This week, two games from the past make a return as a “retake” and a port respectively. There’s also a new 2D narrative game by Rhianna Pratchett that involves watercolour environments.
Oddworld: Soulstorm
Oddworld: Soulstorm is the follow-up to 2014’s Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty. While the latter was a remake of 1997’s Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, Soulstorm is described by the Oddworld website as “complete story retake” of 1998’s Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus.
The premise sees the Mudokon Abe leading his species to freedom and facing off against the Magog Cartel and the ruling power of the planet, with the game promising a “dark storyline with a twisted sense of humor that shines a light on the ironies that exist in the human condition”. Oddworld: Soulstorm will feature platforming and RPG-lite elements in “2.9D” environments, with crafting, stealth, supplies to find, the ability to give crafted items to your followers, leaderboards, and a Quarma system that will affect your ending based on your actions.
The game will be released on April 6 for PS5, PS4, and Epic Games Store.
Star Wars: Republic Commando
First released in 2005, Star Wars: Republic Commando is making a comeback on PS4 (and PS5 via backward compatibility) and the Switch with an enhanced port. The game is a first-person shooter that follows a squad of Republic Commandos during the Clone Wars, with the player being able to give commands to their squad.
“These maneuvers include commands to perform special tasks like demolitions or door breaches, search and destroy commands, and calls for your squad to form-up behind you. Your squad can even revive you when you fall in battle!” explains a PlayStation blog post from February.
The port has updated controls to feel better on DualShock 4 and DualSense, and there will also be new trophies to earn. The game will be out on April 6.
Lost Words: Beyond the Page
Written by Rhianna Pratchett, Lost Words is a 2D narrative adventure set in the diary entries of a girl called Izzy and a fantasy land called Estoria. As the Steam page describes it, the world in Izzy’s diary is presented with a watercolour aesthetic, and the gameplay will see the player making use of words to resolve puzzles and change the environment “in an entirely unique and refreshing style of platforming”. Additionally, there are fireflies that can be collected, and the story can be affected by your decisions. The game will be released on April 7 for Steam, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch.
