REVIEW – Fighting against ourselves. Some games have already pulled this thought off in the eighties in the same approach as ECHO did: a clone is being made, and then we have to defeat it. It’s not a bad idea from Ultra Ultra, who are ex-Hitman developers. The game was close to becoming one of the massive surprises of the year.

Let me start out with some of the negatives. It’s short. With some skills, you can beat the game in five hours, or maybe even less than that. During the hours, you will notice that the visuals are similar to Hitman’s, and even the HUD seems to resemble the one seen in Agent 47’s latest antics. But back to the time factor a bit: I’m not sure that everyone would be patient, especially with that ending, which isn’t memorable at all. (However, Hitman’s ending also felt lackluster for me. Oh well, the past stuck with the devs!)

En

En is the name of the character who you will control. She awakens after a hundred year stasis to discover a castle for the sole reason of reviving his lost one. However, the castle has a bit of uniqueness to it: it is capable of making clones out of you, which could learn your moves to be a step ahead. One thing is for sure: the castle „records” everything we do when the power is on from our playstyle (running around like an idiot or stealthing around the map, etc.). Then, it shuts off, allowing us a little peace before the cycle starts all over with the AI improving with the moves recorded off of us, making the fake Ens acting a little different than before.

I do think the approach is flawed a bit, though: for me; it didn’t look like the AI is following what I was doing the previous cycle. There’s no actual machine learning involved. Instead, I think the AI rolled out some pre-programmed actions, straying off from the path I used altogether. This thought is the reason why I said in the beginning that it WAS close to being a successful game – I have to say that the AI’s moveset seems to be limited in comparison to what I had…

Blonde girl

Don’t take me seriously, but I believe Echo is the video game form of a blondie. It’s somewhat dumb but boy, does it look visually appealing! On the other hand, though, I need to quickly remind myself that the environments seemed to be repeating ever so often, which could make you get bored of the graphics, even if that sounds stupid. This affects the animations, too… they aren’t that good, to be honest, but it’s not a huge mistake, as remember, this is the devs’ first game after leaving IO Interactive. You have to start out somewhere, regardless of how talented you are.

I didn’t talk about the audio yet. The audio is, simply put, great. The world is full of ambiance, and the way the characters add fuel to its fire is promising for the developers. (A quick tidbit: if you watch Game of Thrones, En’s voice might be familiar to you, as she is voiced by Rose Leslie!) It’s simply awesome, and it’s part of why I believe in Ultra Ultra: Echo does have a few great points, which could be the building blocks for their next game (the audiovisuals, the way the story is told, and the ambiance, to name them).

Maybe

Despite all the things I said, Echo is not a bad game. For me, it’s a kind-hearted 7.5 out of 10 – Echo will not make you get to uninstall it after five minutes, which would be quickly followed up by a visit to the toilet. It’s not perfect, though: the AI isn’t that outstanding, and the game itself is somewhat on the shorter side. Although Echo did not feel like something as a stellar stealth game, it’s an enjoyable experience. Before you buy, take a look at one or two non-commentary YouTube gameplay videos. If you like it, get it: it’s not a 60-dollar title – you can get Echo for one-third of that. Ultra Ultra‘s first project is alright, and I hope their second one will be even better than their debut!

-V-

Publisher: Ultra Ultra

Developer: Ultra Ultra

Genre: Stealth, En-simulator

Release date: September 19, 2017