Alter Echo

"Just give it a chance-you'll like it"

Alter Echo is definitely not for everyone. The characters are cheesy, it starts out way too slow and easy, and the environments are bland. Get used to purple and pink; you're going to be seeing a lot of them. It seems like just another lame action-platformer that tries a new concept and fails horribly, right?

I came close to giving it up, but I pressed on, and grew to love playing this game. The battle system is deep once you get used to it, and the enemies in the game adapt to your style of fighting, which is great because it forces you to think rather than pull the same combos over and over again. You have the power to switch seamlessly from the Sword Form (for melee fighting) to the Gun Form (for shooting-duh!) or the Stealth Form (for sneaky tactical fighting). Each form has its strengths and weaknesses, which adds to the strategy in that you have to experiment with the enemies to formulate a new strategy. This is great because people like me get tired of the brainless button-mashing action games of today.

The story is mostly standard; former hero goes crazy and invents evil substance, three heroes arrive on the scene, crash their ship, and get separated. You play as young ''shaper'' Nevin, who gets a special suit made out of the substance, which gives him shapeshifting, time-controlling, and world-altering abilities. Tries to save friends, ends up having to save world, yada, yada, yada. The action is the real star.

The game isn't really all that hard, although it can get tricky in some areas. It should take an average gamer 6-8 hours to beat, and the replay value is zero. No varying difficulties, bonuses, or games to unlock. Once you're done, you're done. That makes it a great rental, but purchasing is a no-no unless you really love this game, although don't let these faults turn you off to AE.

What sucks is the fact that this game probably isn't going to sell well because it tries something new and takes time to hook you into it. That means no sequel, which really sucks because as a series this game could attain perfection. I highly recommend it; have patience and you'll get hooked and agree with me that a game that makes you think can be fun if you just give it a chance.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/29/03