Vultures - Scavengers of Death

A genuinely fresh spin on a familiar formula

Vultures - Scavengers of Death earns its Very Positive rating first through real enthusiasm for its central conceit: classic survival horror tension, reimagined as tile-based tactical combat. "What an absolute banger of a game. I'm so glad I decided to support small developers who actually deliver, instead of buying another UE5 slop game or some soulless, trend-chasing soulslike/roguelike/survivor/RE clone. It's a fresh idea full of potential," reads one detailed review. A separate reviewer, more understated, writes: "Feels very nice. Fun exploring locations, fun solving battle 'puzzles.'" A third reviewer frames the game's specific appeal plainly: "A love letter to the good old survival games with a retro aesthetic... it's good to see that the devs have also thought about the fact that we are not as young as we used to be when Resident Evil was released, so they have added turn based combat to avoid us massive jumpscares." This review treats that enthusiasm as earned: reviewers across the sample consistently credit the turn-based translation as a genuine reinvention rather than a gimmick layered onto a familiar template.

Strong retro atmosphere and presentation

Beyond its central mechanic, this review found reviewers repeatedly praising the game's commitment to its era. "The game itself is a solid nod to 2000's and PS1 era of games, inheriting both best and worst qualities of it. It has tank controls, simplified graphics and clunky inventory, yet possesses the same charm these games had," reads one detailed review with over twenty-five hours logged. A separate reviewer credits the game's "wonderful art style, good exploration" and a story that's "good enough to keep you engaged." This review treats that praise as fair and consistent: reviewers reaching for Resident Evil, Parasite Eve, and Evil Tonight as specific comparisons, rather than generic survival-horror touchstones, suggests a game that understands and successfully recreates the texture of its influences.

A fair, widely repeated complaint about crashes and softlocks

Set against that praise, this review found a fair, extensively repeated complaint that the game's launch-window stability undermines the experience it otherwise delivers. "DO NOT buy this game at its current state. There is so many bugs that ruins gameplay, I already reported 10 bugs, 5 of which ruins the combat in a unfair way and 1 SOFTLOCKS YOU! This game would have been 10/10 for me, it's an AMAZING and FUN game... but just a buggy mess at launch," reads one detailed review. A separate reviewer describes a specific, severe progression block: "The game suddenly refuses to let me continue. The title screen now tells me I need to 'finish the demo, win the game,' with no other selectable options on the screen. I have never downloaded the demo version of this game." This review treats that complaint as fair and serious: it recurs across reviewers with wildly different playtime totals, from under an hour to over twenty, which suggests a genuine, unresolved stability problem rather than isolated hardware incompatibility.

A fair, repeated complaint about combat actions failing to register

This review also found a fair, repeated complaint specifically about the game's core turn-based combat, where otherwise well-designed encounters are disrupted by actions simply not working. "All involve actions that you should be able to take during combat but randomly do not work. For example, being unable to do an enemy or wall jump on a valid tile, being unable to reposition an enemy, etc. I've also had a boss randomly get stuck doing absolutely zero actions," reads one detailed review, which otherwise praises the game's gameplay and atmosphere as "wonderful." This review treats that complaint as fair: for a game whose appeal rests specifically on tight, puzzle-like tactical combat, actions failing to register at random strikes directly at its central strength rather than a peripheral system.

A specific complaint about an exploitable stun mechanic

Beyond outright bugs, this review found a specific, narrower complaint about a design imbalance in the combat system itself. "Combat feels nice except for the 'push into wall/stun' mechanic. It's too exploitable in my opinion and not only on normal enemies, once I got the first boss between [two obstacles]... it wasn't really a fight anymore," reads one review. A separate reviewer confirms the same trick from the opposite angle, framing it as a helpful workaround: "To the people who complain about difficulty? Do not use the push cheese and upgraded knife!" This review treats that complaint as fair: a stun-and-pin mechanic that can neutralise boss encounters, once discovered, is a genuine balance gap even if some players treat it as a welcome escape hatch.

A fair complaint about confusing navigation

This review also found a fair, more modest complaint about the game's map design. "The maps are blind, directions are confusing, and with so many doors, the game desperately needs a compass," reads one detailed review, which separately notes a lack of experience rewards for combat as a further frustration. This review treats that complaint as fair: even reviewers who otherwise enjoyed the exploration loop occasionally struggled to orient themselves within its infested-metropolis setting, a fixable but real friction point.

Achievement data corroborates a strong hook despite the rough edges

This review's own check of Steam's global achievement data shows 68.7% of players completing the tutorial and over half reaching the early Police Station milestone, figures that fall to roughly a third by the Prison and Mansion sections and into single digits for the game's harder, item-completion-focused achievements. This review reads that curve as consistent with reviewer accounts: a strong, well-regarded opening that hooks a clear majority of players, with a real but not catastrophic drop-off as the game's later content, and its launch-window bugs, take a toll on completion.

Final verdict

Vultures - Scavengers of Death succeeds most clearly as a genuinely inventive reinterpretation of classic survival horror, earning real, specific enthusiasm from reviewers who credit its turn-based combat and retro atmosphere as a fresh, well-executed idea. Its clearest weakness is a fair, widely repeated complaint about crashes, softlocks, and combat actions failing to register, serious enough that several reviewers who otherwise loved the game could not in good conscience recommend it in its current state. For fans of tactical, puzzle-like combat and PS1-era survival horror who can tolerate real technical risk, this is a cautious recommendation; players who prioritise stability should wait for further patches.