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The Lowdown
Pros: Plenty of creatures to transform into with a personalized combo
system.
Cons: The antiquated graphics, simplistic game engine and campy voice
acting makes this a B-rated title.
 Purchase
at Play-Asia
 Purchase
at Lik-Sang
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Altered Beast is one of those enigmatic Sega franchises that lived
in the 16 bit era never to move on. The first title, which debuted as a
8 bit Sega Master System title ended up being a pack in for the Genesis
in the US. Tons of gamers owned it and spent hours morphing into a lion
beast. Sega console after console went without any update of the
Altered Beast series. Fast forward to the Playstation 2 and out of
nowhere Sega announces a brand new Altered Beast game entitled Jyuouki:
Project Altered Beast. Fans of the series, especially those who
reminisced about playing the original game were excited. Then without
much of a statement Sega pulled Altered Beast from an American release.
Why would Sega deprive fans of a sequel they've been waiting for after
so many years?Maybe it's because Altered Beast and Project Altered
Beast have few similarities. The settings of the two games are completely
different. The original Altered Beast had a Greek setting and mythology
behind it. While Project Altered Beast takes a modern approach with
mutations and DNA. The character you play as is a mysterious cybernetic
soldier. After surviving a helicopter crash he's under attack by a large
group of faceless assailants. His instinct takes over and he mutates
into a giant werewolf. The unstable transformation makes him fall to the
ground where a trench coat wearing brunette comes by and injects him with
a vial or purple serum.
After telling the soldier to "not let the beast within go out of
control" she disappears. Why does the soldier have the power to
morph and what is he going to accomplish? That's for the players to find
out. From here on the story is told in chunks,
between levels. Eventually, the mystery will unfold, but it's too
predictable to be entertaining. Inconsistent voice acting makes the fair
story dip into the campy sci-fi realm. Flat deliveries and weak dialogue is
more a kin to Sega's House of the Dead series than an A-list title.
The story segments are really just bathroom breaks from the nonstop
mutant battling the game consists of. Project Altered Beast's gameplay
is broken up into different levels. After beating a boss from one area
you'll gain a new transformation and move to the next stage. There is a
little required backtracking in between areas, but there isn't any
reason to explore the world. The level design is straightforward too.
You follow one path to the end with a few branching points throughout
the whole game. While you're pacing your way to the super sized boss
monster other enemies will attack you. When you enter a new room or area
the game sets up an invisible wall that will only disappear after
killing most of the enemies around you. The problem with this mechanic
is that you're always forced to fight. It is kind of silly that you're
playing as a super powerful monster, that's trapped like a rat by some
foggy walls. Sega might have opted for this option because if you didn't
have to spend so much time fighting a stage would take all of a minute
to run through.
Yes you'll be spending the lion's share of your time with Project
Altered Beast mastering the combo system and mashing buttons away. Each
monster has different types of attacks mapped out for square, X and
triangle. When you're playing as the werewolf square deals out a swift
slash of the claws and pressing X causes you to do a mid air spinning
attack. Things change when you're the wendingo. Square now deals out a
heavy punch and X is just a light hop. Gameplay changes from monster to
monster and it's up to you to decide whether its more useful to be a
heavy hitting minotaur or a fast attacking werewolf. When you're in
beast form, the green transformation meter drains. When this meter runs
out you'll lose life while you're in beast form. Fighting while in human
form is almost worthless, which means players will have to keep their
transformation meter in constant check. Most enemies will drop green or
red blobs when they're splattered all over the floor. The green puddles
increase your beast meter. Essentially you'll have to keep fighting just
to stay in beast mode. If you've played Shinobi for the PS2 you'll have
a good idea of how Sega uses this mechanic. On paper it sounds like this
will drive gamers to fight, but instead it just makes the game more
tedious.
Sometimes you'll see enemies that look just like all of the others
with one exception, they have a cloud of smoke around them. Finish one
of these guys off and you'll gain a combination point. Combination
points come into play in Project Altered Beast's custom combo system. By
spending these points you can change how you end a combo, set up juggles
and wide range attacks. Unfortunately, the game never tells you exactly
what move you will be getting when you spend you combo points. Since you
won't always be getting what you expect, or better put hope for, most
players won't spend too much time with the combo system. Each creature
from merman to dragon has their own combo map. This means there are lots
of ways to play the same game.
Project Altered Beast wouldn't be an Altered Beast game without
morphing into monsters. There are only a handful of monsters that you
can change into, but they alter gameplay significantly. If you play as
the slow moving wendigo you'll focus more on freezing enemies in place
so you can charge a heavy punch. On the other hand if you play as the
minotaur you'll try to draw enemies to you so you can hit a bunch of them
at once. Some transformations like changing into the merman completely
alter the gameplay. In merman form you have the ability to swim
underwater, but the combo system is reduced to a simple combo. Another
change is when you turn into the bird beast, Garuda. Instead of
swimming, you'll be flying. These changes are a nice break from the
standard gameplay.
Something really disappointing in Project Altered Beast is the low
quality of graphics in the game. The actual gameplay engine graphics are
full of jagged edges. Just look at the werewolf and his razor sharp fur
or the main character's blocky torso as an example. The background
environments are uninspired. A few trees or rock statues are scattered
about, it's as basic as scenery can get. The FMVs don't get much better.
The beast transformations have a cheesy late 80's sci fi feel to them.
The other movies are told in monochrome flashbacks. Neither is a good
use of having videos inside the game. Project Altered Beast looks like
it's from the Playstation era while it needs to be from the PS2 period.
The way the music is set up in Project Altered Beast is flat out
annoying. There is a decent soundtrack in the game, but it's hidden from
the player. When you're in beast for a specific track is played. It's
always the same song while you're a beast. Since you're spending almost
all of the game as a beast you'll hear that same song until you hit the
mute button on the remote. The only way to hear other songs is to morph
into the weaker human form. Touching on the voice acting again, Project
Altered Beast really needs help in this department. The poor quality of
voice acting will lead to laughs or yawns.
Ultimately, Project Altered Beast isn't an awful game. It's just
mediocre on all levels. After playing this through I can see why Sega
decided on axing a US release. It really doesn't compare to other action
games out on the market. If you're looking for a simple hack and slash
title Project Altered Beast will entertain you for one play through. If
you're looking for a worthy sequel to a classic title Project Altered
Beast won't deliver.
Gameplay hints and a few Japanese menus are minor concerns. The all English cast and easy to learn gameplay makes this
title ripe for importing.
US Bound?
Sega cancelled a US release for Project Altered Beast awhile ago,
which means it's unlikely that this will get a US release.
Overall
Project Altered Beast is a quality B-rated title, but it just isn't
as entertaining as the huge lot of action titles out there.
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