Looks like I found myself another PS1 gem

[Scooter]

My greatest Genesis/Sega CD memories involve the games Out of This World (Another World outside the US), Flashback and Heart of the Alien, two of which included the work of Eric Chahi (he didn't work on Flashback though the studio he worked at, Delphine Software, produced all three games). In reading up on Mr. Chahi recently I discovered he made one other game before leaving the gaming industry for many years, it was Heart of Darkness and was available on PS1. I'm not certain why I never made this connection back when my PS1 was new, but I'm glad to find it now.

On my first try I found a decent copy at a local used game store for $11. Upon starting it up in my PS2 I quickly realized it will be a real hoot! It looks and plays a lot like OOTW but with a goofy sense of humor and also reminds me a little of the Oddworld games. You gotta love a side scroller with a fun story, good game play and interesting graphics. Of course the core of the story is a boy going off to save his dog which was snatched from him and personally I too would do anything to keep my two pups from harm.

Has anyone else played this game? Does anyone else seek out games based on who designed the game? Or better yet, avoided a game because of who designed the game?

It used to be you could seek out games based on the studio that produced it but anymore people come and go so fast and studios pop up and disappear so fast you can't really use the studio name as a compass to lead you to the next great game. Publishers have all gotten so big that going by a publisher's name doesn't do much good that's for sure.

[Curlypaul]

Thats true, there was a time that when a game had Bullfrog Brothers on the side you knew it was a quality title and if it said Jeff Minter you knew to expect Llamas and psychedelia, now I think they all disappear into one.
Ubisoft seem to have an absolute steaming pile of shovelware on the DS at the minute so I tend to avoid them on principle in the same way that EA used to piss me off with yearly updates of games that were good enough last year although they actually seem to have took my hint and started to release some more original titles.

[Scooter]

It really is a shame about Ubisoft. A company that has made such great games as Beyond Good and Evil and the Prince of Persia PS2 series should be able to do better than they have overall. Of course the PoP series is getting kind of long in the tooth but they are still fun to play with a decent storyline.

Look at Core. Any company that can come up with the original Tomb Raider should be able to do so much more but they couldn't even keep TR going over the long haul. Crystal Dynamics had to save Lara from being locked into piss poor titles such as the Angel of Darkness.

[racketboy]

Excellent find! I'll have to look into this game more

[Scooter]

Excellent find! I'll have to look into this game more

Here's what got me started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_D ... eo_game%29

[racketboy]

Excellent find! I'll have to look into this game more

Here's what got me started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_D ... eo_game%29

Just went there after I saw this post
It's on my list of games to try

[Ivo]

Thats true, there was a time that when a game had Bullfrog Brothers on the side you knew it was a quality title and if it said Jeff Minter you knew to expect Llamas and psychedelia, now I think they all disappear into one.
Ubisoft seem to have an absolute steaming pile of shovelware on the DS at the minute so I tend to avoid them on principle in the same way that EA used to piss me off with yearly updates of games that were good enough last year although they actually seem to have took my hint and started to release some more original titles.

I think you mean "Bullfrog or Bitmap Brothers" or just "Bitmap Brothers".

In response to the original poster, I have played Heart of Darkness (PC version), and it is indeed a very nice game, very close in spirit to Another World / Flashback. Hard as nails (like Another World), anything (everything) in those games just kills you.

Like the original poster, I heartily recommend fans of the previous Chahi games (although I'm not sure Flashback had Chahi involved) to try this one.

Ivo.

[Scooter]

Like the original poster, I heartily recommend fans of the previous Chahi games (although I'm not sure Flashback had Chahi involved) to try this one.

Flashback was designed by Paul Cuisset but both he and Chahi worked at Delphine Software at the time. If I could find more games connected to Mr. Cuisset I'd certainly look into those as well. I've played through the Genesis and Sega CD versions both many times. I could only ever get through OOTW once, those levels in the caves where you have to flood the caverns were brutal! Heart of the Alien by comparison was much easier and it wasn't an easy game by any stretch of the imagination.

[Intangir]

I remember someone from my family buying the PC version of the game for me a long long time ago for a few bucks (maybe even a dollar). Naturally, I thanked them and cringed once they left as I figured the game would be crap as its price tag suggested. Yet I gave it a fair shake nevertheless and I must admit I did enjoy it. Though it's aimed more for a younger audience, I was always surprised at all the ways you could die--and how bleak and disturbing they sometimes were.

All in all, I liked the game although it can get frustrating at times. I actually replayed through it again earlier this year on a filtered/shadered PS1 emulator.

Heart of Darkness Trailer

[Jubal]

thanks for the good tip, I am just recently getting all the good ps2 stuff I missed. with the ps2 out some of my ps1 games have been coming back out as well. always nice to find something I missed =)