We first became aware of Mouldy Toof studios when we looked
at Spud’s Quest a little while ago. It was a charming, Adventure's of
Dizzy-like, game that showed some good potential. Now the one man studio is
back with what should prove to be a break through title. There’s still an emphasis
on moving items around to the correct place but The Escapists is a very different
game.
The basic premise is that you are an inmate at a prison and
have to find time in your daily routine to plan and execute an escape plan.
There are a number of ways to do this and different prisons act as sandbox
playgrounds for budding escapists to play around in. There is no one way to
escape and everything from impersonating a guard to digging a good old
fashioned tunnel can be attempted. You can even take over the prison if you
find enough rope.
Viewed from a top down perspective you move your little dude
around the prison as a clock ticks away. Different prisons have different routines
but you will need to attend roll calls, meal times and things like exercise and
shower sessions. You can also get work which earns you money (as well as
possibly getting you closer to much needed supplies). Money can then be used to
buy things from other prisoners,
The other prisoners will also ask you to do favours for
them. Completing these normally involves creating distractions, finding objects
or beating someone up. Carrying out their requests will bring more money and
also make them like you a bit more. Upset a prisoner and they will come looking
for you and beat you up. The same can be said of the guards that patrol the
place and it’s best to keep an eye on exactly who you are upsetting.
The key to the game is finding contraband items such as wood
and metal and then crafting them into tools which can help you escape. Hiding
these tools is one of the biggest challenges as your cells are given regular shake
downs and the discovery of a banned item leads to solitary confinement and
effectively a reset in your progress. This can be very frustrating when you
have spent months digging a tunnel only to get found out and have to start again.
While the joy of seeing a well-executed plan come together
is great the frustration of seeing a small mistake set back hours of progress
will be too much for many players. It does seem a little
unbalanced in this respect and we can’t work out why a discovery of tools somewhere results in every fake wall, vent or tool stash being
removed around the entire prison. You
can reload to the start of each day but even that can seem to set back progress
in a game where it comes slowly and every square of dirt dug needs to be done
so incredibly carefully.
The game can also be a little repetitive. This is fine for
your daily routine as it allows you to understand patterns and the movement of
the prison. It’s not so great when you have been stuck in the place for months
and the other inmates and guards don’t really offer you up much in the way of
character or conversation. At times it can feel like you’re just waiting around
for an inmate to have a certain type of item for sale and when this happened we
really weren’t having fun.
That said, when you begin to make progress it can be a very
special game world to be a part of. The problem with sandbox games by nature is
that they don’t really have structure to progress and while your days inside
certainly do, to finally get hold of an item after months of waiting and then
have it quickly taken away with a small mistake just feels very unfair at times
and we can see this putting some gamers off. If something was added to make the
acquisition of items more proactive a lot of this problem would be solved very
quickly.
Overall, despite its faults, The Escapists is a highly
ambitious and clever title in a lot of ways and we simply have to recognise and
applaud that. It’s also quite original and despite our frustrations we spend a
good ten hours with the game in our first few days which show its ability to
draw you into its daily routine. If you like free-form puzzle solving and have
a high tolerance for pain then this could be the game for you. With a touch
more polishing it could also be the game for everyone else as well.
Overall 7/10
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