Nobody told me I needed a turn-based Resident Evil in my life until Vultures – Scavengers of Death refused to let go. From the early demo to the full release, it has remained consistently gripping.
Developed by Team Vultures and published by Firesquid and Gamersky Games, this debut title is exactly the kind of ambitious genre experiment that should not work on paper but absolutely does in practice. It launched on PC via Steam on May 13, 2026.
It fuses the claustrophobic tension of 90s survival horror with the deliberate, punishing decision-making of turn-based tactics, resulting in one of the most surprisingly gripping indie games I have played in years.
1. The Apocalypse of Salento Valley
Leopoldo
The setup lands you in 1993, one month after a mysterious explosion leveled Salento Valley and turned every soul inside into the shambling dead.
The villainous corporation at the center of the outbreak is Eugenesys, a setup immediately familiar to any Resident Evil fan. The game wears its inspirations proudly as the mystery unravels.
Missions peel back layers of corporate conspiracy, cult activity, and inhumane experimentation, relying heavily on the dark atmosphere to do the storytelling heavy lifting. However, some locations feel less connected to the city-collapse premise than the story setup suggests
The Operatives of VULTURE
VULTURE, a small group of specialized mercenaries, is deployed to investigate the cause and retrieve the key to a cure. You take control of two operatives across the game’s missions:
- Leopoldo: A disciplined brute guided by a strict personal code. He uses strength to shove enemies, vault obstacles, and reposition objects.
- Amber: An analytical specialist built for precision and agility. She carries a grappling hook to traverse gaps and manipulate enemy positioning.
Narrative and Character Development
Amber
My main frustration lies with the characters themselves. The suspense and mystery are well-constructed, but I wanted more of Leopoldo and Amber as people rather than just operatives.
Most dialogue focuses on basic plot progression through mission briefings. A few lines of banter, some backstory, or anything that adds emotional weight would have gone a long way.
The narrative is tropey and slightly bland, but it fits the classic PlayStation aesthetic. Accept that the story serves the mood rather than the characters, and it does its job well.
2. Inventory Management and Survival Under Pressure
Inventory Menu
The inventory system is one of the things Vultures – Scavengers of Death gets deeply right, though it also houses some of my biggest frustrations. Here is how it breaks down:
- Inventory capacity: Limited to up to 16 items during exploration.
- Arsenal: Functions as an unlimited storage hub back at base.
- Key items: Stored safely in a dedicated, separate slot, never clogging your loadout.
- Weapons and armor: Treated as standard, space-consuming inventory items.
Resource Scarcity Curve
The limited carry capacity forces hard decisions about what you bring into each mission. Do you stock up on medkits and burn through ammo faster or pack more firepower and gamble on taking fewer hits?
My early experience left me swimming in resources, while the later missions forced me to use everything at my disposal to survive. Watching later missions burn through that carefully collected surplus genuinely surprised me.
This inverted difficulty curve keeps the pressure mounting well past the point where survival horror games often start to ease up.
Equipment screen in Vultures – Scavengers of Death
My one persistent gripe is the item list layout. The vertical listing of every item mixed together inside the arsenal makes finding a specific weapon a frustrating chore.
When standing over a chest mid-mission, trying to swap out a shotgun for a spare rifle, scrolling through an undifferentiated wall of items kills the pacing. It is a noticeable quality-of-life issue.
3. Exploration and the Art of Moving Carefully
Creepy Hallway
Outside of combat, Vultures – Scavengers of Death plays in real-time. You freely roam the eerie corridors of Salento Valley, choosing between three movement stances:
- Sneaking: Lets you close in on enemies for strategic positioning before committing to combat.
- Walking: Handles most normal exploration without alerting nearby enemies.
- Running: Best saved for quick backtracking through already-cleared areas.
Fog of War and Tension
A strict fog-of-war mechanic obscures environments and enemies based on your line of sight and light sources. You have to tread carefully as you advance and enter each new room.
That moment of opening a door never loses its tension. The second a zombie catches wind of you, everything snaps instantly into a rigid, grid-based battleground.
Mission Locations and Puzzles
Police Station Map
The missions themselves span a solid variety of classic horror locations. You will explore spooky mansions and asylums, police stations, military complexes, and abandoned prisons.
All the hallmarks of survival horror are present, including puzzles that lean toward the item hunt variety to keep things accessible without oversimplifying.
One feature I genuinely appreciate is the chapter-end warning before a point of no return. For completionists, being flagged before a chapter closes saves a lot of headaches.
4. Combat, Weapons, and Tactical Decision-Making
Fire Action
This is where Vultures – Scavengers of Death earns its right to exist alongside its inspirations. Every combat encounter is managed through two core resources:
- Action Points (AP): Spent on shooting, reloading, and healing your operatives.
- Movement Points (MP): Spent on repositioning across the tactical grid.
Every choice carries weight. Do you spend two AP on a headshot for maximum damage or save a point to heal? Do you burn MP to funnel enemies through a choke point or press forward?
I barely survived a surprising number of encounters, and the tension never let up. That is the mark of a tactical system working exactly as intended.
Tactical Weapon Variety
Stab Action with a Knife
The variety of weapons is one of the game’s strongest suits. Each tool serves a specific tactical purpose:
- Handguns: Efficient AP cost, highly reliable for single-target control.
- High-caliber rifles: Deliver massive damage but are costly to use.
- Knives and crossbows: Silent options designed for quiet takedowns.
- Molotovs and grenades: Environmental weapons capable of wiping out clustered zombies in a single turn.
- Stun Rod: Paralyzes enemies, buying critical turns of safety.
My biggest personal discovery was that stunning enemies is the most resource-efficient approach. Hot-swapping between guns does not cost AP, allowing for incredible mid-combat improvisation.
Loadout Limitations
My only weapon-related frustration is that the game does not allow me to remove the default pistol and knife from the loadout.
I wanted to experiment with entirely custom weapon combinations. That forced default slot felt like an artificial cap on what should be a fully expressive tactical sandbox.
5. Graphics and Audio
Leopoldo arrives at the mission area
Vultures – Scavengers of Death is a love letter to the 32-bit era of survival horror, standing out as an incredibly committed retro project.
- Low-poly PS1 aesthetic: Actively serves gameplay by making enemies stand out clearly against dark environments.
- Freely rotatable camera: Eliminates the frustration of blind spots caused by fixed classic camera angles via the right mouse button.
- Optional CRT filter: Deepens the retro atmosphere for purists.
I eventually turned off the CRT filter for sharper visuals and easier readability during combat, but the art direction holds up beautifully either way.
Audio Design and Save Rooms
The endearing blockiness of the characters and low-resolution body horror nail the PS1-era look, while the audio completes the throwback by making every safe moment feel genuinely earned.
- Classic save rooms: Feature haunting, eerie melodies that deliver distinct Resident Evil-style relief.
- Limited-use water coolers: Act as scarce healing stations, reinforcing the survival loop throughout the dilapidated city.
Stepping into a save room and hearing that ambient swell wash over you is an almost Pavlovian response for anyone who grew up in this era of gaming.
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- Market
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- Sneak Movement
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- Satsuki
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- Mission Select
This Vultures – Scavengers of Death Review on PC is made possible thanks to JF Games Marketing and Communications.
