Another World

[Shatterhand]

As we talked about that game a while ago, I want to make a few comments about it.

In a time when we already hade Dragon's Lair and all that Readysoft crap games, Delphine makes the 1st game that I played in my life, that really made me feel inside a movie.

The plot is simply brilliant (maybe with the exception of the crap end) , and it would make a great real movie (and even some good movies have crap ends), even if there's basically no dialogue.

The perfect playability together with good graphics and fantastic animations makes you feel like YOU ARE Lester, you run with him, you jump with him, you shoot with him, and you die with him (and it's good to know you can resurrect with him too).

And the reaction this game makes in people... I've seen friends of mine thrilling as they watch me playing the game. What other game makes you have fun by just WATCHING it, and yet being fun by PLAYING it?

It's hard to tell the experience of playing that game using just words. Maybe we would need to get back to 1992, when we had no fancy 3D graphics and stuff, to get the perfect feeling of the game.

And the sound of the game helps even more enhancing the perfect atmosphere of the game.

ome people may complain it's too easy or too short (and indeed is), but that's really unfair, as even if it takes you just 30 minutes to finish it the 1st time (it took me a week, playing it about 2-3 hours per day, I guess), it would be some of the best 30 minutes of your life.

And after finishing it, you'll probably want to show it to your friends. Computer gaming at it best. They don't do stuff like that anymore.

[LaundroMat]

One thing though: I nearly over that "crap end"

[Drake1009]

Something must be completely wrong with my taste. I didn't think it was a "crap end". I rather liked it.

And about the "They don't do stuff like that anymore" comment. They try, they just haven't quite understood that 3D might not always be the best thing for such a thing.

Take Half-life, Deus ex and Max payne for example. The companies really try to make a good story for it (well Max payne I guess was meant to be cliché at times). Problem is that with the game engine will only allow so much, not really enough, and at times you really need to get another camera view than first or third person view.

A point I really liked in Another world was when you got picked up by the alien who starts threatening you, and you kick him in the groin. Never seen that in any other game, and you wouldn't be able to enjoy the satisfaction of kicking a guy in the groin in a first person shooter.

[Amiga1992]

The first time I played Another World (Out of This World for me back then...) was on the Apple IIGS, as I already mentioned. We were gobsmacked by teh cinematic feel of the game. The game sucked us in. SOme said it was short, but by golly, it sure was hard for us, and we never got to beat it back then. The excellent musical score of the IIGS version addeda lot of feel to the game. It gave you the chillies. When you were walking on the alien planet, at the start of the game, teh music is kind of quite and ambient, a bit dark but not scary. Then you accidentally step on one of those critters, and the tune changes to this creepy 'I have just killed you mofo' horror movie-like tune.. Amazing stuff....

As Drake said, softcos now think everything has to be 3D ... Monkey Island 2 is more cinematic than that travesty that is Monkey Island 4...

[Bombjacker]

Altho I enjoyed the game at the time, I can't believe I liked it so much! One of those games that were not really all that playable. I am not saying that the game is rubbish though. The response of the main character was a little sluggish, which I think just isn't good enough anymore. Something I wish the developers of the Tomb Raider series had realised! When you push a direction, one would like to have something like instance response. Something that virtually every Mario and Sonic game had. I think responsiveness is a problem of quite a few Amiga games.

It had atmosphere by the bucket load though. That was what really made it an enjoyable game to play, but gameplay is far more important than atmosphere and cinematics - they are just superficial and entertained the graphics tarts of the past.

[Amiga1992]

The thing is that, when done right, eyecandy, cinematics and ambience DO improve the gameplay environment. Of course this game was not of the fast-type like Sonic, it is another kind of platformer I think its gameplay was good until it got unbalanced. After you get onto the caverns, it's easy. Then it's too difficult. That's one flaw it has. Flashback improved all over the gameplay factors, but lost a bit of that cinematic feel, IMO.

[Bombjacker]

My comment wasnt about speed but responsiveness!