The New Machine is the Vortex hive on Earth (featured in Ecco: The Tides of Time). It was constructed after the Vortex Queen arrives on Earth after her defeat in the conclusion of Ecco The Dolphin. The name is a direct reference to the level The Machine from the first game.
Gameplay[]
The New Machine is featured in one level in the normal difficulty of Tides of Times and in one additional level (its namesake) in the hard difficulty. The auto-scrolling in the first level is considerably less difficult than seen in The Machine level and the New Machine hard difficulty level. In both Tides of Time levels, Ecco will encounter Vortex enemies, auto-scrolling, and green pellets much like as in The Machine (though the Tides of Time levels include new Vortex enemies).
In Tides of Time, the player is aided in navigating the machine sequences by glyphs that release small twinkles when sung to. The player will encounter these twinkles later on and if sung to, they will fly off in the direction the player should swim in.
Story[]
Ecco travels to the New Machine in Tides of Time to defeat the Vortex and Vortex Queen. After navigating the New Machine, he defeats the Queen, who then escapes as a Vortex Larvae.