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 PS4 version of the game does seem to be a bit more
balanced than the PC version we reviewed a while ago but that complete reset
can still be hard to swallow.
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. We found the PS4
version to be less frustration than on PC. If you like free-form puzzle solving
and have a high tolerance for pain then this could be the game for you. We
asked for a bit more polishing in our PC review and it seems that has happened
and the game is all the better for it.
Overall
8/10
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