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Oddworld: Soulstorm interview: Evolving the 2.5D genre

We talk to Lorne Lanning, co-founder of Oddworld Inhabitants to learn how the studio evolved the 2.5D genre in Oddworld: Soulstorm.

Josh Hawkins

June 6, 2019 4:00 PM

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Roughly four years ago, Oddworld Inhabitants gave players the chance to dive back into the Oddworld Quintology by revitalizing and remastering Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee with Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty. Now, the studio is looking to continue the original quintology by further evolving the series in Oddworld: Soulstorm. We recently had a chance to sit down with Lorne Lanning, the co-founder and Creative Director at Oddworld Inhabitants, to discuss the upcoming sequel, what the studio learned from New ‘n’ Tasty, and how they hope to evolve things moving forward.

In our interview with Lanning, we learned a bit about how Oddworld Inhabitants has taken the retro-classic styled graphics and landscape of the original Oddworld games and modernized it, mixing in new features and mechanics to further broaden the scope of the series as a whole. It was really interesting hearing Lanning talk about some of the ways that they’ve improved the game, and even seeing a bit about how the studio has brought the visuals of the sequel to life.

One of the big points that Lanning made about the Oddworld series is that they wanted to take the idea of the player being the bottom of the food chain, having to step up and save the world. They wanted the players to be able to identify with the characters, and instead of just facing their problems with brute force, they wanted to provide puzzles and circumstances that forced the player to think and strategize.

You can check out the full interview with Lanning above to see more of the game in action, and also to hear his thoughts on the way they have evolved the series, and what they’ve done to really evolve the series. You can also subscribe to Shacknews and GamerHubTV on YouTube to gain access to more interviews, behind-the-scenes videos, and other unique video content.

Josh Hawkins

Guides Editor

Joshua holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and has been exploring the world of video games for as long as he can remember. He enjoys everything from large-scale RPGs to small, bite-size indie gems and everything in between.