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| Altered Beast |
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| Written by Nacien Pires |
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Thursday, 10 March 2005
 Let's hope that this update of SEGA's classic game isn't too much of an Altered Beast..
This review was written by a freelance writer for AltGaming. If you would like to write freelance for AG, please contact
WHAT?! You do not remember Altered Beast? It was a classic Megadrive game! No idea?! You have to be kidding me, right? No? Come on, it is the one where you begin in a world with rising tombstones and skeletal warriors, pink and blue pigs and little creatures that are heads with winds trying to munch on you with their sharp, yellow teeth. Am I retarded? I will give you “Are you retarded?”! What kind of a person has never played Altered Beast, let alone someone who has not heard of it! You are a man, you know, THE man with the purple or blue robe who starts off just as a normal man and then when you beat the blue pigs to death you have to catch the crystal orbs that come out of them to make you stronger and more muscular. If you keep collecting them then you become more buff than the mighty Arnold Schwarzenegger until the point where you body cannot take it anymore and you transform into a werewolf! Shut up! You MUST know the werewolf part! Well when you progress onto the later levels of the game you change into different things such as a dragon or a…………fine. Just forget it, OK?
Yes, we all know and love it as if it was our own child. Altered Beast was the all time classic released in the 1990’s. The title was no sequel, it was a lot like other SEGA titles released in the same era, and became extremely popular with all of those 90’s gamers - who have treasured every moment they played the now-retro title. However, there was no sequel ever made and so all the buff men were forgotten and the beasts they transformed into became myths. Then out of the blue, Altered Beast was set to be released on the Playstation 2 with an all-new look, in depth story and more monsters to change into. Altered Beast is an excellent title, showcasing the talent of arcade platformer that SEGA are so renowned for.
This new title has taken a bit of a change and has turned a little away from the theme of the original. With the purple and blue robes, the rising tombstones, mosaic like designs and mythical creatures all complete with tentacles and all other forms of mythical character, there was a very strong theme of an ancient world to it. The first that comes to mind is a Greek or Roman like setting. Now the series has taken a bit of a turn towards SEGA’s recent obsession with technology, DNA mutation and all kinds of recent science.
You take control of a genetically modified soldier. Flying through the air over a monster infested, mist covered location is a helicopter manned by two pilots with a large crate in the cargo area. From out of nowhere a huge flying demon attacks the helicopter, smashing through the windshield and kills both of the pilots. Flying out of control, the helicopter then crash lands into the eerie location below. How, it is not known but the soldier survives the firing inferno and comes out of it alive and well. Searching the site, he comes across a file entitled along the lines of DNA Mutation Project. This puts instant and puzzling questions in his mind but he is soon interrupted by a group of ugly, amphibian like creatures that come at him with their sharp claws. Losing control in the heat of battle, you see his first mutation, an amazing CGI cut scene where his body mangles and changes into the first available creature---the werewolf. As this blue, hairy and terrifying creature you are able to rip your way through the monsters more than easily, tearing them in half, ripping their heads off, slashing them to pieces and spurting fountains of blood in large puddles on the floor.
Crazed and confused with this ability, the soldier must now battle his way through what seems to be an old cemetery and get to the bottom of it all.
That is as far as the story goes to tell you the truth. You battle your way through each level, fighting against a numerous amount of enemies of all different shapes and sizes until you reach then end and are confronted by a boss. After ripping your way into him with your hack and slash moves, plus some special moves you acquire along the way, you will defeat him and then gain another gene so you can change and mutate into another creature. There are six or so in total for you to collect. In between all of the levels you will then get another slice of the story that develops gradually until you come to the root of it all and all is revealed on the soldiers creation, purpose and powers.
All of the levels within the game are diverse and have their own location character to them. Starting in the first level, as said, you will crash and find yourself in a forest, mountainous like cemetery that is in a secluded area filled with mist. Then you will have to traverse through other levels that are different; some being through gothic style buildings, other being in a rocky gorge like terrain and even some are underwater! To go along with each of the levels there are of course a lot of enemies for you to hack your way through and that is what you are doing most of the time. The creatures range from those at the beginning, evil blood sucking bats to huge merman fish monsters that crash out from the depths of the ocean. Another thing to the levels is that when you enter into an area where there are a large and numerous amount of monsters, a veil of mist will block your path, forcing you to dispose of them all before you are allowed to progress onto the next level. This of course has been put in so the game is a little lengthier and so you forced to fight all of the enemies to prolong the experience and give you enough opportunity to transform into beast mode. When you kill an enemy it will drop its life force or health and with these walls of fog forcing you to fight them, it is actually doing it for your own good.
Throughout most of the game you will be transforming into the werewolf, simply because he is one of the best beasts that are available to you. The controls within the game are very simple, comprising of buttons square, x and circle; square performing a string of basic attacks, x making you jump and circle using a special move. A little later on the fighting system becomes a little more advanced but not by a great deal. When you collect special DNA strings, they will give you experience points and using them you can upgrade and obtain new chains of combos that can then comprise not only of the square button but also integrating it with triangle and x. Each of the beasts that you can transform into within the game will all have their own signature moves, motions and characteristics as you play through the levels and you will notice that some have different strengths compared to others. Some of the beast forms are the werewolf, a merman, a minator, a wendigo and also an abominable snowman to name a few. Some will come in handy within certain levels more than others but you might find that you will have no need for some of them at all and that using a favoured one will be able to cover all of your needs in the game.
When you are in beast mode, after pressing triangle, a green meter, below the red health bar, begins to diminish whilst you are hacking away at your enemies with your strength and abilities. Over time, if you do not collect anymore of the green life force that is left after killing your enemies, the meter will soon run out completely and you will return to normal. You will have to keep an eye on it to make sure you do not suddenly turn back into a human at a very bad time. Some of the enemies you will need to change into a beast if you need to kill them and get through them; even on the first level you will come across thick skinned, fat monster-men that can absorb your punches and will only be killed quickly and effectively with the use of the werewolf’s claws.
Having the ability to change into more beasts later on gives the game a bit more of a variety other than the usual run around and button bash until all of the enemies are disposed of. Not only are all of the levels unique in their own look and environment but the actual types of level are different too when you change into a beast with its own unique ability. For instance, when you change into the bird-man beast, you will be able to fly in the sky to take out the enemies that prowl within the clouds or lofty and hard to reach places. On the other hand, when you mutate into the merman, you will be able to swim through the depths of lakes and rivers that you will have to navigate through in order to kill the enemy and progress further in the game. Although when you are in these kinds of environments the battles become simple again with a single string of combos, it allows you to do a little more and certainly a lot more than in the original, 2D title.
One thing that it very much reminds me of is the Dreamcast. It seems as though SEGA though that they were making this new Altered Beast for that console, as all of the design and game mechanics lean towards the many other titles that were released on it. Some of the scenery and monsters look so much like those from the House of the Dead series, it is unbelievable and it also has a faint hint of Zombie Revenge to it too. The graphics also seem to date back to that era and console, rather than having the high quality that many of the Playstation 2 title have showcased recently. All of the models are blocky and have flat looking textures to them not to mention how some of the beasts do look really fake and unrealistic. The scenery too has not got much depth to it and it is not until you get on top of things that the detail starts to show through. Although the locations are all different in their own way yet keeping that gothic style to it, Altered Beast has not got the same design flare and feast for the eyes that the original title had back on the megadrive. There are some cut scenes within the game but those are nothing special, designed with the same quality of those found on the Dreamcast or even the Playstation and the CGI looks as though it is very much computer animated, with the beast mutations looking sometimes really ridiculous but in some cases can be quite amazing.
As far as sound goes, Altered Beast very much has the arcade style tracks and sound effects. During the beast transformations there will be the hard rock music in the background with the growl from the character and a arcade ‘suped up’ sound. The monsters that you attack all have near enough the same groan and moan that are just different in little ways such as tone but others will have hisses and growls. Over the top slashing, hitting and super move sound effects are all here too and there really is no end to the classic arcade style that SEGA are excellent for and have had many successful titles in this style. After a while you will become bored with the constant music that all near enough sounds the same with its rock/pop theme and the monotonous hitting, slashing, biting, thumping, stabbing and whacking sounds will start to become more than a little annoying.
Altered Beast is an excellent arcade title. If this has been released as an arcade machine then there is no doubt in my mind that it would be one of the most popular ones in the arcade where everyone would crowd it and want a go. The levels are diverse but simplified, the bosses are the clichés arcade enemies, the super beast mutations are the perfect opportunity for a button bashing fest and just the overall experience and feel to this title shouts arcade machine! However, the Playstation 2 is not an arcade machine and although I did thoroughly enjoy the title, having a strong loyalty to the original title, this was a very big disappointment and there was a lot more that they could have done with it. In any case, a more detailed fighting system where all of the beasts were a little more unique rather than one signature move would have been appreciated. The game itself needed to become more of an epic adventure combined with the feel of the original title, with an in-depth plot and it was a bad mistake to turn the theme into a DNA mutation type game---this is what degraded it the most. This will not be remembered much, despite the classic having so much fame and renown, due to its common similarities with the countless hundreds of other games that have gone before it and will sadly come after it.
Fans of the original will have to give this game a go and even complete it to the end to acquire all of the beasts just to see how good they are. Those new to it should be aware that it is a good game for fun, one you can pick up and have a bash at but it is nothing much of gaming genius or a revolution or even an immortalisation of the original title to be a solid title worth the money and time. This one is one for acquired tastes – fans of the original game may be disappointed, but on the whole the new Altered Beast is worth a look.
Score: 7 |
| Last Updated ( Thursday, 10 March 2005 ) |
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