Vultures – Scavengers of Death Review
Vultures – Scavengers of Death (or simply Vultures) was one of the few games I played taking a break from my Resident Evil marathon. Funnily enough, Vultures is a turn-based tactical extraction horror game heavily inspired by the Resident Evil franchise.
The first time I saw this game was on Twitter (or X) and I was charmed by its art style and turn-based system which I am a big fan of. While turn-based combat and horror is an unorthodox combination, the Vultures demo gave me a taste of how the developers made the two works: Newsflash! It was good.
Combat, Enemies, and Bosses
There is a good amount of variety in the enemies we encounter, and the bosses are definitely top-tier in design. The combat gimmicks for each boss fluctuate in complexity and how fun they are, but overall they still end up being solid encounters.
Enemy variety includes regular zombies, Blind Hunters, Offsprings, Swat Zombies, and several other types that show up throughout the game.
Blind Hunters are strong zombies that will chase after you once detected, but you can still sneak in front of them as long as combat has not started. Offsprings are bug-like creatures. Swat Zombies are large hulking enemies that can appear with armor and shield, one of the two, or none at all.
The game clearly takes inspiration from the Resident Evil franchise in how encounters and general movement feel, but it still does its own thing in a way that doesn’t feel like a straight copy.
I also can’t stop thinking about how much this feels like Metal Gear Acid, turning a fixed-camera real-time action game into a turn-based isometric system.
The Push-Stun Cheese
Speaking of combat systems, there’s also this pretty cheesy mechanic where you can kick an enemy into a wall or into another enemy to stun them and basically reset combat.
What ends up happening is: you take an initiative action at the start for free damage, then follow it up with two attacks and a push using three action points. The push stuns the enemy again and resets combat, which then lets you basically go back into initiative again. If you position it right, it turns into a loop that can get kind of broken.
This mechanic saved me so many resources that I probably hoarded a bit too much by the end of the game.
Characters and Gameplay Differences
Moving away from combat systems, the game features two playable characters, Leopoldo and Amber, who play differently and approach situations in their own ways.
Leopoldo can move objects and interact with the environment more directly, while Amber uses a grappling hook to pull enemies or pull herself toward walls for better positioning. This makes Amber noticeably more mobile, while Leopoldo feels more grounded.
Despite this, main combat options remain the same. The game gives you a decent amount of flexibility in how to defeat enemies by allowing you to switch between three main weapons in your inventory — usually the knife, pistol, and another weapon — and you can also shift between running, sneaking, and walking depending on the situation.
Environmental hazards like acid and electricity also play into combat quite a bit, often helping with extra damage or setting up stuns when used properly.
Exploration, Systems, and Structure
Expanding beyond combat, exploration is structured in a way that feels familiar if you’ve played Resident Evil-style games before.
The game uses a similar map system that shows the layout of each area, with rooms changing color depending on whether they have been fully explored or not. This makes it easier to track progress in each section instead of guessing what’s left behind.
Exploring every room and areas is a must as there are tons of ammo, health packs, armor, and even collectibles scattered throughout the game. Collectibles include vinyls, videotapes, documents, and more, which turn into money that can be used after missions.
After missions, the structure also opens up into a hub area where you can replay missions or start new ones. This is also where the shop system comes in, allowing you to buy bonus items, accessories, missed weapons, health kits, and even costumes for characters.
Going back to exploration itself, the levels of the game both feature unique and own locations such as a mansion, the police station, and a large laboratory.
Bugs and Issues
With all that said, the game isn’t perfect, and some issues definitely stand out.
I ran into several bugs, including the game randomly closing, reloads that suddenly remove the UI so you can’t do anything, and being able to interact with quest objects during combat without spending action points even though it is supposed to require them.
Is Vultures – Scavengers of Death A Good Game? Is Vultures – Scavengers of Death Worth it?
Vultures – Scavengers of Death is a good game with a good price. The best way I can describe this game is: Resident Evil x Metal Gear Acid
The story and plot twist is fairly predictable but still good. The ending itself is a cliffhanger. The story seems to be a mix of supernatural and science, which was intriguing.
The combat, atmosphere, and exploration are perfect; the variety of actions players can do feels enough where you can always think of something creative to combat enemies without being overwhelming to look at and process.
I just wish there were more puzzles in the game, since I can only really remember one level where they actually mattered.
Still, I’d look forward to a DLC or sequel if it ever gets announced. Even if they don’t change the core mechanics too much, just expanding the story would already be enough. The 12+ hour runtime honestly feels a bit short.
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