Echo Night: Beyond

PlayStation exclusive

Echo Night: Beyond, known in Japan as Nebula: Echo Night is a survival horror adventure video game. The game tells a science fiction ghost story, set in the not-too-distant future. Players take the role of a newlywed, off for a honeymoon on the moon. The vessel crashes before reaching its lunar resort destination, however, separating the just-married couple and leaving the hero alone at an abandoned research base.

Released: 22 January 2004
Platforms: PlayStation 2
Genres: Adventure Horror Psychological horror Science
Developers: FromSoftware
Publishers: FromSoftware
Series: Echo Night
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: First person
Themes: Science fiction Horror Survival
Country: Japan
Age ratings: PEGI 7 ESRB T
Entry: #3 in Echo Night
Composers: Kota Hoshino

About

Echo Night: Beyond, known in Japan as Nebula: Echo Night, is a 2004 survival horror adventure video game developed by FromSoftware for the PlayStation 2 console. Agetec published the game in North America, with the European release, by Indie Games, following in August 2005. It is the third game in the Echo Night series. While it shares common elements with Echo Night and Echo Night 2: The Lord of Nightmares, Beyond takes place in its own timeline.

The game tells a science fiction ghost story, set in the not-too-distant future. Players take on the role of a newlywed, off for a honeymoon on the Moon. The vessel crashes before reaching its lunar resort destination, however, separating the just-married couple and leaving the hero alone at an abandoned research base. Players explore the station from a first-person perspective, inside a spacesuit. In addition to the many spiritual anomalies that haunt the station, strange lunar lights and relative weightlessness add to the atmosphere of the game's environments.

Keywords

ghosts
futuristic
faceless protagonist

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Echo Night: Beyond is played from a first-person perspective, but unlike most other first-person games there is no use of firearms in the game. When confronted by a ghost, the player must run before the player character's heart rate reaches a critical level; otherwise, he will die of a heart attack. There are no means of directly defending against ghosts; they must be avoided. The player's spacesuit is equipped with a flashlight, but it must be kept charged by batteries.

The ghosts can be defeated only by clearing the mist they inhabit. This is done by using a control panel to activate the ventilation system. To purify the souls of the dead, personal items important to them in life must be found and brought to them. The only exception to this is the priest ghost, who will pop out from time to time.

Story

The game's storyline concerns Richard Osmond, who is flying in a space shuttle to a Moon base with his newly wed wife Claudia, with whom he will spend his honeymoon at their resort destination. A supernatural force causes the shuttle to crash during landing, however, killing many and releasing their ghostly spirits upon the base. Richard awakens and, discovering that he is alone, decides that Claudia might be elsewhere. The game centers around finding her, while also putting to rest the uneasy souls that roam the base.

Shortly after arriving on the base, Richard encounters a strange man whom seems to know him. He follows the man back to his room, which is painted to resemble a field. Every time Richard frees a spirit, the spirit's picture is painted on the walls. The man reveals that he is an android who enjoys painting. He also knows Claudia, saying that she is skilled in engineering.

Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of three sevens and one six for a total of 27 out of 40.