You play a rather nerdy looking kid called Nevin who's spaceship gets shot down as it approaches plastic planet Proteus. Nevin has a talent; he can use his psychic ability to 'shape' the type of plastic found on Proteus (called 'Multiplast') into virtually anything. After ejection he miraculously gets eased to the ground and saved by a strange being with no apparent physical form who also supplies him with a special battlesuit that can morph between three forms and even stop time! It turns out that Proteus resident mad scientist and shaper Paavo has managed to develop the Multiplast into a new form (Echoplast) which gives the very fabric of the planet a consciousness, and this being (dubbed 'Echo' by Nevin) doesn't like what Paavo is doing…

   

Alter Echo has traces of Metroid Prime, Brute Force, Soul Reaver and yet doesn't really play like any of them. You play mostly from a third-person view but can control various weapons from a first person viewpoint. During the first few levels Echo teaches you how to use your amazing morphing, time controlling suit. The first form simply supplies you with a sword, with which you can perform various spectacular swipes and jumping slashes. You can also hit an enemy into the air and keep an attack going with a beat 'em up style 'juggle' attack (very damaging, and very satisfying). The second form is the gun mode - the suit morphs into a walking tank that can unleash cannon and grenade attacks. The final morph turns the suit into a stealthy quadruped that's able to turn invisible and climb onto walls and ceilings. Most of the levels are best attacked by using combinations of the three forms, and clever use of attacks to form chains or combos earns you more 'Plasm' which converts into points to be spent on enhanced weapons and attacks at upgrade nodes.

The Polysuit's other ability is possibly the best and the cleverest thing about Alter Echo. You enter the 'Time Dilation Mode' by clicking in the right stick; this freezes time and the screen changes to the time dilation grid. As two cursors converge in the middle you must press the required direction button at just the right time to start a chain (there's a timing bar and sound to help). By timing the presses correctly and steering the chain to the target you can complete a fatal and unblockable attack- and the best bit is that if several enemies are in range then they can all be taken out in a single chain - the spectacular time dilation attacks look great and add a nice variation on the combat.

   

And now for the bad news: Nevin joins the fast-growing band of awful, unappealing and unlikeable game characters that few gamers would consider as cool (although I could be wrong as Hario really likes him). I'd love to have sat in on that design session (I wonder what they were drinking?). The camera frequently points in completely the wrong direction and the scenery on Proteus is graphical mess of pastel colours with a moving texture on top - spectacular it ain't.

The game plays well but despite being broken down into smallish sections can frustrate until you figure out how to defeat a certain boss character or wave of enemies. Fun in small bursts, Alter Echo has lots of cool ideas but needed a more likeable main character and bit more substance…