Out of This World

aka: Another World, Outer World
Moby ID: 564
DOS Specs
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Conversion (official) Included in See Also

Description official descriptions

A young physics professor named Lester conducts a particle experiment. Suddenly, something goes wrong, lightning strikes, and in a moment Lester finds himself in a strange alien world. Now he must fight for his life, first with his bare hands, then with a gun he finds. But what gives him courage is that he is not alone. One of the aliens who escapes from the prison together with him helps him on his dangerous quest. Friendship can overcome all obstacles.

Out of This World 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.

Typically, enemies are defeated by using an energy gun found in an early stage. The gun's regular function is shooting energy projectiles. By pressing down and holding the fire button the player can activate an energy shield that protects Lester from regular attacks, allowing him to fire from relative safety until it evaporates. Finally, by holding the fire button even longer the gun creates powerful blasts which can disrupt shields. Most enemies are equipped with similar guns and are able to perform the same actions as Lester. Fighting enemies, therefore, requires tactical usage of regular attacks, shields, and bombs, as well as learning enemy patterns.

Each level can be accessed by typing a code the player learns after having completed the level. If Lester dies, the level must be restarted. There is no on-screen interface and no in-game dialogue in the game. Vector graphics are used for creating the game's environments and animated cutscenes.

Spellings

  • Another World: Коллекционное переиздание - Russian spelling
  • עולם אחר - Hebrew spelling
  • アウターワールド - Japanese spelling
  • 另一個世界 - Chinese spelling (traditional)

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (DOS version)

12 People (4 developers, 8 thanks)

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 83% (based on 75 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 590 ratings with 25 reviews)

Best ambiance I have ever found in a computer game.

The Good
The most important thing with "another world" is, that the different level are not build from elements, but each level is different concerning both graphics and game play. So unlike many other games you cannot predict, what will happen next until all the end, which is really fabulous. Together with this point the very special graphics that concentrates and omitts unnecessary details contribute to an intense feeling of being lost which I have not experience in any game before or after.

I have first played the game in about 1993 and since that I play it every 1 or 2 years because it is simply so timeless and beautiful.

The Bad
At a first glance nothing

The Bottom Line
A game with an astonishing ambience, storyline and really flexible and everytime surprising gameplay.

DOS · by Udo Frese (2) · 2001

It revolutionized gaming, unfortunately most people haven't heard of it

The Good
It invented the survival horror genre, although most people think it was Alone in the Dark. It had polygonal graphics...atmosphere...good story and classic gameplay. If you see it buy it.

The Bad
Hmmm well the main character's name is sort of queer. (Lester Knight Chaykin) And sometimes its frustrating sometimes.

The Bottom Line
Adventure-style sci-fi gameplay.

DOS · by Dragoon (106) · 2000

Revolutionary

The Good
The story line to this game was delightful, amazing and inspiring (well I wouldn't go that far). The vector graphics used for the cinematics were brilliant and inpressive for the time they were used back in 1991. And the opening to the game was fantastic and unpredictable, there is a sudden flash and then you appear in a middle of an alien lake trying to swim to the top before an occtopus like creature attemps to grab you.

Before long you end up in a cage as you were captured by Aliens, this is where you find your alien friend who also looks like he has been captured.

Obviously you escape dodging other laser's fired from enemie guns.

Towards the middle of the game you..... wait...... ahhhhh..... I won't spoil it for you your going to have to play it yourself, it was brilliant for it's time and is still brilliant today so go and get it my friend otherwise you will have an unfurfilled life!

The Bad
It would be sack religous to say anything bad about this game.

Tis Brill!

The Bottom Line
Other games should look among this and get down on their knee's.

DOS · by Andrew Dunn (8) · 2001

[ View all 25 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
DOS Manual Freeman (64836) Sep 19, 2016
No evidence on Win3x eXo (346) Apr 7, 2015
15/20th anniversary Cavalary (11445) Dec 30, 2013

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Another World appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

3DO version

The 3DO version of Out of This World is quite different from the other versions in terms of graphics and sound. The polygon backgrounds have been replaced by hand-drawn versions, the quality of which varies from stunning to amateurish. Music is played quite consistently throughout the game. It somewhat resembles a film score, and is similar to the music in the Sega CD sequel Heart of the Alien. The sound effects seem to be the same, however. Oddly enough, after the game is completed and the credits roll, the intro sequence from Heart of the Alien is played, with the same hand-drawn art style as the rest of the game. The gameplay has not changed at all. There is also a hidden mini-game by entering the password BRGR.

Advertisement

Due to its visuals, the game featured in a UK TV advert for the Amiga. The advert also featured a UK hit song called Sunshine on a Rainy Day by Zoe.

Apple IIgs release

Out of this World was one of the last commercially released games for the Apple IIgs. The port was written by Bill Heineman, who also was responsible for the SNES version (both the IIgs and the SNES share the same main processor). If the screen size was reduced, the game ran extremely smoothly on a stock unaccelerated IIgs.

Cutscenes

Out of this World was the first game to have cinematic cutscenes seen in many games today.

Development

When he needed a model for the rotoscoping in this game, Eric Chahi got his brother to run around in the back garden of their house!

DOS version

Released first on the Amiga and Atari ST, many players complained that Out Of This World was too easy. Because of this, the PC version includes two extra levels and has slightly increased difficulty in other parts of the game.

Dreamcast release

In Dec 2005 Out of this World was ported to the Dreamcast,with permission from Eric Chahi. Eric Chahi also allowed the Dreamcast port to include the datafiles. You can download the port here.

Ending

Some original storyboards, drawn up during the game's initial development, reveal an unmade ending in which Lester Chaykin survives and becomes a leader of the alien world. The storyboards can be viewed on the game's official site (http://www.anotherworld.fr/anotherworld_uk)

(Click on Another World from the side menu, then select Illustration from the top.There is a sketch with minimal detail at the bottom of the page that could represent the unmade cutscene.It seems to be Lester sitting at a throne, wearing a robe(?) and holding a sword.)

Flashback

Flashback is technically a sequel to Out Of This World. But since the storyline is completely different, it is not proper to call it a sequel.

Game Boy Advance release

In 2005, a free Game Boy Advance port of Out of this World was released by FoxySofts in the form of a downloadable rom, with the blessing of the game's original creator Eric Chahi. The port is a near flawless recreation of the original. It can be downloaded from: http://www.foxysofts.com/index.php?l=content/gba/anworld.inc

Graphics

It is important to note that Out Of This World is a technical achievement. All graphics in the game are filled vector images (2D polygons). This has been used before to save disk space with early adventure games (like King's Quest), but never before in an action game. Also, all music and sound effects are mixed in realtime to provide multichannel music and sound on modest sound hardware. All this on a 286!

ICO

In an issue of Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, Japanese game designer Fumito Ueda cited this as an influence for ICO.

Intro erorrs

During the intro, watch Lester's hand as he's using the keypad. It moves forward too much, thus revealing...there is no arm attached to it! Also, at the very beginning of the intro, Lester goes up an elevator. Later on, a lightning hits a metal surface on the ground floor, but Lester is sitting right behind it. How is that possible?

Jaguar version

The Jaguar port contains an optional enhanced graphics mode (referred to as 15th anniversary mode), but everything else is identical to the original version, unlike the changes for the 15th anniversary version of the game,

References to the game

This game has a reference in Eiffel 65's song, My Console.

Release history

Out of This World was rereleased in 1995 on CD with a Windows binary in addition to the original DOS binary.

SNES version

The SNES version features a theme song -- the first time you hear it is in the very beginning of the game, when the black beast starts chasing you. There was also some tinkering with the background images of the last level (involving naked women viewed from the back) and all blood was removed.

Windows release

On April 14th, 2006 Out of this World has been re-released by it's developer Eric Chahi (who got back the rights to the game) in a completely remastered edition for Windows XP which supports resolutions of up to 1280x800. You can purchase it online and read about the making of the game (both the original version and the remake) at www.anotherworld.fr

Awards

  • Amiga Joker
    • Issue 02/1993 – #2 Best Genre Mix of 1992 (Readers' Vote)
  • FLUX
    • Issue #4 - #73 in the "Top 100 Video Games of All-Time" list
  • Electronic Gaming Monthly
    • February 1993 (issue #43) - Game of the Month (Genesis version)
    • 1993 Buyer's Guide - Most Innovative Game of the Year
  • ST Format
    • January 1993 (issue #42) - #32 in '50 finest Atari ST games of all time' list

Information also contributed by Big John WV, Brian Hirt, Caim Douglas, Darksaviour69, Gil Megidish, leon101, hydra9, Jiguryo, Mark Ennis, Martin Smith, Matt Dabrowski, Zack Green and Zovni

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  • MobyGames ID: 564
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by IJan.

Zodiac added by Trypticon. Genesis added by POMAH. Jaguar added by Sciere. Symbian, Windows, Atari ST added by Kabushi. Windows 3.x added by Freeman. Macintosh added by Игги Друге. SNES added by Unicorn Lynx. Amiga added by MAT. 3DO added by quizzley7. Apple IIgs added by Garcia.

Additional contributors: Trixter, POMAH, tarmo888, Alaka, Игги Друге, Crawly, Klaster_1, Paulus18950, Patrick Bregger, Jo ST, FatherJack, RufUsul, Kayburt, Vincent Kinian.

Game added December 12, 1999. Last modified February 16, 2024.