Bugs, bugs, and more bugs!

[Citizen Cook]

I first played this game on PS5 last year when it was free in PS+.
At the time the game was riddled with bugs 🐜 and was torn a new one by reviewers. It didn’t help that the game coming out bugged 🐛 hit on the heels of the Cyberpunk scandal. I’d hoped at the time that we were turning a page in how critics review games. Most times they ignore the bugs 🐞 in their reviews believing that the devs will patch the game in time for release. Increasingly this is not the case. I believe reviewers should review the code sent, not the promise give by devs/publishers.
Now I’m playing Soullstorm again on Steam. Many of the bugs 🐜 have been patched but a healthy amount still remain. For example, I’ve had shocked sligs blasted through and clipping rock formations, the inability to tie and pickpocket sligs if they are too close to the edge of the screen or too close to structures. And on the third level bombs hitting me while under protective cover. And that’s in just 3 levels, as far as I’ve gotten atm.
What makes this situation even more irritating is that this game has been out on PC as an epic store exclusive for a year now. Oddworld Inhabitants have had plenty of time to fix this game and thanks to Timmy Tencent the money to do so.
So why release such a shoddy game on Steam? Why not take pride in your work and polish the code? It really does feel like a slap in the face to all the fans who have waited patiently for this game to come to Steam and given their hard earned money to Lorn Lanning.

[Zy Soua]

The only big bug I noticed was clipping through textures. I made a jump sometimes from high places, clipped through textures which led to dying. That was annoying

[Citizen Cook]

I just played level 3 today and can confirm that bombs are hitting through ceilings. Also, on level 5 if you backtrack through the level significantly bombs will continue to rain down on you. I missed a few Mudokans and had to go back for them but the scorched earth nature of the bug made that impossible so i had to restart the entire level again after 45 mintues play.

[COVID-1984]

Oh gosh. I've bought this game on Epic Games and got through it on Hard difficulty already. It was an excruciating experience.

I guess I need to hold off from buying on Steam until every bug has been fixed.

As a fan, I really want to see Lorne and his team continue this amazing franchise.

[Musk]

So far I've played the first couple levels, last one was the one with a bombing blimp, and encountered pretty much the same bugs as you (they were also present in the demo), plus a couple extra.

Audio and video during cutscenes is out of sync.
Menu navigation is broken when using Arrow keys instead of WASD.
Can't pickpocket/tie sligs when too close to a wall/lootable objects.
Blimp's bombs were sometimes hitting me when under cover, or while I'm in clear view they sometimes hit random obstacles instead of me.

Sections where Mudokons are climbing a wall while you have to protect them from attacking Sligs are bugged too - I restarted a bunch of times and I'd say 1/3 of the time there was a bug where Sligs would spawn, but not move at all, making these sections way easier to finish.

Tha's a lot for the first 2.5h I spent playing the game so far...

[Citizen Cook]

Originally posted by Musk:

So far I've played the first couple levels, last one was the one with a bombing blimp, and encountered pretty much the same bugs as you (they were also present in the demo), plus a couple extra.

Audio and video during cutscenes is out of sync.
Menu navigation is broken when using Arrow keys instead of WASD.
Can't pickpocket/tie sligs when too close to a wall/lootable objects.
Blimp's bombs were sometimes hitting me when under cover, or while I'm in clear view they sometimes hit random obstacles instead of me.

Sections where Mudokons are climbing a wall while you have to protect them from attacking Sligs are bugged too - I restarted a bunch of times and I'd say 1/3 of the time there was a bug where Sligs would spawn, but not move at all, making these sections way easier to finish.

Tha's a lot for the first 2.5h I spent playing the game so far...

I don't often write reviews but I just posed one for this game.

[Citizen Cook]

Found some more bugs! Posted two screen shots.

[Citizen Cook]

Today, playing level 15, my sligs die when possessing them instead of using being knocked out.

[Musk]

Played a couple hours more, encountered a bunch more bugs. Ones that I remember, in order from most annoying:

When you set Mudokons to 'fight mode', their AI is super inconsistent and buggy. They might throw tons of items even when the Slig is already taken care of, or in the exact same situation not throw items fast enough and get destroyed by that Slig.

On some levels, music would occasionally stop and reset a couple times. Or there should've been some SFX but it couldn't be heard. Audio balance was bad during some cutscenes (ie. background sounds were way louder than dialog).

Sligs like to occasionally blow up instead of getting knocked out after being possesed.

During a boss fight on the train, I couldn't get fire to spread correctly - I threw a bunch of brew around the spot where it didn't want to continue spreading, had to restart from last checkpoint.

There was one time when a Slog woke up and killed me even though I was sneaking, happened when I tried to heal a Mudokon or loot something, I don't remember.

Sometimes Abe likes to randomly stumble while walking/sneaking (like when he's on the edge of a platform), mostly happens while exiting elevators.

On one level, when I had flares in my inventory, after each respawn a flare in my hands would automatically start glowing, even though I never used them.

[Citizen Cook]

Originally posted by Musk:

Played a couple hours more, encountered a bunch more bugs. Ones that I remember, in order from most annoying:

When you set Mudokons to 'fight mode', their AI is super inconsistent and buggy. They might throw tons of items even when the Slig is already taken care of, or in the exact same situation not throw items fast enough and get destroyed by that Slig.

On some levels, music would occasionally stop and reset a couple times. Or there should've been some SFX but it couldn't be heard. Audio balance was bad during some cutscenes (ie. background sounds were way louder than dialog).

Sligs like to occasionally blow up instead of getting knocked out after being possesed.

During a boss fight on the train, I couldn't get fire to spread correctly - I threw a bunch of brew around the spot where it didn't want to continue spreading, had to restart from last checkpoint.

There was one time when a Slog woke up and killed me even though I was sneaking, happened when I tried to heal a Mudokon or loot something, I don't remember.

Sometimes Abe likes to randomly stumble while walking/sneaking (like when he's on the edge of a platform), mostly happens while exiting elevators.

On one level, when I had flares in my inventory, after each respawn a flare in my hands would automatically start glowing, even though I never used them.

I've encountered everyone of those buys you have except for a slog waking up when i'm sleeping. But today in level 15 i did encounter yet another bug where the slogs chasing me just stopped on the platform above me. This was the only bug that has ever made my life easier.

[Citizen Cook]

Completed the game with 88 Slig kills today. The achievement for ‘Too Pure for this world’ didn’t pop.

Changing my review to a negative

[Musk]

Originally posted by Citizen Cook:

Completed the game with 88 Slig kills today. The achievement for ‘Too Pure for this world’ didn’t pop.

Man, that sucks. One of the worst kinds of bugs :/
Btw, did you keep track of them on your own, or is there a way to check how many you killed in the game? Because I didn't count mine, and by the end of the game was a bit worried I won't be able to get it, but it poped up after all.

Anyway, here's another batch of bugs, probably final one for me, since I finished the game. First, ones with follower Mudokons:

One got eaten by a Slog through a wall. Some were shot by Sligs in the background, despite hiding behind cover.

Sometimes a couple of them wouldn't listen to Abe's commands when speaking to all.

One group insisted on moving onto an elevator on the other side of the room. Had to go to them to enter and exit the elevator for them to follow me again.

Some didn't hide into lockers correctly - their bodies stayed outside, levitating in the air, but didn't get killed by a passing Greeter. After that, they were walking rotated 90 degrees, and when I opened the portal to rescue them, they hilariously jumped of the platform into the abyss. Luckily it still counted as a rescue.

I already mentioned their AI during 'tower defense' parts in a previous comment, but man, they're really useless in all of those sections, as well as in the Soulstorm Brewery level. It's impossible to keep them alive when set to aggresive mode, and despite being useless, they waste tons of items. It's better to just hide them, or set to passive mode so Sligs use tasers instead of killing them.

And some other bugs:

Speaking of 'tower defense' sections, some of them have Sligs going in via horizontal elevators. I stood on one while chanting, and it started moving back to the background platform. I got stuck there and couldn't go back, had to reset from checkpoint.

Abe sometimes doesn't want to grab platform ledges, which can lead to falling into an abyss or a group of angry Sligs.

I opened a door/platform that some Slogs were standing on. They stayed in the air.

I found there's a secret area at the end of a level, that was only accessible by a flying Slig in a previous room. But when I went back there, each time I tried to posess one it would just istantly blow up.

And about the finale (some SPOILERS I guess):
Not sure if it was buggy, or just unfinished, because overall the final boss fight was terrible even without the bugs. The audio sounded pretty broken, plenty of sounds were missing, the Glukkon's voice was barely audible (and most of the time he would either repeat 'whaaat?!" or mumble something I couldn't understand), and the images on a monitor showing his face were hilariously low resolution, and looked like just a bunch of random concept arts that have nothing to do with his dialog.


I haven't played Cyberpunk 2077, but from what I've heard about it, it feels to me like Soulstorm isn't that far from it in the bugs department. It's especially dissapointing, because despite all those bugs, some difficulty spikes, and some questionable game design decisions - it's actually a very cool game that I honestly enjoyed. But it's really hard to recommend it in its current state to anyone but the most... umm, passionate? Oddworld fans.

[Citizen Cook]

Originally posted by Musk:

Originally posted by Citizen Cook:

Completed the game with 88 Slig kills today. The achievement for ‘Too Pure for this world’ didn’t pop.

Man, that sucks. One of the worst kinds of bugs :/
Btw, did you keep track of them on your own, or is there a way to check how many you killed in the game? Because I didn't count mine, and by the end of the game was a bit worried I won't be able to get it, but it poped up after all.

Anyway, here's another batch of bugs, probably final one for me, since I finished the game. First, ones with follower Mudokons:

One got eaten by a Slog through a wall. Some were shot by Sligs in the background, despite hiding behind cover.


Sometimes a couple of them wouldn't listen to Abe's commands when speaking to all.

One group insisted on moving onto an elevator on the other side of the room. Had to go to them to enter and exit the elevator for them to follow me again.

Some didn't hide into lockers correctly - their bodies stayed outside, levitating in the air, but didn't get killed by a passing Greeter. After that, they were walking rotated 90 degrees, and when I opened the portal to rescue them, they hilariously jumped of the platform into the abyss. Luckily it still counted as a rescue.

I already mentioned their AI during 'tower defense' parts in a previous comment, but man, they're really useless in all of those sections, as well as in the Soulstorm Brewery level. It's impossible to keep them alive when set to aggresive mode, and despite being useless, they waste tons of items. It's better to just hide them, or set to passive mode so Sligs use tasers instead of killing them.

And some other bugs:

Speaking of 'tower defense' sections, some of them have Sligs going in via horizontal elevators. I stood on one while chanting, and it started moving back to the background platform. I got stuck there and couldn't go back, had to reset from checkpoint.

Abe sometimes doesn't want to grab platform ledges, which can lead to falling into an abyss or a group of angry Sligs.

I opened a door/platform that some Slogs were standing on. They stayed in the air.

I found there's a secret area at the end of a level, that was only accessible by a flying Slig in a previous room. But when I went back there, each time I tried to posess one it would just istantly blow up.

And about the finale (some SPOILERS I guess):
Not sure if it was buggy, or just unfinished, because overall the final boss fight was terrible even without the bugs. The audio sounded pretty broken, plenty of sounds were missing, the Glukkon's voice was barely audible (and most of the time he would either repeat 'whaaat?!" or mumble something I couldn't understand), and the images on a monitor showing his face were hilariously low resolution, and looked like just a bunch of random concept arts that have nothing to do with his dialog.


I haven't played Cyberpunk 2077, but from what I've heard about it, it feels to me like Soulstorm isn't that far from it in the bugs department. It's especially dissapointing, because despite all those bugs, some difficulty spikes, and some questionable game design decisions - it's actually a very cool game that I honestly enjoyed. But it's really hard to recommend it in its current state to anyone but the most... umm, passionate? Oddworld fans.

The game doesn’t track slig kills but i kept my own record. I know exactly how many I killed in each level.
I feel so sick, i put in over 50 hours to complete this game, saved every single Mudokon and only killed 88 sligs. It’s just so dispiriting. What a terrible legacy this game has left

[Brandongl]

im having the music issue a lot. it's really ruining the atmosphere.
I just did the part where I use mudokans to help me attack sligs to protect the mudokons and they either spam the gas bomb thing (total waste so i had to give it to them 1 by 1), and often they just dont throw at all for some reason (I *swear* I checked after the fact)
Definitely had sligs walk on ground that doesnt exist (so that was impossible) and had a different section where sligs walked into a wall (made that part free).

Overall though the music is the most annoying part, i feel like this cant be a rare bug and it's such a big deal.

Oh I just remembered the other day, the level where the slig ship is shooting bombs, I had to backtrack to find a mudokon i was missing and they shot me literally everywhere, even areas where they weren't supposed to I'm pretty sure

Edit: I'm editing but I want to whine about this. Not a bug or a glitch, but what a ♥♥♥♥ move. The end of "The Mines". I got to the door that clearly would end the level, but I missed the last 5 mudokons. I'll go backtrack to find them! Oh wait, this was a one way area, I cant go back. I'll kill myself and respawn at checkpoint! Wait, the checkpoint was RIGHT next to the door. What the hell? Why would anyone need a checkpoint right at the end of the level when there was 0 threat of death and if I wanted to save, I'd beat the level

[hexaae]

Thanks for the heads up. Removed from wishlist ATM (sigh...)
Users should not buy games left half-finished in beta. Maybe one day users will learn this lesson... and we'll have good games again from a technical point of view as well, not released in a hurry.

[Citizen Cook]

Originally posted by hexaae:

Thanks for the heads up. Removed from wishlist ATM (sigh...)
Users should not buy games left half-finished in beta. Maybe one day users will learn this lesson... and we'll have good games again from a technical point of view as well, not released in a hurry.

Honestly, it’s kind of killed my interest in the franchise. I own all the games. Bought them all at launch. First 2 on PS1, third and fourth on Xbox, 5th on PS5. Also a own all the games on Steam.