Oddworld Inhabitants found success with its remake of the original Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee game, Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty, and so it makes sense that the studio has followed it up with a sequel. While Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty was a fairly faithful remake of the original Oddworld game, the recently released Oddworld: Soulstorm is a different beast, serving as more of a re-imagining of the classic Abe's Exoddus PS1 game as opposed to a cut and dry remake.

Oddworld: Soulstorm picks up where New 'n' Tasty left off, with Abe and the Mudokon slaves he saved from RuptureFarms living with the native Mudokons. Unfortunately, their sanctuary doesn't last long. The villainous Mullock and his Sligs attack, forcing Abe and the other Mudokons to flee, sending them on yet another perilous journey. Oddworld's signature blend of satire and grim storytelling are well intact in Soulstorm, with beautifully rendered cutscenes and sharp writing used to bring Abe's latest adventure to life.

Oddworld: Soulstorm looks great outside of the cutscenes as well, especially when playing it on the PlayStation 5. It's true that most of the game sticks to drab, brown cliffsides and dark interior areas that don't allow the visuals to truly shine, but the characters are highly detailed and well-animated. Players are also treated to some awe-inspiring backgrounds, with massive structures looming in the distance that they can often physically travel to as they make their way through each level. While there isn't a ton of environmental variety, Oddworld: Soulstorm is the best-looking game in the series to date.

Not only is Oddworld: Soulstorm a massive step forward for the series from a graphics standpoint, but it also makes some much-needed quality of life improvements that result in smoother minute-to-minute gameplay. One of the most significant quality of life improvements in Oddworld: Soulstorm is the new visual indicators that let Abe know when he can interact with things. For example, the indicators let Abe know when he is close enough to mines to tap and deactivate them, whereas in New 'n' Tasty it wasn't always as obvious, leading to some cheap deaths.

These on-screen indicators clue players in when there is something in the background that Abe can interact with as well. These usually consist of lockers, dumpsters, and other containers that Abe can loot for supplies for use in the new crafting system. Oddworld: Soulstorm's crafting system allows players to create helpful items like smoke grenades that can be used to conceal their location from patrolling Sligs or hard candy that can be thrown to knock enemies out. The crafting system encourages players to thoroughly explore the environment and gives them more to do besides completing the game's various platforming puzzles.

Oddworld: Soulstorm is a more involved and engaging game than its predecessor, with tighter platforming and a more agile Abe for players to control. This time around, Abe has access to a double jump that lets players more easily explore the levels, make it across tricky gaps, and in general allows the developers to incorporate more interesting platforming sections than was possible in the previous installment.

Oddworld: Soulstorm takes what made Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty great and adds some compelling new gameplay features to make it something fresh. And if it worked properly all the time, it would be a much easier game to recommend, especially to fans of Oddworld's twisted sense of humor. Unfortunately, Oddworld: Soulstorm has some fatal flaws, with one of the biggest issues being the other Mudokons in the game.

A core mechanic in the Oddworld games is leading Mudokons through dangerous areas and getting them safely through a bird portal. The problem with Oddworld: Soulstorm is that the Mudokons often act in bizarre ways that don't make any sense. Sometimes they will follow Abe perfectly, but other times they will run into areas where Abe didn't lead them to and get themselves killed in the process.

Since getting Oddworld: Soulstorm's best ending requires players to save as many Mudokons as possible, it can be quite frustrating when they die for reasons that are completely out of the player's control. Whereas escorting and saving the Mudokons in Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty was fun and challenging, it can often be an aggravating chore in Oddworld: Soulstorm, especially for those who are trying to fully complete the game.

Another major issue with Oddworld: Soulstorm is that the game is plagued with bugs and other technical issues. In a single playthrough, we encountered everything from Mudokons disappearing to audio drops to the game completely crashing. We saw Sligs walking on thin air, a fire extinguisher shooting constantly out of Abe's body, and ran into multiple issues with the camera. In one instance, Oddworld: Soulstorm's camera dropped to the bottom of the stage and took a few minutes to crawl back up to Abe's location, and in another, the game gave us free reign to move the camera anywhere in the level.

Oddworld: Soulstorm's bugs are a huge downside and keep the game from reaching the same heights as its predecessors. The original version of the game, Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, is a much more polished experience and it may be best for players to check out that one instead while they wait for Oddworld Inhabitants to fix the many issues that Soulstorm is currently dealing with.

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.

Oddworld: Soulstorm is out now for PC, PS4, and PS5. Game Rant reviewed the game on PS5.