Prepare for a Wild Ride with This Unconventional FPS Game
Trying to describe Echo Point Nova, a newly released PC shooter, is a tricky thing. Imagine a game that mixes Titanfall's movement, modern Doom's gunplay, Minecraft's destructibility, Skyward Sword's floating islands, and wicked rad hoverboarding into one oddball package. It sounds like a horrible mess, but trust me, Echo Point Nova isn't a mess. It's one of the best shooters I've played in years.
What's Echo Point Nova About?
In Echo Point Nova, you're a cool soldier with a sweet hoverboard and grapple hook. You crash on a planet made up of hundreds of floating islands. The place has been invaded by mercenaries looking to exploit ancient technology. To stop them, you'll travel around the islands using your hoverboard and grapple hook, unlocking new guns, upgrades, and perks to take on bigger fights and giant bosses.
Why Echo Point Nova Stands Out
On paper, Echo Point Nova might not sound like much. But once you start playing, you'll quickly discover a shooter offering a ton of freedom and options, all of which are fun and awesome-looking.
I lost track of how many times I zipped up a wall using my hoverboard, spun around, killed some enemies with my assault rifle, grappled toward a different wall, triple-jumped to an enemy mech, and then killed it with a grenade launcher. All before slowing down time and sniping some flying baddies from afar while upside down. It sounds complicated, but Echo Point Nova's controls and gunplay are silky smooth, super responsive, and easy to master.
Gameplay and Exploration
This game is more fun to play if you have someone behind you watching you do wild acrobatics as you fight off waves of enemies to unlock new upgrades or weapons. And because it's an open world, you control how hard or easy you want things to be. You can focus on easier outposts first or target challenging missions to get better gear. It's up to you. See that giant floating desert in the sky? You can go there.
Echo Point Nova's combat and movement aren't the only things that won me over. The game has eerie and strange vibes. You'll be hoverboarding across tiny islands floating in the sky and then reach a half-buried temple. You can explore it using your pickaxe to mine out a tunnel, or just keep moving on to your next objective. Other times, I encountered massive valleys, hidden underground bases, abandoned military outposts, or strange architecture that seemed almost medieval. Outside of the big fights, unless you play in co-op, you are all alone in this giant open world of floating islands and forgotten places.
Challenges and Rough Edges
Echo Point Nova has a few rough edges. The first big boss fight is a pain, and the health system feels a bit too punishing for players who might not be down with flying around like maniacs all the time during major fights. Still, I think Echo Point Nova is worth playing. It's one of the weirdest shooters I've ever played, but also some of the most fun I've had in a video game in 2024.
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