Another World 15th Anniversary Edition Review

Ah the memories. I’m sure many of you have already played Another World in some version before, perhaps on the Amiga, or the Mega Drive, or the SNES. If you haven’t played it before then I’ll be honest, I’m a little disgusted with you. Worry not however, you don’t have to live in your filthy ignorance forever, for Eric Chahi has put together a rather pleasant 15th Anniversary Edition of his hit game, Another World.Another World is a game that deserves mucho respect. It was developed by a single fellow (Eric Chahi, I mentioned him before) and it took him two years to make it. This was obviously before a development time of years became the norm for our enjoyable past time. Sound effects and music were worked on by one of his friends. The game game did so well on the Amiga it was eventually ported onto any device that can can be attached to a TV, monitor or futuristic headset.Enough of this blurb however, those in the dark will want to know what Another World actually is! You! The player take on the role of the scientist Lester, who after an experiment goes horribly wrong finds himself transported to “Another World”. The story actually lacks dialogue and is mostly told visually and to a large degree, just leaving it to you to come to your own conclusion about what is going on. Even 15 years on this method of story telling is extremely enthralling and very respectful of your intellect, there’s something very pleasant about not having to sit through twenty minutes of dialogue just to play the d** game.Another World is a 2D scrolling puzzle adventure game that is not easily defined, though it’s easily comparable to the first couple of Abe’s Odyssey games that came years later. It would be fair to say that the Abe games were directly inspired by this classic game, in particular the harsh and sudden deaths are very much present here. A single wrong move will see you quickly cut down by laser fire, eaten by planet fauna and/or beasts, drowned, crushed by rocks and so on. The game is hard, this may infact put many of us “modern” gamers off because of it’s cruel unforgiving nature. Thankfully the new version has increased the number of check points and no longer requires you to keep track of passwords (though you still can if you wish). The gameplay and puzzles, even from a modern slant are extremely varied and challenging which of course leads to greater levels of satisfaction when you finally figure out how you were supposed to get past that d** guard with the freakin laser gun!And what of graphics, I hear you yell, oh, how you ceaselessly yell! Well 15 years on it’s hardly Oblivion in the looks department. This updates does offer several modes graphically. It comes in a variety of resolutions so it will fit nicely to your monitor. It also offers the original retro graphics or remastered visuals, as well as the original backgrounds and enhanced backgrounds. Now, I actually prefer the original look which I find charming, and personally find the remastered visuals make it look too much like a flash game, but then, I am filled with happy nostalgia just playing the game. So you go ahead and have the graphics however you like. Regardless of the visual choices you make the game does look old, the visuals are stylish, moody and atmospheric but old none the less. This is an inescapable act and it’s a barrier you must overcome to enjoy the game. That said the animation holds up very well because of it’s rotoscoped nature and so the various movements of the game are a joy to behold.I suppose the other “flaw” of Another World is it’s length. Successful completion of it’s puzzles will point you towards that end sequence in a matter of hours, providing you haven’t brained yourself against a wall in frustration due to it’s cruel nature. It’s difficult to feel cheated though, the game is certainly a very gratifying cinematic experience and so tightly paced that you can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief when you finally finish it. It also has a pretty interesting “making of” video and various other behind the scenes documents helping to sweeten the deal.If like an idiot you sold your original copy of this wonderful game, or you’re a heathen that hasn’t even played the game before then I highly recommend you check this out. It’s offered at a budget price and there’s even a demo on the website, there really is no excuse. At the very least, try it.