What if you took the classic Resident Evil games, and turned them into a tactical turn-based game. It looks like you’d create Vultures – Scavengers of Death!. Or that’s what the game looks like to me. If you want something a little different to other survival horror, then why not pick it up on Steam for £14.99. They also have a supporter pack available that gives you two outfits, one for each character. The soundtrack and art book, all for an extra £4.29.
Vultures only appear after something has died
Gameplay
Vultures – Scavengers of Death, has us controlling to covert operatives that belong to the title named Vultures. The team consists of three characters, with two of them being the field operatives we play. Amber, and Leopoldo, and lastly their brains behind the team Satsuki, who provides us with mission intel and information when in levels. Unlike traditional survival horrors, Vultures is more mission based rather than a liner-style. Before entering a mission, you can select what gear you want to take with you. A combat knife and pistol are permanently locked to your inventory, I’m not sure why, but you can get other weapons.
Each of the levels is set in a different environment, the first being a police station, the second a mansion. Ring any bells? But the story is consistent, so no micro stories with a larger one to tie it all together. In these levels, players will solve the occasional puzzle, find notes that will aid in both puzzles, or provide more insight to the events of the area. There are also two optional items to find within levels, one is a weapon, like the standard shotgun or crossbow. And valuable ones that come in different forms, such as vinyls, tapes etc. These items will give you money you can then spend at the end of a mission at the market. Overtime after beating a mission more gear and upgrades will unlock, like masks that will prevent blindness, gas poisoning, and one to increase accuracy. You can get upgrades for guns, and more for the fun of it costumes for both Leopoldo, and Amber.
Combat & Characters.
Combat in Vultures, plays like any typical turn-based game, there are turns that go in rounds. All actions will require AP, while movement uses MP, at the end of each turn, these are refilled. But sadly, you can not carry over unused AP. Now, the actions themselves offer a lot of freedom in combat. There is no penalty when swapping between weapons, where in some games they would take an action. And you can leave areas easily to get out of combat. For attacking, players are able to select the head, torso, and legs individually, with the head offering more damage. And targeting the legs has a chance to leave the enemy immobilized, allowing players to move away from them.
When it actually comes to playing both characters, there really isn’t much difference between them. Amber is the only one with additional equipment, and that being her grappling hook. Which she can use both in her environment and in combat. This did make it a lot more enjoyable playing her missions in Vultures, rather than Leapoldos, as he should have something unique to him.
Using the environment and special foes.
The environment serves us well in dispatching enemies during our encounters. Players can use explosive barrels, or light switches to electrify water on the floor, that will damage/stun enemies. Or do my favourite thing, lure them close to a wall, hit them twice in the head with a knife. Then use the last AP point to push them into the wall, causing them to stun. When alone this resets the combat, allowing a free hit. I have been doing this on most of the games enemies. With only a couple immune to being pushed. Amber is also useful with her grapple, by pulling zombies into hole on the flooring killing them instantly.
For some of the enemy types you will encounter, they can change the battle easily if you aren’t careful. There are some who will burrow, some who have longer reach, and one which can blind you. Most of the time, players fight them in smaller and more easily controlled areas. But in more story-scripted moments, if you don’t come prepared, it can become a challenge. If you do fail, Vultures’ retry is rather generous and will reload you to the previous room.
Graphics & Audio
The graphics and soundtrack feels heavily inspired by Resident Evil, and some other PS1 horrors at the time. It seems similar to Crow Country aesthetically, which are both excellent horror nostalgia visually. The eerie soundtrack is complimented nicely with the occasional screech of a chaotic violin string. I also do enjoy the art of the character portraits for Leopoldo and Amber. The only two things I have a personal gripe with was the lack of voice acting and the retro graphics kind of hindered one of the puzzles.
Seeing these long dialogue boxes, especially with Leopoldo, and just hearing a single ‘eugh’ coming from the character is a bit off-putting. I would have loved some spoken voice lines, or if not, even some gibberish talk. And though the graphics are fit for purpose and I enjoyed them, one puzzle relied on you counting something on a statue. I could barely differentiate the parts, and it looked like chunks of cheese to me rather than a statuette.
Longevity
After 13 hours I finally beat the game, I think there are two endings one for each character. As Vultures list the last mission but then adds the name beside it. You can probably add another hour or two when returning to collect the weapons you may have missed. Or when trying to 100% the game, either way I had a blast.
Final Thoughts
Vulture is a fun game with some straightforward and easy to learn combat. Although it can seem a little too easy at times, thanks to the knife’s upgrade that allows instant kills. As it made me sneak through whole levels just one-tapping zombies, except for the explosive ones. There is a nice variety of weapons and replaying levels doesn’t seem boring thanks to the shortness of each one. Atmosphere is excellent, but the horror side does lack creepiness.
I still think Leopoldo should have something to make him shine a little more. Like maybe allowing him hit harder with a knuckle dusters or something. A glaring problem is that Vultures, suffers with way too many crashes, and if it wasn’t for the saves being set just before leaving a room I would have stopped playing entirely. The game also suffers with various smaller issues here and there as I progressed. Action commands would just stop working, and the whole list would turn grey. On enemy turns they wouldn’t move or doing anything forcing me to quit the game to reset the room. Which is a shame since I am really enjoying Vultures.
Level designs offer up that nice grunge that I just love to see in horror games. Without making everything seem oddly clean at the same time. So if you are looking for a fun survival, Vultures – Scavengers of Death isn’t a bad shout. And hopefully the crashes will be fixed at one point too. So right now, I am giving it the Thumb Culture Gold Award! I’d love to see a sequel to this game in the future.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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