Isn’t it funny how classic playstation horror usually means tank controls and fixed camera angles? Or is that just us? Vultures – Scavengers of Death laughs in the face of that frustrating design choice. It takes the creepy, nostalgic vibe of old-school Resident Evil and turns every single zombie encounter into a slow, stressful grid puzzle. We spent a couple of days with the game, and we really liked how this unique mashup turned out.
Bullets. Action Points. Broken Doors
This is a game based on pure turn-based tactics. In it, we control two agents by moving them on a grid, scrounging for ammo and keys in a ruined city. Every turn gives the characters three Movement Points (MP) and three Action Points (AP). MP is used to walk, while AP is used to shoot, heal, or reload. It’s pure, unadulterated turn-based strategy—and we couldn’t love it more for it!
The gunplay is surprisingly deep, allowing us to target specific body parts. A headshot, for example, takes double the AP (two points instead of one). This way, it forces a hard choice between doing massive damage or saving points to retreat. Shooting the legs, however, can pin a mutant right in place. The two characters also play very differently. Amber, our personal fave, has a grappling hook to cross gaps or pull enemies into holes. Leopoldo can vault over junk. He’s our junky boy. Sorry, we don’t know what’s gotten into us.
Like us, the combat can also get pretty weird. Fighting single zombies is a joke. We could just push a lone enemy into a shelf over and over to stun the hell out of them (if that’s even possible?). We didn’t even need to waste a single bullet. Does this break the tension? We aren’t entirely sure, but we absolutely loved the fact that we could bully a monster to death with living room furniture.
Trying to run away doesn’t really work either. On several occasions, we fled a room to try and come back later, only to find that the zombies were camping right next to the door. They get a free hit the exact second we walked back in—the bastards. We ended up taking a lot of cheap damage simply because the level design forces us through such tiny doorways.
We have to give it to the devs, though. They absolutely nailed the PS1 aesthetic. The muddy textures and grainy filters make the Salento Valley look genuinely gross. It feels exactly like a lost game from 1998, but it plays out like a cheesy 80s action movie. It’s a combination that fits the blocky graphics perfectly.
Blast from the Past!
The tactical combat is genuinely brilliant in Vultures – Scavengers of Death, especially when we found ourselves surrounded by a horde and down to our last magazine. Planning out our AP usage felt incredibly rewarding. While the door-camping enemies and the easy stun-locking might take away some of the magic for some players, it didn’t bother us at all. We loved finding new uses for the furniture, and there was a strange, comforting charm to the repeating animations. It relaxed us after a long day, and it’s an experience we hope other retro horror fans get to enjoy too.
ID Card
- Developer: Team Vultures
- Publisher: Firesquid / Gamersky Games
- Platforms: PC (Steam)
- Release Date: May 13, 2026
- Genre: Tactical Turn-Based / Survival Horror
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