Heart of the Alien is a cinematic platform game developed by Interplay Entertainment and Virgin Interactive.
It was released by Virgin Interactive in 1994 exclusively for the Sega CD in North America. The game is a sequel to Another World and continues the story directly from where the original ended.
Story and Gameplay: In Heart of the Alien, players take control of Buddy, the main character’s alien ally from the previous game, as the role switches from Another World. The game’s graphics and gameplay are similar to its predecessor, offering a cinematic platform experience.
The story picks up immediately after the end of the first game, providing a seamless continuation of the narrative.
Graphics and Sound: The graphics in Heart of the Alien are well-suited to the game’s theme, and the sound design, including the CD-quality new music by Freitas, adds to the immersive experience.
The game’s visuals and audio were praised by players and critics alike for their quality and contribution to the overall atmosphere.
Reception: Heart of the Alien received mixed reviews from players and critics. Some praised the engaging, puzzle-like challenges and the continuation of the intriguing story from Another World. However, others found the gameplay frustrating and the overall experience lacking compared to its predecessor.
Availability: After Heart of the Alien became unsupported and unavailable, a fan took up the effort of extracting a source code variant from the binary game by reverse engineering to make the game runnable again on modern platforms. This extracted source code was made open-source and is now freely available on SourceForge. An Amiga version has since been released that uses the assets of the Sega CD original.
Overall, Heart of the Alien is a game that may appeal to fans of Another World, particularly those who are interested in continuing the story from the first game and experiencing a cinematic platform adventure from the alien’s perspective. However, its mixed reviews suggest that it may not be as universally acclaimed as its predecessor.
