ECHO

Fantastic stealth game. Tight pacing. Some really fun twists on the players toolset. The players toolkit is also extremely tight with every action having their own niche to fill. This works exceptionally with the core mechanical premise and skillful level design. There were always choices between multiple options of varying effectiveness, difficulty, and risk.

Chapter V dragged a bit. With the last challenge focusing on navigating a wide sprawl I personally didn't like. Looked as gorgeous as the rest of the game though.

Downed in the backlog massacre of 2025.

Echo is a really stylish indie Stealth game with a neat and unsettling echoing mechanic. The enemies yer trying to avoid has a very limited set of actions. But depending on what you do during a set time, they copy whatever you did last. This makes it very strategic in the current actions you do like running, shooting, vaulting etc. The environments are dazzling and liminally striking, with the background sound etherial. The music is dynamic too, depending on if yer near enemies, getting caught, running away and killing em off.

The story is very minimal and might/might not intrigue you. It really depends your willingness to engage into the unknown. Which I personally love!

All in all, I recommend if yer into sci fi stealth em moods.

Beautiful, difficult, and almost haunting.

Do it...

Don't usually write reviews but this one tried it's best to annoy me. Apart from graphics which are clearly the pull everything should be revised, highly not recommended.
Now if you indulge my rambling, I enjoyed the intro visuals of the planet and took many screenshots, but then sadly got locked inside the golden palace and subjected to walking even slower than among the outdoor windy chasms, all the whilst characters bicker at each other like I'm supposed to care. After finally getting to some elements you could call gameplay, I couldn't take the tediousness any more. Poor attempt at stealth with whatever gimmick I didn't notice, while everything having a timer emphasized just how much of it I was having wasted giving the game another sitting. At one point every step was etching into my consciousness and calling me to stop, maybe that's one of the philosophically waxed lessons to take from it.
Also game glitches when you try to look at yourself and spin too fast, which was perhaps the only part I had fun with (or is that intentional and so deep actually), following the silly "press R to shout" moment.

I'm sorry but no.
Heard many good things about this game, many, but 90 minutes in I'm not sold.

Fine, I get that it's good to set the scene, but upwards of 30 minutes walking (SLOWLY WHEN SOMEONE IS TALKING) is silly.

OK, there's a cube, and someone named Frost or something is something. I'm coming to this cold, I don't know who Frost/someone is and much less do I care.

Yabber on, yabber on, keep walking, occasionally slowly because someone is talking. Then I use a gun, once. Then there's some palace thing I've seen in the media and OK, maybe it'll start. No. More walking.

I like walking sims, I really do. But this isn't one of them, definitely not. They tend to lay the story, the characters, the events out nicely, so you can follow what is happening. It's the reason you're here, right? The story? None of this was apparent in Echo.

Long story short, I get to something happening. Shoot a gun, avoid some nasties, keep going. There is a cycle happening; light, dark, reset, light, dark, reset, etc. Some nasties appear and you press B. You can shoot some of them, etc. There is a limit which you can collect something to extend, I don't know. Sometimes you press X on something that looks like the extension but it does something else, it's difficult to care.

Then you're into some other environment that looks much like the last and you have to collect some orbs for a cube on your back which had a cutscene. OK. You do enough of this and you're let on to the next stage which feels a lot like the previous. Not there is water which slows the nasties down until it doesn't and blah.

Maybe this is like the TV program that your friend eulogizes about. "Once you get to the third series, it really hots up!!!111". Nope, I've played hundreds of games that caught me in the first thirty/sixty minutes and this isn't one of them. Maybe it's the video game Citizen Kane once you get to five hours, maybe, but I'll never know.

On the plus side, the art direction is good, if repetitive.

I was looking forward to this, but it completely failed to land. A shame.

This game was good to me. I give it a solid 6.5/10. I also recommend poeple play the game.

I love the stealth and the tools available to help you navigate the game. I really like that they created a system that keeps it challenging even if you think you know what your doing. The levels are visually beautiful, but unfortunately are very similar, and the puzzles arn't that different.

The story is good, but I don't think the game was long enough to properly flush it out. It kind of just started and said here you go. The ending was also the same. However, the Narrative between between the main Character and the AI is really fun to listen too.

Like I said, I think everything should give it a try. I would like to see a second one.

This game got me hooked with the style and atmosphere. It felt like reading a good hard sci-fi novel. Iain M Banks Culture series, or Neil Stephenson. Thanks to the devs who made this hidden gem!

This game is a hidden gem. Really interesting gameplay gimmick with a campaign that ends before it gets too repetitive.

concept game

This is now among my list of games I am sad I will never play for the first time again.

One of the weirdest but ultimately satisfying journeys I've ever had with a game. Initially I tried it and while I adored the cinematic intro of the game, as soon as the actual gameplay started I really struggled to get past the very first few levels. I even read some tips in the guide for the game (the main gameplay hook is that the enemies learn after you and copy your actions) but I still couldnt "get" it, I became quickly frustrated and swarmed with enemies so I bounced off .
Then half a year later I decided to give the game another shot - made sure to read some tips beforehand again, lowered the difficulty to Easy - and voila after pushing past those first few levels I fell completely in love with this game and now I've 100% it (even finished it on the harderst difficulty - btw the difference between Easy and Ultra Hard wasnt that big or noticeable to me, the Easy difficulty was quite challenging already, so thats the difficulty I recommend to play ).
My advice - push through the first few gameplay levels, in a way they are the worst & most frustrating ( because as a player you arent yet comfortable with the mechanics, they arent too well explained until later on, yet these levels are too narrow&cramped and filled with enemies so its super easy to get swarmed by 3 enemies at once and die + since there are no save points yet in these early levels you will have to start the level over from scratch if you die). So yes, those first narrow levels arent great, but after this the game levels open up and expand and it becomes super fun and comfortable to stealth around or shoot your way out of a struggle (btw shooting is mega satisfying in this game and overall all the gameplay mechanics are very satisfying to use). Make sure to read some tips on the "Guides" steam tab before playing to better understand the mechanics of the temple cycle.
I loved the aesthetics of the game, the gameplay, the stellar music & vibes, great voice acting, interesting story and bits of the background lore, the flow state you get into once it all clicks in your head. Really a special game. The main gameplay hook of the game is that the enemies learn after you, they copy your actions, so its up to you to be mindful of what actions you perform and when. In a way it reminded me of Hitman (fitting that it has a Hitman achievement) in regards that you can either stealth around or go guns blazing (both approaches are fun).
Techincally it ran well, the 3d assets and environments are very pretty too.
If you are in a mood for a cinematic & immersive while at the same time quite gameplay heavy stealth-y sci fi short game (the main run will probably take about 9 hours i guess) - I highly recommend it, but please make sure to read some tips beforehand in order to avoid frustration of potentially not getting some aspects of the gameplay loop.

Vaguely interesting premise. Really solid voice acting for a game of this scope.

Unfortunately it's let down by poor pacing, repetitive environments and tedious gameplay. That it takes upwards of 45 minutes to get past the walking simulator introduction should be indictment enough.

i'll recommend, but ...
audio, visual, setting - best
story - may be you like it
gameplay? enough unusual, so can play like a brand new game ... but it need some practice

Great setting, acting, visuals, and concept. The stealth gameplay is just okay, there's a small margin for error, and since that's the majority of the gameplay the game is a bit hard to reccomend. BUT this is probably one of the most interesting sci-fi settings next to Ghost Song, so if you're into that sort of thing you should check it out

AMAZING GAME!

A very interesting game, the main mechanic is the echo, the enemies can do whatever you can do during a 'cycle' which means they're just as difficult as you're making them. This made the game a lot of fun to explore and figure out each level. The characters are alright and their dialogue gives the implications of a grander world that always drawn me in. All in all it was a worthwhile experience but I would recomend playing it only ever once.

One of those games that my mind thinks back to whenever I see a fancy building

A great stealth-exploration experience with an incredibly strong aesthetic. While the game only has essentially one enemy type, the amount of millage the AI integration gets is outstanding. Having the AI both learn and unlearn specific behaviors based on the player's actions makes for a great gameplay loop, where I'm forced to actively contemplate and remember every action I take. Simple questions like "do I use the elevator right in front of me, or do I look for the stairs" become surprisingly engaging when I know my decisions are being actively recorded and integrated into the AI. Not to mention how the level design is so obtuse to what you would expect out of a stealth game. Understanding what this game wants out of you almost means rewriting your brain entirely.
The narrative is pretty underwhelming, there's no getting around that, but it serves its purpose in motivating the player.

Ultimately, if you enjoy stealth-heavy games, or if you're simply looking for a unique 10-hour experience, I recommend ECHO.

Fantastic world building, characters, graphics, narrative and art direction. Truly is gem of an experience.
I just wished the majority of the game wasn't just Capture The Key and Collect 30 Orbs The Game.

All combat is frustratingly limited.
Makes collection 90 orbs in a massive mega super maze not very fun.

It's an acquired taste. I overall enjoyed it though.

Beautiful game

There's nothing quite like it. The gameplay, while slightly repetitive, does keep upping the ante enough to keep it relatively fresh over time. The music is hauntingly beautiful. The environment design is very liminal. Even the backstory sprinkled around through character dialogue is unique and intriguing. Definitely worth a try.

It's a real shame this is the only game this developer ever produced.

it may have been short. but to date, 12/29/24 still one of the best PC games i played. interesting story somehow basically with one minimal npc.

I wanted to like this game, I really did. But I can't

So the main feature of this game is the enemy AI learn from your behavior. They do what you do. If you run fast, they run fast. If you shoot them, they shoot you, and so on. 'Great!' I thought. That sounds like a cool feature that would force you to think outside the box and constantly think on your toes.

Unfortunately, the game doesn't give you NEARLY enough options to fight or accomplish your objectvies. I was expecting Batman's worth of gadgets and abilities so that you always have something to do and use against the AI, but you only get a gun, a scanner, and a standard neck choke takedown. Even basic ones like throwable distractions don't exist. It would have been SO MUCH MORE compelling and interesting to let both you and the AI use a million tools and powers, forcing you to try new ones and come up with new combinations to accomplish your objectives, but since they didn't add any, the best option is to simply walk around the room, robbing the AI of any ability to fight back.

Good concept for a game, just not very well done

One of the strongest art directions I've seen in any medium. Probably not the best thing out there as a game, but I will remember Echo for the rest of my life so I have to give it a thumbs up.

Unique!

This game is four hours of holding down the forward button through endless hallways while occasionally killing an enemy. What little plot might exist has absolutely no pacing.

Echo is a 5/5 for me for one reason: I understand. This game has 3 characters. You, the ship AI, and the person you are trying to save. The antagonist is an AI that replicates YOU, yourself. You are battling yourself. Dozens, possibly millions. I was in a bad place playing this game, and the loneliness of being alone with the one AI and just surrounded by copies of yourself just touched me deep. You follow the main character along the road of loneliness and desperation to restore one person back into your life. Its about facing the basic parts of your core with either violence, putting them to sleep temporarily, or avoiding them entirely. All of this on a timer. At the end of that timer, ALL of your copies come back, slightly changed, yet still the same.
This game to me is an allegory for :You CANNOT avoid your true self.

Puzzle 3rd person stealth game. Focused on story telling and exploration. The experience feels totally different from many games, if you are patient and enjoy visuals: go for this.

Someone needs to buy the rights make the next part! Mind bender of a game! Totally original, never played anything like it before!

My character suddenly stopped moving and had to play whole level from the start.
Still okay game but it frustrated me to the point I had to altf4 the game.

A peculiar stealth game. Very specific, you know. And obviously not my type.

The main feature is about copycat enemies looking good on paper. Actually, it is worse. They could have learned and copied you, making everything harder and more interesting. But it is just a trick. Enemies have all your abilities, but they are blocked until you do something. That's it.

The story is lame. Too many pretentious dialogues about everything but still empty in their meaning. Even after finishing the game, I didn't understand many things. And you know what? I don't care.

The setting is hollow, sterile, and not detailed. A copypasted palace.

IDK, this game really lacks everything. Just skip.

This is a hard game to describe. It's unique and I love it. Top of line quote: this rules and you should play it if you like 'weird' games.

It's a stealth game like MGS, I guess, but not really. The 'enemies' in this game 'learn' from your actions. So if you open an door then they learn how to open doors until the next 'reset'. So it means that you are constantly thinking 'should I do this?' when you are attempting to solve your problems. That is really cool! Realizing that was a hugely cool moment that is hard to repeat.

But I feel like the actual game is too long. The idea here is really cool, I love the design, I love the feeling, but by the end of the story I was just thinking 'why can I not just get more cutscenes'. Once you have experienced the cool idea of the echo replication it loses something. There are only so many orbs I can collect before I get bored. I feel like this game should have been maybe 2 hours shorter. I like cool idea story games. I recognize that the devs had a difficult problem of 'length' here but I would have elevated this into the stratosphere of games if it was more concise.

I really like this! It's very good. I recommend it and I would play other games that are made by these folks. Kudos. But it's hard to unilaterally recommend because of the slowness in the middle and end.

It has a really slow build start on purpose but it is worth pushing through until the game starts properly. Then this is the closest I have ever experienced to a 1970's Kubrick feeling scifi in video game form. It's worth the price of admission to see what it does. It definitely deserved to be more successful. And an even more polished version could have been critically acclaimed - although the developer did do the concept creative justice.

You may have to set a Windows environment variable to get the game to run properly due to some Unreal OpenSSL bug - which is related to why Steam didn't capture all of the hours of my playtime at the time of this review!

The biggest complaint I have about this game is that I didn’t hear about it until this week.

My first playthrough took about 15 hours and I enjoyed the hell out of them. I almost wish there were more but I feel like it’s paced pretty well.