It slowly builds and leads up to the last half where the game is flipped on its head while still staying consistent with its first half. The Stranger’s journey to collect bounties seems like a simple way to justify the gameplay until his motivations start becoming more clear and you learn more about him. Stranger’s Wrath splits the difference and it’s refreshing to see a game strike a balance between the two.īut it’s not just all reptile monsters calling each other bastards and flinging burns on each other as Stranger’s Wrath actually tells a decent story. Video games often either sand off every bit of edge in a boring attempt to appeal to kids or dive headfirst into M-rated swear words and blue language. Other games like Portal or Double Fine games have more refined comedic sensibilities, but Stranger’s Wrath’s funny bits stick out because of its aforementioned juvenile nature. It’s not a barrage of cringeworthy punchlines like a Borderlands game either, as its humor lies more in the presentation, tone, and timing over specifically crafted jokes. Enemies mock you and each other with high school-level insults in dumb ways that are usually at least worth a chuckle, if not a genuine laugh. Stranger’s Wrath earns its T rating through its juvenile comedy that video games don’t normally hone in on. Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD Switch Review | Rated T for Teenīoss fights also stand out for their humor and that translates to the entire game as well. Upgrades are cheap enough to squander a little bit of the urge to bring in breathing targets as you’ll always have overflowing pockets yet just the mere existence of that option helps add a welcome layer of strategy. Blowing them up is easier and faster, but it will only net you about third or so of the cash and the same applies to regular enemies. Like any true bounty hunter, you have the option of taking in these criminals dead or alive, which adds an organic level of difficulty. The levels leading up to those battles are fairly standard and don’t usually introduce interesting mechanics, but finishing off each stage with a climactic boss fight fits the tone and its video game nature. Most of the game revolves around bagging and tagging small bounties before you face off with the gold prize: their boss. It’s fitting that you use the ammo that you have hunted to hunt for your bounties. First-person shooting obviously isn’t new but Stranger’s Wrath, through its presentation, changes how you shoot and turns it in a novel experience. While not every ammo type is as useful as others and some could use a buff or two, having to hunt down your ammo and balance how you’ll use your arsenal makes for a decent central hook to tie the gameplay around. Your crossbow can have two loaded at a single time, meaning you can mix and match as you please. Spherical, shelled slugs act as heavy, well, slugs that push enemies back while skunks immobilize most foes and chipmunks can lure them around. Ammunition isn’t looted off corpses but hunted in the wild because your bullets are alive critters you fire for different effects. Stranger’s Wrath is a third-person action game and also a first-person shooter without the violence typically associated with the genre. This is a solid translation to the platform, but the effort was also aided by its noteworthy foundation that thrives because of its unique setup. Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD Switch Review | Stranger’s things Jerky aiming plagues the game, but it’s still a well-done port for the most part. A good bounty hunter never blames their tools, but the imprecise nature of the Joy-Cons makes it hard to get the job done. Lacking any sort of sticky aim leads to a lot of missed shots and can easily get you killed. However, the platform holds back the controls more than any other aspect as the Switch’s stubby nubs make aiming more tedious than it should be. The Switch version even boasts drastically reduced load times, which is a refreshing rarity for the handheld. Crisp, uprezzed visuals look nice because of their solid art direction and doesn’t look too far off from the HD remaster that hit the last generation of consoles. There’s also a slight bit of pop-in around some of the greenery, but the game looks and runs well almost all of the time. It mostly runs at 60 frames per second and doesn’t slow down much outside of the vast entrance to Mongo Valley where the game opens up. Advertisement Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD Switch Review | The pros and cons of Joy-Cons

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