Another thing about Munch's Oddysee (part 1.5)

In my recent review about the whole of the Oddworld series (which missed out two of the main games, but whatever) I went on a quite some length about why Munch’s Oddysee is the weakest of the main line-up, citing the easy gameplay and far goofier tone compared to the earlier games with its cartoonish graphics and voices, and the bouncy, jaunty soundtrack.

I have another thing to add: for a game called Munch’s Oddysee, I found myself playing as Abe for about 80% of the gameplay time. in the vast majority of levels I have Munch just sitting at the respawn points waiting to revive Abe whenever I get him killed, which seeing as there is absolutely no penalty for death in this game happens a lot. I’ll occasionally have to use Munch for something in most levels, but more often than not it’s an aside to the main thrust of the levels action and/or puzzles.

Story-wise the two characters have roughly equal attention. Abe needs to break into Vykker’s Labs so save his unborn brothers, while Munch needs to break in for the sake of the last of his species. Although that being said. You spend the three last levels focussing on Abe’s mission so save the Mudokon egg crates, and then solve Munch’s problem in the end cutscene, so forget I said anything I guess.

Anyway, back to the gameplay; you can almost break down the game level by level describing how much of the level you can spend controlling Abe and how much to control Munch. So I’m going to do that and bore everyone.

-          Credit where it’s due, the first 6 levels of the game consists of 2 Abe exclusive levels where Munch doesn’t even appear; but the other 4 levels are the reverse of that. 100% Munch and no Abe. So that’s a good start at least.

-          Mudokon Pens – The first level where you can control both characters is roughly equal between the two of them. Munch has some swimming to do early on in the level, plus some bombing and luring. I find myself controlling Munch a lot in this level.

-          Sloghut 1027 – This one is almost all Abe, with Munch not having much to do. He might have a bit of bombing to do in the last room of the level, but most of the level is down to Abe.

-          The Mudokon Fortress – Another one that’s mostly Abe. Munch has a few fuzzles to free and switches to pull, but the rest is down to Abe.

-          Sloghut 2813 – Munch has a bit more to do in this level. He has a crane he needs to operate in the first room, some sligs to kill in the second, and an enormous machine to use the third. Abe and Munch are roughly equal in this one.

-          Paramite Run – Another one that’s roughly equal, but then again, there’s not much to do in this level anyway, just open a single door and not get eaten by wildlife.

-          Meep Herder Village – The game wants you to use Munch a lot in this level, but I’ve always found it far easier to use Abe for that particular part of the level, leaving Munch completely redundant for this level. It’s all Abe, all the time.

-          Brewery To Be – I won’t go into too much detail in this level, but I’ve personally completed this level before now without even switching to Munch, not even to revive Abe.

-          Fuel Fields – Munch has a fair amount to do in this level. I think the time is just skewed into the Mostly Abe category, but playing as Munch in this level doesn’t feel like that much of an aside to what Abe’s doing.

-          Magog Motors – This is another one where Munch has a fair chunk of stuff to do, but more than half of the stuff is down to Abe. Munch kills some sligs and pulls a level, and that’s it.

-          Dead River – This one is another that’s mostly Abe. There are few switches here and there that’s more convenient for Munch to pull, but you get Abe to pull them if you tried.

-          No Mud’s Land – Again, mostly Abe. You need Munch to open a door towards the end, but that’s it.

-          Boiler Room – You can get Munch to operate a few cranes to clear at the majority of slig guards in this level which can take a fair amount of time, so I’d put this level in the roughly equal category, but that’s being generous.

-          Splinterz Manufacturing – You use both Abe and Munch for the first bit of this level, but once you get to the end of the platforms, Munch has nothing left to do.

-          Reservoir Row – This level is one where Abe and Munch are genuinely both used equally.

-          Flub Fuels Scrub Pens – Another one where Munch has more or less the same amount of stuff to do as Abe.

-          FlubCo Executive Offices – This one is more Abe focussed, but you do use Munch for a good chunk of the level to wipe out the slig guards throughout the level.

-          The Loading Dock – If anything, this is the only level where you control both characters but Munch does most of the work.

-          Labor Egg Storage – Munch has a not-insignificant amount of work to do in this level. Abe has probably got more stuff to do in this one, but let’s give this level the benefit of the doubt and say it’s roughly equal.

-          Vykker’s Suites – And the final level of the game is an Abe exclusive, no Munch around. Strikes me as odd how the last level of a game called Munch’s Oddysee doesn’t even feature Munch.

So, to sum up, there are 3 Abe exclusive levels, 2 levels where Munch does absolutely nothing, 6 levels that are mostly Abe, 9 where the action is split roughly equally, 1 level that’s mostly Munch, and 4 Munch exclusive levels. Of the levels where you control both characters, only in half of them does Abe and Munch do the same amount of stuff and that’s being generous remember. In the other half where one character does the majority of the work, only once is that character Munch.

Now, this isn’t a deal break for the game. As I said in the original review, I do really like Munch’s Oddysee. This rant was more for a bit of fun rather than a genuine piece of criticism. After all, the levels where Munch does nothing are still a lot fun, and of course, this is just how I play them those levels. And I’ve been playing this game for as long as I can remember. In my next playthrough, I may decide to try and use Munch as much as possible, if only for the challenge. And that challenge will be enormous fun, like trying to playthrough Half-Life 2 without using the airboat or something like that.

Anyway, that’s this little side over and done with now; I’ll probably get round to writing my Stranger’s Wrath review long before anyone starts reading these things.