Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Alter Echo

Written by Matt Partington on May 08, 2003

First Impressions: I wish I had a polysuit made of Plast!

THQ's upcoming action-adventure game, Alter Echo, developed by Outrage, made an appearance at last year's E3. Although it was met with some speculation, changes have been made since then and Alter Echo has become one of the most welcomed new faces in the gaming industry. Read on to find out about this interesting and unique title.

Don't be fooled by Echo's looks -- despite looking like a platform game, it's actually an action and adventure hybrid with puzzle elements dribbled into the gameplay set in a third-person perspective. The hero you play as is Nevid, and it's up to you to save the universe from an evil biochemical substance called Multiplast (Plast for short). This mysterious element has been exploited by an evil character, Pavvo, who is manipulating it into hordes of rabid enemies. Pavvo's new Plast is Xenoplast, a self-aware and intelligent breed of Plast which he's using to take over the planet Ц or so he thinks.

To aid you in your adventure you are supplied with a very unique polysuit. Ironically enough, this polysuit is made out of Multiplast, the same matter that you're trying to defeat and is slowly consuming the planet. Nevertheless, this allows Nevid to morph into several different shapes and forms. Depending on the objective you must complete will determine which form is most useful at the time.

It's no surprise that this reshaping ability is what makes Alter Echo's gameplay so interesting. Using realtime effects, you can go into three fully different casts. The most common form is melee mode. Melee let's to combat with swarms of enemies hand-to-hand, using your nifty energy blades. Many different attack combos are accessible to your use. Stealth mode is yet another form to take hold of, and will be very crucial in completing tasks where you're far outmatched or need to sneak around to discover further. Via camouflage, you're allowed you take out your enemies silently, and is particularly useful if there's only one alone by itself.

Aside from stealth, there's also gun mode, which somewhat limits your maneuverability but lets you plow foes far from their own reaches. Each form has its own specialties, such as the Time Dilation ability in melee, where you can halt time with your polysuit in order to punch in an attack combination with ease. Time warping will play a large roll in the gameplay experience. Echo features an extremely immerse combo system though, mustering chained attacks, meter bars, and grid-based systems.

Alter Echo has a very unique, vivid visual style with bright colors and surreal atmospheres. There's roughly 10 levels to play through in the game, each one with an individual look and feel. Massive, colorful landscapes grope the screen as you watch Nevid morph in a flawless 60 frames per second. In battle, going from one mode to another is seamless, and the graphics only back that up with full realtime effects. Alter Echo also uses character design to define its flair, and all models are very intriguing, particularly the enemies and Nevid's different forms. Melee puts you into the shape of what seems to be a human, while gun mode turns you into a behemoth, walking tank. Stealth is also interesting as you alter into a frog-like animal, gripping up and down walls on all fours. All in all, with the massive amount of effects, colorful design, and overall edgy cinematic style, Alter Echo is obviously preparing to stand out amongst the crowd on visual merits as well as gameplay elements.