Lone Echo - the very name of this title seems mysterious. The development studio "Ready at dawn" has done a great job with this Scify-Virtual-Reality-Adventure. But why I think that everyone who owns an "Oculus-Rift" should also call this great VR game his own, you can read here in this review.
The story
The year is 2126 on a space station in orbit of Saturn. My name is "Jack" and I am an Android to support the only other crew member - Olivia Rhodes - with my skills.
Thus a part of the mystery has already been solved, "Lone". After a short time on the station, something unexpected happens. Suddenly, near Saturn, an anomaly opens up that causes a lot of damage to our station. Therefore, it is our task to collect data, repair the damage and find the cause of the anomaly in the first few hours. Until out of the blue...........
This version should suffice to describe the premise of this game. After all, I don't want to tell you the many exciting turns of the story.
Gameplay
Admittedly, weightlessness makes it particularly easy for any VR game. Due to this fact, you can move through the room completely free of motion sickness. The fact of weightlessness is really good for this game. In Lone Echo, one looks in vain for surfaces or objects to which one could not hold on or which one could not reach for. One simply has the feeling of being a part of this world, simply because one can touch everything. The touch controllers' excellent haptic feedback often gives you the feeling of actually holding something in your hand.
At its core, this game is an adventure. You have different tools to make your way around the world, like the scanner, which allows you to analyze objects and get additional information or the plasma cutter, which cuts easily through metal and other materials. Most of these tools can be selected directly by clicking with your index finger on one of your wrists. With these tools, you'll make your way through various puzzles and events, which are of course becoming increasingly difficult to solve.
The puzzles are really varied, but "Lone Echo" also has to put up with the fact that after a few hours of playing time you can recognize certain patterns.
The graphic
Lone Echo" sets absolute standards in VR graphics. The amazing thing about it is that this game also runs very well on old processors, a correspondingly good graphics card is required. Personally I have an I5-3570 with a Nivdia GTX 1070, and I always have the 90 FPS needed for VR. Visually, "Lone Echo" does not have to hide from current triple A titles on the market, even though we are talking about VR here. For very powerful computers the "High performance mode" with the "Atlas Patch" was added recently, which I can't use because of my old processor. Here is a small Youtube video about the features.
Nevertheless, "Lone Echo" is an absolute feast for the eyes of every VR enthusiast.
Immersion
If VR games have a huge advantage, this is the immersion - the ability to give the player the feeling to really dive into the game world.
And this is where "Lone Echo" does everything right. The haptic feedback is, as already mentioned, simply great. That you can interact with EVERYTHING, I already mentioned. Also acoustically this game draws you absolutely under its spell. Whether in original English or German. The soundtrack is authentic and convincing at all times. The special effects are also always reproduced in perfect "Dolby Sorround" via the VR headset.
Everything in this world is all of a piece. Exercising one's main skills through interaction with one's "own" body only further supports immersion.
Multiplayer in VR
You just bought a new ceiling lamp or your Oculus controllers still don't have any problems? Shall I tell you a secret?
"Lone Echo" comes along with the multiplayer game "Lone Echo Arena", in which you try to score goals in weightlessness in a team of 4vs4 players with a throwable disc. This game is really hard to master, which I can say from my own experience. Nevertheless, it is great fun. Actually, this "game in the game" deserves its own article, despite all the activity it delivers.
And if that sounds great to you, guess what now! It is completely free to download from the Oculus Store even if you don't have "Lone Echo". Well, if it isn't a nice touch of "Ready at dawn"!
My conclusion
To everyone who owns an "Oculus Rift", I recommend to play this pearl of VR games. Even if you haven't been a big fan of classic adventures like me, you can still have a lot of fun with this title. You can buy it when it is not on offer for just 39.99 Euro and it is worth every cent. Personally, it took me about 20 hours for my first playthrough, which is absolutely fair for this price.
I hope you enjoyed this review and I aroused your interest in "Lone Echo". You have already played "Lone Echo" or are thinking about buying it? Why don't you tell me what you think about this game in the comments?
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