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Oddworld is the setting of a series of video games originally for the PlayStation and more recently, for the Xbox.
The series is developed by Oddworld Inhabitants of San Luis Obispo, California. The company was founded in 1994 by Lorne Lanning and Sherry McKenna, and has so far been responsible for three titles, all set in the same universe:
The developers have stated that the Oddworld series will be a quintet, and that Abe's Exoddus was not part of that group. The next game, to be published in January 2005 by Electronic Arts, is called Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath (and was previously known as Oddworld: Stranger), and is also a non-quintet title.
The world
Oddworld contains two main races. The Glukkons are tall beings with no arms, and the Mudokons are shorter green beings with large hands and feet. The Glukkons are few in numbers and own everything, the Mudokons are very high in numbers and are used as slave labour. Oddworld contains many other creatures and beings, including the sligs (gun toting beings used as security but reliant on technology as they are born legless), the vykkers (ruthless scientists with many arms), and the paramites and scrabs (animals once considered sacred but now used for cheap meat to the brink of extinction).
Locations on Oddworld include Rupture Farms, a factory that produces various food products (among them Paramite Pies and Scrab Cakes), Necrum Mines (a ancestral Mudokon burial ground, taken over by the Glukkons), Soulstorm Brewery (which uses Mudokon bones and tears to produce the drink Soulstorm Brew), and Vykkers Labs (a scientific research facility operated by Vykkers and owned by Glukkons). Most of these locations only appear in one game, as one goal of the games is often to destroy the location you begin at.
Abe
Most games include a Mudokon named Abe who plays as either a major or main character. In those games, his task is to free his fellow Mudokons from the clutches of the sadistic and power-hungry Glukkons and their brutal servants.
Abe's goals in his two adventures (where he plays the major character) are to liberate his people and protect the bones of his ancestors.
Most of these tasks are done using his gift which allows him to posses people through chanting.
In "Exodus", Abe is recognized as the "hero with blue skin" (his skin is blueish, whereas other Mudokons are green).
The previously mentioned chanting skill that Abe posseses allows Abe to take control of various beings and other things - including his own farts. Abe is capable of speech commands that aid the player in accomplishing the goals. He can say various things such as "hello", "follow me", "stay", "sorry" and many more as well as being able to, of course, fart. But, it doesn't end here, becuase once Abe takes control of an enemy or random creature, he can also use THEIR speech commands. Sligs for example can (in their high pitched evil voice) say things such as "hey", "wake up", "freeze", and the somewhat famous abbrevation "B.S.". However, it is in their own language. The creatures also respond to your command, and in this case, if "B.S." is used on another Slig, he will retort. Each character you posses branches off to their environments and other characters. For example, possesing a Slig will allow you to command their vicious best friends, the Slugs; dog-like creatures that would usually tear Abe to pieces. Possesing a Glukkon will allow you to control Sligs, activate door-ways, and so on. Possesing a fart will lead to explosion (which Abe finds rather funny) and the list goes on.
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