Oddworld: Soulstorm

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Critics Recommend

Average Score

Total Reviews: 58

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Oddworld: Soulstorm is full of charm, but tedious design, a slew of bugs, and an overall lack of polish make it a tough sell.

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Critics Recommend

Critic Reviews: 58

Critics Consensus

# Reviews: 58

Oddworld: Soulstorm is full of charm, but tedious design, a slew of bugs, and an overall lack of polish make it a tough sell.

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Critic Reviews for Oddworld: Soulstorm

Critic Reviews

Score Distribution

58

Reviews

Average Score

100

Ranges

6/10

Mike Epstein (GameSpot)

Oddworld’s newest revival looks incredible, but its classic stealth-platforming feels old-school in all the wrong ways.

April 14, 2021 |

Full Review

There are some cobwebs to shake out of Oddworld: Soulstorm, and some that will remain even after a hot shower, but you’d be hard-pressed to name very many games that are doing what this series is doing in 2021. I’m glad that Oddworld Inhabitants is still around, doing their weird and interesting thing.

April 8, 2021 |

Full Review

8.5/10

Chris Carter (Destructoid)

7/10

GameCentral (Metro GameCentral)

A highly enjoyable platform puzzler, with some cleverly complex set pieces and great presentation – but it lacks that final layer of polish that could have made it something really special.

April 9, 2021 |

Full Review

Mike Epstein (GameSpot)

6/10 - (Read Review)

Oddworld’s newest revival looks incredible, but its classic stealth-platforming feels old-school in all the wrong ways.

Chris Carter (Destructoid)

8.5/10 - (Read Review)

GameCentral (Metro GameCentral)

7/10 - (Read Review)

A highly enjoyable platform puzzler, with some cleverly complex set pieces and great presentation – but it lacks that final layer of polish that could have made it something really special.

**Read all 58 critic reviews on the desktop version of VSG.

Read the Reviews (58 total)

Outlet	Author	Score	Date	Quote	Read
33bits	Jose Antonio Calvo Ceniceros	80 / 100	04-15-2021	Abe’s second game is so much more than the remake of a PlayStation title that wasn’t even going to be in the main series. The base of the original game and the previous remake is greatly expanded, in the visual, artistic, in the sequences, and in the playable. But expanding is not always improving, more is not always better, although in many moments of the game it is.	Read review
BaziCenter	Danial Karimitar	7 / 10	04-21-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is a good platoformer that could have been even better if the developers had maximized it’s potential, but it still can definitely entertain the fans of the genre.	Read review
Checkpoint Gaming	Lise Leitner	7 / 10	04-18-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is undoubtedly the best-looking entry in the series yet, with dazzling cutscenes and beautiful environments. However, when it comes to gameplay, Oddworld: Soulstorm comes with a lot of bugs, and clunky and confusing controls. This made the overall gameplay more sluggish and cumbersome than it ought to be, and, in turn, made tricky levels frustrating and tedious rather than pleasantly challenging. If you’re keen on the Oddworld franchise and are looking to get lost in Abe’s world once again, Oddworld: Soulstorm will have plenty on offer. However, if you’re looking for an immersive platform adventure with straightforward controls, Oddworld: Soulstorm might not be your best bet.	Read review
COGconnected	James Paley	78 / 100	04-15-2021	Abe’s weird little world is a bit darker than I was expecting, but it works, after a fashion. The curious juxtaposition of the art design and the narrative makes a strange, yet compelling, impression on the player. The gameplay can trip you up if you’re not used to that stiffer 90s PC platforming style, but you eventually find those muscles. I ran into a few nasty roadblocks, but I never got impossibly stuck. More than the mechanical hurdles, my biggest hurdles were conceptual. Returning to this world, this flavor of frustration and satisfaction, won’t be for everybody. If you’re looking for a portal into an oft-forgotten slice of gaming history, Oddworld: Soulstorm will open that for you. This is an elevated, modernized window into puzzle platformers of the recent past. A little patience and a little perseverance will introduce you to a strange new world.	Read review
cublikefoot	Chase Ferrin	Not Recommended	06-21-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is not necessarily bad, but the gameplay is very hit or miss and even when it is good, it still never loses that “dated” feel to it. Of course, this is a re-imagining of an older game so that is to be expected to an extent – it comes down to whether or not you’re a newcomer or fan of the series.	Read review
DASHGAMER.com	Dan Rizzo	6.5 / 10	04-15-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is a satisfactory offering that’s free for PlayStation Plus subscribers in April. But for those that may be thinking of purchasing the title, you may have some Soul searching to consider.	Read review
Destructoid	Chris Carter	8.5 / 10	04-08-2021	There are some cobwebs to shake out of Oddworld: Soulstorm, and some that will remain even after a hot shower, but you’d be hard-pressed to name very many games that are doing what this series is doing in 2021. I’m glad that Oddworld Inhabitants is still around, doing their weird and interesting thing.	Read review
Eurogamer	Christian Donlan	Recommended	04-09-2021	Abe’s Exoddus gets a generous upgrade in this slightly patchy adventure.	Read review
Everyeye.it	Giuseppe Arace	7 / 10	04-12-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is an adventure platformer of yest, which manages to modernize its playful formula only at times, with the addition of some guessed tricks aimed at perfecting the frame of Abe’s Exoddus. Not everything flows with the right fluidity, and the consistent difficulty of the game is aggravated by unhappy game design choices: yet, when it works, oddworld inhabitants’ work manages to guarantee a good deal of contentment, thanks to a substantial content and the immortal fascination a little grotesque by Abe. The same that leads us, more than twenty years after the first episode, to arm ourselves with so much stubbornness to save the Mudokon people, again and again…	Read review
Explosion Network	Dylan Blight	6.5 / 10	04-16-2021	Even amongst some odd design decisions from yesteryear, annoying bugs, and some dull mission moments, I really want another one of these games now.	Read review
Game Informer	Marcus Stewart	5 / 10	04-15-2021	Soulstorm has oodles of charm, but tedious design and annoying bugs make an experience that only the most hardcore and forgiving Oddworld fans might enjoy	Read review
Game Rant	Dalton Cooper	3 / 5 stars	04-27-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is a free PlayStation Plus game on PS5 at the time of this writing, so PS Plus subscribers have no reason not to download it and give it a go for themselves. After all, there’s still a lot to like about the game, like its dark story and engaging puzzle/platforming gameplay. However, those on other platforms who have to actually pay to play it may want to hold off until Oddworld Inhabitants fixes some of its more serious bugs.	Read review
Game Revolution	Michael Leri	3.5 / 5 stars	04-13-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm took Oddworld Inhabitants over two decades to fully realize so it’s disappointing that it came out in the state that it did. Numerous bugs are just one part of the problem as its lack of a quicksave and unwieldy controls cause a lot of easily avoidable irritation. Solving its one-of-a-kind sneaky puzzles can be fairly gratifying at times and its impeccably animated cutscenes are nothing short of amazing, but this is a mixed batch of Soulstorm brew that deserved more time in the production factory.	Read review
Gameblog	Gianni Molinaro	7 / 10	04-10-2021	Oddworld Soulstorm is a strong follw-up to New’n’Tasty!. It’s bigger, very clever, offers some some great new mechanics and its world is still incredibly charming and relevant. But, sadly, it lacks some polish and can be very frustrating because of its bugs or A.I. issues. Only the bravest will succeed in saving all the Mudokons, But in the end, it will be worth it.	Read review
Gamefa	Amirmehdi Namjoo	8 / 10	04-19-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is a good puzzle platformer with a heavy emphasis on trial and error. Most of the game’s puzzles are very well-designed, but some frustrating ones could have been designed better. The game is still considered a challenging game like its predecessors. Unfortunately, some control issues and technical bugs prevent it from being a perfect game. All and all, despite some problems, Oddworld: Soulstorm is a good game that I can recommend to fans of platformer games.	Read review
GameGrin	Adam Kerr	7 / 10	04-21-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm refines a lot from the previous games, but it comes at the cost of adding in new mechanics that never really click. The core element has improved, and it’s easy to see the franchise continuing to improve going forward, without needless additions. Soulstorm just falls that little short of great this time around, sadly.	Read review
GameMAG	Unknown	7 / 10	04-20-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is rather a mixed bag. On one hand there’s plenty of great gameplay mechanics, some innovative gimmicks, and a dramatic story to boot. But at the same time you’ll have to deal with a boring color scheme for most of the game, that pairs with some unintuitive and chaotic levels.	Read review
Gamer Escape	Aaron Botts	7 / 10	04-20-2021	I can’t say that what I played is a bad game, but saying that the audience for this isn’t somewhat narrow in scope would be doing it a disservice. Then again, Inhabitants just wanted to make something that’s serviceable, and I feel safe in saying that it succeeded on that front. It’s not very often you find yourself doing stealth in a 2.5D game these days, but it’s here and it’s doing its thing with reckless abandon.	Read review
GameSkinny	Anthony McGlynn	3 / 10	04-13-2021	This flashy remake of Abe’s sequel is gorgeous to look at, but it rarely captures the excitement or feeling of the Oddworld forebears.	Read review
GameSpot	Mike Epstein	6 / 10	04-14-2021	Oddworld’s newest revival looks incredible, but its classic stealth-platforming feels old-school in all the wrong ways.	Read review
GamingBolt	Pramath	8 / 10	04-14-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is a very good and very compelling game, which veers on the verge of being an all time classic so often, you can’t help but be angry at it for not following through. Its stumbles do not take away from all that the game achieves, and just how well it achieves it, and Soulstorm is without a doubt the most rounded out, best playing, and most accessible game in the long running Oddworld series.	Read review
God is a Geek	Lyle Carr	8 / 10	04-12-2021	Oddworld Soulstorm modernises and reimagines the series classic gameplay, but doesn’t hold back on the difficulty	Read review
GotGame	Dragos Dobre	7 / 10	04-29-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm might not be the Dark Souls of platformers, but it’s still a hard game. I strongly advise you to think long and hard if patience is something you don’t have. I’m not one to recommend easier games, but I don’t like to promote games to people who don’t manage to finish or enjoy them.	Read review
Hobby Consolas	David Martinez	80 / 100	04-07-2021	Soulstorm is a conservative sequel that improves on every aspect of previous Oddworld games. It brings back the 2.5D platforming and puzzle solving levels, with better controls and an impressive artistic design.	Read review
IGN	Travis Northup	7 / 10	04-13-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is an excellent remake of a delightfully weird ’90s platformer with tons of charm, challenge… and annoying bugs.	Read review
IGN Italy	Marco Esposto	7.2 / 10	04-10-2021	A great narrative Oddworld game, but with too many technical problems and a I.A. that sometimes will destroy your nerves.	Read review
Impulsegamer	Daniel	4.4 / 5 stars	04-20-2021	A darker retelling of an outspoken hero, thrust into his role. With a few kinks to iron out, Oddworld Inhabitants have given Abe life anew.	Read review
INDIANTVCZ	Patrik Strnad	6 / 10	04-18-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is an undercooked product with clunky gameplay but gorgeous visuals. It’s clear that Oddworld Inhabitants really tried to revolutinaze the series, but only succeeded half-way.	Read review
JVL	Julius007	7.5 / 10	04-19-2021	Besides its difficulty that will discourage the less patient, the game wants to do too much and ends up weary, when technical bugs sometimes do not come into disream. It’s a shame because you can still feel the good intentions of these designers and the world of Oddworld is still as fascinating as ever.	Read review
Luis Alamilla	Luis Alamilla	6 / 10	04-10-2021	Oddworld Soulstorm introduces a handful of improvements that ultimately make the Oddworld formula better. However, upon finishing Soulstorm, I think I realized that while these additions are nice, there are more fundamental problems with the core mechanics of this series that just feel dated on modern platforms. Double jumping is nice but these controls just feel dated and rigged, I’d rather have smoother and responsive controls over the double jump. Little moments like these kept me from truly being able to enjoy Soulstorm for what it was. And ultimately what should have been a renaissance for the series, was just ok to me.	Read review
Metro GameCentral	GameCentral	7 / 10	04-09-2021	A highly enjoyable platform puzzler, with some cleverly complex set pieces and great presentation – but it lacks that final layer of polish that could have made it something really special.	Read review
MonsterVine	Spencer Legacy	4 / 5 stars	04-14-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is a very unique game. It can be stressful and fun at the same time, and it features one of the weirdest and most intriguing game worlds of recent memory.	Read review
Niche Gamer	Fingal Belmont	6 / 10	10-04-2021	This change in priorities is felt through out the entirety of the game. While Oddworld: Soulstorm is no means a bad game, it’s a profoundly misguided one that fails to capture what made its progenitor so wonderful. For a remake to make such a drastic change to the original, Oddworld Inhabitants missed the opportunity to include the original Abe’s Exodus as a bonus unlockable feature.	Read review
Noisy Pixel	Azario Lopez	8 / 10	04-12-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is hands-down the best entry in the series to date. It takes everything great about these games and packages it up in a beautiful and modern adventure that mirrors its classic gameplay mechanics used for over 20 years. Some of the item management systems weigh on the pacing, and the controls take a few hours to master, but there’s just something unique in every stage that makes this adventure enjoyable from beginning to end.	Read review
PC Gamer	Luke Winkie	65 / 100	04-14-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm’s charm, characters, and sincere narrative are imprisoned within buggy, erratic software.	Read review
PC Invasion	Jason Rodriguez	8.5 / 10	04-10-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm offers a refreshing take as a reimagining of an old classic. It provides platforming goodness, a bit of trial-and-error with situations, lots of secrets to find, and thousands of Mudokons to save. Sadly, it does have some noticeable shortcomings related to its controls, friendly AI movement, and save system.	Read review
PlayStation LifeStyle	Rebecca Smith	6.5 / 10	04-26-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm should have been the definitive version of the second entry in the Oddworld quintology, while the new story and characters hold their own, the gameplay lets it down. A plethora of bugs make the game far more difficult and frustrating than it should be, ranging from inconsistent enemy movement and teleportation to traces of elements no longer in the final product. There are more than 1300 Mudokons needing your help, but it might be worth waiting a while before you take on this mammoth task.	Read review
PlayStation Universe	Dan Twohig	8 / 10	04-13-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm in many ways is the peak of the Oddworld franchise. Oddworld Inhabitants have taken the hallmarked difficulty and dark humour and revamped it with innovative, new gameplay features and some really cool physics. It’s only slightly held back by its overall presentation at launch, but despite this, it largely remains a stellar experience with lots of replayability and challenge for those who are Glukkon for punishment.	Read review
Press Start	Kieron Verbrugge	6.5 / 10	04-12-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is a big, beautiful puzzle platformer with the spirit of Abe’s adventures intact and some interesting new ideas, but it’s all very quickly undone by imprecise controls, tedious level design and a shocking lack of polish. Oddworld fans will definitely want to check it out, but they may be better off waiting for a few more updates before investing their time, and even then might come away just a tad disappointed.	Read review
Push Square	Stephen Tailby	4 / 10	04-09-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm presents itself well and shows a grand vision for the series, but as a modern game in 2021, it’s just not where it needs to be. It can be extremely awkward to pull off even basic manoeuvres, some new features miss the mark, and certain levels made us want to quit altogether. Bugs exacerbate some of the gameplay frustrations with wonky AI, and ultimately the play experience can be frustratingly rigid. Fans will love this reimagining of a classic, and the franchise’s unique charm shines through, but it’s a tough sell for anyone coming to the series fresh.	Read review
Saving Content	Unknown	3 / 5 stars	05-05-2021	Perhaps the whole point of the Oddworld games is that they’re supposed to be difficult. Perhaps the fun is supposed to be derived from overcoming seemingly impossible odds, even if it means beating your head against the wall too many times to get there. Unfortunately, this kind of fun feels dated and cumbersome to me, which is particularly hard to rationalize against the backdrop of an otherwise loving and carefully crafted re-imagining of a beloved entry in a beloved series. I expect the die hard fans will enjoy Soulstorm a great deal, and I’m really happy for them that this game exists. Speaking as a longtime admirer of the series who was hoping to finally be won over completely, I’m still left waiting for that magic moment.	Read review
Screen Rant	Zackerie Fairfax	3.5 / 5 stars	04-09-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm’s repetitive gameplay doesn’t make it a bad game, but it does limit the demographic of players that will thoroughly enjoy the game all the way through. Its story and visuals are very impressive and help carry a lot of the game’s weight, but playing through hour-long levels with little story elements in between can make Oddworld: Soulstorm a very slow burn. Fans of the Oddworld franchise and 2D platforming games won’t be disappointed, but Oddworld: Soulstorm won’t keep everyone hooked for very long.	Read review
SECTOR.sk	Branislav Kohút	8 / 10	04-23-2021	Abe is back, still so cute, but with new skills and sometimes very hard obstacles.	Read review
Shacknews	Donovan Erskine	8 / 10	04-13-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is an excellent adventure game and platformer, with cool mechanics that keep gameplay fresh. The environments are stunning, and the 2.9D animation makes the world feel three-dimensional and lived-in. Only held back by a slew of bugs, Oddworld: Soulstorm is a great installment in a classic franchise.	Read review
Sirus Gaming	Lexuzze Tablante	6.5 / 10	05-03-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm may not exceed your expectations, but it’s a nice reimagining of Abe’s Exodus. There’s a couple of hindrances like the throwing and stealth mechanics, but that doesn’t overshadow Oddworld: Soulstorm good feats like challenging levels, its nice visuals on PS5, and its amusing sets of characters.	Read review
SomHráč.sk	Denis Burčík	70 / 100	04-24-2021	The remake of the second part of the odyssey of Abe offers great new graphics, new gameplay mechanics and a high level of difficulty caused by the absence of quicksave and unfortunately placed checkpoints. Be prepared with a plenty of patience.	Read review
SpazioGames	Marcello Paolillo	7 / 10	04-12-2021	Even with some technical issues and a lack of originality, Oddworld: Soulstorm is still one of the ideal games of what Abe’s adventures should be. Good.	Read review
The Games Machine	Claudio Magistrelli	7.5 / 10	04-12-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is an imperfect game, like many other, but unlinke most of them it accepts the idea of taking risks to achieve something different. Unfortunately, it only sometimes happens, but it was worth trying. As Abe knows well, there’s no way other than fighting (or jumping, or chanting…) to achieve what you want.	Read review
TheSixthAxis	Nic Bunce	7 / 10	04-15-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm clearly comes from a very passionate, dedicated group of developers. Although it is very rough in places, there are parts of it that really do stick out as excellent examples of both gameplay and storytelling. With more refinement this could have been a shining example of what ground-up remakes could be, but it just falls a little short of the high standards set elsewhere. It’s still charming and funny, just like the Mudokens you’re trying to save, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.	Read review
Unboxholics	Γιώργος Πρίτσκας	Recommended	04-14-2021	Soulstorm is an updated and highly enhanced version of Abe’s Exodus. Its new additions bring depth to the gameplay but also a lot of irritation, mainly due to a poorly designed save system.	Read review
VGChartz	Evan Norris	7 / 10	04-18-2021	It’s a punishing game with lots of stops and starts, but its production design, world-building, platform-puzzle mechanics, and replay value make it worth playing.	Read review
Video Chums	A.J. Maciejewski	8.5 / 10	04-07-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is the best 2D stealth puzzle adventure game ever made. From its variety of well-crafted gameplay elements to its sprawling levels that beg to be replayed; it’s an incredible journey and with quite a touching story, too.	Read review
Video Games Chronicle	Jon Bailes	3 / 5 stars	04-08-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is an advancement on previous games in the series in every way, but that’s both its biggest achievement and the source of its problems. The complexity and variety in its locations is commendable, as is the wealth of tools at your disposal for dealing with its many tricks and foes. But many of its systems don’t work together reliably, or don’t respond with the necessary speed, which leaves an experience that’s rarely as entertaining as it promises to be.	Read review
VideoGamer	Josh Wise	6 / 10	04-14-2021	In that image lies the appeal-and for some the off-putting twinge-of Oddworld: a bleak and black-hearted concoction, laced with snickering humour and shot through with hope.	Read review
WayTooManyGames	Leonardo Faria	8.5 / 10	04-09-2021	I don’t simply just adore Oddworld: Soulstorm, I also deeply respect its vision. Lorne Lanning and his team took their time to craft an incredibly well-polished game aimed specifically at fans of the franchise. Yet it’s so fun to play and has such an engaging story that even those who have never played an Oddworld game before will still have a great time with its endearing characters, polished controls, and creative puzzles. This game took forever to come out, but it was most certainly worth the wait.	Read review
Wccftech	Francesco De Meo	8.5 / 10	04-10-2021	With an excellent stage and puzzle design, an engaging story that takes some unexpectedly dark turns, and a great presentation, Oddworld: Soulstorm is as good as the first entries in the series if not even better thanks to some new gameplay mechanics. The high challenge level and some other issues here and there may put off some players, but don’t let them stop you, even if you just have a passing interest in the series, or the genre as a whole: a game like Oddworld: Soulstorm hasn’t been released in a very long time.	Read review
WellPlayed	Aza Hudson	8 / 10	04-13-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm isn’t without its issues, but the good far outweighs the bad. Its crafting system will prove controversial, but it is an overall boon to the game. A visual treat through and through that hits its stride after the first few levels.	Read review
Worth Playing	Chris “Atom” DeAngelus	8 / 10	04-09-2021	Oddworld: Soulstorm is Oddworld at its best. It’s creative, clever, funny, enjoyable to play	Read review
Zoomg	Sadegh Tavazoyi	6 / 10	04-27-2021	The game tries to entertain the player with its story and sensitive moments, but the successive deaths that occur due to bugs and other game problems make you unable to enjoy Oddworld: Soulstorm in any way.	Read review

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About Oddworld: Soulstorm

Game Description / Storyline:

Witness Abe’s horrifying conflict with a terrifying new machination. A fresh narrative – a complete story retake inspired by our original tale. A big visual and cinematic leap aiming to break new ground for Oddworld. Intelligent new mechanics, twisted new devices enabling highly explosive deviousness. A dark parable that tells an epic tale of a volatile society pushed to its limits.

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