Out of This World

The Good
The windows version of Out of This World (Another World if you prefer) released in 2006 is a straightforward remake of the classic 1991 game. The differences between the original version and this one are very insignificant so I'll fill them quickly. The graphics have been slightly updated (they are higher resolution), the menu has been brought to today standards, and the checkpoints are saved and can be restored without needing to type a password (I assume that method was used the old version). And above all, now the game is fully Windows XP compatible (and most likely Vista also). Nothing has been changed, only updated, and as a remake this edition of Another World is as good as it could get.

Enough about the remake, let's talk about the game itself. Another World is a truly unique and brilliant game, Eric Chahi did a great job making a solid game almost entirely by himself. The gameplay elements form different genres. It plays like a side-scroller, but the main purpose of the game is solving the puzzles like in an adventure game. The cut scenes are very well tied in the game, sometimes the transition is so fluid that you may not realize when you get the control on the character. Another amazing fact is that the game requires only five buttons, and four of them are the arrow keys. Those are the buttons that will serve not only the side scrolling part, but also in some different situations, like balancing with a suspended cage in order to loose the chain that ties it, and there are other moments but I won't spoil them.

The Bad
It tries to be original at any cost, and sometimes ignores the consequences. It's quite short and linear, and it's not the type of game you'd want to finish more than once, because the main attraction is discovering the story, the gameplay isn't to rewarding on it's own. In fact is rather demanding because it requires both quick reflexes, and some heavy thinking. You have only a way to bypass a situation and you have to get through all the wrong ways until you find the right one. This involves a lot of dieing and trying, and is the most frustrating aspect of the game.

The Bottom Line
It draws some of its inspiration from the good old Prince of Persia but this inspiration resembles to some gameplay mechanics. Anything else is completely out of this world.

The Good
I loved this game so much I played it 6 times in a row. The alien who befriends you was such a wonderful feature that I am amazed that very few other games have picked up on this concept.

I have played many games since PONG and Asteroids first came out. This one has never been beat. Half-Life (not HL2, that major disappointment) and Unreal came close but not one of them ever matched the absolute sorrow and disappointment at the end of this game. The game is so good that the ending was ... I played it 6 times in a row.

The Bad
I did not like nothing about this game. It was, is, and will (most likely) always be the best game ever.

The Bottom Line
The game is an action adventure that puts you and your alien buddy through several scenarios: FPS, Traps, and Puzzles.

The Good
In the time of pixel art magic, one game made a rather unique move into the land of vectors and delivered us somewhat exotic title that felt a bit ahead of its time. With the lack of 3D graphic and special effects, this game uses math power to present a rather wonderful graphic in no more than 16 colors.

The opening cinematic is full of nice details and story keeps you intrigued as you constantly run for your life from the aliens whose culture seems a strange mix of Roman era and that of science fiction. Not so technologically advanced as simply being from Another World.

You soon befriend an alien inhabitant that shares the same fate as you, being imprisoned and all, and while not constantly accompanied by him, your paths cross every now and then. Seems like the two of you share the same goal, but go different way about it. The way it is presented gives a nice touch of player not being entirely alone, but having apart of a CPU on his side, even though it may all be pre-scripted.

Levels are versatile enough not to create the feeling of repetition, in fact, they are far from being repetitive, yet last too short. The fact this game does not feature dozens of enemy combatants on every screen makes it that much more realistic and prompts you to be cautious on each confrontation. The alien weapon you very soon come in possession of is rather useful, though sometimes annoying. It can create shields as much as fire laser beam of small or large destruction, and requires recharge every now and then... but levels where you can actually recharge it are very few. Luckily, most of the levels don't require direct confrontation as much as thinking your way out which adds a nice distraction to the genre.

The Bad
This game is certainly something unique, so one may understand why so many gamers think highly of it, but it is far from being one of the finest side-scrollers. The music, aside from intro and credits roll is non-existent. Sound effects, while fine, are very few at best, with no dialogs or even a talking text during actual gameplay. What little you can hear is from aliens that talk in their own language for which it would be nice to have some subtitles unless developers wanted us to feel as confused as our professor. And he may actually have a chance to understand them.

Many puzzles in the game can prove rather challenging, and direct confrontations are too hard. Developers didn't leave us much choice in our approach. The colosseum fight is one of the silliest things in the game and probably could've been done much better.

The Bottom Line
Was this game really something so special? I think not. Was it unique and fun experience? Certainly. And at a times with limited storage capacity and graphics it achieved something rather wonderful. If one game deserves being called a classic, this one tops it all.

Levels are very versatile and occasionally contain beautiful landscapes (and achieving that in so little colors is no small feat). You will squash fight deadly worms, run for your life from the huge beast, firefight your way our of prison, roll through the ducts, dash out of collapsing cavern, swim your way through the underground mazes, break into a girls only spa, and even fight in the colosseum, making each level an experience on its own, so using level codes is a fine approach to continue your game.

Platform games are plentiful, but very few could be called good. This one is. It's not from the same bunch and it does not feel like an arcade game.