AAAAAHHH!! ANOTHER 2-D SIDE SCROLLER!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!! Oh hey, wait a minute, this one doesn't suck! In fact, its pretty good! You play Abe, a weird looking alien that works in a meat packing plant. When he finds out that he is about to be one of the next items on the menu, he freaks out and tries to escape. Along the way, he tries to save his other slave friends, and not get killed. Alright, its not the greatest plot in the world, but what the hell do you want?

This is a two dimensional side scroller, so you are confined to one plan on the screen, and you can't roam around ala Mario 64. However, the movement restrictions allow the developers to generate beautiful highly detailed back grounds, some of the best that I have ever seen. From jungles to temples to highly advanced industrial plants, its all there! The enemies on screen are also well animated, and do look alive. Its a very effective presentation, and goes to show that 2-d is far from dead.

SOund in this game is very vital, as a large part is actually talking to your fellow slaves. Abe has a variety of voices at his disposal, and you will need to use them to escape from some of the puzzles too. Plus the ability to chant at certain points is just too cool. Background sounds and enemy noises are also very crisp and clear.

Control for Abe is very tight and responsive. The only thing I didn't like is the fact that the game uses dozens of commands, so you are forced to memorize button combos if you want to get anything done. What a pain in the @ss.

Amazingly, this was a quite innovative game in a genre that has been beaten to death in the past decade or so. The use of puzzzles requiring both voice and movemnt control was very challenging, and I agree with the descion of the designers to let Abe have infinite lives. That way, you can explore and experiment with no fear of the consequences. If you are looking for deep challenging gameplay, then you won't be dissapointed. This game and Heart of Darkness show that 2-d is far from dead, and is still alot of fun!

GRAPHICS 9/10 SOUND 10/10 CONTROL 7/10 GAMEPLAY 9/10 OVERALL 9/10

A good quality title that is fun and addicting.

-Madgraduate