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You’ll play through the game as a scientist who, through a freak accident, finds himself in an alien world. Almost immediately you’ll find that it’s a hostile environment and you’re likely to die (repeatedly) to even things that appear to be the most minor of threats. Coming to terms with the game’s controls is very much one of its greatest obstacles. Working with only 2 buttons you’ll need to get used to how they manage running, jumping, and the nuances of shooting (hold down to get a shield and then a power shot). There really aren’t tutorials or things that walk you through this politely, you’ll just be thrown into the deep end and expected to make your way back out. In terms of how the game plays it’s an odd hybrid of a few different styles. There are action elements that feel reminiscent of the classic Prince of Persia, and failure will bring some grisly deaths in the same fashion. There are sequences that almost feel more like classic laserdisc games like Dragon’s Lair, demanding that you execute a specific chain of actions in a predetermined way. All of this is then wrapped in a format that feels more like a point-and-click adventure though, with environmental puzzles that you’ll need to work out as well. It was a bit of an odd and wonky mix even then, I’d say it feels even more unusual now. While I retained a fair amount of muscle memory and recalled solutions to some problems there were still times where I found myself stuck and had to look up what I was missing. The game was admittedly horrible about providing cues for how to get through some of the sections, and even when armed with the solutions some of the sequences still play out oddly. Another World is a pretty fascinating look back at gameplay and presentation elements from another time. Its influence on how games were presented is easy to see and appreciate but its mechanics are undoubtedly aggravating by today’s standards. I’m very happy to see its arrival on the Switch, as milestones in video game history like it need to preserved and appreciated but you’ll need to be mindful of its dated nature if you decide to take the plunge.
Justin Nation, Score:Good [7.0]