History VideoGame / Oddworld

In mid-2011, the company made an unexpected (but by no means unwelcome) return to the industry, and promptly announced high-definition remasterings of ''Stranger's Wrath'' and ''Munch's Oddysee'', which are to be released via digital distribution for PC, [=PS3=], [=PS4=], [[UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita Vita]] and UsefulNotes/WiiU, and developed by British company Just Add Water Ltd.

The Oddworld Quintology was rebooted with a ground-up 2.5D remake of ''Abe's Oddysee'', dubbed ''VideoGame/OddworldNewNTasty'', and was released on July 22, 2014 for [=PS4=] and later for Steam, [=PS3=], Xbox One and Wii U.

* AnAesop:
** All of the games focus on the horrifying effects of people putting personal gain, capitalism, and social status before morality, as all the PlayerCharacters are on the losing end of that compromise; the worst endings in each game occur because the protagonists ignore/neglect others that are similarly in need, prioritizing their own safety instead of helping their people. They typically have a GreenAesop complimenting this theme, as well.
** The [[AllThereInTheManual backstory]] also teaches that you should never answer hate with hate -- the Mudokons got to where they were because of their magic powers, and the fact that the moon has a Mudokon handprint on it, which led them to [[FantasticRacism bully and oppress "lesser" races...]] "lesser" races such as [[TheDogBitesBack Glukkons]]. And their desire for freedom, and [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope later revenge, then outright sheer greed]] put Oddworld on a destructive spiral [[GreenAesop that'll even kill them eventually]].

* BrokenAesop:
** In ''Abe's Oddysee'', we're told that Scrabs and Paramites are formerly-sacred creatures that lost their respect after being farmed for food. So what's the best way to show your respect for them? By trampling through their sacred grounds and killing any that provoke you or stand in your way. To be fair, in ''Exoddus'' Abe doesn't [[PsychicAssistedSuicide make them explode]] after possessing them, and most puzzles involving them can be solved without killing them.
** In general, there are massive {{Take That}}s to corporations as part of the GreenAesop. This is done using a high quality commercial product of ''Oddworld Inhabitants Incorporated''... and occasionally having ProductPlacement in their games.
*** The developers have noted this, and defended themselves via FourthWallMailSlot by claiming that they're not strictly anti-corporate, but more specifically the series' message is against putting profits before ethics.

* GreenAesop: Pretty much the theme behind most of the games.

A series of games starting on the original UsefulNotes/PlayStation, the Oddworld series (the only series made by the aptly-named Oddworld Inhabitants) are four[[note]]not including remakes and ports by third-parties[[/note]] games that take place on the alien planet of Oddworld. Revolving around either AlmightyJanitor Abe and his friends or the BountyHunter Stranger, the games typically involve their protagonist going up against [[TheManIsKeepingUsDown The Man]] in an anti-corporate, pro-environment plotline that is surprisingly not too {{anvilicious}}. Oddworld was originally intended to be a [[TheVerse fictional universe]] consisting of an [[TheEpic epic]] pentalogy of games (dubbed the Oddworld Quintology) that would have starred various different heroes and villains, as well as bonus titles to expand the universe's mythology. However, the ambitious project was left [[CutShort abandoned]] for a while until its recent reboot.

Every Oddworld title achieved outstanding critical acclaim for their plot and gameplay (with the exception of ''Munch's Oddysee'', which was [[invoked]] [[ExecutiveMeddling forcibly rushed in production by Microsoft]] and received a more generic reception). Unfortunately, despite the highly positive reception of ''Stranger's Wrath'', it had very poor sales (a result of [[Creator/ElectronicArts EA]]'s failed marketing), which caused Oddworld Inhabitants to quietly disappear from the video game industry - leaving Oddworld's story hanging and many long-awaited games unreleased (a third chapter in the Quintology titled ''Squeek's Oddysee'', a sequel to Munch's Oddysee titled ''Munch's Exoddus'', a [[RealTimeStrategy real-time strategy]] game titled ''Hand of Odd'', and a dark and violent action game titled ''The Brutal Ballad of Fangus Klot''). However, in December 2010, the formerly UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}}-exclusive entries finally received a cross-platform UpdatedRerelease in the form of the [=OddBoxx=], including every entry so far in the series, up for download on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and the UsefulNotes/PlayStationNetwork.

* TopHeavyGuy: Played for laughs in the Good Ending of ''Abe's Oddysee'', in which the attack on [[spoiler:Molluck strips him of his outfit]] (Glukkons' outfits usually make them look like tall, physically imposing [[BadBoss Bad Bosses]]), revealing that his species are actually [[spoiler:midgets with exceptionally long arms]], due to their lack of physical activity since becoming {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s who never go outside (because of this limb problem they "walk" hilariously from ''Exoddus'' onwards).

* ScienceFantasy: Elements of both sci fi and traditional fantasy are found in the game.

* VaporWare: ''Hand of Odd'', some kind of multiplayer strategy game.

* GreenAesop: Pretty much the theme behind most of the the games.