It's easy to root for Abe. A mystical race of amphibian-like pacifists, the Madcons have suffered for centuries as slaves to the cruel industrial cartel, the Glucons. The cartel's greed is insidious and poisons all of Oddworld. Madcons are worked to the bone, systematically drugged, and punished for the slightest rebellion. One madcon leads a rebellion and frees the people from their chains. This is the plot of the cult classic "Oddworld," released on PlayStation in 1998: much of the core storyline is retained in this 2021 "reimagining." Lorne Lanning, the patriarch of Oddworld's cosmic vision, is increasingly astute in his depiction of capitalism's corruption is increasingly astute in its portrayal, and, as usual, uses bizarre, off-kilter dramas composed of sniveling aliens to get its point across.

Exoddus veterans will recognize Soulstorm's basic rhythm immediately. It remains a 2D stealth puzzle game in the tradition of many games influenced by Oddworld, including Gunpoint and Mark of the Ninja. Abe is a wimp, unable to fight seriously or absorb more than a quarter clip of gunfire to the chest. Gluccon's cronies crawl around on the rickety, rusty scaffolding that makes up most of Soulstorm's geometry. Abe's best option is to sneak past unnoticed by the police, or to stock up on a few meager weapons at MacGyver. He can plant a stun mine and make a beeline for the exit, or he can throw an explosive soda can at the thugs' feet before tying them up with Scotch tape.

This is the new mechanism that will be the centerpiece of "Soulstorm," and like all new games coming out in the 2020s, "Oddworld" will feature a crafting device. Abe sneaks around dirty lockers, flashing vending machines, and decaying trash cans, collecting little bits of filthy, dystopian ephemera (empty bottles and bubblegum sticks).

This makes every encounter much more modular than was possible on the PlayStation. A pack of ferocious guard dogs is in the way." Just bring up the inventory menu and make a few makeshift grenades. Soulstorm's blacksmithing system doesn't deviate too far from the bare minimum required, and there are only 11 recipes, but players will spend a good deal of time opening their inventory to start a revolution.

It's a good idea; Oddworld has always bridged the gap between Saturday-morning-cartoon easy cheese and disturbing ultra-violence in its aesthetic, and the idea of arming Abe with Molotov cocktails to clear a path to escape is right in keeping with that theme. Unfortunately, Soulstorm's originality has been overshadowed by technical problems. I constantly encountered bugs that made the game more frustrating than it needed to be.

For example, in the early levels, Abe is tasked with evading a horde of snipers camped on a distant ridge. Along the way, he was required to jump to a ladder, but found that every time he jumped in the air, he was instantly shot dead. After dozens of different attempts (sprinting?), we were forced to jump to the top of the ladder. The only solution was to completely restart the level. Sure enough, that worked.

Considering how much era-specific shenanigans are included in the code, "Soul Storm" is perhaps the ideal homage to the PlayStation era. More than once, the game's checkpoint system put me in the middle of a firefight. When I died and respawned, bullets would rain down within inches of Abe's soft, vulnerable head. As for the landmines I mentioned earlier, I would occasionally throw one at him only to watch it float harmlessly into the air. The Monkey Bar's collision detection was maddeningly unstable, and many times I walked right through it.

These incidents represent a major problem with Soulstorm's controls. Slippery, floaty, unreliable, and requiring razor-sharp precision, Soulstorm followed the difficulty of Exoddus, but often did not seem to really have the tools to succeed. Early console stealth games, especially "Splinter Cell," often progressed through the accidental betrayal of the AI rather than the player's personal ingenuity.

This problem is exacerbated when "Soulstorm" is in full swing and Abe is tasked with rescuing a captive Madcon army on a journey. When called upon, they follow in lemming-like step. Ideally, Abe would take them to one of the portals at certain bottlenecks on the map, but with no direct controls other than "follow me" and "wait," my rescue efforts were regularly doomed. The game sometimes called for me to guide a herd of madcons through a narrow passageway riddled with the clang of razor blades. One wrong step and we would all be dead. Early on, when the madcons were after me, I jumped over a mine in my way. The squire did not copy my actions, but ran straight into the trap and died instantly. I am not a veteran of Oddworld, nor do I understand the finer points of capturing madcons, but it didn't take me long to dismiss these humane efforts as a lost cause and instead enjoy their viscera.

It's a shame, because Soulstorm's story and characterizations are top-notch; "Oddworld" has long been one of the great settings in video games, and Gluccon's bleak reign is exceptionally vivid when viewed on a modern machine. Deserts and desolate lands of steel, refineries towering over the horizon spitting jet blackness into the sky: ...... Everything is perfect; Oddworld has never looked more like Oddworld.

The story does the same, taking some notable risks in changing some of Exoddus' motifs. In a sense, "Soulstorm" is a video game about addiction, drug addiction, and the euphoria that comes afterward, an area rarely depicted on the PC. All of this will tug at the heartstrings of "Oddworld" fans, and they may turn a blind eye to "Soulstorm's" quirks. But as a casual player in this world, I found myself thinking about Lorne Lanning's long-simmering "Oddworld" adaptation as I played through the game. It's a fascinating prospect: a new film from the talented "Oddworld Inhabitants" team, but without the terrible clash decisions.