Echoes: Peacekeeper

Echoes: Peacekeeper is a First Person Tactical Shooter for the Xbox One and PS4 video game consoles developed by Duckroll. A spinoff game to Echoes: Operation Stranglehold, Peacekeeper take place through the eyes of a Security unit as they fight off increasing Vandal activity. It utilizes the Wartech 3.0 engine with some visual improvements compared to the last game.

Gameplay:
Peacekeeper is a tactical shooter, which focuses more on stealth and tactics than on sheer firepower. The game features a hub for which all available missions are displayed. The Hub also is where players can manage their crew and equipment. The 'crew' is basically a group of NPCs that help the player in various ways during the game. The crew is split into three different groups, intel, R&D, and combat. Intel affects how much info is available in the pre-planning stage and how accurate the layout of the level is on the player's mini map and pre-planning map. R&D helps develop new equipment and weapons players can use. Combat-recruits who assist the player directly during missions. Crew members can be recruited by hiring them to join you or by completing side missions and optional objectives which reward you with a new team member. The player can assign team members to whichever group suits the team members best.

Before each mission is a planning stage, during which the player is given a briefing, and then chooses the teammates to be involved in the mission, their weapons, equipment and uniform/camouflage. The pre-planning stage includes a map that the player can use to set up pre-established orders and waypoints. This determines elements such as the path the AI-controlled teammates would follow during the mission, as well as where they will deploy devices such as flashbangs, breaching charges, or hack computers.

The squadmate order system allows the player general tactical control over the NPC squadmates that round out the player's five-man combat team. The order system resembles a simplified version of the context-based command menus seen in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. Many objects in the game environment will highlight when the crosshair is placed over them. The player can then press the action key to issue an order automatically associated with the object; for example, a sealed door may highlight with a synchronized team breach-and-clear command, or a computer console might give have a computer hacking command. Where possible, the squadmates will usually take their preferred roles (sniper, demolitions and technical). The player can also order the squad to move to secure any position (wherever the crosshair is pointed), or perform search-and-destroy.

The individual levels are a series of self-contained, mission-focused areas designed for multiple paths of exploration in terms of in-game movement and gadgets. The game plays from the first person perspective, but offers a few twists on the standard FPS formula. Each mission contains multiple ways to explore and reach objectives. Paths players can take through levels are designed to support the player-character's abilities, rather than specific paths that are aimed at a particular gameplay style, such as assault or sneaking. Levels are completely dynamic meaning that all objects can be interacted with (example: overturning tables to create cover). Missions are broken into main objectives-objectives that need to be completed in order to beat the level, secondary objectives-objectives that are optional but usually offers a special reward or makes completing the main objectives easier (like disabling the lights so guards can't see you), and opportunity objectives-objectives like secondary objectives but have a small window of opportunity in order to be completed.

In order to break up linearity players will notice a lot of variation in a single level due to the many random events programmed in. Depending both on a player's course of action (what objectives he/she completed), or a little luck in the random generation, the next mission may result in a different level altogether or possibly skipped entirely.

Echoes: Peacekeeper maintains a first-person perspective throughout the entire game.