Разработчик: SEGA
Описание
Прошло немного времени с тех пор, как они выгнали семью Экко из Домашней бухты. Тогда Экко проплыл через множество неизвестных мест, чтобы победить злыдней.
К сожалению, королева Вортексов не была уничтожена. Она преследовала Экко еще со своего улья в далеком космосе, попав на эту новую, наполненную жизнью планету. Теперь же, погрузившись в теплые воды Земли, она пытается найти глубокую пропасть и постепенно опускается в самые темные места океана, где рождается маленькие пришельцы Вортекс.
Кормя своих малюток, она делает их сильнее и сильнее, создавая очень опасную силу, которой не способны устоять маленькие рыбкиn. Она создает новую расу Вортексов, а её присутствие на Земле ставит под удар всех живых существ!
Экко должен избавить мир от поглощающего его зла. Будущее неминуемо близко. Но должно ли оно быть темным, должны ли Вортексы управлять планетой, должно ли будущее быть несчастным, холодным и беспощадным? Есть ли у Земли шанс на спасение?
Экко должен остановить Вортексов! Он — тот, который разрушает привычный всем ход времени. И на этот раз ему придется выполнить самую опасную миссию из всех, что он когда-либо знал. Не ради себя, не ради своего плавника — ради жизни на Земле!
Поддерживаемые языки: english
Системные требования
Windows
- ОС: Windows® XP или новее
- Видеокарта: с 32 МБ видеопамяти или лучше
- DirectX®: DirectX® 9.0 или новее
- Жесткий диск: 50 МБ свободного места
- OS *: Windows® XP or higher
- Graphics/CPU: NVidia GeForce GTX 280 or ATI Radeon HD 6630 or equivalent DirectX® 9c or higher 1GB VRam / Intel i3-2100 or AMD Phenom II X4 940 or equivalent dual core CPU
- DirectX®: DirectX® 9c or greater
- Hard Drive: 50MB free disc space
Mac
Processor: 2.6GHz Intel Core i5
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: Intel Iris 1536
Linux
Processor: Intel i3-2100 or AMD Phenom II X4 940 or equivalent dual core CPU
Graphics: NVidia GeForce GTX 280 or ATI Radeon HD 6630 or equivalent DirectX® 9c or higher 1GB VRam
Отзывы пользователей
Ecco: The Tides of Time is a direct sequel to Ecco the Dolphin. It was developed once again by Novotrade, later known as Appaloosa Interactive, along with Sega of America, I believe. Released in 1994. 16 Meagbit ROM. Uses passwords.
It got Sega CD version which has a differently composed redbook soundtrack, albeit both Genesis and CD ones are good in their own right. This one is more dramatic, so to say. Oh, and some FMV scenes. And it got port to 8-bit Sega machines. Heavily cut down, albeit level layouts and puzzles are different.
The game that you have here is nothing more than emulation of Sega Genesis version.
Now, technical part about Sega's emulation here:
The Sega Classic games that you purchase on Steam count as DLCs for "Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics" game that should appear in your library.
It has Bedroom HUB which is the one with many features yet lags for many and Simply Launcher which lacks Workshop and Online but at least it works just fine for everybody.
However, Simple Launcher has it's fair share of glitches as well. It can crash. And it does the second time you go to main menu, so always quit after saving there so it doesn't crash when you want to save next time!
Emulation itself, mostly sound, isn't that good but it does it's job. Also, yes, emulator supports quick saves.
As alternative, you can use external emulator to run games that you purchased. Sega kindly placed in all games that you purchased in "uncompressed ROMs" folder that program itself doesn't use, just change file extension to ".bin" or so. The file for this one being "ECCO2_U.68K".
I also demand you to read digital manual of this game first. You can find it here on store page or go to "manuals" folder of game root and open "ECCO2_PC_MG_EFIGS_US.pdf".
Plotwise this game is a direct continuation to the first Ecco, with prologue given if you wait at title screen long enough, after the first attract mode. I recommend playing original the first. This dolphin might not have to break at first but you will lose this power soon enough to go back to surviving gameplay of limited air in this homey yet hostile world. The game actually ends on a sorta cliffhanger, albeit if I didn't know that Ecco 3 was supposed to be made I would have thought that it has an interesting ending. I mean, it does solve the current crisis. None the less, the 'secret password' that keeps your stats for Ecco 3 is as good as useless.
And no, Ecco The Dolphin: Defender of the Future on Dreamcast was a reboot, not the third game.
You start a game in a sorta menu level. Going left will lead you to the password. Going right-top will lead you to easy mode. Going up – hard mode. There are actually three levels that can be accessed only in hard mode. It's actually a bit easier than original Western Genesis Ecco 1, so people who beat that game should go hard immeditly. And if you go right then you will get normal mode. According to manual, it's a self-adjucting setting, depending on how well you are beating stages. I think it just switches between easy and hard but not sure. Hard also puts more obstacles into levels.
You once again get into control of a dolphin Ecco. Once again you get to swim around in a pleasant yet realistical fashion, moving slowly with D-Pad, C for speeding up and using B for dashing that you can hit enemies with. And just like dolphin you use sonar on A. You communicate with sentient beings this way. Not only that, but if you hold A then sonar will come back and you get a map of level in that direction. Just like dolphins the devs expect you to use it all time, having various traps, so it should become a habit. Thank god the map itself is bigger than in Ecco 1. Also, don't forget to find the air sources this way. And eat fish to regain health.
And yea, gauges when you pause the game is still just a pause symbol.
Protip: Hold D-Pad when jumping for better contorl when sliding on slopes outside of water.
Ecco also kept all unlocked powers from the first adventure. If you press dash and then sonar then you will release a death sonar. And if you press dash as soon as you defeat enemy and is nearby then you will absorb the stars that it leaves behind, so enemy will not respawn. Yea, that's the important one.
Oh yea, and sometimes game designer seemingly randomly decide when you need to dash before death sonar and when A always shoots death sonar. I think that you don't have to dash in auto-scrolling levels. And against the not-so-natural-enemies. Such as Moray Abyss boss.
Protip: In sky autoscrolling levels you can sonar at moving holes to temporary close them.
The game also has some new powerups. You can find what looks like a pulsing sonar circle. Sonaring it will give you a powerup until the end of level. Just quickly double tap the sonar and you will release death sonar in all direction. Whoop! You may also find a Metasphere. Grab one and Ecco will transform into another being! Sadly, they don't become a part of core gameplay. There are sections of levels where designers were intented you to use certain morph and then they placed one such sphere nearby. So it's more like a minigame or something for diversity. Still neat.
Protip: Hold Up when grabbed and thrown by giant medusa.
You got another fun thing: Pseudo-3D stages that act as simulation of Ecco using teleport rings to pass long distances. They are forced, yep, have to beat them, places occaionaly. Ecco is swimming forward, things are coming at you, you have to pass through the rings, health is still a thing. They don't last too long and they are quite fun, actually. But I feel that they could make the scaling animation much smoother, it hard to tell a distance sometimes. Still looks nice, with effect of going above water.
Protip: There are few pre-teleport stages with “find the magic arm” glyph. Once you find this enemy you can grab bubbles that it releases from it's tail occasionally. You will get a super-attack for 3D stages. The more you grab the more you get. You do it with charge then sonar.
As for level design itself, this is a main reason why game is easier than the original. Simple: the game doesn't focus on very core levels that are surviving in the big mazes of dead ends and limited air. Levels are now either shorter or have some gimmick to it. Not that I complain, it's quite fun. Final boss could be harder however. It doesn't focus so much on understanding hints from the glyphs and it's more story-driven. Oh well. But hey, there are still puzzles!
Talking of glyphs, there are more kind of keys and doors ones. Remember to sonar just in case it's a hint. There is a strange flat glyph that gets tall once you sonar it. It's a checkpoint. Don't forget to reactivate it after continuing from checkpoint!
And yea, unlike many games at a time there are no limited lives.
Protip: Yes, you have to shake glyphs off in the second level.
Graphics have improved. They are much more different. More CGI-ish feel. None the less, a nice variety. The underwater deciption is still as amazing and beautiful as ever, albeit you can still tell that they didn't have enough ROM to make background tiles appear smooth. They have square-tiles appearance, aha, as tiles don't always fit to each other. The music also is really good. It seemed to change to appear more omnious. It does become quite action-like at times. To fitting moments, mhm.
Overall, it's a pretty nice sequel. It got the variety and works up the story and weirdness. However I feel that original Ecco is much more pure experience. Maybe because it focused on core survival levels more. Or maybe because of story that didn't reveal anything at first. Think of it like Portal 1 vs Portal 2, aha. Sorta.
Игры похожие на Ecco™: The Tides of Time
Дополнительная информация
| Разработчик | SEGA |
| Платформы | Windows, Mac, Linux |
| Ограничение возраста | Нет |
| Дата релиза | 15.01.2025 |
| Отзывы пользователей | 100% положительных (2) |