Xbox: Oddworld Stranger

I absolutely cannot wait for the upcoming fall / holiday season for games. There seem to be more friggin' awesome games lined up than ever before.. Ghost Recon 2, Halo 2, Forza, McRae, Doom 3, Half Life.. The list goes on. Somewhat surprisingly, I find myself most of all drawn to the Oddworld game next year, looking forward to next the Spring release. The series is excellent, with it's fucked up quirky sense of humour, ugly as hell characters and interesting gameplay. Lately I'm on something of a cowboy kick what with this game and The Gunslinger series - perhaps it's just something I never got much of back in England. Hell, I think they would throw bricks at you if you wore a cowboy hat around England..

Oddworld Inhabitants is pushing the concept of "live ammo" in Stranger, meaning that the ammunition is actually alive. Several types of small animals inhabit Oddworld, and by collecting them you can launch them out of Stranger's dual-chambered crossbow. These creatures include smack-talking chipmunks that lure enemies to them (the enemies are rushing to stop on the little guys to shut them up), skunks to incapacitate foes, explosive bats, spiders than wrap bad guys in their web, and wasps that can shoot their stingers like a machinegun. Remember the Fuzzles from Munch's Oddysee? Those vicious little furballs that Munch was trying to rescue? You can even collect them; they act as a land mine, leaping at and ripping apart anyone foolish enough to walk near them.

Now come on, that's just fucking great! I think you owe it to yourself to check out this little gamespy preview. VERY interesting and funny to boot. As for me, I just fell in love with the main character. Lion meets Clint, fucking badass. What else is there to say? Clint is the man. Lions are boss.