E3 '07: Echochrome Trailer Impressions

At Sony's E3 07 press conference, during Phil Harrison's presentation on the PlayStation Network, a brand-new title was announced as both a PSN download and a PlayStation Portable retail title. The new game is called Echochrome, and is being developed by Sony's internal Japan studio.

The game itself is a puzzle title in the vein of something like Crush, in that you control a person throughout each puzzle. However, each stage is modeled after an MC Escher-style environment. Each area shown had a variety of dead-end spots, as well as portals your character could fall through, which would reset him back at the beginning of the level. However, by shifting the perspective of the camera, the landscape of the environment would completely change. Line up a dead end so that it connects with another portion of the level, and a bridge will be built allowing you to travel to the other side. If you rotate the camera so that a portal is blocked from view, it will effectively disappear, allowing you to move over it with no problem.

The short trailer displayed only a few different scenarios, but each seemed wholly unique and very cool. The trailer also showed the game's austere visual style. Every stage was backgrounded by pure white, and all the stages, as well as your character, were simply outlined in black. It's a stylish and attractive look, in spite of its simplicity.

We'll be sure to bring you more on this intriguing puzzler as it becomes available.