Getting Started
Set up your PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system according to its instruction manual. Make sure the MAIN POWER switch (located in the back of the console) is turned on.
Press the RESET button. When the power indicator lights up, press the open button and the disc tray will open. Place the Alter Echo™ disc on the disc tray with the label side facing up. Press the open button again and the disc tray will close. Attach game controllers and other peripherals, as appropriate. Follow on-screen instructions and refer to this manual for information on using the software.
Memory Cards
To save game settings and progress, insert a memory card (8MB) (for PlayStation®2) into MEMORY CARD slot 1 of your PlayStation®2.
You can load saved game data from the same card, or any memory card (8MB) (for PlayStation®2) containing previously saved Alter Echo™ games. For more information, see SAVING AND LOADING on page 28. PolySuit Abilities
Your PolySuit can also Stop Time! This suit's radically supercharged biocircuitry is so blindingly fast that it outspeeds time itself.
Once you learn how to operate your PolySuit, you can use its incredible speed to queue up a chain of awesome attacks while your enemies are frozen helpless in time, then unleash your assault to devastate them. More information on this can be found in the "Time Dilation" section on page 11.
Gun Form Special Attacks
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Grenade/Grenade Rocket—This special Gun Form attack drains all PolySuit energy. You can fire a grenade again when the energy has recharged.
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Boomerang—This Gun Form attack drains half of the PolySuit's energy.
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Invisibility—This special ability of the Stealth Form drains PolySuit energy while in use.
PolySuit energy recharges over time. Watch the little green meter to know when you can use the PolySuit's special abilities again.
Hit/Kill Display
Displays the number of consecutive hits you have landed on opponents and the number of enemies killed.
Plasm Score
Displays the amount of Plasm you currently have stored. Plasm is the raw Plast energy that you can “spend” to improve your PolySuit's abilities at Upgrade Nodes. Plasm is very valuable, so earn all you can.
Chain Level Meter
Displays the Level of the attack chain you are currently building. The more consecutive attacks you land and the more damage you do, the higher the level of your current chain, and the more Plasm you will earn.
To keep a chain of attacks going, you must land hits without any significant pauses in between. If an enemy blocks an attack, change your approach and strike a different way quickly to keep your chain going!
Chain Description
Lists the attacks you land on an opponent when you are building a chain.
Gameplay and Combat
Your PolySuit's extraordinary abilities provide you with a great variety of options when smacking down your enemies. The specific combat moves available at any time vary with the form of the suit you have activated.
Morph Moves
You can further dazzle and destroy your enemies by using special Morph Moves. These are highly effective assaults you unleash on your enemies as you morph from one form to another during a continuing attack chain.
For example, you can pounce on an enemy in Stealth Form then morph to Gun Form to give your enemy a taste of the gun barrel—up close and personal. In the same situation, morph to Sword Form to throw your enemy and crack some Plast on the hard ground.
PolySuit Attacks and Combos
Here's a list of moves. Some moves have an optional final component, known as a finisher. For instance, holding the button at the end of the Fatal Flurry combo adds a super cool slash-o-matic finishing move.
Note that you will have to earn some of these moves by spending Plasm to upgrade your PolySuit and weapons.
Sword Form
Upgrades
During the game you will encounter special Upgrade Nodes. In these special areas, you can "spend" the Plasm you have collected to upgrade your PolySuit in a variety of ways.
Some of the most important upgrades improve the basic weapons for your Sword and Gun Forms. Others increase your PolySuit's defenses (see Upgrade Nodes, page 17).
Powerups
Health
These blue spheres float slightly above the ground. Pick them up to refill a portion of your health meter.
Time Dilation
These floating orange spheres fill a portion of your Time Dilation meter.
Plasm
When picked up, these green spheres instantly add Plasm to your amount stored. Save up for that wicked upgrade you have in mind.
Time Dilation
Time Dilation allows you to freeze your enemies and unleash your best attacks before they even know what's coming. To use this power, you'll have to collect orange Time Dilation powerups to charge up your TD meter, the orange bar in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.
To enter Time Dilation, press the R3 button when you are within range of one or more enemies. If an enemy you want to attack isn't targeted, hold the R3 button down and move towards the enemy until a reticule appears around