Alter Echo is all about
outer space, PolySuits and morphic substances. Translation: the latter, less
familiar terms are the game’s way of explaining how you are able to morph into
one of three intriguing characters. The PolySuit is what the main character,
Nevin, dons throughout the entire game. It allows him to switch character types
at will, from a standard, sword-swiping human; to a mech-style gun blaster; to a
lizard-type creature that can pounce on enemies and cut them to pieces. The
lizard form (referred to as "Stealth Form" in the game) can also climb on
designated walls (which lead to areas that are otherwise inaccessible) and use
its tongue to pull enemies near and juggle them in the air. It’s a little like
Scorpion’s famous move in Mortal Kombat, except that Nevin uses his tongue in
place of the beloved spear.
What are these "morphic
substances" I speak of? Only one is mentioned in this game: EchoPlast.
EchoPlast is the strongest morphic substance that exists in Alter Echo’s
galaxy. It is what Nevin’s suit is made of, but unfortunately I am not at
liberty to tell you much else.
As mentioned above, one
of Nevin’s other formations is like a small mobile suit (called "Gun Form").
It’s slow and can barely defend itself against close attacks, but from afar it’s
the player’s best bet. The gun form’s huge cannon gives Nevin the power to take
out enemies from any nearby location whether they’re at ground level or not. He
can also locate ground-mounted weapons and use them to ward off hordes of
enemies. The gun form’s standard weapon has infinite ammo, but his grenade
launcher does not. To launch grenades you must first fill the appropriate
energy bar. Not to worry though. After using the energy the bar immediately
begins to re-fill itself.
Nevin’s original form
("Sword Form") is a little Devil May Cry-ish. He’s got tons of sword-slashing
combos, many of which can launch an enemy into the air for juggling. You can
also earn points that can be used to buy more attack moves! Harder hits, dash
attacks, things like that. Besides being the most useful for close attacks,
Nevin’s sword form is also the most mobile. He can run the fastest in this
form, and with the exception of specific areas that can only be crossed when in
stealth form, it is the one you’ll use the most for removing force fields and
other path-blockers.
This morph-or-if-ic
gameplay isn’t where the game’s unique features end. Alter Echo also includes a
time-stopping feature. This is not a bullet-time effect like the one featured
in The Matrix. Instead, Alter Echo mixes the timed button press gameplay of
Dance Dance Revolution with real-time footage that demonstrates the action. The
result: a repetitive mini-game that is only useful as a means of destroying
enemies. When you hit the R3 button, Alter Echo goes into Time Dilation. In
Time Dilation, all you see is 2D icons. A small slider runs across the bottom
of the screen, crossing a small rectangular area, giving the player a brief
moment to attack. The problem is, since this is essentially a mini-game, your
attacks are nothing more than a hit from one of the face buttons. The TRIANGLE
button causes your icon to move up; the SQUARE button will move it left, etc.
Once the icon has crossed an enemy, it’s dead! Then you see a short real-time
video of Nevin killing the monster. This is not very entertaining, so chances
are you’ll want to ignore Time Dilation altogether and just play the fun parts
of the game.
While on the subject of
flaws, it must be mentioned that Alter Echo has an annoying tutorial mode that
constantly updates the player with both useful and useless facts. This tutorial
is not separate from the rest of the game. At any time, the game may disrupt
the fun to inform you that if you "press [enter button here] and you’ll be able
to perform [enter cool move]." That’s nice and all, but isn’t that what the
booklet is for – to tell the player what they can and can’t do in the game? For
all you hardcore gamers out there who sneer at the idea of playing a tutorial or
reading a booklet, get this: you can’t skip it on your first time through. If
you should happen to die, you don’t have to see it again. But seeing it once
was too much for me, especially after playing a publicly released demo, which
had already familiarized myself with the controls.
Those flaws aside, Alter
Echo has only one issue: repetitive gameplay. It’s a lot of fun and feels so
much fresher than the majority of the games being released these days. Being
fresh doesn’t mean the game should constantly repeat itself, but that’s what it
does. I could definitely see myself coming back to this one in the future, but
is it the kind of game I’ll play week after week? Unfortunately the answer is
no. It’s a great rental, and a decent buy for the most extreme hardcore gamers
who really love the gameplay (that means you should play it first). However,
it’s likely that most players will be satisfied with a rental.
Want to learn more
about the development process of this unique game? Then be sure to check out
GameZone Online’s
interview with Jason Garwood,
project coordinator for Alter Echo.
Gameplay: 7.7
Nevin brings back
memories of the classic Shang Tsung. "Who?" If you’re too young to remember
who Shang Tsung is, he’s the awesome morphing fighter from Mortal Kombat. In
the latter installments of the series (except for Deadly Alliance), Shang Tsung
could knock his opponents into the air, morph into another character and unleash
a combo to juggle his opponent. Nevin has that ability! His combos are
actually a bit more diverse than Shang Tsung’s, and his two other forms are much
different from the similar character types that Mr. Tsung changed into.
That’s
what makes the game unique and fun. That and the action-heavy battles. They
are slower than your typical action-shooter, but this is intended to be a game
that’s more along the lines of Devil May Cry. It’s not a DMC clone though.
Nevin can’t perform super-human double jumps and absorb enemy souls!
Alter
Echo’s coolest moments are the boss battles. Most of them have a different
flaw, so destroying them isn’t easy. When you do finally figure out how to
finish them off, you’ll be knocked down a bit by their health meter, which is
fairly huge. The bosses are also faster than the regular monsters, and they
attack much more fiercely. Watch out!
If only
the game weren’t repetitive. Then the blasé time dilation mini-game and the
annoying tutorial mode could be overlooked.
Graphics: 7.5
Not quite what I
was expecting. Alter Echo has some really cool effects, but in general the game
isn’t overly impressive.
Sound: 7
Difficulty: Medium
Other than the
boss battles, Alter Echo’s difficulty is set in the middle. It’s not tough, but
it’s not easy either.
Concept: 9
What Outrage (the
developer) tried to do is incredible. They took so many gameplay elements,
created a ton of new concepts and implemented them into one game. Not every
aspect may have turned out as good as we would have liked, but the effort is
clearly there. If history is to repeat itself (and it always does), then we can
look forward to a very impressive sequel. Now that the developers know what to
do, there’s nothing that could stop them from creating a game that’s as good, if
not better than the concept.
Overall: 7.5
Is there an echo
in this room? Yes, but it’s not what you think. Alter Echo looks different
from how it plays, and plays differently from the description. Hearing about
the time dilation feature would lead you to believe that this is another Max
Payne, but it has nothing in common with that game. By some of my comments, you
may think it should be billed as a Devil May Cry-style game, but that wouldn’t
be the appropriate classification either. Alter Echo is very much what the
title says it is: an alternate echo. You’ve heard some of it before, you’ve
seen some of it before – but it is different from pretty much every game you’ve
ever played. When you think about the game and all it has to offer, the primary
thing that comes to mind is the game’s morphing capabilities. You’ll really
enjoy those, as well as the boss battles. Some of the regular battles are good
too, but the tutorial mode stops the action a little too often.
