Echo is an adventure game designed by Kheops and published by The Adventure Company, which has cornered the market in this particular genre over the last several years. The quality of the adventure games released by The Adventure Company is varied, with some truly excellent games interspersed with some really bad ones. Fortunately, Echo is among the better-designed games in their stable, and is informative and interesting, to boot.

The story centers around a Paleolithic hunter, Arok. Forced to take shelter in a cave to escape a bad-tempered lioness, he discovers signs that an old friend and mentor, Klem, has been here sometime in the past. Klem was an avid painter who spent much of his time painting on cave walls, and Arok was intensely interested in his drawings. Arok is excited to discover that Klem has left many mysterious paintings inside this particular cave, and intrigued, begins to search for whatever secrets they may reveal.  

This is a traditional point and click first-person adventure, complete with inventory items and puzzles. Arok spends much of his time picking up items and manipulating various puzzles, many of which revolve around painting. The inventory items are stored in a grid menu at the bottom of the screen, which will pop up when the mouse is right-clicked. The interface is easy to use and intuitive, and features several "construction zones", which are special interactive areas that allow for manipulation of various inventory items. Hunting for items is a little hard at times, as often things are either in dark corners, or are lying on the floor at Arok's feet, where said items won't be seen unless the camera (which is free-styled around in all directions) is panned in that direction.

The puzzles themselves aren't very difficult usually, but sometimes can be hard to figure out because there isn't a whole lot of direction or hints as to what is required, especially if the puzzle is encountered before the information about that particular puzzle is discovered. This is a very linear game, and the puzzles will have to be solved in order before the game can advance.

Along with the inventory, the menu also has a journal which helps keep Arok on track, and a very informative and interesting encyclopedia with information about many aspects of Stone Age life. This is good reading, and definitely makes the game more fun.

The game looks great, with detailed, crisply drawn landscapes and objects. The lighting is nicely managed inside and outside, and the animated cut scenes are well-done, too. The characters move smoothly and look natural, which is the hardest quality to achieve in animation with human characters. Sound effects are present in the just the right amount, not obtrusive, but appearing naturally. The music also fits the mood well.

As a whole, this is an interesting game, with a good story and nicely done puzzles. It's a pleasure to review a game that has obviously had much care taken with the execution, instead of being rushed out the door. The subject matter is sure to interest most adventure players, and the puzzles are integrated into the story logically, for the most part. However, the game isn't very long, nor is it particularly difficult, so experienced adventure gamers may breeze through it in a short amount of time. Still, for the price, it's a fun way to spend the weekend.

Gameplay: 7.5
Playing Echo is fun, but the game is fairly short, and the puzzles aren't always interesting, although many of them are engaging.

Graphics: 8.0 
The look of the game is very nice, and fits the Paleolithic theme well.

Sound: 8.0
Ditto for the sound.

Difficulty: Medium
While some of the puzzles are hard, most aren't very difficult. It's more a question of guessing in many of them.

Concept: 7.5
Setting a game in the Stone Age is fun, and the game is well executed.

Overall: 7.5
A good way to while away the hours.