Oddworld: Soulstorm revives the series by bringing back Abe and abandoning 20 years of expectations
To understand Oddworld: Soulstorm, you need to understand Oddworld’s history. You need to understand that Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee, released in 1997, was meant to be the first part of a five-game series, each starring a brand new protagonist—and you need to understand that those plans immediately fell apart.
First came success. With Oddysee a surprise hit, publisher GT Interactive demanded a sequel for the following Christmas. The result was 1998’s Abe’s Exoddus, a stopgap release. Still well-received at the time, it didn’t advance the core Oddworld storyline and was considered a “bonus” game by both developers and fans.