Even if it's actually impossible to be sure Stranger will finally be as great as what we already have seen of it, it's hard not be in awe of the incredible work the Oddworld Inhabitants team have accomplished. This game is a careful blend of FPS, platforming, adventure and action. Quite an ambition !

Even if most of the images of the game currently show only the western settings, Lorne Lanning told us that the whole game would not definitely stay in the desert. In fact, if the first levels definitely will remind us of Sergio Leone (with a twist), the rest could be compared the Lord of the Ring trilogy, with beautiful winter scenery, and big fortresses. The CG scenes we got to see also helped us understand a bit more of the story, and even if Stranger is not an official part of Oddworld it did not lose the very deep background of the series. The developer's touch is everywhere, humor, graphics and the whole crazy world of Lanning's team.
Still, there is no chance Munch or Abe will have a part in the game. Except for Dr Vickers you won't get a chance to see much of the characters you got to know in the other Oddworld games. The reason is simple, the team wanted to make sure the gamers would not see another Abe game, with a simple but strangely too complex gameplay. A choice made for the mainstream gamers, but considering how great the game is shaping to be, who could blame them ?

My main concern about this game is the second part of the adventure. Lorne Lanning told us that these levels would be much more action and pure adrenaline oriented. If done well it could be very good, but we fear that the very good balance of the gameplay in the first levels could become "yet another action game" in the end. Time will tell, so in the meantime take a look at this excellent video, one of the best proof that's it's possible to innovate in our currently creatively stagnant gaming industry

As a closure, it's worth mentioning that the game will be widescreen optimized so people like me who love playing on a 16/9 TV set will be overjoyed. Lorne Lanning also told us that a Live mode had been planned in the first stages of the game development, but finally canceled. The last thing we wanted to mention was that to change between 1st and 3rd person view, simply click on the right analog stick. It can't get any more simple than that !