Echo Night: Beyond

by Tommo

Product Features

• Unique first-person perspective -- watch for ghosts through your space helmet
• Watch Richard's heart rate -- you must keep him from being so frightened that he dies from a heart attack
• Help the spirits find peace by solving the puzzles -- it's your only chance to be reunited with your missing fiancee

Product Details

• ASIN: B00024W1T2
• Item Weight: 8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,416 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Echo Night: Beyond takes players on a paranormal voyage into the future. The year is 2044, and scientist Richard Osmond is the last survivor of a tragic crash, during a flight to the first moonbase. Now he's all alone on Lunar Base Diana, with only a flashlight and his courage to face the horrors waiting for him in the dark.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What if they based a game on the movie "The Sixth Sense?", September 23, 2004

By 

A gamer dad in Virginia (VA USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Echo Night: Beyond (Video Game)

What if they based a game on the movie "The Sixth Sense?" Place it on the Moon and you have "Echo Night Beyond," a good entry into the often neglected "adventure" genre, now cross bred with survival horror.

It is not for those who are without patience, but it does offer plenty of fun for adventure gaming fans. There is no combat, only exploration, running from ghosts, and puzzle solving (helping ghosts find peace by finding whatever they lost). Some critics claim it is repetitive, but I think it works well, especially for more mature gamers.

The game is presented in a FPS mode, with only a heart monitor to let u know your health status, and a battery operated flashlight to light your environment. The flashlight's battery charge is a concern, and must be managed by locating battery packs scattered about the station.

Your objective is to try and locate your fiance after the crash of your shuttle, into what seems to be an abandoned Moon base. A sub-plot built around what happened to the Moon base prior to your arrival is uncovered as you explore the station, encountering ghosts, and viewing ghostly events shown to you in video cameras.

As u explore, you will encounter ghosts who will either be benign or evil. Evil ghosts are encountered in rooms filled with a mysterious fog (non-volumetric). When u encounter an evil ghost, your only option is to run like hell before your heart stops from fear. But, with an objective to save the souls of the dead, u still need to communicate with the ghosts, even the evil ones. Find what they are looking for and u can release their souls from their torment.

There is plenty of exploration, along with some back and forth item quests, but it never reaches the absurd level found in the Resident Evil series.

The environments, lighting, menus, and sound are absolutely great and thoroughly immersive. Voice Over talent is good -- international accents are well done and some seem genuine. The ghosts could use some more polygons -- but the environment and menus really shine. The controls are good as long as u use the 3rd controller set-up, a typcal FPS configuration using the dual sticks to move and look, and the triggers for actions. The default set-up, typical of FROM's JP games, is amazingly bad -- so I am grateful for the extra controller configurations that Western gamers are more accustomed to.

I doubt most "kids" will have the patience for ENB -- it is a very passive experience, like most adventure games, but adults will enjoy it. The fear is not as intense or strange as the Silent Hill series, but when a evil ghost does appear, the screen and controller start to shake, your flashlight dims, and it invokes a Fatal Frame style "get me the hell out of here" panic in the player that is quite effective.

If you like adventure games, and horror, you will find it well worth your time. I give this game a solid B, with a tilt to a B+/A- for effort, or if u really enjoy the genre. I also recommend it as a solid game for all ages, especially adults who realize that adult games do not need gratuitous violence and scantly clad women to be fun.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mystery and Suspense, In Space!, July 20, 2007

By 

Big Boss Games (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Echo Night: Beyond (Video Game)

Reviewed for Big Boss Games by: JLR

Here's an obscure, but excellent game that not too many people have heard about, Echo Night: Beyond for the PS2.

The premise is simple, you are on a trip to the moon with your fiance. Sounds good, right? Then you crash, and end up the only survivor. It's now up to you to find out the who, what, when, where, and why?

The game is played from a first person view, and graphically really sets the mood very well. It is a very atmospheric title, and you really feel like you're there. Your quest for answers will find you coming across many ghosts, some good, some not so good. Without giving too much away, I'll end on this note, don't let this one slip under your game radar. It's a really, really good game.

Score: 8/10

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Wanted to Play it All Over Again, September 27, 2008

By 

Shadras9 (Alaska) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Echo Night: Beyond (Video Game)

I loved this game! I only bought it because it came from Agetec and I am a big fan of the Armored Core Series, but it is nothing like Armored Core.
I found myself immersed in it while I was playing. I really enjoyed the little subplots revealed through all the characters. I was sorry when it was finished even though it was a decent length. I wanted more. I don't think there are enough good games like this. I know I will want to play it again.
If you like games that will invite you to use your intuition & problem soving skills in an environment and story that draws you in completely like any good book or movie will do, this is one to get.