Wow. 2005 was a hell of a year for gaming. Seeing game-changers like RE4 and F.E.A.R, but also the beginning of a new generation of gaming. It was an amazing year, with so many classic games. But some of them have been long forgotten sadly and lost to time, like Blockbuster. But fear not, with the modern era of gaming and capitalism feeding off our nostalgia, there’s hope for many of these games. And with the success of many Oddworld titles, including Soulstorm, is a chance for the older games to make a return. Thus, we can finally play Stranger’s Wrath once again.
Has it aged like a fine wine (or bottle of Soulstorm)? Or should Stranger have been left to the 2005 wasteland … like Chicago Enforcer … okay no. Nothing will be that bad.
What is Stranger’s Wrath?
Stranger’s Wrath is a good old time in gaming. It’s a look at an era of gaming that saw game-changers such as Resident Evil 4. It’s highly creative, fun, quirky, and overall a solid adventure in the weird and weirdly wild west of Oddworld. You take on the role of Stranger, a fearless and brutish bounty hunter who’s after the scummiest outlaws in the west of Oddworld. Take on contracts, bag them bounties, collect the rewards and make Oddworld a better place. The Stranger is not doing this for fame or fortune, but rather needs a life-saving surgery and the only way to pay the hefty bill, is bringing outlaws to justice.
Armed with a nifty crossbow, Stranger can find various critters across the land and use them as ammo for taking out his foes. With spiders that allow you to tie up bounties, to explosive bats, stinging wasps, stinky skunks which act like tear gas, and shocking beetles that stun your foes. You can be ethical, considerate, and patient, bagging those bounties alive and earn more cash, or simply just blow them to smithereens. Which is easier but bags less cash.
The world of the west is vast, sprawling with many different towns, Badlands, ancient landscapes, and more hidden under the surface. The Stranger will explore the land for those bounties but must keep a watchful eye on what foes lurk in the shadows.
Story
What we get is a good old western tale of wrongdoing, corruption, and redemption. The Oddworld games have always been centered on the lives of Abe and his closest friends as they escape the clutches of extinction. There has always been this theme with the Oddworld games, where a vulnerable species, whether they’re the Mudokons or another, are brought to the brink of desolation and defeat. And this has always been a massive and often, overlooked strength to the Oddworld games.
Strangers Wrath appears on the surface, a very safe western-inspired story, about a lone gunslinger who hunts down those who’ve broken the law. And while there is an interesting pull, where the Stranger needs his life-saving surgery at the cost of 20,000 mula, it all appears very different from the rest of the franchise.
But later in the game, there is a neat twist in the story and something that has a small, yet the prominent effect on the gameplay. I won’t say too much, as I feel it’s quite a twist, but it reinforces the themes of extinction in a meaningful way.
I will admit, when I played this back in 2005, I had no idea this was coming and playing again, I can see some signs of it coming. But overall, the story handles it well.
Aside from this, the story has its baddies, its high stakes, and reveals which are all quite entertaining, if not too familiar to the previous Oddworld games. The new populations in the game, including the Clakkers, are a nice addition and add a layer of entertainment and world-building to Stranger’s tale. The small details from the critters you gather, to the ancient landmarks and landscapes you venture through, to the western-inspired towns and cities all make Stranger’s Wrath a handsome addition to the Oddworld lore. It’s new yet feels very familiar in all the best possible ways.
I do wish that the bounties, for the most part, had some better variation of personalities. The only few, near the end of the game, really stand out, whereas the rest, all feel too similar. In the world where we have Stranger, the Clakkers and even the main villain, who all have a certain charm and pull, are overshadowed by two dozen bad guys to capture who all feel the same.
Gameplay
Stranger will embark on an adventure to capture bounties throughout the land. Players will be taking Stranger from town to town, heading to the bounty store, accepting jobs, and capturing the baddies whether they’re dead or alive.
This is a different pedigree from its older siblings in the Oddworld series, leaning more on tactical combat, some light stealth, and quick thinking all with high octane action. Using a first-person and third-person perspective, Stranger’s Wrath definitely feels like a quirky mid-2000s game, with plenty of creative energy, but also lacking some refinements in certain areas.
Stranger is here to do a job and do it how they see fit. By using various critters on his crossbow, players can knock out bounties and their minions for extra money, to take them out cold for an easier journey. Critters roam the lands around Stranger, and all of them have interesting effects. Such as stinging Wasps which deal lethal damage, electric beetles that knock out enemies cold (but alive), explosive bats (my favourite), or skunks that act like tear gas, very good for crowd control. And this is what makes Stranger’s combat quite engaging. There is a high risk, high reward for those looking to do this non-lethal, much like how the MGS series incorporated non-lethal tactics. But the mix of critters/ammo helps vary combat, to aid you for lethal and non-lethal.
The ammo is fun, the line of enemies is also solid, and there are enough set-pieces and bosses to test your skills. The variation of levels ranges from classic western-inspired backdrops, including cemeteries, a town shootout, and an explosive fight on a mine kart. Meaning Stranger’s Wrath has a good deal of range for the journey.
The platform is a little clunky and not the strongest part of the gameplay loop. With jumping feeling stiff and the camera for 3rd person being quite restrictive. This came out at the same time as RE4 and that revolutionised the way 3rd person cameras were used in games. It’s a shame, but the First Person view is much better and the recommended way to play.
So what’s on offer is a very simple, yet engaging action-adventure game, with enough choice and variety to keep you going until the end.
The good, the bad, and the ugly
Stranger’s Wrath excels in its creative and charming world, characters, and leading protagonist. The themes of extinction and hope run through its veins as it does with Abe’s adventures. While some aspects of the world design are a little dated (considering this game is nearly old enough to drink), the aesthetics are genuinely pleasing, along with the colourful characters and cool small details such as the arsenal made of explosive critters. I did thoroughly enjoy exploring the Oddworld west and laughing at its many hiccups and feeling dread when the notion of extinction cropped up.
The story again is relatively simple, yet the small touches make it really stand out. Again, Stranger’s plight, the themes of a species annihilation along with the brutal nature of the “Food Chain” to Oddworld and overthrowing it is compelling. The twists in the game will keep you invested and as mentioned, the world, lore, and comedy elements really help Stranger’s adventure shine in the Oddworld franchise.
There are some solid action set pieces, the creative arsenal will keep you changing your tactics throughout, the risk and reward factors for keeping bounties alive for more cash, and some of the epic bosses make Stranger’s Wraths a compelling, old school action-adventure you should revisit.
Plus, this is a decent HD remaster, with sleek visuals, updated UI, and some additional quality of life changes, to ensure you can play this in the best way possible. Even though it was pretty good even in 2005 (if my old nostalgic memory serves me).
But with the good, comes some bad. What holds back Stranger’s Wrath aside from its repetitive nature, seeing as the structure to all bounties feels very much the same, not to mention the bounties themselves feel very similar. But the clunk camera can hinder the adventure, meaning that it’s best to just go with the 1st person view rather than the 3rd.
But other aspects such as the difficulty spikes can really impair the risk and reward factors mentioned before. The game can escalate in difficulty within the drop of a hat, like crazy difficult, even if you decide to go lethal, it can get tough.
Stranger can only take a few shots before dying (and there is a reason, regarding balancing I guess) but you can easily be swapped with enemies and even with the most damaging ammo at hand, you can expect to take a beating and retry a few times. Which is a shame for those looking to do this completely, or near enough non-lethal.
This includes quite a few boss battles, which many of them towards the end just get ridiculous in nature. Overly long, overly powerful, and a nightmare if you want to capture them alive.
And lastly, there were some missteps with the conversion, with very small things such as missing subtitles, sound drops in certain cutscenes and again, the camera could be better.
Overall?Stranger’s Wrath is a gem from a time long ago (well, 2005 is long ago!) and it’s really amazing to see it come back to life for the current-gen. When I revisit many games from that era, I am often a little disappointed. Not that they're bad, it’s just they’re part of that era and will remain special for standing out in gaming history. Stranger’s Wrath is everything I remember, all the good and the bad. The bad is annoying, very annoying at times, but I knew it wouldn’t hinder the good. Because the good is amazing at times. The Oddworld west is incredibly charming, the story really gripping, and the combination of gunplay, stealth, and capturing bounties combinates into an extremely fun and quirky action-adventure game. Stranger’s Wrath is a shining example of how much creativity there was through in the 6th generation of gaming, and despite limitations, shun through exceptionally well. Stranger’s Wrath has aged gracefully and ended up being a revisited game I thoroughly enjoyed a second time around.
++ Immense creativity in world-building and gunplay
+ Good story with some neat twists
+ Quirky, weird, and everything great about Oddworld
+ Visually pleasing and nicely remastered for the most part
-- Some insane difficulty spikes
- The 3rd person camera at times
- The small part that’s not as nicely remastered
An Xbox One review copy of Stranger’s Wrath was provided by the publisher for this review
