Echo Night

"An interesting, creepy puzzler...while it lasts."

Echo Night is, essentially, a point-and-click adventure game where you solve various puzzles and mysteries in order to tell the story. Unfortunately, many of the negative reviews Echo Night recieved were knee-jerk reactions motivated by an unreasonable bias against these types of games, and it's admittedly weak graphics engine. However, if one does not instantly dismiss the game, you'll most likely find an intriguing, well made game that relies on story and atmosphere, rather than flashy graphics and hype.
Story:
When starting the game, the opening cinema reveals to you that in 1913, a private cruise ship called the ''Orpheus'' sank, killing all it's exclusive passengers. Once the game begins, you take the role of Richard Osmond. You recieve an envelope from your father containing a key, which is strange since your father hasn't spoken to you in years. The police call you and tell you your father's house has been badly burned and that he can't be found. You travel to the house with a policeman where you are allowed to investigate your father's home. Once you dig around a little, you make strange discoveries that open up many mysteries. Eventually, you wind up on board a strange, haunted version of the ''Orpheus'' sea vessel where you must solve the mystery of your father's dissapearance and his shady past.

Gameplay:
The game compares very closely to, say, Myst. Except, in Echo Night, everything is fully immersive 3-D, and you maneuver around in realtime. You can manipulate objects to a limited degree, and most of the game involves collecting objects and using them to solve various logic puzzles and problems on board on the haunted ''Orpheus''. The game has a few creative bright spots in that the action is not just limited to the Orpheus. Several times, you must perform minor tasks in other locations in past times that you are mysteriously transported to at certain points. Also, the game has an interesting tension factor in that you can actually be hurt (or killed) by some of the angry spirits in the game. WHile at first, the angry spirits seem like a curiosity, later in the game they have a genuinely creepy and disturbing effect. It's doubtful you'll die if you're careful, but healing potions are scattered about, so you'll be OK. Since angry spirits cannot be killed, you have to usually figure out ways around them
or ways to soothe their souls. Some of the puzzles are fairly logic based, and others require much more thought. I find it hard to believe those that quickly dimissed this game as crap actually played very far into the game, where some of the puzzles get rather sneaky and well-crafted. Othert han a few vague points, overall the game delivers what it promises as far as gameplay goes.

Graphics:
Easily the most criticised feature in Echo Night, the graphics are a bit on the weak side. Repetitive low-res textures, low polygon counts, and severe clipping tend to effect the game. While the graphics are good enough to be servicable, at times the low quality can hinder progress since it's sometimes hard to tell what's an object and what's just a decoration. I will admit, though, the low-polygon character models for the ghosts gives them a creepy feel. Echo Night's graphics engine is low tech, but it has a the advantage os lessening load times to almost nothing. The game isn't without it's charming features, though. Much of the game takes place in moody darkness, but when lights are turned on they have a very realistic effect on environments. There are also weather and time conditions. Day and night outdoors are appropriately light and dark, and skies can be clear, cloudy, or overcast. There's also snow and rainfall. Smaller details (like the fish you can see from out of portholes in the lower
levels) add little touches to the game.

Sound:
Echo Night uses alot of effective sound to achieve it's goals. Voice acting isn't outstanding, but many of the ghosts have believable, scary voices that really hit their mark. Some portions of the game scared me in ways I didn't think a game with such low graphics could. That says alot aboutt his title, in my opinion.

Music:
Sadly, Echo Night lacks musically. There's no atmospheric music, except when you're pursued by an evil spirit. When there is music to help a scene or something, it's alittle cheezy sounding. Sadly, the wonderful score for the opening movie and title screen don't seem to foretell the quality within. But, that said, the lack of music certainly doesn't hurt that much. In fact, in the later levels where evil spirits don't announce themselves with musical cues, the still and quiet can result in being spooked to death by a spirit suddenly jumping out at you.

Overall:
Echo Night has a surprisingly interesting story and a variety of interesting, spooky places to explore. ANyone who enjoys graphical adventures should feel right at home. While some aspects of the game are vague, and not completely explained in the plot, the game is an interesting horror-themed take on the point-and-click genre. The game also features slightly variant endings depending on your performance in the game. The game doesn't really have replay value, though, and from the last save point in the game, you can re-explore the entire ship if you felt like it. Sadly, the ridiculously bad reviews of this game will probably ensure that Agetec won't bring Echo Night 2 to the U.S. This is a shame because Echo Night 2 has actually gotten impressive scores in many highly critical Japanese publications. Unfortunately, the game only takes about 5-7 hours to complete. It's an excellent renter, but certainly not worth buying.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/30/00, Updated 05/30/00