Hello all, and welcome to the RaiView. Here I shall review various mainstream or underground games. For my first game, I choose:
General Overview: For those of you who actually played this, you would know that its not all too bad really, but it has a few major flaws that could've actually made it better.
Facade: Okay, lets take a quick look at the box art:
First off is the title, which is... very ambiguous and confusing. We all know "alter" means, I'm sure, but what about "echo"? Echoes are just the deflection of sound waves that cause us to hear the same sound over and over again, right? So, I'm guessing from the title we're going to be changing sounds? And what about the guy in the cover? Are we playing as the alien or him? Or is he the alien? Well, let's look at the back, maybe that gives us some ans-.... Okay, we have another alien, this time with a gun. I'm guessing we're going to be playing as him too. Hmmm... "Its an altered world. Learn to adapt." Well I can guess that we're going to be "altering" something... "In the future, the most powerful substance ever made can control time and physics. Only a chosen few can control it. But only one can save us from it. You are the one." Okay, if you can control it, why do you need to be saved from it? You know what? I'm just going to look at the side pics. "Instantly morph into 3 different forms: Sword Form, Stealth Form, and Gun Form." Oh, so we are going to be playing as the guy and the aliens! "Use Time Dilation to stop time and cue up insane combos." Oh, well that sounds fun. "Intense action in a unigue universe." I'm guessing Earth does not have anything to do with this game... Okay, so the box art doesn't really help with advertising how good the game is. Next paragraph...
Imagery: Okay, when it comes to scenery, the game defines space- case. Seriously, everything is unique and smooth and its just... good. I really can't say any more about this than that.
Combat: Well, the gameplay is quite nice, but the flow maybe a little sketchy here and there, but nothing too much to notice. The ability to transform into three different forms allows for great variety and the scenery and the foes you face actually forces you to use them, making them actually... useful. However, one thing gets in the way: Camera Controls. I don't know why, but it works quite well during normal gameflow, but when it comes to bosses, it absolutely sucks and doesn't help you at all! In fact, it actually makes the fight harder than it actually is! Man...
Characterization: How can I put this? All the characters are pretty much... average. They don't really show any form of development at all. Heck, even the most dramatic situations don't really add up to any emotion. Seriously, look at their faces! They never change expressions!
Story: You're on a mission and you get seperated from your allies. Then, you find yourself in an alternate world wearing some weird suit and you keep hearing voices guiding you throughout your adventure so you could help said voice into defeating some insane villain. Aside from the voices in your head, this story isn't all that original.
Other: Strangely, this game has a second version on the Xbox with a different costume and area designs and much crisper graphics... Why? Why would you make a second version thats actually better? Seriously, why didn't you do all that stuff on the first version? How redundant is that!?
Overall Grade: D, Its pretty good when it comes to scenery and combat, but the undeveloped characterization and storyline hinder it from reaching its top peak.
General Overview: For those of you who actually played this, you would know that its not all too bad really, but it has a few major flaws that could've actually made it better.
Facade: Okay, lets take a quick look at the box art:
First off is the title, which is... very ambiguous and confusing. We all know "alter" means, I'm sure, but what about "echo"? Echoes are just the deflection of sound waves that cause us to hear the same sound over and over again, right? So, I'm guessing from the title we're going to be changing sounds? And what about the guy in the cover? Are we playing as the alien or him? Or is he the alien? Well, let's look at the back, maybe that gives us some ans-.... Okay, we have another alien, this time with a gun. I'm guessing we're going to be playing as him too. Hmmm... "Its an altered world. Learn to adapt." Well I can guess that we're going to be "altering" something... "In the future, the most powerful substance ever made can control time and physics. Only a chosen few can control it. But only one can save us from it. You are the one." Okay, if you can control it, why do you need to be saved from it? You know what? I'm just going to look at the side pics. "Instantly morph into 3 different forms: Sword Form, Stealth Form, and Gun Form." Oh, so we are going to be playing as the guy and the aliens! "Use Time Dilation to stop time and cue up insane combos." Oh, well that sounds fun. "Intense action in a unigue universe." I'm guessing Earth does not have anything to do with this game... Okay, so the box art doesn't really help with advertising how good the game is. Next paragraph...
Imagery: Okay, when it comes to scenery, the game defines space- case. Seriously, everything is unique and smooth and its just... good. I really can't say any more about this than that.
Combat: Well, the gameplay is quite nice, but the flow maybe a little sketchy here and there, but nothing too much to notice. The ability to transform into three different forms allows for great variety and the scenery and the foes you face actually forces you to use them, making them actually... useful. However, one thing gets in the way: Camera Controls. I don't know why, but it works quite well during normal gameflow, but when it comes to bosses, it absolutely sucks and doesn't help you at all! In fact, it actually makes the fight harder than it actually is! Man...
Characterization: How can I put this? All the characters are pretty much... average. They don't really show any form of development at all. Heck, even the most dramatic situations don't really add up to any emotion. Seriously, look at their faces! They never change expressions!
Story: You're on a mission and you get seperated from your allies. Then, you find yourself in an alternate world wearing some weird suit and you keep hearing voices guiding you throughout your adventure so you could help said voice into defeating some insane villain. Aside from the voices in your head, this story isn't all that original.
Other: Strangely, this game has a second version on the Xbox with a different costume and area designs and much crisper graphics... Why? Why would you make a second version thats actually better? Seriously, why didn't you do all that stuff on the first version? How redundant is that!?
Overall Grade: D, Its pretty good when it comes to scenery and combat, but the undeveloped characterization and storyline hinder it from reaching its top peak.