14 DAY TRIAL // There is now a release date for There Came an Echo. The voice-controlled strategy game will be launched on Steam for Windows PC on February 24.
Developer Iridium Games' creation is a quirky and challenging affair. The game underwent a successful Kickstarter campaign back in 2013, managing to convince a lot of people that it would work, against all odds.
The game has voice acting from popular Star Trek star Wil Wheaton, but by far the most interesting thing about it is the fact that it can be fully controlled by using solely your voice.
There Came an Echo uses a list of predefined commands in order to enable players to navigate the battlefield and control their operatives, complete with setting up waypoints, designating targets and keeping an eye on access points.
In addition to this, players can even program various custom commands, give their characters funky names, and then proceed to call out weird orders like "reach for the sky" in creepy voices.
An interesting new perspective
The project initially seemed really challenging, especially considering that voice recognition software tends to be a bit on the buggy side, especially when you need to issue a lot of commands in a very short time span, but given the fact that the engine's scope is pretty limited, a lot of the clutter and overhead usually associated with stuff like Google Now or Siri does not factor into the equation.
There Came an Echo will be available on PC, going for $20 / €17, starting February 24. Iridium Games is also working on an Xbox One version of the strategy game.
