Elea - Episode 1

 Xbox One
Metascore
53

Mixed or average reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 5
  3. Negative: 2 out of 5
  1. DarkStation
    Sep 19, 2018
    60
    Fans of the genre and science fiction in general should check out Elea. After all, there are never too many mind-tickling sci-fi games out there.
  2. TheXboxHub
    Sep 17, 2018
    60
    Should improvements be made to the movement speed and a little more added in to give reason to explore, there is a chance that Elea could turn into something more memorable. Right now though this is simply your average walking simulator.
  3. Trusted Reviews
    Sep 11, 2018
    60
    It’s by no means a classic, but it’s a decent foundation for what could be a compelling sci-fi tale.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 5
  3. Negative: 1 out of 5
  1. renegadesith
    Oct 12, 2018
    7
    Being a hardcore Sci-fi fan as long as I remember, so it’s only natural that Elea caught my glimpse on YouTube. I bought the game at a bitBeing a hardcore Sci-fi fan as long as I remember, so it’s only natural that Elea caught my glimpse on YouTube. I bought the game at a bit high price for an episodic game, but it was a great purchase. It took me roughly about 2 hours to finish the first episode and I’ll have to play it all over again to get all the achievements. The developers did great job making the world believable, although some of the weird psychedelic scenes almost burned my eyes. The main let down for me was the cliffhanger at the end of the episode & I hope the second one to be released very soon.

    - Some words about the story

    The story is really nice & it's somewhat easy to understand, especially when you read all notes and listen to the dialogue. It doesn’t get boring for me, which is a must for a walking simulator game. Of course you have to keep in mind that there are jumps in time and this can be a bit confusing.

    - Some words about the graphics

    The game looks exceptionally good and have really AAA graphics for an indie game. Everything is polished enough and have that specific Alien & Mass Effect vibe around it. It seems that the devs use dynamic lighting and some great materials, which makes immersion easier – at a times it was even a bit scary for me.

    - Some words about the interaction with the world

    You can interact with a lot of objects, which allows you to understand the game world better. I felt a bit confused when the main heroine was in the strange room near the ocean and had some issues with figuring the way out. My suggestion to the developers is to make the progression in the game more intuitive in the future episodes.

    - Some words about the sound

    The sound design of this game is great! It’s very polished for an indie game and I have very little remarks – I didn’t like some effects and steps. The biggest issues I had were with the voice acting – the main character sounded very professional, but some of the NPCs were bad – like recorded with a low-cost microphone. But overall the sound helps you to fully immerse in the setting.    … Full Review »
  2. GBG_Jason
    Sep 7, 2018
    6
    The story takes place in the future, where a biological disease has struck all of the world’s youth including your own child, resulting inThe story takes place in the future, where a biological disease has struck all of the world’s youth including your own child, resulting in them turning into vicious savages. The only known treatment is to essentially turn them into soulless husks of their former selves. While I don’t quite understand why this was an alternative solution, the powers that be send a shuttle named the Pilgrimage to a newly discovered planet in hopes to start over. Unfortunately, your husband Ethan is on the shuttle and it has lost all communication with the known world. Thirteen years later, you find yourself on a rescue operation to find out the where or what caused the team to go missing.

    The story will take you across multiple locales, some more straightforward than others. The early stages task you with navigating your futuristic home as a pregnant Elea during a pretty wicked storm, while the later segments take place on the ship en route to the last known location of the Pilgrimage, and others taking place in…. well I don’t really know how to explain it, but they’re quite different. Throughout your time with Elea, you’ll wonder if there is an otherworldly force that is causing hallucinations, or if Elea is simply going mad due to the loss of her family. Over the course of the story, you’ll experience glitches, flashbacks, and mysterious visions that are thought provoking yet unnerving. The game rarely ventures beyond the hard sci-fi story into horror, yet I was regularly feeling uneasy, thinking something was just around the corner. This can be attributed to the amazing overall visual and audio presentation.

    Almost every visual asset looks amazing: bricks show so much detail that they feel as if you could reach out and touch them; metal shines with reflections that look photo realistic; the ocean scene early into the game is downright breath taking. Even the previously mentioned glitches look spectacular, with only mild tearing that doesn’t appear to be part of the visual change rarely breaking immersion. The few exceptions to this are various items that you can pick up and inspect, often looking flat or overly cartoonish, making them stand out much more than they should. The character models could have used a bit more work as well. The human characters all look as if they were taken straight from a wax museum, with overwhelmingly shiny yet flat looking facial features. The ambient sound effects only add to the already immersive experience. Sadly, the writing doesn’t give the voice overs much to work with, leaving yet another weak link in what could have been an amazing chain of events.

    The first segment in Elea’s home takes place primarily over the phone, or this world’s version of one, with her husband. Around the five minute mark, their constant use of pet names and loving phrases made me want to gag. Don’t get me wrong, I love my wife, but their conversation was never ending and made me want to run as quickly as possible to the objectives. Much to my disappointment, the developers stuck to reality here and decided that letting a pregnant woman sprint was a bad idea. What I don’t quite understand is why the option is only permitted here and there throughout the rest of the journey, which can be a bit of a slog.

    Through the bulk of the game, you’ll be walking as if you’re a geriatric snail, making what would be a quick jog down a hall into an unbearable slow mess. The remaining controls are even more atrocious, with many of the buttons being unresponsive and the look controls being stiff or lacking precision, making interacting with the world a chore. You will have to regularly interact with control panels or door controls, all of which require you to hit the overly small sweet spot to get the icon to pop, letting you know you can interact with it. Most of these actually require you to remain still and stare at the button while a small circle rotates, almost as if the door has to load. Since this is a walking sim with little gameplay, this is a problem.

    While Elea looks simply amazing and offers a thought provoking story, the overall experience feels a bit lacking and needs some additional polish before the additional chapters are released. I really wanted to like this game, but by the end of the chapter the feeling was more forced than anything I’ve experienced in recent memory. If you’re into some of the weirder walking sims, such as North or Asemblance, this might be up your alley. I for one hope the next chapter resolves some of the lingering issues so we can see out Elea’s journey to its climax.    … Full Review »
See all user reviews »