Echoes of the Living – Early Access Impressions

Let’s just start by saying: Wow, what a conflicting experience Echoes of the Living has been. While the devs (a couple) behind the game really poured everything they’ve got into the game, and succeeded going by classic survival horror standards—I can’t help but feel a peculiar tedium wash over me after giving it eight hours. Hence, my inner conflict. See, I recognize it’s a well-made game (especially after the major 0.1 Save update), but my mind just constantly wanders off during play—hitting me with questions like: Am I wasting my time here?

Survival horror ‘R us
The reason I feel this way is because of the number of puzzles and backtracking, having you run back and forth over the same damn carpet thirty-two times to try a new combo on that pesky door. To be fair, Resident Evil 1, 2, and 3 have these elements too. However, I felt the balance was much better, even with the most outlandish stuff, like the crazy architecture of the Spencer estate from Resident Evil 1. Much of that is thanks to the lore surrounding the mansion and its eccentric owner. Here, not so much. For the last couple of hours, I have been running around in a pub (for some reason) that has the same kind of weird eccentricities, but without the cool story stuff for it to make sense. It just feels a bit empty and flat, like an homage to the classics without really nailing it—making it not come off as entirely real, even for a fantastical setting.

The narrative is probably my main issue in general, beyond what I already mentioned. You play as a police officer, coming to Alba City to look for his girlfriend—and while there, the situation quickly turns into a zombie-infested nightmare. There is something with the dense fog turning regular Joe Smith to irregular Joe “I-will-bite-your-head” Smith. It’s a very nasty condition where the only cure is a bullet to the brain. That’s all fair and good, as far as zombie tales go, but it’s missing the dread from the Resident Evil games. The crucial atmosphere of a city on the brink is missing, even if corpses and destruction can be seen all over. It’s also extremely lonesome when moving through the city, as there are no people struggling anywhere for something that just happened a few hours ago. I came across one cutscene so far, with a woman getting attacked by hungry zombies.

This, in other words, means there are very few fun interactions, or rewards for screwing around with a locked door for thirty minutes—for instance bumping into Claire as Leon in Resident Evil 2. And it doesn’t seem to have the same conspiracy vibes overall. The game tries, though, but it feels like a light version or something lesser than the original—which is a common trap for games of this type. Comparing it to the originals is like putting a high-intensity spotlight on every fault, but it can’t be helped when Echoes of the Living plays it so close to the OG version.

Core of the conflict
The combat, however, is pretty damn good, with even a few improvements over the classics, but some jank is common here too. However, it’s just satisfying blasting zombies, especially with the shotgun, which makes mincemeat out of them. There are even environmental objects you can use to roast a few, such as propane tanks and electrical boxes you can blow apart with your trusty 9 mm. And not to forget, the addition of melee weapons that truly feels fun to use, both in the sense of an “economical” perspective, as you save ammo, and in good old-fashioned brutality.

Conclusion
Echoes of the Living is a good classic survival horror game that truly feels the part, in both gameplay (tank controls), and visuals (set camera angles)—to a fault, unfortunately. While the gameplay does stand out, as it gives you more options for dispatching zombies, the story and atmosphere feel lacking as it’s just a weaker version of the originals. The gameplay of shooting zombies was not enough for me to endure the endless backtracking, when the narrative didn’t have me invested. It’s surprising how much tedium one can put up with if the story is intriguing, and from my experience, horror games (survival horror) and point & click adventure titles live and die on this premise. 

In the end, Echoes of the Living is not a bad game and might scratch that specific survival horror itch that you can’t reach—so if you suffer from that, Echoes of the Living might be a good purchase for a while.

Thanks for reading.

– Thomas

PS. One thing I have to add, now thinking about it a few hours after the completion of the article, is how odd the visual design of the city is. It screams South European city with its narrow, winded streets, and general medieval architecture, while I can almost swear that it takes place in the USA. An oddity.