Game Another World (Out of this World)

Released: Interplay 1991

Developed By: Delphine Software International

Out of this World is a cinematic action/adventure game featuring realistic vector graphics and animation. Although the game fits in a single 5.25" disk it has plenty of animated cutscenes, and ambient sound effects.

Storyline

The player takes the role of Lester, a young physics professor who is transported to an alien world after a lightning strikes his particle accelerator during a unique experiment. After getting captured and escaping, he must try to fight his way home against wild creatures, natural hazards, and the local race of humanoid aliens.

What makes the game unique

The Mood

The game's graphics, sound, suprising cutscenes and in-game events all come together to create a very rich and special atmosphere. Small background animations give the feeling of a real, living world. For example, in the jungle at the beginning of the game, birds fly in the distance, vines sway in the wind and a lion-like creature lurks in the background, silently stalking the player. At any given moment the player can expect a sudden death (usually with a short close-up cut-scene). This is not typically recommended in game design, but in Another World this is used to great effect. Fortunately, the player is provided with an unlimited number of chances to continue from the beginning of the current section of the game upon dying.

Although no words are spoken aloud in the game, the characters communicate and emote through their facial features, gestures and actions. The game successful conveys the casual brutality and inhuman cruelty of the alien guards; the fear of the defenseless alien prisoners who are threatened by both the guards and the player; and the feeling of panic and impending doom, and ultimately of liberation, felt by the player and his alien companion as they attempt to escape from their captors.

The Gameplay

The game frequently breaks the limits set by its own game interface. For example, at one point in the game, an alien guard knocks the player down and kicks away his weapon. He then picks the player up by the throat, holding him aloft in the air. The player, having no idea how to handle the situation without the weapon, may instinctively press the fire button, causing Lester to kick the guard in the crotch. Now free, he can run for his gun and pick it up while rolling on the foor. The game often puts the player in an entierly new situation, and reacts correctly (with new character movements, such as kicking and rolling) to the instinctive button-mashing.

The Technical Aspects

The game took two years to develop. It was developed by a single person, Eric Chahi, which is very unusual. Even at the time, computer games were developed by small teams of professionals. Chahi designed, programmed, and did the artwork for the entire game (the sound was done by Jean-Francois Freitas).

The game is the first to use 2D polygons for all of its graphics. As a result, the the game has a unique visual look. Furthermore, it is possible for hardware at that time (notably 286s) to display full-screen animation, which does the 'film-feel' of the game.

The idea and technology of using 2D polygons for games were done by Chahi six years before Macromedia Flash.

Distributive size: 1M DOS, Windows-95,98,ME,2000,XP,NT