User Reviews (1 - 11 of 32)

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Unique Story, Tremendous Fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 115 / 117
Date: July 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I don't know why someone hasn't thought to make a game around this setting - about 20,000 + years ago before, and still respect what we know about the period. Don't let this scare you. Forget the muscle bound club and kill stuff.

Although several of the puzzles are variations on puzzles I've met in several other games, here they are totally in sinc with the story line and tremendous fun. Others are new to me, challenging, and still totally appropriate to the story line.

The graphics are extremely good, and in some places - especially good. I really felt like I'd been transported back to that world of our own earliest direct ancestors - the people who did those cave paintings. Not Neaderthal, by the way. The characters' interaction with their world of that time (end of last Ice Age) was neither grating, nor silly.

It IS true that the plot isn't all that unusual from the other games I've played, but the way it was done here, given what I've already said, made it totally fresh and TREMENDOUS FUN!

There are games that I HAVE played that I enjoyed just as much - for different reasons - but few I've enjoyed more. (Warning: I AM a terminal Syberia fan.) Even the acting was OK!

All in all, I couldn't recommend it more highly. Even the price is reasonable! It wasn't difficult giving ECHO 5 stars in BOTH categories.

ECHO -- Myst-lite in the stone age

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 31 / 33
Date: October 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

A good value for the price. This is a fairly short and not too tricky game (especially if you've been playing adventure games since Zork). It's a Myst-like game, though not nearly as challenging. However, the paleolithic setting is unique, and the educational tie-ins were very well done. I would definitely recommend this one, especially for 10-15 year olds.

An interesting game in an interesting setting

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 16 / 16
Date: March 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I just finished playing Echo together with my husband and we both liked it a lot. This was the first game that we solved completely without resorting to a walk-through.

I thought the puzzles were intuitive for the most part - but perhaps that is in part because I have always been interested in prehistory and many things in the game were familiar. I liked that one of the tasks in the game was to find food for the main character - I have played too many adventure games were the character never seems to eat, sleep and can run on continuously. This helped making the game seem very realistic.

One big plus is the very well researched prehistoric background of the game and the documentary about the Cro-Magnon period and the Lascaux cave-paintings. The historical information was very well tied into the game - often it helped us solve a puzzle.

The graphics were very nicely done as well and fun to explore. I wish the game had been a little longer but it certainly was a satisfying experience.

Hard puzzles

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: August 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I really liked this game and liked learning about our ancient history. There was no way I could do the puzzles without the strategy guide. For that reason alone, I dropped the score to 4 stars.

Short puzzle based game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: August 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I happen to be a big fan of the Stone Age/Ice Age eras and RPGs, so I thought this would be a perfect game for me. Outside of how short it was (4-5 hours without a walkthrough for me), I was right on.

The graphics and sounds are wonderful! I spent quite a bit of time just looking around and enjoying the detailed scenery. With my imagination I could close my eyes and picture myself standing there in Arok's place. I wasn't disappointed in the least with the visuals or audio.

I had no problems figuring out the interface. The user's manual explains it all, just in case you do have trouble.

The puzzles vary in how hard they are. I had an advantage with some of the puzzles because I've made fire and some of the items in real life before. The handprint puzzle and the blocked doorway puzzle later on in the game were the hardest ones for me, but I was still able to stumble through them without a walkthrough by trial and error. I played the game twice and would like to mention that I had an "extra" puzzle I encountered in one of them: to fight off the wolves when retrieving an item for Klem's assistant (I forget his name at the moment). The only difference was real life time spent to get there and to finish the puzzle. It makes me wonder what other little surprise puzzles may be waiting in the game!

I noticed a small bug that doesn't really effect the game at all: you can get multiple flint knives. I just found it funny and wondered how it got passed the game testers. (No, I will not tell you how. If you really wish to have more than one knife, figure it out for yourself... it'll make the game last a little longer at least.)

The characters, for the most part, are unique to themselves. However, if you've read Clan of the Cave Bear (or any of the sequels) then the only female character (again, forgot her name, sorry) might remind you of Ayla. Just something else I noticed.

The in-game growing encyclopedia offers a variety of information and should most definately be read. It expands on what is explored in the game by Arok. Despite reseaching the topics myself long before getting the game, even I found new information!

Truthfully, there is very little replay value, unless you want to go back and look at the scenery that you missed before or to try and uncover "hidden" aspects of the game. It gets 4 stars instead of 5 because of the short play time and the low replay value.

I really hope they come out with a second (longer) game. I know I'd buy it.

Interesting and fun but not for Klutzes

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: December 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I really enjoyed this game. The scenery is stunning. The characterizations were good to great. The puzzles were satisfying. Everything was fine until I got to a cave with a bear; a puzzle that must be solved with speed and reflexes - two things I do not possess, which is why I play adventure games rather than role-playing games. After about 200 unsuccessful attempts (over several days), I gave up. I was always a split-second too slow. I put the game aside with real regret. I can recommend this game without hesitation to anyone possessing just a tad of "shoot-em-up" skill.

Beautiful graphics - disappointing game play

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 10 / 13
Date: October 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I was very curious when I first saw this game and read the reviews. Up to this point I had only played the Harry Potter games (the first 3 -didn't like the 4th one) and a couple of the Nancy Drew. The work that went into the graphics on this one was phenominal! I got a little stuck on some of the challenges, though. I am hopelessly stuck on the grid-matching unicorn (or whatever animal it's supposed to be!)in the cave. Dead in the water or, perhaps I should say, up against a stone wall! There aren't any hints or helps to try and figure these challenges out! I found a walkthrough, but for some reason, the directions for the wall grid didn't work. I'm really stuck. Well, I'll keep trying. I found the other aspects rather frustrating and sometimes boring. You have to figure out what implements you'll need to make tools, and it's all cut and dried so that you can't continue until you have everything in place and in the proper order. I know I'm new to computer games, but I like puzzles and challenges so I thought I'd like this one. There isn't much interaction with other characters in Echo but, I have to admit, it's a lovely place to visit! Kind of makes one yearn for the simpler way of life!

A Great Non Violent Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: December 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This was my first adventure game. I was told it's short, but that's what makes it better. Less chances of getting bored.
The story was great, and there was no trouble following it. Well worth the money, in fact I even purchased two. One for me, and the other for a friend. By the way she loves it also.

Ruthie

Long search is over

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: March 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have been searching for a game that I would enjoy, and kept saying all along, "One that teaches you survival skills, and in line with Native beliefs," well, I found it! It just isn't created for the many who are advanced gamers looking for the ultimate challenge, it's more for one's with interests in "now how did they once do such and such.." mentalities. I felt placed within the scene while trying to work out just what to do next in the game. I personally enjoyed the graphics and skill level, especially the theme. I hope to see more games created with similarities, such as herbal knowledge/gathering, meditative practices...hint, hint. This game is hopefully the beginning of such game play--to look to yesterday for a less unstablized tomorrow.

Neolithic Adventure

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: September 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

First off, I must say I did enjoy the game. The idea of adventuring about in what I took to be Late Stone Age Europe was at least different from any other Adventure game I have ever played. As the game progressed, I found myself becoming very involved in Arok's life and his search for the Lost Cavern. While the story line was somewhat weak, as was Arok's motivation for starting his journey, I found that I wanted very much to see how it would all turn out.
Now to some particulars:
The graphics were very nice, especially the FMV cut scenes. I began to wish I were right there with him (Arok), breathing the crisp, clean air of post Ice Age Europe.
Sound effects and music were more than acceptable, and the User Interface was very easy to control.
The puzzles made sense, at least once I figured out the underlying logic. Bear in mind that in many cases, certain objects and locations will not become active or "hot" until you have progressed to a certain point in the game.
If you enjoy Adventure games, I think I can say you will enjoy "Echo". Although it is rather short, at least as compared to something like "Myst IV" or "The Longest Journey", it is an interesting experience, and the historical information included as part of the game play can turn an enjoyable game into an educational experience, if you give it a chance.
Four out of five stars

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