This Month's Most Viewed Games Tagged 'Windows, Amiga, casual, sci-fi' on The Great Games Experiment http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/css/logo.jpg en-us Another World, known as Out of this World in the US and Outer World in Japan, is a 1991 cinematic platformer designed and developed by Eric Chahi. The graphics and box art were designed by Chahi, while the music was composed by Jean-François Freitas.

While not a great commercial success, Another World was innovative in its use of cinematic effects in the graphics, sound and cut scenes, with characters communicating through their facial features, gestures, and actions only. This cinematic style granted Another World cult status amongst critics and fans.

The protagonist of the game is Lester Knight Chaykin; a young, athletic, red haired physicist. Lester arrives at his high-tech underground laboratory during a thunderstorm, and continues to work on his experiment using a particle accelerator. Right before the particles reach their intended destination, lightning strikes the lab and interferes with the accelerator causing the unforeseen teleportation of Lester to a barren alien planet.

The player can control Lester using the keyboard or gamepad using four directions buttons and two action buttons: one for main actions, and one for jumping. Depending on the player's current position, movement, and status, the main action key performs a variety of actions including attacking and interacting with Lester's environment. At the start of the game Lester can only kick to attack, but later he can acquire a gun. While the movement keys normally make Lester run, the game also features sections where the player must swim, roll, or drive a vehicle. The player only has one life, but there are multiple checkpoints he can return to by entering the relevant pass code given at each one.

]]> 10 Dec 2006 09:53:52 Set in the year 2654, Wing Commander tells a tale of mankind's struggle for survival in a ferocious war between the Human Confederation and the warmongering Kilrathi Empire, a fierce bi-pedal feline race.





"You're a starfighter pilot, the best of the best, but nothing in your training prepared you for action this hot. Deep space dogfights against Kilrathi aces are deadly, and the future of humanity is on the line each time you fly!


Wing Commander puts you in the middle of the most intense starship action you've ever experienced outside of a movie theatre. But in Wing Commander, you're the star!"





The majority of the game takes place within the cockpit of various space fighters. Depending on how well one performs while in action, the player may find themselves on the winning or losing path thus altering the plot accordingly. Medals and the respect of your wingmen are gained if performance is exemplary, in turn leading to a more effective attack wing. In between space-flight missions the player is free to roam the legendary carrier "TCS Tiger's Claw" and have conversations with their fellow crew mates, learning more about the horrors and triumphs of the bloody war that is now being fought.


When Wing Commander was released in 1990, the in-game graphics and space-combat engine were a step above all other products during that period. The game was even one of the first to use the new Sound Blaster for PC's, adding to the already cinematic feel of the game.


The strong script and characters which has been a staple through out the series are the primary reason why the Wing Commander has gained such a strong following over the years. That combined with movie-like presentation and strong gameplay has made the venerable Wing Commander a classic among gamers and critics.





Want to learn more about Wing Commander? Visit WCnews.com or Wing Commander Universe.

]]> 11 Feb 2007 07:47:45 Roger Wilco. Ladies man, hero, man about town, Janitor.

If you've ever touched adventure games back in the late 80s you'll know about the brilliant work that Sierra did with the genre. Sadly, those days are long gone. However someone did something right and released the Space Quest Collection.

Contained on the DVD are episodes 1 to 6 of Space Quest, all of which follow our intrepid janitor hero as he gets into one (PUN)messy situation(/PUN) after another.

The games are all designed with the standard Sierra adventure game engine(s): AGI (SQ2), SCI (SQ1 VGA, SQ3, SQ4, SQ5). Space Quest 1, 4, 5 and 6 all use the later icon driven interface whilst 2 and 3 use the classic text parser to direct our gallant mop jockey.

The brilliant use of nerd (i.e. sci-fi, computer, etc...)humour blends perfectly with the game play/puzzles. The outlandish situations, and locales will remind you of less formal science fiction movies/tv shows as will the many pot shots at the established sci-fi franchises such as Star Wars, Star Trek and Aliens.

If you like aliens, if you like adventure games and if you like mops then I highly recommend picking up the Space Quest collection.

]]> 20 Jan 2007 08:22:02