![Vultures – Scavengers of Death [IMPRESSIONS] – Classic Resident Evil Meets XCOM](https://i0.wp.com/www.useapotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/vultures-review.jpg?resize=1077%2C640&ssl=1)
Imagine crossing the classic Resident Evil games with a tactical squad game like XCOM… that’s Vultures – Scavengers of Death in a nutshell. To me? It’s a brilliant idea, and one that genuinely manages to pull off blending late-nineties survival horror with turn-based strategy. And sure, it has some obvious rough edges, but my time with it so far has been a hell of a lot of fun.
Check out some screenshots down below:
Right off the bat, the nostalgia of Vultures – Scavengers of Death hits hard. The game absolutely nails that gritty, low-poly aesthetic that you’d associate with PlayStation titles (and particularly the early Resident Evil titles). As someone who loves any game that reminds me of my younger years playing games – and, as a die-hard Resident Evil fan – it resonated with me immediately.
That Resident Evil inspiration also ties into exploration, with players spending their out-of-combat time exploring the likes of spooky apartments and overrun police stations, all whilst hunting for keys and solving old-school puzzles… stop me if you’ve heard this one before. It even has proper safe rooms, complete with nostalgic, soothing music, which instantly brought a big smile to my face. However, instead of using fixed camera angles to build dread, the developers have cleverly implemented a fog of war system, with players having to creep around corners and use stealth to their advantage to keep safe from the horrors lurking in the dark.
“I’m certainly excited to play more, and if you have a soft spot for classic horror and enjoy a bit of tactical thinking, Vultures – Scavengers of Death is definitely worth checking out.”
When you do bump into the undead and enter combat, the game shifts into a tactical, grid-based battle system governed by action and movement points. If you’ve played the likes of X-COM before, you’ll feel a sense of familiarity, with players taking turns with the enemy to move around, perform actions, and try to get any strategic edge they can by using their skillset and surroundings to their advantage. You take control of one of two operatives during missions: there is Leopoldo, the muscle of the operation who can shove enemies into environmental hazards or pin them against walls to stun them, and then there is Amber, who uses a handy grappling hook to zip across gaps or drag weakened mutants towards her. Each brings something completely different to combat, keeping the action varied and exciting the longer you play.
One of the things that I appreciated the most about Vultures – Scavengers of Death is the sense of tension. A turn-based strategy title might not feel too scary, but between sweating over your scarce ammo (a hallmark of survival horror), deciding when to fight or flee, or simply not knowing what might be lurking around each dark corner, you’re constantly kept on your toes. You’ll find yourself forced into a lot of tricky scenarios too, and whilst Vultures – Scavengers of Death hasn’t been too difficult during my time playing so far, it has definitely put my skills to the test at times.
Check out some screenshots down below:
However, I cannot ignore some of the game’s more obvious flaws at the moment. The story and characters are incredibly basic, serving just to get you from one spooky locale to the next, whilst there is no voice acting to liven things up. In fairness, the narrative shouldn’t have to take centre stage – especially since the game nails its horror vibes so well – but it would’ve been nicer if I felt a bit more investment in what was going on. More frustratingly, the game also has a few technical bugs at the moment, and I’ve seen UI glitches, enemies freezing, and even one instance when I couldn’t seem to take my turn. I’ve been playing a pre-release build, so I do expect there to be improvements (and in fairness some of the bugs were one-off instances), but it’s still a bit frustrating.
Still, even with these technical hiccups, there is a massive amount of charm to Vultures – Scavengers of Death that makes me want to keep playing. The core loop of exploring, managing a desperately empty inventory, and surviving tactical scraps by the skin of your teeth is incredibly rewarding, and whilst a patch or two might be needed to fine-tune the technical side of things, the foundation is pretty special. I’m certainly excited to play more, and if you have a soft spot for classic horror and enjoy a bit of tactical thinking, Vultures – Scavengers of Death is definitely worth checking out.
Developer: Team Vultures
Publisher: Firesquid, Gamersky Games
Platform(s): PC (Reviewed)
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2537470/Vultures__Scavengers_of_Death/
What are our ‘Impressions’ features?
As a small part-time team with busy lives, we can’t always play every title to completion for a full review. Instead, our ‘Impressions’ features serve as a snapshot of our early experience with the full release of a game. We dive in for roughly 1 to 2 hours to get a feel for the mechanics, the presentation, the atmosphere, and the vibe of the game, all whilst offering our initial thoughts to answer the question: has it hooked us enough to want to keep playing?
