I would recommend playing the original Abe's Exoddus before this reimagining, it really lets this reimagining contrast nicely with the original's ups and downs.
At the time of writing this, I made it to Slig Barracks, I like the rewritten story so far.
I don't understand why people don't like this one, I played Exoddus right after New n' Tasty just to get a frame of reference, and so far I'm enjoying *some* aspects of this more than Exoddus.

The presentation is unsurprisingly on point. Locales are stunning, the industrial atmosphere still feels pretty oppressive, if a little less intimately oppressive than the insides of RuptureFarms. Though I suppose both this reimagining and the original Exoddus banked on a sense of scale.
As a fan of Metal Gear Solid, the Quarma system rewarding non-lethal play appeals to me. Not only is it necessary to rescue Mudokons, but killing too many Sligs can also negatively impact the ending you will get, it's another layer of challenge of perfecting how you play, alongside the various medals you get per level. I like the Quarma system, because it lets the solution to enemies expand beyond "Bomb/Possess to Kill all the Sligs." Stunning enemies temporarily means you incorporate an element of timing with how long they're out cold for. The inventory system supplements this by letting you use tape to permanently disable enemies non-lethally. Though there have been some rare cases where I could not figure out a non-lethal means to an end, which I assume is by design.

Stealth is a little easier this time too, since you can land, pull levers and even jump (once) while holding the sneak button. Coming out of Exoddus, it felt a little broken at first, but the game isn't built on the same tight rules as Oddysee or Exoddus, so it doesn't negatively impact the puzzles. Mudokon followers have been revamped, they can jump, climb up and down ledges and you can even equip them with stuff to throw if you decide to make them aggro, which allows them to be part of setpieces and to follow you for longer than a screen or two.

There's definitely some choices here that are contentious, like the double jump, the movement not being tile-based, the crafting system or the action setpieces, but it doesn't bother me much as long as I play along with it, seeing how items interact is fun! But I will concede that the scenes involving protecting a swarm of Mudokon escapees for multiple waves is a little grueling, especially when the AI of your companions isn't as sharp as the enemy's.

There is *some* jank at times, but I never lost much progress as a result of it, it's funny if anything.
Overall, I quite enjoy this game. I may be a bit biased because I got the whole series for one buck on Fanatical.com, but I reckon this feels worthy of its 40 dollar pricetag.

Sure, Abe's Exoddus is an excellent sequel, iterating on the original in the same way Majora's Mask iterates on its predecessor, it pushes the original's systems and puzzle to a whole new level, and I'm a huge fan of how it did that while giving us new lore and locales. But Abe's Exoddus also bumped up the difficulty something fierce, to the point of overreliance on quicksaving, it also fell back on recycling the Scrab and Paramite temple settings just a few levels in, the pacing felt odd.

While I wish quicksaving was a thing in Soulstorm too, I think the difficulty feels much more balanced than Exoddus, to the point that I don't mind starting a puzzle over, as opposed to quicksaving after every step I take. I often find myself thinking back to the first level of Exoddus where you have to simultaneously sneak past Sligs, turn off slap mines, guide blind mudokon out of the way of the mine car all across 3 screens. That kind of design feels romhacky and I found that extreme design frustrating at times. Sure, Exoddus was the apex of what could be achieved in the original game engine, but I found it a bit hard to swallow at times, even for a casual first playthrough.

I'unno, I like this one, shame it came out as buggy as it did. But I guess weird beta testing is what epic games exclusivity deals are for, lol

I would recommend playing the original Abe's Exoddus before this reimagining, it really lets this reimagining contrast nicely with the original's ups and downs. At the time of writing this, I made it to Slig Barracks, I like the rewritten story so far. I don't understand why people don't like this one, I played Exoddus right after New n' Tasty just to get a frame of reference, and so far I'm enjoying *some* aspects of this more than Exoddus. The presentation is unsurprisingly on point. Locales are stunning, the industrial atmosphere still feels pretty oppressive, if a little less intimately oppressive than the insides of RuptureFarms. Though I suppose both this reimagining and the original Exoddus banked on a sense of scale. As a fan of Metal Gear Solid, the Quarma system rewarding non-lethal play appeals to me. Not only is it necessary to rescue Mudokons, but killing too many Sligs can also negatively impact the ending you will get, it's another layer of challenge of perfecting how you play, alongside the various medals you get per level. I like the Quarma system, because it lets the solution to enemies expand beyond "Bomb/Possess to Kill all the Sligs." Stunning enemies temporarily means you incorporate an element of timing with how long they're out cold for. The inventory system supplements this by letting you use tape to permanently disable enemies non-lethally. Though there have been some rare cases where I could not figure out a non-lethal means to an end, which I assume is by design. Stealth is a little easier this time too, since you can land, pull levers and even jump (once) while holding the sneak button. Coming out of Exoddus, it felt a little broken at first, but the game isn't built on the same tight rules as Oddysee or Exoddus, so it doesn't negatively impact the puzzles. Mudokon followers have been revamped, they can jump, climb up and down ledges and you can even equip them with stuff to throw if you decide to make them aggro, which allows them to be part of setpieces and to follow you for longer than a screen or two. There's definitely some choices here that are contentious, like the double jump, the movement not being tile-based, the crafting system or the action setpieces, but it doesn't bother me much as long as I play along with it, seeing how items interact is fun! But I will concede that the scenes involving protecting a swarm of Mudokon escapees for multiple waves is a little grueling, especially when the AI of your companions isn't as sharp as the enemy's. There is *some* jank at times, but I never lost much progress as a result of it, it's funny if anything. Overall, I quite enjoy this game. I may be a bit biased because I got the whole series for one buck on Fanatical.com, but I reckon this feels worthy of its 40 dollar pricetag. Sure, Abe's Exoddus is an excellent sequel, iterating on the original in the same way Majora's Mask iterates on its predecessor, it pushes the original's systems and puzzle to a whole new level, and I'm a huge fan of how it did that while giving us new lore and locales. But Abe's Exoddus also bumped up the difficulty something fierce, to the point of overreliance on quicksaving, it also fell back on recycling the Scrab and Paramite temple settings just a few levels in, the pacing felt odd. While I wish quicksaving was a thing in Soulstorm too, I think the difficulty feels much more balanced than Exoddus, to the point that I don't mind starting a puzzle over, as opposed to quicksaving after every step I take. I often find myself thinking back to the first level of Exoddus where you have to simultaneously sneak past Sligs, turn off slap mines, guide blind mudokon out of the way of the mine car all across 3 screens. That kind of design feels romhacky and I found that extreme design frustrating at times. Sure, Exoddus was the apex of what could be achieved in the original game engine, but I found it a bit hard to swallow at times, even for a casual first playthrough. I'unno, I like this one, shame it came out as buggy as it did. But I guess weird beta testing is what epic games exclusivity deals are for, lol