ECHO (2017)

 PC
User Score
6.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 46 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 46
  3. Negative: 8 out of 46

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  1. Afrokidd
    Oct 2, 2017
    6
    Played on hard, ~5hrs in. Simply cavitvating narative, the world the devs have created is mindblowing. Right from the start you are pulled into their world and excited to embark on this journey to answer questions and learn but this strange world. The top class voice acting accompanied by the narrative is some of the best story telling I've seen in awhile.

    However the 'gameplay'    Played on hard, ~5hrs in. Simply cavitvating narative, the world the devs have created is mindblowing. Right from the start you are pulled into their world and excited to embark on this journey to answer questions and learn but this strange world. The top class voice acting accompanied by the narrative is some of the best story telling I've seen in awhile.

    However the 'gameplay' sections just ruin the game for me, and were very grating on the expierence at first i could solider through to hear the story in between the 'gameplay' sections. In the end i just stopped playing.

    The environments throughout all looks the same, the blackout cycles are interesting at first but quickly becomes irritating. The placing of enemies and the direction they are looking make it close to impossible to do some areas without ditching the stealth approach forcing you to adopt more cavalier tactics. These 'gameplay' sections become a chore and are very repetitive.

    For me it makes more sense to watch a 'lets play' to get the story out of the game that i want and skip the 'gameplay'.    … Expand
  2. OHIC
    Sep 25, 2017
    8
    Great idea, well implemented, but it's not always the most inviting game to play. I found myself playing it in very short chunks, like from one major save point to the next. It's a beautiful design, especially played in 4k, which helps but the gameplay itself is a pressure that rarely responds to the amount of time you've invested. In other games, achieving mastery is part of the reward ofGreat idea, well implemented, but it's not always the most inviting game to play. I found myself playing it in very short chunks, like from one major save point to the next. It's a beautiful design, especially played in 4k, which helps but the gameplay itself is a pressure that rarely responds to the amount of time you've invested. In other games, achieving mastery is part of the reward of the game, and after [x] hours you're the ruler of the world, but Echo's not really like that. Every "level" of the game felt as bewildering as every other, but that's partly a testament to the design. Anything you do sabotages you, which means there are as many ways to potentially win the challenge as there are ways to ruin yourself. You never quite escape the trial-and-error experiment, and sometimes winning feels like it only happened because of a chance mistake by the AI.… Expand
  3. Amoncaco
    Sep 25, 2017
    8
    Really cool game. Slow pace and fairly well developed stealth mechanics, albeit fairly east once you figure it out (I played on hard). The unique echo mechanic is definitely very interesting. Visually quite striking, though a bit repetitive at times. The narrative is pretty interesting and the voice acting is top notch. Writing could be a bit better here and there, though.

    My main    Really cool game. Slow pace and fairly well developed stealth mechanics, albeit fairly east once you figure it out (I played on hard). The unique echo mechanic is definitely very interesting. Visually quite striking, though a bit repetitive at times. The narrative is pretty interesting and the voice acting is top notch. Writing could be a bit better here and there, though.

    My main problem with the game is the story. Not very much gets explained and I'm just left with questions after completing the game. You have to collect all collectible thingies to get the full story, something I would much rather not have to do to get a clear picture of what exactly is going on in Echo's story. Also, I found the ending to be quite dissatisfying.

    Overall, a great game *especially* for such a low price. Definitely pick it up if you like stealth games    … Expand
  4. Daikenkini
    Feb 7, 2018
    10
    While I must admit that my very first impression of the game was not good (first hours of playing, I found the blackouts irritating), after the mechanics had finally clicked in my head ECHO became one of my all time favorite games within mere hours. And the campaign just offers so so much. The enjoyment I got out of this single indie title is unreal. The Graphics, Voice Acting, LevelWhile I must admit that my very first impression of the game was not good (first hours of playing, I found the blackouts irritating), after the mechanics had finally clicked in my head ECHO became one of my all time favorite games within mere hours. And the campaign just offers so so much. The enjoyment I got out of this single indie title is unreal. The Graphics, Voice Acting, Level Design, Gameplay are all flawless ... I hate how biased this sounds but I truly cannot say a SINGLE bad word about this game. I love it with every inch of my existence. 10/10… Expand
  5. RVaz
    Feb 3, 2018
    10
    One of the best stealth based games I've played. At times it feels part horror survival. Great atmosphere and feels very unique compared to others of it's kind.
  6. Sepherim
    Mar 16, 2021
    8
    Echo es un fundamentalmente un juego de sigilo, pero con numerosos giros en el funcionamiento del mismo que hacen que sea una experiencia distinta a la que estamos habituados de otros juegos del género, que normalmente usan mecánicas ya muy vistas. No me meteré mucho a explicar por qué, dado que lo mejor es irlo descubriendo al mismo tiempo que los personajes lo van descubriendo y a medidaEcho es un fundamentalmente un juego de sigilo, pero con numerosos giros en el funcionamiento del mismo que hacen que sea una experiencia distinta a la que estamos habituados de otros juegos del género, que normalmente usan mecánicas ya muy vistas. No me meteré mucho a explicar por qué, dado que lo mejor es irlo descubriendo al mismo tiempo que los personajes lo van descubriendo y a medida que la misteriosa ambientación va lentamente desvelando sus secretos. ¿Queda todo resuelto y el misterio totalmente cerrado? No, pero si que la historia deja un ambiente de misterio razonable, donde buena parte de lo importante ha sido resuelto y sin embargo la ambientación y el mundo que han creado sigue teniendo ese halo de misterio que tan bien le sienta al juego.

    A nivel gráfico tiene una buena ejecución, aunque brilla especialmente a nivel de diseño, recreando unos escenarios que (si bien pueden ser algo repetitivos), tienen una presencia especial, original y muy suya. El sonido está bien ejecutado tanto en los efectos como en la misteriosa musica, aunque ninguno de esos dos aspectos brillan increíblemente; lo que si está a un nivel mayor son las voces de los dos protagonistas, perfectamente interpretadas y que transmiten mucho. Y, al menos en mi experiencia, el juego no ha tenido ni un solo bug.

    Por todo ello, sin deciros por qué exactamente para no spoilear nada, os puedo decir que si os gustan los juegos de ciencia ficción, de misterio y de sigilo, Echo probablemente sea una buena apuesta. Quizás un poco corta, pero probablemente si lo hubiesen alargado se habría acabado haciendo muy repetitivo. Un 8,5.    … Expand
  7. NBMTX
    Sep 20, 2017
    8
    (8, so far) Some developer went all out with Unreal 4's Rococo assets! Sort of like an Event Horizon x Prometheus walking simulator. IMO, it looks amazing (like, the actual aesthetics of it all). Probably not for anyone looking for the most exciting of experiences but it does have intriguing characters and narrative, all in a super trippy setting. I'll update if needed when I finish it (if(8, so far) Some developer went all out with Unreal 4's Rococo assets! Sort of like an Event Horizon x Prometheus walking simulator. IMO, it looks amazing (like, the actual aesthetics of it all). Probably not for anyone looking for the most exciting of experiences but it does have intriguing characters and narrative, all in a super trippy setting. I'll update if needed when I finish it (if it's not an 8 throughout). I didn't know about this game til the day it launched and got pulled in through a Steam banner.… Expand
  8. SuperkenGaming
    Oct 11, 2017
    8
    Echo
    Facing yourself
    You’re going to think echo is a really great game, a really annoying game, or you’re going to think it’s a mix a both This is one giant 5 hr. puzzle where the enemy is you Here you play as En who enters a palace to right a wrong.. To resurrect someone she killed... You arrive at the missive palace and the lights are out... Then as you progress bantering with your    Echo
    Facing yourself
    You’re going to think echo is a really great game, a really annoying game, or you’re going to think it’s a mix a both
    This is one giant 5 hr. puzzle where the enemy is you
    Here you play as En who enters a palace to right a wrong.. To resurrect someone she killed...
    You arrive at the missive palace and the lights are out...
    Then as you progress bantering with your ai, which is some of my favorite parts of this game... the lights start to flicker... you notice life forms on the ground that slowly become larger every time the lights come back on.. To realize they’re all copies of you…
    This palace is crawling with clones trying to stop you from accomplishing your goal…
    there isn’t much to the level design or mission...
    The mansion is gorgeous but slowly it feels less impressive and the gameplay loop is the same throughout…
    The greatness comes in dealing with the hordes of clones as you go deeper into the lower parts of this palace..
    You slowly start to realize that these clones are learning from you...
    As you play the gamer the lights go on and off…
    You would think the lights going off is the terrifying part.. But it isn’t...
    The scary part is when the lights are on... because this is when the house is watching you…
    You have plenty of tools at your disposal... you have charges that you can do special moves with... initially 2, but every 5 blue orbs you find will give you another charge.. 1 refills by itself the others are refilled by white orbs that are in abundance…
    You have a lethal gun that can shoot through multiple enemies at a time... you have a non-lethal shot that can knock enemies in range down… you take out enemies from behind, the issue however is that enemies don’t stay down..
    When the lights go off, or when they come back on every enemy you took down is back... and this time each and every one of them is doing what the house saw you do...
    If the house sees you shoot, enemies will now shoot….
    Though either way they are coming after you… it’s just up to you how aggressive and deadly they are... this is where the puzzle comes into play... are you patient enough to scout things out while the lights are on and do the killing and item grabbing in the dark, or do you think you can run through a room, killing everything in your way, get what you need and get out
    this forces the player to be careful with their choices and what they do.. Don’t touch the water when the lights are on and enemies will be afraid of water…
    don’t open doors when the lights are on and enemies won’t know how to open doors...
    What they know resets every checkpoint... and checkpoints in this game can be frustrating.. especially the orb missions that cap every one of this games 6 chapters
    This is where all of your skill, timing, and risk taking comes into play.. As the game doesn’t save an ounce of progress and doesn’t care how close you got to collecting all 40 orbs...
    if you die with only 3 to go... you’re starting all over again...
    these are the moments that will break you... these are the moments that will make you rush, pull out your gun in a desperate situation because you’re so close and you think you can handle the guns until you’ve collected what you need…
    these are the moments that make this game just as frustrating as it is great…
    My only complaints with the game are of course the 0 checkpoints in the orb sections.. but I get it…
    enemies not permanently staying down…
    I feel this could’ve been done for an easier difficulty as the concept of the game could stay the same... of enemies still alive learning,
    it feels a bit frustrating at times when I feel I just got out of a tough situation only to be jumped and die when the lights come back on
    And lastly the banter sort of stops as you get deep into the game which is actually my biggest issue..
    I loved this games dialog and I would’ve liked more
    But the gameplay here is great and challenging
    Beating Echo is no easy feat
    you need patience to get through even on its easiest difficulty...
    I give Echo
    a 7.5/10    … Expand
  9. Ayreos
    Sep 24, 2017
    1
    No joke, the worst game i ever had the displeasure of playing. A walking simulator camouflaged as stealth game with mechanics taken and simplified from better games out there. The assets are all of high quality. This includes the voiceovers, however there are few of them, repeated ad nauseam, over and over again for the entire length of the game (4-5 hours).

    Most unforgivable is the    No joke, the worst game i ever had the displeasure of playing. A walking simulator camouflaged as stealth game with mechanics taken and simplified from better games out there. The assets are all of high quality. This includes the voiceovers, however there are few of them, repeated ad nauseam, over and over again for the entire length of the game (4-5 hours).

    Most unforgivable is the intriguing sci-fi setup of the game, which never picks up, but instead fizzles out progressively so much, the final "cutscene" is a 10 minutes walk through yet another repetition of previously seen assets, two sentence two describe the most banal resolution in history and then.... nothing.

    I could easily beat the character limit criticizing this non-game, but it already stole too much of my time. It's an extended demo of a soulless non-game. Good luck.    … Expand
  10. ramaset
    Sep 29, 2017
    1
    Very boring game.Always the same things to do. I don't understand all this positive reviews. The game have potentiality but seems to be a simple walking simulator.
  11. Alexsis
    Apr 24, 2019
    10
    What a chilling experience of a game!
    ECHO is a MUST! If you are in to atmospheric games. It will not leave you indifferent – I guarantee it!
    It reminded me of the movie “Cell” – haunting atmosphere, danger and unknowns at every corner. The beginning of the game is executed flawlessly – this is how you build your narrative and start a game. It’s intriguing, it’s challenging, it allows    What a chilling experience of a game!
    ECHO is a MUST! If you are in to atmospheric games. It will not leave you indifferent – I guarantee it!
    It reminded me of the movie “Cell” – haunting atmosphere, danger and unknowns at every corner.
    The beginning of the game is executed flawlessly – this is how you build your narrative and start a game. It’s intriguing, it’s challenging, it allows for different types of play and it creates stunning environments with the minimum of resources. It’s unique gameplay will always have something new to teach you and you will never feel like you’ve mastered it.

    I highly recommend playing it!    … Expand
  12. kch3691
    Mar 3, 2018
    7
    A cool story and fantastic presentation but the actual stealth mechanics, while novel, are very repetitive. Worth a play through if you like good science fiction.
  13. CausticMisery
    Jan 28, 2023
    7
    A truly hidden gem. Some of the best exploration and music I've ever experienced in a game. The gameplay loop is original and addictive. The main problem with the game is that it lacks variety, so many people may not make it to the end of the game (which isn't all that special).

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Mar 2, 2018
    75
    Echo is basically an experiment that was made on a limited budget. Hence its unique approach to AI, which is offset by monotonous decorum and general lack of variety. To enjoy it, you have to be on the same wavelength as the developers – that is, be excited about exploring new concepts that mainstream industry doesn’t give a damn about. [Issue#226, p.50]
  2. Everyeye.it
    Jan 16, 2018
    67
    An imperfect lucid recipe.
    Read full review
  3. CD-Action
    Dec 19, 2017
    70
    ECHO made a great first impression on me with its dark atmosphere and AI that mimics player’s tactics, but this impression did not last long, as the game sunk into repetitiveness. [12/2017, p.47]
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