Altered Beast review:
All in all, a nice concept which still has some charm but handled in a bad way. I really wanted to like this one. Sure it was fun but it had the depth of the puddle of mud to which it belongs.
Altered Beast review:
If you're a huge and indiscriminating fan of the third-person hackandslash, there's nothing here you haven't seen before, and seen done a lot better. If you're a die-hard fan of the original game, you'll probably be disappointed by the shonky new plot and lack of a multiplayer mode, something which for many people was the whole point of the Mega Drive version.
Altered Beast review:
There's a fine line between "classic" and just plain "old", and while some games of yesteryear are worth resurrecting, others simply aren't. As far as Altered Beast goes, we'd have to argue it falls into the latter category.
Altered Beast review:
Sega update the Mega Drive launch title, whose only notable feature was awful Elmer Fudd style sampled speech. This reimagining is just as undistinguished and yes, should be avoided.
Altered Beast review:
Altered Beast was one of the well-known titles of the retro gaming world, its name still lingering today. Determined to bring the game's name to the forefront of the current generation, though, Sega has recreated the original, bringing it abruptly from 2D to 3D in a third-person action adventure.During Altered Beast you play a man sent to investigate a chemical crisis in a largely natural environment consisting of ancient catacombs, lush forests crawling with small animals, and pristine lakes. In a harsh contrast to this paradise, though, the area is littered with various monsters and, tangled within the mystery, you discover the ability to transform into various creatures. Using your newfound power you set out to discover what lies beneath the mayhem enveloping you.In a nutshell, Altered Beast is all about transforming into powerful creatures such as a werewolf, a giant bird and an ogre and slicing hordes of monsters - those usually coming in the form of annoying creatures such as enlarged bats and bees and pesky, naked zombies - in half, light exploration and simplistic puzzles that require you to use each of your forms to the best of their ability breaking up the action. The gameplay does grow repetitive quickly, but there is some motivation to continue if only to check out what kind of beast forms you'll acquire next.Transforming into the eight or so beasts in the game - each becoming progressively available as you defeat boss monsters usually encountered at the end of each area - is as simple as holding down the Circle button anywhere in the environment and selecting one. Following the selection of each beast is one of a small collection of short, gory full-motion videos depicting the transformation - eyeballs will explode, blood will stream and splatter, skin will tear and bones will snap. Reverting back into your human form is even more simple, one tap of the Circle button being all that is required.Considering the game is largely based on fighting, it's helpful that you can attack in human form using a small selection of combos. However, you'll likely die if you try to take on more than three or so monsters; your hits are no match for the larger ones, barely even budging them, making such encounters more suited to, for example, your werewolf form. While in werewolf form - or any other form, for that matter - attacks won't hurt you as much and you'll be faster and stronger and often more agile. You'll also have a few devastating special attacks up your sleeve, making smashing through large groups of monsters creating an array of flying limbs and blood seem like child's play.Of course, such extreme power doesn't come free; your spirit meter, situated below your health meter, will drain during the time you're transformed into any of the currently available beasts. If you allow it to drain completely your health will begin to drain, resulting in the display of the 'Game Over' screen, which you don't want to happen considering save points are often so scarce. Therefore, an element of strategy comes into play, deepening the value of the game's gameplay.Replenishing your spirit meter can be done in either of two ways: killing enemies or sucking enemies' spirits right out of their bodies. The latter can only be performed while in human form and after you've weakened the enemy; tap the Triangle button and your character will slam a powered fist into the monster's stomach - repeatedly tapping the Triangle button from this point will see the life be sucked out of them and injected into your spirit meter. Unfortunately, though, considering the weakness of your human form in combat, this method is rarely useful whenever your target has a comrade or two around as they'll simply push you away, making taking spirits from their dead bodies much more appealing. It's a good idea to keep your spirit meter full; I found myself, fairly often, running into large battles that required my beast forms, leaving me madly attempting to kill all of the monsters present in order to scavenge precious spirits from their carcasses rather than having a nice and relaxed - though hectic and violent - fight.Many groups of monsters that you encounter will bear a colourful, smoky glow, indicating that they hold special items such as enemy data or genomes. Genomes are strands of DNA that can be used in the game's status menu, allowing you to quickly and easily upgrade each of your beast forms by giving them new attack combos and special moves. This is a great addition to the game that progressively adds depth and variety to the fighting, which would otherwise be bland and a button-mashing fest.GraphicsAltered Beast's graphics are definitely its strongest asset and are actually some of the best on the console. The whole game has a realistic look to it due to the soft multitude of colours that the detailed textures hold, the often great lighting effects and the smoke, mist, and dirt that float through the air often create an atmospheric effect. There has also been some successful attempt at a deeper creation of atmosphere, specifically in the forest area where small frogs and other animals crawl about while leaves stir across the grass, but this unfortunately isn't consistently present.The character models, like the environments, are excellent, though some of the monsters such as the zombies are generally bland in terms of colour, and the animation is well done. Slicing monsters into pieces during battles sends blood and body parts - as mentioned earlier - flying all over the place, this accentuated through effects involving the camera; hit an enemy while facing the camera and blood will splatter across the lens.SoundIt's unfortunate that the same praise cannot be dealt to the game's sound; while the music is decent despite the repetitive battle tunes, many of the sound effects are of terribly poor quality, sounding muffled and aged and only serving to provide a harsh contrast to the visual aspects of Altered Beast.OverallAltered Beast is a pleasure to look at and is overall an enjoyable albeit generally empty and repetitive adventure, the ability to transform into and upgrade beast forms injecting it with the level of variety it needed to keep it from failing. Thumbs UpTransform into and upgrade beast formsFantastic graphicsThumbs DownLargely empty in terms of storylineVery repetitivePoor quality sound full size >>
Altered Beast review:
Thankfully, there are several variations for these cutscenes with each beast transformation, which keeps these cutscenes somewhat interesting. However, after being forced to watch these cutscenes after every mutation becomes a nuisance and detracts from the little compelling action that is on offer.
Altered Beast review:
It doesn’t bode well for the quality of a game when its North American release is cancelled shortly before the planned release date. Doubly so when that game is already finished and has the instant recognisability that Altered Beast does. For reasons best known to itself, Sega has deemed this modern reimagining of a classic arcade game to be unmarketable in the very territory it was developed for, yet has somehow seen fit to release it throughout Europe. What’s going on here then?
Altered Beast review:
Altered Beast is more than disappointing. In fact,it’s atrocious. Sega got the first home version of the game very, very wrongback in the 16-bit days, and are seemingly trying to keep up appearances withthis new version. I can’t recommend the game at all, not with the likes of DevilMay Cry and a million and one better titles hanging about your local gamestore for less money.
Altered Beast preview:
Sixteen years ago you were raised from the dead by Zeus to rescue his daughter from an evil magician. He wanted you to walk from left to right, punch and kick monsters, collect energy pills an mutate into a monster yourself, and punch and kick. The mission wasn't much fun, neither was the game but that wasn't what Altered Beast really meant when it came out in 1988. It had big characters that mutated, so who cares if it wasn't any fun beyond that basic premise? Sega, obviously, because they have decided that it's time to crack the whip against the bloody back of an aged property and see if they can get it to sing some more... in three dimensions!
Altered Beast review: