Developer Eric Chahi
Publisher Digital Lounge
Released 2006 (originally released in 1991 on the Amiga)
Available for Windows
Time Played Completed
Verdict:
5/5 Gold Star
“Chahi’s opus is short but sharp, often painfully sharp, but beyond its unforgiving difficulty and relatively simple gameplay lies a unique and enthralling experience that the 15th Anniversary Edition brings bang up to date. An old favourite and as affecting now as it was in 1991.”
It was many, many otherworldly moons ago that I played Another World. I must have been around nine years old when I first played it and I’m not entirely sure how I discovered it at that age. It was most certainly a pirated version so I must have found it amongst the many bags and boxes of copied games me and my brother had back then. Nevertheless, Another World remains one of the most important games of my formative years. Industry veterans like Kojima, Suda, Mikami and most notably Ueda — whose Ico, and by extension Shadow of the Colossus, come closest to capturing and really understanding the feel and less-is-more design of Another World with its luminous sense of place, its emergent companionship amidst solitude and alienation, its measured aesthetics and limited exposition — all cite Another World as hugely influential, although I’m not sure how the hell Kojima fits into all that. Naturally when I saw the 15th Anniversary Edition going for 60% off at Good Old Games — a version I’ve wanted to play for a long time — I snapped it up in an instant. So yeah, you might want to add that to my list of insta-buys too.
In Another World you play as Lester, a scientist who, against all better judgement and common sense, decides to fire up the particle accelerator/collider at his laboratory during a thunderstorm. He must’ve missed the weather forecast. Needless to say his sorry ass is inadvertently transported to — you guessed it — another world; one fraught with danger and likely to reduce his life expectancy by roughly 100%.
Originally released on the Amiga in 1991, Another World was programmed, designed, illustrated and animated by Eric Chahi and scored by Jean-Francois Freitas under Delphine Software International. An action adventure through and through, it was a landmark title and I suspect lauded mostly for its beautiful, measured aesthetics and strong cinematic quality, the likes of which hadn’t been seen before in gaming. In a time where games looked like games — with their cluttering HUDs, high scores, over-zealous sound effects and music, unreal characters and modular copy/paste worlds littered with artificial pick-ups and pedestrian enemies — Another World was a breath of fresh air. It had no HUD (or even a GUI) to speak of, there was no music other than that of the intro and outro (okay, and that scene at the top of the tower), sound effects were sparse and ambient, and Lester was just an average guy in the wrong place at the wrong time.
After
Before
Another World gave the impression of realism with its loose and expressive visual style; the environments were muted but expansive with their limited colour palettes and striking compositions, suggesting much more beyond the frame; the characters and creatures were low in detail but impressionistic and fluidly animated, embellished with moments that breathed life into them like the alien beast stalking the cliffs in the distance after seeing Lester pull himself out of the pool (see above), or your newly acquainted alien friend patting you on the shoulder, saying something in an alien tongue and gesturing to follow him. It was mesmerising to the pre-teen me and even now still holds its own thanks to the higher resolution support, enhanced backgrounds and remastered sound of the 15th Anniversary Edition. I must admit, I wasn’t entirely sure of the higher resolution at first, thinking that it revealed flaws in the polygonal artwork that makes up the characters, creatures and cinematics, but as I played more I became accustomed to it and found it difficult to revert back to the 16 colour 320 x 200 resolution (gasp) of the un-enhanced original. It’s also a testament to the quality of the original’s sound (at least the Amiga version’s, with its infamous sound reproduction) that certain effects have been reused and enhanced rather than being outright replaced. I will say however, that there is one particular scene where a fisticuffs sound effect simply doesn’t cut it and somewhat undermines the severity of the situation. The backgrounds themselves have been sensitively updated, retaining and building upon the wonder and spectacle of the original’s. It’s remarkable just how well the essence of Another World has been kept intact.
Having said all this, on the gameplay front Another World was notoriously unforgiving; it was quick to kill you, scant with checkpoints, and often the experience boiled down to trial and error, with little or no clue on what to do next. I can safely say that, aside from the more frequent checkpoints, the 15th Anniversary Edition remains every bit as punishing. The only semblance to a hint system is that checkpoints aren’t created unless you are doing things in the correct order so if you find that you’re having to trudge some distance after you die then there’s a fair chance that you’ve missed something. I found this out the hard way after repeated long distance deaths.
And dying is something you’ll do a lot of in Another World. Most of it is unavoidable on a first playthrough simply because you’re rarely forewarned. Thankfully, Another World will kill you in the most entertaining and colourful of ways. Well, I say entertaining: try telling the nine year old me that Lester being beaten to death was entertaining and ‘colourful’. Lester will be poisoned, slashed, eaten, beaten, disintegrated, drowned, impaled, scolded, crushed, blown up and I’m sure there are others that I’ve missed. So, fun for the whole family then. Most of these deaths have their own unique and unsettling animation which partly explains why I remember them all so vividly. They’re cold and unglamourous — Lester just pitifully dies. It doesn’t fade to black, there’s no death jingle or game over splash, it just cuts straight to a no-frills, functional ‘Press any key to continue’ screen. Instant deaths are an intentionally vital part of Another World — as much as they were in Eric Chahi‘s Heart of Darkness — reinforcing the vulnerability of the protagonist and their dangerous environments. Without them I’m not sure either game would be quite the same.
Shortly after the first scene Lester acquires a very neat laser pistol which proves instrumental in his journey. The pistol, in addition to its punchy standard laser fire, has the means of providing a temporary force field capable of protecting Lester from enemy fire (of which there is plenty) and can also be used as a high powered blast cannon capable of destroying doors, other force fields and certain walls (this makes an incredible noise by the way). A number of the game’s action sequences involve juggling these three uses; placing a force field, blasting through the enemies’ and returning fire. This is much trickier than it sounds and when confronted by enemies on both sides can be a pain in the arse. As a touch of realism, laser fire doesn’t always hit either, whether it’s the enemies’ or Lester’s, so invariably there are moments where you’ll shoot, miss, and be hit back. These moments are rare but at certain junctures they can prove particularly testing, albeit highly satisfying thanks to the snap, crack and skeletal disintegration crumble of a successful laser strike.
Another World, through gritted teeth, remains a compelling experience for the same kinds of reasons mentioned earlier: its a visual and aural feast supplemented by some fantastic cinematic sequences that are still involving despite how limited your interaction is. Perhaps most notably, towards the end I came across a fantastic palatial sequence that I just couldn’t remember from the Amiga version. At first I put this down to it being nearly 20 years since I last played it, but it transpired that the sequence was integrated from a later version developed for a different format. It’s a seamless and perfect addition that helps flesh out the latter part of the game which, before, ended a little abruptly after the city.
And that’s the thing, Another World, when all’s said and done, is relatively short and can be completed within an hour if you know what you’re doing, but the numerous difficulty spikes will try their damnedest to keep you back. Some may see this as artificially lengthening the game and I’d have trouble contesting that, but Another World is far greater than its unflinching difficulty and three digit death toll. It’s unique, heartfelt, beautiful, intimate, visceral, visionary, understated, inspirational and ultimately timeless. In a world where games provide all sorts of safety nets and prompts to gently nudge the player in the right direction, Another World stands stoic and proud, shamelessly kicking your arse but drawing you in with the promise of what’s around the next corner.
Email the author of this review at greggb@tap-repeatedly.com
Good one, Gregg. Your review beckons me to cease procrastination and play this game once and for all.
I shall oblige.
As a fan of Limbo you certainly should, it owes a lot to Another World based on what I know and have seen of it. I wish they’d get a move on with the PC version.
I recommend getting Another World from GOG though because the original 15th Anniversary Edition had/has some really nasty DRM on it. Apparently you get 5 installs then you have to buy the game again — not so with the GOG version. You also get some nice wallpapers, the soundtrack, manual, development diary and an interview with Chahi. Well worth it.
Excellent write up Gregg. This is one of the most memorable games of my youth, and this newer version looks fantastic! I’ll have to check out gog.com soon for it.
Great review Gregg. Another World (or Out of this World as it was renamed here in the States) is one of my all-time favorites. I remember playing this for the first time as a child on my SNES. I was in awe. A masterpiece. This is without a doubt the game that I have beaten the most times as well. As you mentioned, once you know what you are doing you can get through it pretty quickly and I replayed this game to death. I never owned it, but I would rent it. Often.
This game, along with Flashback, are two titles I WISH would get HD remakes and released on Live Arcade and/or PSN. I’d pick them up in a heartbeat.
I wouldn’t mind a totally new game in the series as well.
Fully agreed about this game’s greatness, as well as its difficulty. In the original I only got to the part after flooding the caves. Thank God the Anniversary Edition has checkpoints! Hopefully, I’ll play it to the end for the first time now.
I played this one as a young man on PC, but never finished it. It was just too hard for me. But I always loved its presentation. I don’t even remember how far I got – somewhere around that flooding tunnel perhaps.
I just recently picked it up on GoG as the price was just too good to pass up. Anyway thanks for an excellent review.
Thanks for the comments everyone.
@tanis: It’s funny, aside from a few games on the Amiga (Rodland, SWIV, Xenon II, Switchblade II, Toki) which I cheated through as a kid, I’ve not finished any other game more than once, other than Another World last week. It was unreal to see the ending again after all these years.
As for Flashback, I got really far on it but for some bizarre reason the game used to freeze, BSOD, then go to the famous Amiga ‘Guru Meditation Error’ screen nearly every time I used a password to start a level late on in the game. It was after arriving back on Earth, so yeah, apparently quite close to the end. This issue even made a reappearance on an Amiga emulator and ROM I downloaded many, many years later! Playing Another World makes me want to return to Conrad’s quest for identity though. Great times!
Did anybody ever play Fade To Black? That was supposedly really good but the blocky 3D graphics I always found quite jarring especially after the lush hand rendered backdrops of its predecessor.
@Igor: That sequence was terrifying as a kid. So tense and claustrophobic. I particularly remember the munching-tentacled-teeth-hole-creature-things deeper in the cave and the horrible struggle and ensuing noise as Lester slipped into one.
@Botch: It’s a punishing game for sure and I can see many people being turned off by that. Hell, I fired a few expletives off on this playthrough! If you’re feeling particularly hardy one day you should definitely try and see it through.
Thanks again!
Yes I owned Fade to Black on the Playstation. It was decent, but it was pretty “ugly”, even back then. I was kinda upset that they went the 3rd person route. I wanted a regular 2D sequel to Flashback.
I actually finished Fade to Black on the PC. I remember it being hard, but not ridiculously so. The details are vague, but I think a buddy and I figured it out by playing independently and collaborating. It was enjoyable, but the controls were so clumsy that it spoiled things a bit.
Great review, Gregg. This one was a brutal classic, like Flashback, and it’s nice to see a good HD remake come along. Chahi’s work is always really interesting. Thanks for the great writeup!
I played a bit of Fade To Black several years ago but like others, it was too umm….visually primitive, I guess.
Thanks for reviewing this game, Gregg. I’ve never looked into it though it sounds like a brutally hard game, which, frankly, I avoid like a case of the triple clap but it looks beautiful.
I encountered Flashback before Another World and thus is more prominent in my memory, with it’s long journey from amnesiac to the alien (and sadly homogeneous-looking) homeworld. I picked up Another World hoping to recapture a bit of Flashback, but the truth is, it’s an entirely different experience.
Flashback is constructed from a few mechanical elements – freedom of movement, shooting, inventory (which largely boils down to “keys” to open the next section).
Another World is quite, quite different; it’s a place and it’s one long puzzle in which reflexes are important. There are several moments in which firefights take place but exactly how you get out alive often requires strategy and thought.
It may be gruesome and punishing – but it’s like World of Goo. It constantly changes from scene to scene, a different problem to solve, a different hurdle to negotiate. It doesn’t get boring because it doesn’t really repeat itself.
At least that’s what my memory tells me.
Fade to Black: When I got a PC, it was the first thing I bought, excited to explore the Flashback universe again. I was disappointed. I found it very punishing, almost Another World level of punishment, particularly in the shooting sections. It didn’t feel like the same world for three reasons.
* as pointed out, lush visuals were replaced with gouraud-shaded polygons
* cutscenes were no longer lo-fi polygon/midi treatments, but high-res computer animation melted into pixellated fuzz with hissy audio by aggressive compression
* voices, god damn, VOICES… so, so wrong, the main guy now sounds like a husky marine not the young scientist I heard in my head
It wasn’t horrible it just wasn’t Flashback. I never reached the end.
At least that’s what my memory tells me.
Yeah Flashback is a very different game.
For a start there’s more obvious platforming and vertical movement; Another World puts greater emphasis on bespoke and natural environments with less ‘platforms’. Flashback’s environments are tiled and at times look a little backwards because of the platforming grid it adheres to. Another World has one but it’s much more discreet and allows for such rugged terrain as the caverns.
Flashback also has inventory puzzles and more direct interaction with things in the environment. There’s more exposition, more enemies, more music; it’s a more traditional game than Another World altogether, it’s just a shame I never managed to finish it. I was infatuated with it as a kid; the fantastic intro, the tight acrobatics, the slick gunplay, the exploration and adventure elements in the city. Did the title screen music remind anybody else of the Terminator theme?
The 20th Anniversary edition of Another World came out on PlayStation platforms last week. I bought and played it for the first time, at last.
I finished the game in about four hours, give or take, which I was fine with. A walkthrough was summoned for one particularly unclear puzzle. The inspiration Limbo takes from it which you mentioned, Gregg, is immediately evident in the trial and error nature. The only difference being Another World was much more about puzzle solving and a lot less platforming, though the latter is important at times.
It’s strange to experience an artifact like this for the first time today. I found the game wholly unassuming; it’s hard to tell if it was the challenge of executing solutions to the puzzles or simply the otherworldly tone which made it an obvious classic. I was also keenly aware that I was playing a game perceived as such. I switched back and forth from 1991 to 2014 graphics often and going purely on that and not old memories or expectations it does seem to be a very careful remaster.
It may actually be a bit easier to appreciate the punishing aspects of the game today than it would have been at the time. While NES/SNES era games didn’t typically include a lot of hand holding (which is because it just wasn’t a thing, not “because hardcore!” – sorry, self proclaimed old school folk) it’s easy to tell that Another World feels bare bones for artistic reasons. The lack of a HUD or video game-y things on the screen at any time is commendable in retrospect.
I might normally be frustrated by a game where you fail so much but, except for two specific areas with poor implementation, the checkpoint system makes it clear that this is a game of contained puzzles you solve one at a time for the most part. It all flows quite well.
Also, the game is pretty short and, like HM mentioned, does not repeat itself. A quality that many game devs frankly don’t have the creativity to pull off, so that’s another aspect I commend.
While its classic (or cult classic?) status today isn’t fully or easily evident to me its influence certainly is. It was a solid and amusing experience whose minimalism pays off in every regard, even if my appreciation is enhanced by 20+ years of video game proficiency.
Excellent! Thanks for weighing in with your thoughts.
For me personally, Ico is the game which I think was most influenced by it — the captive strangers working together to escape with nothing but their gestures and alien-tongued calls, the opening cage sequences, the limited combat, the cinematic and HUD-free presentation, the sparse ambient sound design, the focus and vision of them.
Reading my review back, I wonder if there is some nostalgic bias here because it’s certainly a brutal game with a lot of trial and error exploration — something I really don’t like much these days. But there’s still something about it that makes it stand out for its place in time, in much the same way Ico stands out. I think it might very well be that uncompromising focus and vision; It’s not a baggy experience or one that feels like its made any concessions to tradition, and it’s got this visual style that suggests so much more beyond the frame. Those backgrounds still take me places, particularly the two panoramic screenshots I’ve featured on this page. If I were to add one more it would be the view from the top of the lift, you know the one.
One of these days I’m going to get the box artwork printed on a big canvas and put up somewhere in our house: https://frivolouswastesoftime.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/anotherworld_poster.jpg I think Chahi totally nailed the tone or atmosphere of the game though, from the scene compositions to the colour palette to the cover art and logo. The music is really evocative too, what little there is of it.
Originally it was called “Out of this World” here in the States, one of the rare occasions the Amuricans-r-dum model of retitling worked for me. Actually I think it was Gregg and Xtal who told me they were the same game, though I distinctly recall that the box art was the same. Just last night as I was downloading Dead Space 3 I noticed it was free for PS+ subscribers, and I added it to my queue. I’m really looking forward to trying it out.
Like Harbour Master, my first entree into that universe was Flashback, which I adored on the Genesis (and like Gregg, never finished. Last level. I gotta fire up an emulator, I was really good at the Death Tower sequence). Fade to Black’s box had great promise, but no one was happy with it… a casualty of early 3D, maybe, where tech overtook design in importance.
The resurgence of interest in Another World with the 15th/20th editions is exciting, because it points to the potential immortality of really great or important games. Chahi’s work was always narrowly focused and rather brilliant, and deserves attention from a new generation of gamers who missed his early material. For those who still haven’t tried From Dust, his latest is also well worth the time.