Heart of the Alien: Out of this World Parts I and II

Moby ID: 8140

Description official description

Heart of the Alien is the sequel to the game Out of this World, also known as Another World. The story picks up immediately after the end of the first game. You begin as Lester and his alien friend, "Buddy," land their pterodactyl in the ruins of Buddy's village. Lester was knocked unconscious in their escape, so Buddy lays him down on a cot to rest. The people who used to live in Buddy's village remain enslaved, so he decides to go on a mission to free them. Thus, you control Buddy as he sets off to free the people and find a way to send Lester home.

Buddy controls somewhat similarly to how Lester did in the first game. He has some new moves that are provided by his powerful energized whip. Buddy can swing from ceiling in some instances, for example.

As a bonus, this Sega CD disc includes the original Out of this World, so that you can seamlessly play both adventures as if they were one long game.

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Reviews

Critics

Average score: 73% (based on 12 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 24 ratings with 5 reviews)

Another World as 10 times harder and 50 times worse ending

The Good
I liked too see what "buddy" did on intro (flashback from Another World) and playing with him. It was brilliant to see everything with his eyes. New animations are nice, like playing around with whip and jumping. Graphs are also nice, they are bit better than in Another World.

Worth of trying

The Bad
This gonna spoil, but I have to say this: It was MAIN IDEA to get Lester out from this world, but Lester won`t make it. It was so stupid ending, I have to say! This really, really annoys me.

Also, some thinks from Another World have got worse. When you fire your gun, it takes about one second to launch trigger, which is too long. You have to be extremely fast to press A or it`s too late. This specially bothers when you have to fire your weapon in split second, because you probably die, if you cannot make it. Game is too hard

Whip is fast, but you need it as weapon for only once

The Bottom Line
Worth of testing, but Another World was much much better

SEGA CD · by MDawson (6) · 2004

Whip it Alien Buddy! Whip it good!!

The Good
First of all, I LOVED Out of This World. I think it's one of the best platform games ever made and also one of the most emotionally powerful games ever made, with a unique visual design, terrific gameplay and a wonderful, tear-dropping story about friendship.

I'm not going to spend any more time talking about the original classic because it's not the point here, but if you recall, Out of This World ended with a fantastic and powerful open-ended sequence (think Fallout if you have no idea what I'm talking about) that left the door wide open for a sequel. Now, just because a story isn't completely closed before the credits roll doesn't mean that it needs a sequel per se, that's how I felt about "...World" but the fact is that Delphine did release a sequel, and this is it.

Well, actually it's sort of a sequel, as I suspect it was just a "bonus track" for what's essentially the Sega CD port of Out of This World. Regardless, you get to play through a brand new adventure taking place after the events of Out of This World as the good ol' nameless alien buddy.

The game starts with a wonderful intro that shows you just what your alien buddy had to do on his own while you were doing your thing in the original game, and then shows how the alien takes Lester back to his home village to heal. Those bad aliens are at it once again however, and since it was that time of the month when they had to burn down a village they do just that to your homestead. "Alien Buddy" thus has to escape alive from the wild monsters and troopers, rejoin his friends, and finally storm the bad aliens with the help of Lester for a final showdown and the chance to liberate their enslaved comrades.

Graphics and soundwise the new scenario is on par with OoTW, which is good, as they were fantastic the first time around and they make playing both parts a seamless experience. The same lavish alien landscapes, smoothly animated creatures and those kickass laserguns are back, except you are no longer in the shoes of Lester and instead of handling a laser pistol, Alien Buddy has an energy whip, which basically does the same as the original gun, except you can also use it to swing around as an added move.

Basically it's more OoTW, PLUS the original hit in it's best conversion ever (though to be fair, I can't find much that's different from the good ol' DOS version except the audio).

The Bad
I regret to say that there are various problems with Heart of The Alien, and the new scenario falls very short of the expectations one could have. Yes, I know that coming as the "Part II" for OoTW it already had to deal with a set of monumental expectations that it was never going to overcome, probably that's the reason why it wasn't released as a full-blown sequel and merely added as a bonus for this port. But still, there are numerous problems with the game regardless of that.

First of all, Alien Buddy is NOT Lester, he's much slower than him and every action needs to be thought of and executed half a second or so before it happens which brings to the game a much more challenging timing-oriented gameplay, which is made only worse by the truly anal level of difficulty. You will need split-second timing and pixel-perfect precision to make it through even the earlier levels, performing all sort of feats that would have been challenging with Lester but are downright nightmarish with Buddy.

The levels themselves are surprisingly dry and generic, a sad surprise since the stages of OoTW defined creativity in platform games. I can remember every area from OoTW, from the starting desert, the jail complex, the underwater caves, alien city, etc... And that's because they were visually unique locations, with challenging yet fun puzzles and obstacles to overcome. As for Heart of the Alien? Uhm... I think It ended in a big alien stronghold... or something... A distinct sense of laziness fills most of the screens from the game, and you can't help but feel like you are wading through filler material 90% of the time.

Finally, as it has been mentioned around here, the ending sucks. Well, no it doesn't suck, but it's pretty shitty. This requires a bigger explanation and I credit it to the same lazy approach they took with the level design. Basically it's a "filler" storyline that lacks the "high adventure" feeling of the original and mature overtones. One can blame this on the fact that you are no longer playing the disoriented human lost in an alien world, but it's more than that, as the story just boils down to the classic "hero rescues town" cliché from the earliest games. Finally, as for the ending itself, I don't exactly hate what happens per se, but it feels like a last minute cheap shot aiming for the emotional impact of the original in a game devoid of it.

The Bottom Line
First of all it is the most complete version of OoTW, and for better or for worse, it continues the adventure and you get to play more of the wonderful gameworld crafted by the guys at Delphine. So yeah, you should get it.

On the other hand this "Part II" falls very short of the original, and feels like those crappy remixes bands around the world put in their "greatest hits" compilations to try to steal some more. Maybe it's still good when compared with what's out there, but it's only a shadow of the original. Heck, in the end I sought Heart of the Alien for so long only to return to Out of this World... as far as I'm concerned, the story ends THERE.

SEGA CD · by Zovni (10504) · 2005

Scary, Suspenseful & Difficult

The Good
The Sega CD version features part 1 (Out of this World/Another World) as well as part 2 (Heart of the Alien), which was made exclusively for the Sega CD. Both games offer up impressive graphics, fluid character animation, cool music, sound effects and a very interesting, oftentimes intense, dark science fiction story. All in all, this is probably one of the best side-scrolling, action-adventure games for the Sega CD.

The Bad
Both games are incredible difficult, on a level that is much more frustrating in comparison to a game with a similar format; Flashback: The Quest for Identity. Be prepared to die often and to perform very precise movements (i.e. walking, running, jumping, climbing, etc) while be chased and or attacked by some vicious creatures. While similar in its design, Part 2 was made without the involvement of the first game's developer and contains an amazingly depressing ending for skilled gamers who complete both parts.

The Bottom Line
Parts I and II are both ambitious and well designed games that feature some impressive graphics, animation, music and sound effects. Both games are too hard and dark for novices or young children. Teenagers or adults who enjoy a difficult game with lots of dark science fiction, suspense and violence will likely enjoy both games.

SEGA CD · by ETJB (428) · 2010

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by quizzley7.

Additional contributors: Gil Megidish.

Game added January 11, 2003. Last modified February 9, 2024.