Fourth Oddworld title nearing completion

By Kristan Reed Published 16 June, 2004

'Stranger' hits alpha, but with Atari and Microsoft having washed their hands of the brand, is EA in line to publish it?

Reports emerged last night that Oddworld Inhabitants' long-awaited sequel to Munch's Oddysee, known as 'Stranger' has 'gone alpha' and that an announcement on the game's publisher is set to be revealed in the next two weeks.

Just days after it was revealed that Atari had disposed of its 50 per cent share of the company in return for publishing royalties, and three months after Oddworld boss Lorne Lanning announced that Microsoft would not be publishing Stranger, reports suggest that Electronic Arts could be the company in the frame.

EA has been particularly acquisitive of late, picking up well known brands such as Burnout 3, TimeSplitters: Future Perfect, so it would be no surprise to see the US giant adding a character based game to its roster - an area it has yet to dominate with any major success, despite attempts with Ty the annoying Tasmanian Tiger 18 months back.

The game will reportedly feature both first and third person viewpoints; first person for shooting and third person for hand to hand/melee combat. The lead character is a Llama called Steef, no doubt burdened with wind issues and speech impediments like all Oddworld characters.

Despite huge PSone success under its original publisher GT, the franchise didn't enjoy the success expected of it when Microsoft thrust it into its Xbox launch line-up in late 2001/early 2002, possibly a combination of the wrong demographics, or maybe its gameplay appeal losing something in the transition to 3D.

Whatever the reasons for its success or lack of, if the game secures a publishing partner with the clout of EA, the game will be given the best possible chance of success - a fact surely not lost on Mr Lanning's bank balance.

Predictably, neither party have commented on the matter, but expect full clarification and more details on the game shortly.

Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (11) Latest comment 8 years ago

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  • Blerk #1 8 years ago

    EA, eh? Watch out for the PS2 version soon, then. :-)

  • Tiger_Walts #2 8 years ago

    And the PC version, and the GBA version, and the Mobile version and the Gamcube version that'll get cancelled.

  • Blerk #3 8 years ago

    Joking aside, it would be mildly amusing to see a PS2 version given how vocal Lorne Lanning was about the hardware all those years back. I think it was the first proper 'dummy-spitting' incident of this generation. :-)

  • Tiger_Walts #4 8 years ago

    Did I forget to mention the numerous add-on packs?

  • Skullfire #5 8 years ago

    Strange - with EA publishing, you would expect to see a multi-console release. However, as MS now own 50% share, could this point to an Xbox exclusive? I guess we will find out soon enough.

    Who owns the remaining 50%? I assume OI? Didn't they state a preference to the Xbox?

  • PondScum #6 8 years ago

    Think I'm probably alone in this, but I actually really enjoyed Munch's Odyssey - thought the graphics were great (especially in cutscenes) and it was one of the few titles I actually finished! Any screenies of this anywhere?

  • Icebox #7 8 years ago

    I'm really looking forward to this, as I loved Munch's Oddysee.

  • Kami #8 8 years ago

    Actually, I thought Munch's Oddysee lacked something... perhaps the same-old gags were getting lame. Was great fun and loved it, but left me with some doubts...

    I do still like the series though and think it's got masses of potential, so a return to form would be nice. And now a Llama... oh whoopie. No, no, unintentional, sorry. I'm just stating that a llama doesn't soundall that interesting at first thought...

  • Blerk #9 8 years ago

    Okay. Right. They were absolutely sod-all like Another World.

  • Skullfire #10 8 years ago

    shack attack wrote "Its not EA ;) "

    It's EAP (EA Partners, a division of EA). And it will be coming to PS2 and Xbox in 2005.
    Edited by 1 at 17/06/04 @ 18:13

  • killerbob #11 8 years ago

    whooh. will be checking this out, although munch was.. well.. not as complete an experience as the first two, which i love and have completed many times.. i guess munch was too easy, aswell..