Anonther World 20th Anniversary Edition. An ID@xbox game for Xbox One

Publisher:The Digital Lounge
Release Date:25th June 2014
Price:£6.39


Another World 20th Anniversary Edition is a lovingly remastered version of one of the most important and best loved games from the 16-bit era. Because of this; and because I am a big retro lover, I can't review this game without first providing an insight into the game's past. So here goes the History lesson..........You can skip this bit if you aren't a gaming Connoseur. It's your loss!   

A visionary at work.

Another World is a flick screen platform/puzzler and was originally released in 1991 for the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga. It was later released on other platforms, including Sega Megadrive, SNES, Macintosh etc, but the Amiga version is where this game first wowed gamers with it's innovation and atmosphere, and is the version most retro gamers will look back on fondly.

The game features one Lester Chaykin who, while working late one night in his lab on a particle accelerator, finds himself alone on a harsh alien world after a lightning bolt blasts into the equipment.



Developed by Frenchman Eric Chahi, (More recently of "From Dust" fame), the game offered unprecedented cinematic story-telling for the time. His vision was to create a game of style, atmosphere, tension, and great puzzles, and he set about this in his own time, without the constraints of a publisher breathing down his neck. Citing influences such as Star Wars, Dune and Dragon's Lair, Mr Chahi, spent 17 months alone developing just the first third of the game, as he basically made things up as he went along, and incorporated his mood and feelings of the time into the progression of the story.

He had his own techniques and engine, and created the opening Cinematic to discover what he could achieve with his new procedures. He also used video recordings of himself to capture the protagonist's simple movements. Eventually he found himself a publisher, (Delphine Software) and set about Story boarding the rest of the game to get it finished. On release, gamers were treated to an innovative and beautiful game, with a simple but striking polygonal, paper craft style aesthetic. The tension was created with the lack of a HUD or any instruction or dialogue of any kind to assist you. The player was thrust into the world and you had to uncover it's secrets and survive off your own back, solving the game's superb puzzles along the way. Innovative cinematic cut scenes were used to move the story along.



Another World is, as you can gather, an important game in the history and evolution of the way games are made, and the way they tell their story.

The game has been mentioned retrospectively in many gaming articles. Our hero's sidekick in the game for example is often included in best sidekick lists, and the Alien pistol that Lester finds in the game was named the 86th best weapon in gaming history in a list compiled by IGN.



The Main reviewy bit for non history fans:

So!! Tell us how the game plays already I hear you yell! Well, OK!! Keep your hair on!

Another World still holds up surprisingly well. The graphics have had a loving and very pretty overhaul but you can switch back to the originals on the fly and they aren't as bad as I expected. Also, the controls aren't too bad. The thing about Another World though is that it is OLD SCHOOL! Many people will really despise this game. It is a game of Trial and Error. It is unforgiving. You will die! You will die a great deal. You wont know what the hell to do next at times, and you will not get any help to figure it out. You will even have to find somewhere to die now and again so that you can restart because your progress has been halted by the fact that you haven't done something right somewhere along the way. Because of this, many young whipper-snappers will think this a shitty and boring pile of frustration as they are used to having their hands held and, let's face it, games have evolved for the better in many ways since AW was released.  Bare with it though I say, because the checkpoints aren't too bad at all, and the satisfaction you get from solving the next puzzle is well worth the effort. It is quite a short game really, but it will likely take you quite a while to finish it first time round.

I'm not saying anything else about the game play deliberately, because this game is very much meant to throw you in at the deep end, feeling alone and lost.

I'm not gonna score this game, as I tend to agree with other Games Den dudes nowadays in that a game can really mean different things to different people so I'd rather just discuss it's virtues and sins and let folks decide for themselves.



My Synopsis is this....... I found Another World's 20th Anniversary remake to be a fantastic trip down memory lane. It is hard and the younger player might not get on with it, but if you think you can handle a bit of old school design, you'll find it really not all that bad, just a case of trial and error, with great self satisfaction for solving the excellent puzzles. Throw in a reasonably quick and easy 1000G available for just £6.39, why not take a trip down memory lane into one of gaming's Landmark titles.......