[PREVIEW] Vultures – Scavengers of Death – When Resident Evil Met XCOM

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There’s something immediately refreshing about how Vultures: Scavengers of Death approaches survival horror. Instead of relying on jump scares or relentless real-time pressure, it slows everything down and forces you to think. The result is a methodical, tactical experience that feels both nostalgic and surprisingly modern in execution.

Set in the 1990s during a mysterious outbreak, the demo drops you into an overrun police station as a member of the Vulture squad. Your mission is straightforward on paper: investigate, gather clues and survive, but the execution is anything but simple. The game leans heavily into a retro PlayStation-era aesthetic, complete with grainy textures and a VHS-style overlay that immediately remind you of classics like Resident Evil 2.

Deep turn-based combat

What truly defines Vultures, however, is its turn-based combat system. Exploration flows freely when no enemies are present, allowing you to move without restriction. The moment a zombie shambles into view the game shifts gears. You’re limited to a small pool of action points and movement points each turn and every decision matters. Shooting, reloading, healing, repositioning, it all consumes precious resources. Combat becomes a careful dance of positioning and efficiency rather than a reflex-driven scramble.

Aiming is more nuanced than you might expect. You can target specific body parts like head, torso, or legs and each choice carries tactical weight. Shooting at legs can immobilize enemies, buying time and space. Headshots are powerful but costly. Over time, it becomes clear that survival depends on smart trade-offs rather than brute force. Recklessness is punished quickly, especially when multiple infected close in from different angles.

And these aren’t just standard zombies. The demo introduces mutated variants that feel closer to mini-boss encounters, reminiscent of the specialized infected from Left 4 Dead. These enemies demand different tactics and often force you to adapt on the fly. It adds welcome variety and ensures that combat never becomes routine.

Resource management… stealth system… mechanics keep expanding

Worth pointing out is that resource management is equally critical. Ammunition is scarce and health items are limited. You have to juggle between a knife, which can also cause bleeding, or a pistol, even shotgun that you find later. In general, there’s a lot of thinking to do and not just pure zombie bashing. It’s a lesson long-time survival horror fans may remember from games like Parasite Eve, where patience and planning often outweigh raw firepower.

Another great addition is the stealth system, which adds another tactical layer to already deep combat. Switching to a sneaking stance allows you to avoid detection or even initiate combat with a bonus advantage. There’s even a clever maneuver that lets you swap positions with an enemy or shove them away, opening up escape routes or better angles of attack.

Outside of combat, Vultures retains the investigative DNA of classic survival horror. Keycards, locked doors, passwords, and hidden rooms all gate progress. Optional exploration can be highly rewarding; tracking down a key to the firing range, for example, grants access to a shotgun that proves invaluable during the demo’s climactic boss fight. Objectives are clearly tracked, but the game still trusts you to pay attention and piece things together.

Extremely fun and worth your time

That said, the demo isn’t flawless. I ran into several strange bugs, including enemies randomly freezing in place as if they were stuck. More frustratingly, I encountered a game-breaking issue that completely ruined my first playthrough. After killing a zombie with a knife, my character began endlessly triggering a bleeding effect, which eventually froze the game. Since there was no way to save or reload, I had to scrap the entire 15-minute run.

The game also needs clearer visual or audio cues to indicate when you’re entering turn-based combat and when you’re not. On top of that, the UI feels slightly clunky, especially the weapon management, which forces you to click on weapons manually instead of offering a quick-swap or fast action button. Even with these minor issues, Vultures: Scavengers of Death leaves a strong impression. If the full game builds on the foundation laid in this demo, fans of survival horror games, and especially those who miss the calculated pacing of late ’90s classics, have something worth keeping an eye on.