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Altered Beast Review - PS2

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 ... (continued next page)