Another World
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Another World (in North America known as Out of This World and Japan as Outer World) is a 1991 platform action-adventure video game firstly released for the Amiga and Atari ST by Delphine Software. The game was fully developed by one person named Éric Chahi who also designed Heart of Darkness.
It took two years to develop the game, with help with the soundtrack from Jean-François Freitas.
Chahi developed the engine by filling the animation and graphics in vectors to reduce memory consumption. Éric used a rotoscope for movements.
The game has received a massive number of ports on various platforms.
Plot
The game tells a story of Lester, a young scientist who, as a result of an experiment gone wrong, finds himself on a dangerous alien world where he is forced to fight for his survival.[1]
Gameplay
The game combines shooting, platforming, and puzzle-solving elements. The game is divided into stages; some of them are straightforward and can only be accessed one time, while others are connected to each other, constituting a larger environment. Exploration and problem-solving are emphasized. Many levels include challenges not seen in the previous ones. Tasks may involve environmental puzzles, timed sequences, precise jumping, and combat.[2]
Why It Rocks
- It is perhaps the first game that focuses on storytelling, which would affect gaming in a lot of ways in the future
- Impressive graphics for the Amiga and Atari ST standards. It's especially worth mentioning that only one person contributed here. The game was built with vectors to save memory with the characters being three-dimensional, although you move in two-dimensional.
- The plot is quite good that aged well with the years.
- The game cover doesn't lie in any way. The game actually was developed in two years and the Earth was created in six days (depending on religious views).
- The game does not use motion capture, but the game did use rotoscoping that mimicked the game developer's moves (who used his moves for the main character) or his toy car for Lester's Ferrari 288 GTO in the first scene.
- There is no dialogue in the game, focusing much more on showing than telling and thus allows understanding the plot more easily, especially for non-English speakers.
- Great and varied level design. You are mainly in the mountains, caves, prison, laboratory or sewers.
- The game received a large number of ports, from the PC systems and first 16-bit consoles into the Nintendo Switch era.
- In addition, the first ports received more stages, and more graphics were improved to make it pleasing to younger audiences.
- Quite atmospheric music that adapts to the event.
- Has helped inspire a lot of games such as Metal Gear Solid.
Bad Qualities
- Upon dying, you have to start a section of the game all over. Fortunately, passwords are provided for fulfilling a checkpoint and fortunately the 20th anniversary edition adds save feature.
- Even for those times, the game is quite short. The game can be completed in half an hour without rushing and even without rushing, it can be completed in 2 hours, and there's no collectibles for replay ability.
- The SNES version while quite impressive on cartridge games based, it has problem: (Slowdown, terrible controls.)
- In the 3DO version, Although the audio and visuals were renewed in this port, they mesh very poorly with Eric Chahi's intentions and design.[3]
Reception
The game was given cult status and revolutionized the video game industry. It appeared in some Top Games rankings and is credited to the Wikipedia article "List of video games considered the best". The game was a commercial success, selling about one million copies during the 1990s.
Computer Gaming World criticized the brief documentation and short length of gameplay, but praised the game's graphics and Amiga sound, and called it "one of Europe's most playable and enjoyable arcade efforts."
In 2008, Tim Rogers named Another World "The best videogame of all time", describing it as "an Actual Genius’s osmosed omniscience regarding game design."
Entertainment Weekly wrote that "More like being in a movie than playing a video game, this leisurely paced, noir-tinted adventure demands that you use your wits to find your way out of an eerie parallel universe."
Trivia
- In the console ports (3DO included), the end credits reference to the Star Wars movie franchise, at least in terms of scrolling credits.
Videos
References
- Good media
- Good games
- 1990s games
- 2000s games
- 2010s games
- Adventure games
- Platform games
- Action games
- Important games
- Games with a silent protagonist
- Games that are great for speedrunning
- Amiga games
- Atari Jaguar games
- PC games
- Super Nintendo Entertainment System games
- Sega Genesis games
- 3DO Interactive Multiplayer games
- Mobile games
- IOS games
- Android games
- Nintendo 3DS games
- Wii U games
- PlayStation 3 games
- PlayStation Vita games
- PlayStation 4 games
- Xbox One games
- Nintendo Switch games
- Good stories
- Short length games
- Hard games
- Games made in France
- Games made in the United States
- List of video games considered the best
- 2D Platform games