906

The fact is, we're getting two versions of Stranger's Wrath released for PC within a one year span.

At least Nintendo makes a new game every time. I don't understand how someone can blast Nintendo, who makes a different game every time even if gameplay is similar, and praise the new HD remix trend, which is rereleasing literally the exact same game, same levels, same gameplay, better graphics (mostly. PoP notwithstanding).

I just feel like Oddworld needs to stop with the remakes and make a new one already.

¬_¬ no comment

@PR0F3TA

Not commenting would have been a "no comment"

@Funkmaster General
Better yet, it would have been no post

I'm okay with this, just fix the damn save system while your at it. It was near impossible to tell if you had successfully saved while playing the first game.

@mrantimatter

I don't recall ever having that problem.

@Shadsy

Until you realised that you quicksaved it at a stupid point and now have to restart from your last proper save :( How frustrating

@mrantimatter
I don't remember quick save being in the first game.

I hope you can talk with more than one Mudoken this time.

They should just package Oddysee and Exodus as one big game. :D

@WPstart

They released the Oddbox on Steam a little while ago, which has both games if I remember correctly.

Huh, didn't they just release Abe's Oddysee recently?

@VeeDeeVee

They resold it in a pack on steam, but it's the same old game. Looks a little rough blown up to 1080p to be honest.

It'd be cooler if it wasn't 3D. I'd rather see super polished sprites than less than stellar 3d models prancing around. Everyone seems to be forgetting about the art of 2D games where a scrolling background was hot shit.

I want masterpiece to be made in 2D HD. Not that matters with this particular game, per say. Still, it would be nice if devs with money could devote some time towards a really awesome looking 2D game.

@Shadsy

Oh, right. I always forget because they were so pixelated and always reminded me of sprites, but you are correct. My mistake.

As long as it's detailed, then I'm fine with it.

lol, I still want some properly done 2D HD games but yeah, this isn't the title to complain about with. =P

Abe needs this, I was wondering if would be the case. Saying that, Abe's Oddysee looks great even without HD

it would be nice if they add a couple of new screens for the hell of it. maybe explain what a meech is, or include hidden recipes for scrab cakes. i know it's green meat but i'm still courius. how much you wanna bet paramites taste like black bone chicken?

I remember when I was younger and saw Oddworld commercials on TV. They always looked crazy and I remember really wanting to play them. Never got around to it, but I'm really excited for an HD upgrade!

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Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee HD remake in development at Just Add Water

Reader Comments (54)

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 4:06PM Unvrfd said

Posted: Jan 31st 2011 5:15AM Herbaceous Border Patrol said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 4:06PM crazedaku said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 4:26PM Indefinite Implosion said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 7:25PM Foetoid said

Posted: Feb 12th 2011 5:21PM LOMDR said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 4:10PM JnRx said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 10:17PM DreadArrow said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 4:16PM Dougtastic said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 4:34PM Crayola Q Pants ESQ said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 4:42PM Funkmaster General said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 4:49PM Pure Black World Tendency said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:08PM KungFuChaosNinja said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:21PM Pure Black World Tendency said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 4:58PM Cleric said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 6:08PM iHavePants said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:03PM DoggySpew said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:04PM tsunamisteve said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:06PM KungFuChaosNinja said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:18PM Funkmaster General said

Posted: Jan 30th 2011 11:26AM Liquidfingers said

Posted: Jan 30th 2011 11:27AM Liquidfingers said

Posted: Jan 30th 2011 12:57PM KungFuChaosNinja said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:09PM thebear308 said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:11PM thebear308 said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:18PM Funkmaster General said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 6:15PM Colin said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 6:27PM NewEraBlood said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 6:29PM NewEraBlood said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 6:48PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 7:55PM thebear308 said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 8:53PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Jan 30th 2011 5:46PM bm111 said

Posted: Jan 30th 2011 8:05PM Colin said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:13PM PR0F3TA said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:19PM Funkmaster General said

Posted: Jan 30th 2011 1:46AM Crayola Q Pants ESQ said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:21PM mrantimatter said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:23PM Funkmaster General said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 6:49PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 10:21PM DreadArrow said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:32PM WPstart said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 6:57PM Xiegfried said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:37PM VeeDeeVee said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 6:24PM MikeOfAllTrades said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 6:46PM Mmmmz said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 7:11PM Mmmmz said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 6:53PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 6:56PM alienclay3 said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 8:51PM Killimus2188 said

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