Heart of the Alien
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| Heart of the Alien | |
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| Developer(s) | Interplay |
| Publisher(s) | Virgin Interactive (Avalon Interactive) |
| Designer(s) | Jeremy S. Barnes, Michael Burton, Doug Nonast |
| Platform(s) | Sega Mega-CD |
| Release date | 1994 |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | VRC: MA-13 |
| Media | CD-ROM |
Heart of the Alien is an action-adventure video game that was made by Interplay and released in 1994 for Sega CD. Another World is also included.
Heart of the Alien is a sequel to Another World, which is a famous cult classic video game. It is set directly after the events of the first game and stars the Buddy, who is the alien that travelled through the slave prison with Lester in Another World.
Heart of the Alien is similar in gameplay and graphics to Another World, but was much less successful than Another World, which was released for more than a dozen systems, as it was released solely for the Sega CD. Some people also complained that it got rid of Another World's tonality.
Eric Chahi, who created Another World, never had a sequel in mind, but Interplay chose to develop one anyway. Eric thought that it would be very interesting to play Another World from Buddy's view. He didn't want a sequel because he wanted people to make their own conclusions to Another World. Still, Interplay chose to make a sequel and events of Another World from Buddy's view were shown in the game's lengthy introduction.
Eric Chahi spent six years developing Heart of Darkness and then left the home videogame industry until 2006 [1].
[edit] Story
The story picks up immediately after the end of Another World. Buddy lands the pterodactyl in the ruins of his village, lays Lester down on a cot to rest and walks through the village, thinking of his past. This sequence contains many trichromatic flashbacks of events that lead up to Buddy's capture and his and Lester's escape from prison.
In the game, Buddy is searching for the red-eyed alien, who is responsible for the destruction of his village and the imprisonment of his people. Also, there is no HUD, like Another World.
Buddy controls somewhat similarly to how Lester did in Another World. He has some new moves that are provided by his powerful energized whip. For example, he can swing from stalactites or similar objects and his shields are deployed instantly, unlike Lester's, which take a few seconds to charge.
[edit] Plot
Buddy lands the pterodactyl creature in the ruined village that Lester saw in Another World. As he then lays Lester on a cot, the events of Another World from his point of view are shown. Lester also briefly awakens. Buddy then sets off on a mission to find his electric whip and kill the red-eyed alien for attacking his village. Later, Lester joins, but is quickly separated. The red-eyed alien soon attacks Buddy and knocks him out. Lester sneaks in and is just about to attack when he gets noticed. The alien fires, but Lester retreats, checks Buddy, and then suddenly jumps at the red-eyed alien, clinging to him, attacking him. The red-eyed alien eventually throws him into an electric chamber and drops and rolls with Lester getting numerous electric shocks before finally collapsing. The red-eyed alien then checks Lester. Knowing that Lester has been electrocuted (According to an Interplay employee, Eric Chahi suggested this because there was no plausible way to return him to Earth[2]. However, he has since regretted it because it made a conclusion to a story that he had left a cliffhanger.), the red-eyed alien escapes unharmed.
Buddy soon awakens. Noticing that the red-eyed alien are missing, he goes out in search for him. Later, the red-eyed alien attacks him again, but Buddy quickly fights back with his whip until he is over a grey floor. It tilts and the red-eyed alien falls to a lower floor. Walls reveal heckling prisioners. The red-eyed alien's jaw drops when he notices a beast in a locked-up den. At first, he is against the fight, but then strikes a fighting pose and nods. Buddy then throws a switch and the beast's den opens up. The red-eyed alien starts beating up the beast as it launches out until one of the prisoners suddenly kicks him. The beast strikes back, dripping blood, and then drags the screaming alien into the den. Freed villagers suddenly break into the slave prison, setting fire and killing guards. Cells open and prisoners run free. While trying to get out, Buddy comes across Lester's body. He feels his forehead, only to realize that his alien friend is dead. He carries his body to his home village and puts him in a cremation coffin.
In the newly rebuilt village, Buddy hangs up his electric whip, pets his happy beast, and then eyes Lester's coffin, which has yet to be buried. A wide shot of the village is then shown, with the destroyed slave prison in the background.
[edit] External links
- Heart of the Alien at MobyGames
- Heart of the Alien Redux - an open source rewrite of the game engine. This program is designed as a cross-platform replacement for the original executable (data files from the CD are still required).
