| Echo Night: Beyond | |
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European box art |
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| Developer(s) | From Software |
| Publisher(s) |
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| Composer(s) | Kota Hoshino |
| Series | Echo Night |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | First-person adventure Survival horror |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) | |
| Media/distribution | 1 DVD |
Echo Night: Beyond, known in Japan as Nebula: Echo Night (エコーナイト Nebyura Ekō Naito) is an adventure video game for the PlayStation 2 console. It was released during 2004 in Japan and the United States, with the European release not following until 2006. It is the third game in the Echo Night series.
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. Players explore the station from a first-person perspective, inside a spacesuit. In addition to the many spiritual anomalies that seem to haunt the forgotten station, strange lunar lighting and relative weightlessness add to the unfamiliar creepiness of the game's environments.
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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.[1] 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 space suit is equipped with a flashlight, but 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. When ghosts must be avoided, they can be spotted through the use of security monitors, which are placed throughout the station.
The game's storyline concerns Richard Osmond, who is flying in a space shuttle to a moon base with his fiance, Claudia, who he will wed upon arriving. A supernatural force causes the shuttle to crash during landing, killing many and releasing their ghostly spirits upon the base.[2] Richard awakens and decides that Claudia is still alive. The game centers around finding her, while also putting to rest the uneasy souls that roam the base.