Passing the meatgrinder in Abe's Oddyssey

In 1997, a time when 3D graphics were dominating the world of gaming, a quirky platformer was released. One which proved to be surprisingly fun and incredibly memorable. People either loved or hated Abe's Oddyssey, a game where you had no weapons at your disposal. Just lots of running, rolling and hiding.  

Browsing gog.com, I came across this old gem of a title and with my old Playstation long gone, the PC version was the logical choice. £5.99 and a speedy download later, and I was revisiting Oddworld. 

Set in a quirky and rather disturbing world, you must escape a meat factory and rescue your people, who are due to end up as the next big product. From its first release, people have already commented on the environmental message and suggested the game was an attack on real world animal farming, so I'll dispense with this and talk about gameplay and atmosphere. 

I played this for the first time in 14 years, with the best intentions. To rescue everyone. I rarely live up to such high minded ideals. I tried, I really did. I looked for every secret area, even reloading the game when I saw that stern reminder near the end of the first level.

It means exactly what it says 

Everything is out to get you. Guards armed with machine guns, nasty wild animals, landmines, trap doors, falling debris, meat grinders, the list goes on No weapons. Just your own ingenuity and your plucky character's agile body, allowing you to run, hide, tip toe and roll your way to freedom. Not always in that order, mind you. So it's a bit like Metal Gear, but more horrible. Fear not, you can possess your enemies and make them do your bidding.

So it's also a bit like Messiah 

These elements are either a stroke of genius on the part of the game developers, or part of a macabre sense of humour where they think of a  million ways for you to die or make others die.

Speaking of macabre, the scenery is a bit...nightmarish. The over-exaggerated industrial complex of the first level for example is gruesome. It can also kill you.

Yes, those are falling meat carcasses

Don't worry, eventually you get to visit exotic places, including forests and desert temples. And face the dangers they present. Like Scrabs. Oh, god, anything but Scrabs. I feel my heart skip a bit everytime I have to run from them.

At least the sequel can't get any more macabre.

Oh, wait