Echoes of the Living
" Dark survival horror with nostalgic 90s style and immersive atmosphere but numerous bugs "
Echoes of the Living Review
Echoes of the Living is a survival horror game developed by a two-person team, paying homage to classic Resident Evil titles with fixed camera angles, tank controls, and atmospheric environments. Players praise its stunning visuals, detailed environments, and faithful recreation of 90s survival horror aesthetics, often comparing it favorably to the RE1 remake and Code Veronica. The game offers challenging gameplay with puzzles, exploration, and resource management, evoking nostalgia for fans of the genre.
However, the game is currently in early access and suffers from numerous bugs, including softlocks, save system failures, and enemy spawn issues. Players report frustrating control latency, inconsistent interactions, and unbalanced difficulty with scarce resources and overwhelming enemy placement. The absence of a map and manual save system complicates navigation and progression. Despite these flaws, the active developer support and rapid bug fixes provide hope for future improvements, making it a promising title for survival horror enthusiasts willing to overlook its current rough edges.
Highlights
Players highly praise the game's beautiful, detailed environments and authentic survival horror atmosphere reminiscent of classic Resident Evil games. The lighting, sound design, and fixed camera angles effectively build tension and immersion.
The gameplay mechanics, including tight movement, puzzles, and resource management, capture the spirit of 90s survival horror. Fans appreciate the challenging combat and the inclusion of melee weapons and firearms, as well as the varied enemy designs. The developers' dedication and responsiveness to community feedback are also frequently commended.
Criticisms
Common criticisms focus on the game's numerous bugs and technical issues, especially the broken save system that can cause progression loss and softlocks. The controls feel unresponsive and clunky, with input latency and awkward camera transitions.
Players find the difficulty unbalanced due to scarce resources, excessive enemy spawns, and cramped level design forcing frequent combat. The lack of a map and manual save options leads to frustrating backtracking and navigation. Some note the character models and voice acting are subpar compared to the environments. Overall, the game requires more polish before full release.
Pros
- • Beautiful and detailed environments that evoke classic survival horror atmosphere.
- • Faithful recreation of 90s Resident Evil style with fixed cameras and tank controls.
- • Challenging gameplay with engaging puzzles and resource management.
- • Immersive lighting and sound design that build tension effectively.
- • Varied enemy design and satisfying combat mechanics including melee options.
- • Active and responsive developers fixing bugs rapidly.
- • Nostalgic storyline and setting appealing to fans of the genre.
Cons
- • Numerous bugs including game-breaking save system failures and softlocks.
- • Clunky and unresponsive controls with input latency and awkward camera switches.
- • Unbalanced difficulty due to scarce resources and overwhelming enemy placement.
- • Lack of map and manual save system causing frustrating navigation and backtracking.
- • Character models and animations feel cheap and less polished than environments.
- • Voice acting is often cheesy and detracts from immersion.
- • Enemy spawning directly in front of doors causes unfair damage.
Rating Criteria
Echoes of the Living is a dark Classic Survival Horror inspired by the greatest hits from the 90's focused on reimagining visual horror, your goal is to make it out alive while uncovering the truth about the incident.