The concept may be really weird and random—Tony Hawk meets Devil May Cry in some surreal purplish pink space future—but Alter Echo is tailor-made for anyone bored to tears by smacking the old fashioned way. Alter Echo places you in the role of a fellow named Nevin, a “Shaper” who has the ability to morph a substance called Echoplast to his will. This notion manifests itself in the gameplay as the ability to switch between three different forms on the fly—a normal “sword guy” form, a big mech form, and a stealthy canine-lizard form—in order to combat hordes of weird aliens. The game’s deep fighting system is the star, requiring thinking on a reflexive pseudo-strategic level, and it’s really fun to switch forms and chain moves together in hyper-ridiculous 162-hit combos. The game does a really good job of keeping you from overusing one particular form as certain enemies adapt to repeated attacks, while others are simply immune to one form of attack or another. The look of Alter Echo is sold through cool reflections, awesome special effects, and a really neat, cohesive, and logical organic style; the game takes place entirely on one “living planet” that serves as your guide throughout the game. Unfortunately, that means almost every area looks pretty much the same (get used to the colors purple and pink); the textures used have a simple, almost PlayStation-ish look to them. The music is a bit too mellow to go with the gameplay, but the voice acting is entertaining and over the top, and the gloopy blast-whacks help sell the exaggerated smack-shooting. Alter Echo may ultimately wind up going the way of Shinobi, another superficial-looking game with surprising fighting depth for those patient enough to plumb for it. There’s more to this planet than meets the eye.
