Game Review: Another World (PS Vita)

Another World PS Vita

Debuting over 20 years ago, arriving on the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST in 1991, Another World was a breath of fresh air. The game, released by Delphine Software (through U.S. Gold here in the UK) was a flick screen adventure with a cinematic feel to it, developed and designed by Eric Chahi with music from Jean-François Freitas.

Fluid animation cut scenes told the story as you tried to get the main protagonist, Lester, past various dangers with the aim of the game simply that of survival on the world he finds himself on following an accident with a particle accelerator. Following ports to various formats and a 15th Anniversary Windows version, the 20th Anniversary edition started off as an iOS release but has been ported to various consoles with the release on all three currently active PlayStation formats in June this year.

Gameplay is quite simplistic to control – walk, run, jump, kick and then you get a gun a little later on with which you can blast bad guys or overcharge to create a shield. Each screen presents it’s own dangers be it a tentacle from the deep… highly poisonous toothed slugs or gun toting aliens. With a play aspect devoid of the usual video game visual devices (no HUD) the game is as refreshing as it was in 1991. Though technology has surpassed it, the game’s visual update allows it’s charms to capture modern gamers, while the old guard may enjoy the original graphical style being available at the press of a button.

Essentially you have to guide Lester from one potential hazard filled screen to another – initially you end up in prison and have to escape your cage, grabbing a gun in the process which turns into a tool as much as a means to self defence. All the time your main aim is to simply survive trough a great sci-fi storyline. Fortunately though rather archaeic in a way, the flickscreen action is better suited to a handheld than perhaps a home console, and though initially it may feel dated it doesn’t hamper you getting into the swing of things, especially once you get put in prison…

The game has a good deal of longevity to before you are carted off at the end of the game, still alive but somewhat wounded by the end of game altercation, and it certainly gives you enough entertainment for the money. Three difficulty levels also help make the game a bit more accessible or more of a challenge as to your own gaming tastes.

The graphics are rather stylised regardless of whether you opt for the updated or original version, and may put some people off, which would be a huge shame. Sound wise you have the option of going with the original, a new remastered mix or even the mixture of the original(ish) and the soundtrack used on the CD-ROM version of the game from “back in the day.”

Support for the PS Vita hardware is, unfortunately, lacking with the game seemingly being a straight port with no support for the six axis motion control from what I can tell, and not even support for the touch screen on the menus. This is becomming a little too prevailant across of a lot of releases and I do hope it doesn’t become more of a norm for indie releases.

Cross save covers the three active PlayStation formats so you can carry on at home after a play on the handheld, and with cross-buy covering both the PS3 and PS4 as well as the Vita, it’s certainly great value for money at it’s standard £6.49!

Recommended, but hardly a title to show off what the PS Vita can really do.

You can find Another World on the PlayStation Store here: https://store.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com/#!/en-gb/games/another-world-20th-anniversary-edition/cid=EP4489-NPEJ00366_00-B000000000001218

At A Glance

  • Title: Another World
  • Publisher: The Digital Lounge
  • System: PS Vita
  • Format: PSN Download
  • Cross Buy: Yes (PS3 & PS4)
  • Cross Play: No
  • Cross Save: Yes (PS3 & PS4)
  • Online Multiplayer: No
  • PlayStation TV Compatible: Yes
  • Memory Card Space Needed: 114MB

Vita Player Rating - 07

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About Sven Harvey 47 Articles
A professional writer with a couple of decades of writing under his belt, including working on Micro Mart and Model & Collectors Mart, Sven was also the co-founder of Auto Assembly, and long-time Infinite Frontiers team member. This fandom veteran also heads up Geekology on YouTube, as well as the local sci-fi groups; Spacedock Birmingham (Star Trek) and Autobase Birmingham (Transformers), and is an Amiga fan as well!

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