Another World: 20th Anniversary Edition

By: Robert Murphy

While looking through the recent additions to the Xbox One game selection, I saw this game and it spoke to me and made me think of an old style of gaming, not so far back as the first Mario but more of my first computer game styling. Another World: 20th Anniversary Edition is a side scrolling platforming game that first debut back in 1991 and has now received an HD touch up to hit gamers of this generation. The cinematic nature of the game was hailed as quite a popular idea as the game tells it's story of a scientist named Lester who ends up in a whole new dimension after an experiment goes wrong. 

 Not a whole lot is spoken from characters in the game and that's the main challenge to Another World. There are no tutorials, no instructions, you figure out the controls as you go and figure out how to survive as you go as well. Just about everything can cause you harm or causes your death on this alien world, including the aliens who immediately imprison you once you meet them. It's a game that is very unforgiving and you know what, I kind of liked that about it. Figuring out your way through the different levels of the game is no easy task and I've never wanted to rage quite something more but I was still spurned on to keep playing. In a lot of ways you have to work things out for yourself, solving the puzzles of each area and figuring out what is significant around you to progress further, which its usually everything. 

What's also great about the Another World is how much of a story it tells with so little dialogue going on, most of the characters you meet will gesture to something or sometimes aliens will shout at you in their language which won't help you any.  Right from the get go you can tell that this game is a major storyteller as we start out simply enough in a hidden laboratory and running experiments when a lightning strike effects what looks like a supercollider and transports us to this new world. What breaks up the gameplay are short cut scenes that play somewhat like a brief film or gif that will give you some more insight into what you're doing but not much. Graphically the game has improved from what it use to be but former players can relive the past by switching from old graphics to new with the push of the Y button. The new graphics introduced though are nothing to really be wowed at but at the same time fit the style and the animation well for all the character in the game.

What I did not find endearing to endearing about Another World though started when an area became increasingly harder to traverse. Alien creatures that were basically mini sarlaccs were hanging on the top and the bottom of the screen on which I was suppose to get through. This shouldn't be any big thing, if they weren't there there wouldn't be any challenge to the game but what became the issue were the controls. All the controls are very simple to master once you lock them down but your character will often snatched by a creature or slip down a nearby hole when you clearly weren't even close to it. This brings me to what I feel will be the overall downfall for Another World's attempt to find some new customers, people who never played the game before like myself will most likely find the game to be an exercise in futility. The game is short but harsh and in many ways repetitive as you will undoubtedly preform the same sequence over and over until you get it right and the reward doesn't really give you the satisfaction you might be looking for once you're done. I myself enjoyed the game but in many ways I can see it hitting home with too many others who never knew about this game before.

In conclusion, Another World told me a pretty great story for a game with virtually no dialogue and being a game that had already been released a few odd years ago. The ability to switch between HD and the old look is definitely a plus for new and old players of the game as the new stuff makes it just as inviting as the classic feel will for those who played before. Another World is though one of those unforgiving games that will make you want to pull your hair out and even with the short playthrough, it may not hit the way it did back when it was first released. 

Good:

- The ability for the game to tell a great story with no dialogue was fantastic

- No tutorial and no prompts made this game difficult but that was part of the fun

- Colorful worlds with great animations and the ability to switch back to the classic style of the game

Bad:

- Easy to get lost, angry and annoyed with the game

- A lot of repetition that will set off your controller throwing emotions

- Controls could have done with an upgrade as well 

Scully Rating: 6.0 out of 10