The Indie Game Magazine September 2014 | Issue 41 | Page 14

FEATURED INTERVIEW

THERE CAME AN ECHO
Speak No Evil

by Vinny Parisi
I first came across There Came an Echo for the first time at
this year’s PAX East. I quickly read the title on the large banner
hanging near its booth, and kept walking. My schedule was
unfortunately overbooked for the entire weekend, so I didn’t
have time for extra sight-seeing. (Look Ma, your boy is finally
popular!) A few hours later, I walked past the booth again,
this time noticing the voice actors featured under the title.
They read: “Wil Wheaton” and “Ashly Burch”. I did a quick
double-take, stopped mid-stride, and then decided to skip
my next appointment. (To the devs of Pixel: ru2, I profoundly
apologize.)
And yet, sorry not sorry, because after a hands-on
demo and chatting with Jason Wishnov, the founder
of Iridium Studios, and writer/game designer/multihat wearer for There Came an Echo, I was absolutely blown away by the idea. A squad-based tactics
game featuring voice-controls that actually work?
Preposterous. Or is it? I spoke with Jason to find out
all about it, as well as the direction for TCE and how
the game has improved in the months since PAX. As
an incredibly special bonus, I also got to chat with
Ashly Burch (Tiny Tina, Borderlands 2) and Rachel
Robinson (Fang, Final Fantasy XIII trilogy), two supremely talented ladies who are lending their voic