Alter Echo was a strange, ambitious beast—an action-adventure title that dared to fuse multiple gameplay systems into something boldly experimental. It had style, ideas, and a confident strut all its own. But despite all this, the game didn’t walk away with awards. THQ’s gamble didn’t pay off commercially, and Alter Echo quietly faded into obscurity—at least for a while. Years later, it would resurface as a cult favourite, remembered by those who stumbled onto it as something genuinely ahead of its time.
But before Alter Echo became the shape-shifting, time-bending spectacle it’s now remembered as, it went through some major changes in its earliest form.
Back in its early development days, the game looked—and played—differently. The camera system mirrored that of Devil May Cry, relying on fixed cinematic angles to introduce players to action. Nevin, the game’s protagonist, was also nearly unrecognisable: a different face, a different suit, and different visual effects altogether. It was only after internal feedback from a THQ producer, who pointed out the visibility issues caused by the original camera, that Outrage made a drastic shift. The decision not only overhauled the game’s visual design but also impacted its performance, cutting the framerate from the intended slick 60 frames per second down to 30.
With the new direction in place, Alter Echo moved to a fully controllable 3D camera, and Nevin received his final redesign. His allies, Arana and Stom, still wore the original red/orange suits late into development—until the team finally settled on their now-iconic bluish armour for the retail release.
Apart from the visual differences, in the early E3 trailers shown, the time dilation for Nevin was much slower than the final release. There were different gunshot and slashing effects as well as different icons for the Time Dilation. The HUD colour was different. The running and jumping animations for Nevin were also different. Below, you’ll find a comprehensive gallery of the early changes, and more!
Early Footage of Alter Echo Build:
Later Build:
Concept Sketches
Videos:
This video contains info on the early look at Nevin and some different environments. Here they are:
- The walls Nevin uses to climb are green. In the final release, they’re blue.
- The legs of the agile form are green. They’re black in the final release
- Gun form has a sort of projectile that Nevin throws around, and it ricochets. In the final release, it is like a plasma orb.
Fan-documentary containing insights from Lead Designer Andy Crosby
