Stranger's Wrath HD Review: The Good, the Better, and the Broken

I honestly have no idea how I continually missed out on Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath over the past decade. Despite recommendations from friends and colleagues, I never managed to sit down and give it my full attention. Being a huge fan of all manner of westerns, I was promised that I'd love it. I was aware of the oft-cited twist that it held, but knew nothing of the specifics. Lucky for me, having Stranger's Wrath HD (yes, technically it's not really HD) ported to the Vita right before I embarked on a two week vacation provided the fortuitous series of events necessary for me to finally discover just who this Stranger was, and why he was so damn wrathful. After barreling through the adventure in a manner of days, I'm glad to report that this trip into Oddworld ages quite well, save for one huge design flaw courtesy of the Vita's most unnecessary functionality.

You play as The Stranger, a bounty hunter who roams the world collecting blood money in order to pay for an unknown operation. The basic structure plays out in a similar vein as GTA III, in which you visit larger towns, accept a mission, then venture forth to find and capture your bounty. While there's nothing new about this general structure, it's in Oddworld's action where its originality shines. With a tap the Vita's front screen, you'll transition your view from 3rd-person exploration to 1st-person combat. Your weapon throughout the adventure is always a crossbow, but it's your ammunition that makes all of the difference. The world is quite literally crawling with a variety of living creatures that you hunt, collect, and eventually fire at your enemies -- spiders lasso your unsuspecting victims, while a barrage of bees turn you into a gatling gun-wielding Stranger With No Name.

Aside from foraging for your munitions, strategy blossoms through the fact that you bounties are worth more alive than dead. The easy thing to do is go in guns a' blazing, inevitably leaving no man standing. But this will cost you quite a bit of money, so savvy bounty hunters might decide to methodically capture enemies alive one-by-one. With this mindset, each major encounter plays out with its own unique dynamics complete with various forms of cover, stealthy take-downs, destructible environments, and a slew of individual tactics unique to each ammunition type. Stranger's Wrath contains a series of smart, creative systems that were revolutionary in 2005, and still hold up impeccably an entire generation later. The ability to put your Vita to sleep whenever you desire breaks up the action into small chunks, making it a fantastic handheld experience. Each mission lasts roughly 10-15 minutes, allowing you to easily knock off a bounty or two on public transportation without having to worry about finding a save point.

All of this culminates into a polished, exciting experience that deserves to be played by any gamer who missed it like I did. So then why was I so damn frustrated throughout my entire time with Stranger's Wrath? Well, for that, we can thank the Vita itself, or more specifically, the rear touch functionality that cannot be disabled and was actively against the idea of allowing me to play the game without having to deal with a completely broken feature. When in first-person mode, which is over 50% of the game, the slightest graze of the Vita's rear pad results in the Stranger performing a melee attack, immediately disrupting anything you're currently doing. I can't count the number of times I had a sniper shot lined up, only to begin flailing my fists the moment before I could pull the trigger.

Anyone who's held a Vita knows that the rear touch screen occupies a hell of a lot of the handheld's real estate. Thus, anyone with hands larger than a toddler's is bound to have their digits occasionally venture into this space. Or in my case, you'll be accidentally punching the air a few times per minute, which will undoubtedly lead to a whole slew of deaths that aren't your fault, but rather the fault of the game for not allowing you to remap these controls or to turn off the rear touch entirely. I looked online to see if I was alone in my concerns, but sure enough, dozens of threads exist with similar complaints. The only solution I found was "buy a third party add-on that increases the size of the Vita," which is pretty much the most asinine solution imaginable.

I realize that I just spend two full paragraphs moaning about a single design decision, but it's honestly the lone blight in an otherwise fantastic package. Stranger's Wrath presents a world that bleeds atmosphere, and fans of westerns from Sergio Leone to Red Dead Redemption are going to love exploring Lorne Lanning's vision. Marry this with a brilliant idea to make ammunition a part of the game's mechanics as well as narrative, and you're left with a fantastic adventure that never outstays its welcome. Aside from that single glaring design flaw, the Vita is a fantastic venue to (re)experience one of the truly under-appreciated gems of the original Xbox.

Update: We've been informed that an update is in the works that completely removes rear touch functionality from the game, which should fix the major problem I had during the review. The patch should be live at some point later on in the month. Thanks to Oddworld Inhabitants' Stewart Gilray for the heads up.

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