WarmFluffyUK
The Big Wad Bolf.
Review
Picture this, a secret lab in the outback, miles from anywhere or anyone. A storm is brewing that could wield a devastating blow to anything in its wake.
Suddenly a car screeches to a halt outside the lab, and you get out. Gaining access to your lab you set up an experiment in particle acceleration, and you set it in motion. Particles wiz round the acceleration cylinder, sparking and crackling.
Meanwhile, outside the storm has blown up out of all proportion, Lightening hits the lab and crawls speedily along the particle acceleration cylinder towards the lab and ZAP, your desk with you sitting in it are hit.
This is where the game really begins, You, including your desk and a chunk of floor are transported to a strange land of unearthly creatures that seem to be sent from hells bathroom, and they aint too friendly either. To top all this, you rematerialize underwater without an aqualung. Typical! And all that before you actually start to play Whooow.
So what is all this about, well it’s a really kewl game called Another World. It first appeared on the Commodore Amiga and was ported to almost all available systems of the time. Including the ST and PC.
Another World was really such an innovation in game play and graphics. Very original, pretty difficult and the atmosphere draws you in like a moth to a flame.
Our Hero
Well here you are, cute eh, and agile too! You can run, jump, roll, swim even sneak around the scary corridors of this doomed land you find yourself in. Later on you will even pick up a weapon that’s a lot of fun too! Careful though, as one shot or bite from the wee beasties and you’re toast.
A helping hand
Here’s someone I call spud. You befriend him when you free him from prison. Spud will follow you around giving you a much needed helping hand. Watch out though, as spud can also be frazzled by the guards, so keep him safe!
Enemies
In a nutshell, flippin’ dangerous. Some are out to shoot you, others you are food. Some of the death sequences really make you go “Ewwwwwww, I DON’T believe that just happened”. They really are gross. The one I remember as being the ickiest is when you get sucked into the tentacle monsters. You see through the Profs eyes as the jaws of death open up, you see teeth and slimy stuff and then SNAP! Yuck.
Game Play
Highly unique for the time. It’ a sort of puzzle shoot em up. Sometimes you have to run like hell and jump at the right times. Some times you have to use your gun to make a shield which stops enemy fire, but allows you to stick your hand through and fire at them. Your gun has 3 modes (Fire, Shield and Blast) which are accessed by holding down the trigger for different lengths of time. There are also rooms that power up the gun, this is funny as it also fluffs up the profs hair while it charges the weapon : ). The overall game play is pretty difficult, but very satisfying. I played it for weeks!
10/10
Graphics
Ground breaking for the time. The whole game is built out of polygons which makes the animations very fluid and smooth. Most of the cut scenes are stunning. I remember one where you look out of the window of a tower and the scene pans up from the city below, amazing! There are one or two cut scenes which are a little bit naff, but that doesn’t spoil the game. All in all, a superb looking 16 bit game!
9/10
Sound
There’s almost no speech in this game, the odd mumble from the guards and a sort of hello from Spud. Sounds awfull don’t it. Well no actually it’s not. There’s soo much atmosphere going on, it really draws you in. Areas where you just get the wind in the background and your own footsteps really set the scene. It’s perfect!
8/10
GP32
Just Perfect! This is an excellent conversion of such a polished game.
10/10
And Finaly
If you have never played this game, you should at least give it a go. It’s a classic example of innovation and originality from the classic 16 bit era. I know a lot of people couldn’t get past the 2nd screen. But when I told them the how to do it, they kicked themselves shouting “Oh why didn’t I think of that”. Here’s a hint, RUN!
Final Score = 9.5/10
