Vultures – Scavengers of Death is a gripping, if buggy, turn-based Resident Evil

Wouldn’t Resident Evil be easier if you could take on the enemies in turn-based combat? That was my thinking going into Vultures – Scavengers of Death which is essentially a top-down, turn-based take on Capcom’s survival horror series. After becoming lunch for several members of the undead, I realised how misplaced my optimism was.

However, as challenging as Vultures can initially be, it’s a genuine joy to play. In fact, while it resembles Resident Evil 2 both in terms of plot and enemies, it’s actually superior to Capcom’s effort in some ways. The undead enemies feel deeply menacing, as they advance on you turn by turn (and get a near-automatic hit in if you attempt to back away).

They’re also less durable than Resi’s zombies. Frustrated at emptying six bullets into undead heads with zero result? I’m happy to report that targeting a zombie’s cranium and firing just a few shots, typically results in an encouraging splatter. The bad news is that the other zombies in the room will immediately be alerted to your presence.

Stealth plays a significant part in Vultures’ turn-based battles; duck behind a zombie enemy and you can immobilize them with a slash to the legs. And, providing you keep your gun holstered, you can stab them all the way to the grave, without their comrades being any the wiser. Or if they are breathing down your neck, Vultures gives you a neat little move where you can swap places with a shambler, ideal for getting out of corners.

What’s less ideal is the number of bugs Vultures – Scavengers of Death contains. Developer Team Vultures is taking action to squash them, but I encountered a progress-blocking bug in the tutorial of places. Later, during the main campaign, I found myself trapped in a void outside the room.

Vultures mixes things up further with some creative boss battles, including one where your mutant foe is essentially blind. While I’ve yet to see it through to its conclusion, it has enough of a story to justify your foray through a zombie-infested city, mixing in a dab of Silent Hill on top of its more obvious inspiration.

Add in another protagonist who can use a grappling gun to grab foes and you’ve got a game that rewards you for thinking outside the coffin. Even clearing a single room can prove seriously satisfying, as you admire your bloody handiwork and top up your health with a swig from the water cooler.

That said, there were a few occasions when I noped right out of a room, often because I’d picked the one door the zombies were gawping at. Discretion, as the saying goes, is the better part of not having your intestines ripped out Day of the Dead’s Captain Rhodes.

A little disappointingly, while you’re part of a mercenary organisation, there’s no opportunity for teamwork. I didn’t expect Vultures to hand me command of an entire squad, but I hoped for a Jill Valentine/Chris Redfield-style team-up. Instead, the protagonists each have their own tasks and, so far as I’ve seen, you’re only ever in control of one zombie-busting badass.

With its low-poly graphics, Vultures nails the look of 90s horror games, early Resident Evils included. And, as a result, it’s impressively undemanding when it comes to hardware. I was able to get Vultures running on a 15 year old PC with zero issues.

Ultimately, it may be a little rough around the edges but this is an innovative, turn-based take on survival horror and, so far, I’m hooked. If you’re a zombie afficionados or Resident Evil fan, Vultures – Scavengers of Death is absolutely worth investigating.

Vultures – Scavengers of Death is out now on PC, and a demo is available on Steam.