The Escapists 2 Review

The Escapists 2

Release: January 11, 2018
Publisher: Team 17
Developer: Mouldy Toof Studios
Genre: Action, Adventure, Simulation, Switch Reviews
PEGI: T
Comments:

 

Comment

Have you ever watched the tv show Prison Break and thought “Man, that would make a cool game”? If so, I have the game for you! The Escapists 2 for Nintendo Switch is all about breaking out of prisons. Yes, I said prisons, as in more than one! The Escapists 2 isn’t just an escape game though, its also a prison sim of sorts. With its prison escaping and sim elements, The Escapists 2 is unlike anything thats on the Nintendo Switch right now. So is the game any good?

The Escapists 2 doesn’t have a real story. There is a setup level that shows you how to break out of prison, but you don’t really follow any one prisoner throughout the game. You can be any of the prisoners that you want to be. Once you get into a prison, there is a routine to the prisons but no real story.

However, there is a boat load of dialogue in this game. The Escapists 2 is, without a doubt, a satire of prison life. The guards and inmates say funny and strange things. You’ll find yourself in some pretty funny situations. And some of the ways in which you break out are odd too! I really like this games sense of humor. What about the gameplay though? Is The Escapists 2 fun?

In the Escapists 2, the main goal of every prison is to break out. There are several ways to break out of each prison. However, the bigger prisons are a bit simulation like too. These bigger prisons have a routine for their prisoners, guards, and other characters. So while you are trying to break out of those places, you shouldn’t forget about the routine. Even in the smaller prisons though, you have to be very careful about being caught by the guards!

The Escapists is a very big game. There are three prisons to play when you start but you can unlock other prisons too. Each prison is very unique and the ways in which you’ll break out of them are unique. There’s just so much to do here. You can even do favors for your fellow inmates and that’ll net you money which will help you buy stuff from other inmates! The stuff you buy may or may not help you break out of prison.

If you are feeling stuck on a prison, then maybe you should team up with someone online! I played some online games with youtube game reviewer Twinworld and we had a good time. He is much better at breaking out prison than I am! There is no voice chat, of course, and the chat phrases provided on the Switch’s “D-pad” are not that great but we did just fine without both. We escaped once together and just tooled around the prisons together the other times. The Escapists is fun without friends, but its definitely even cooler when you’re playing with some online.

Oh and you can play co-op or versus mode. I definitly liked the co-op mode a lot. I need so much help with this game!

The Escapists 2 does have local multiplayer too, however I wasn’t able to try it out.

It should be noted however that there was some lag during my time playing with Twinworld, especially during the Versus game. The lag slowed things down a little but overall it didn’t hurt the experiance. You need to play The Escapists 2 online if you can!

As for the game’s controls, The Escapists is pretty easy to control. The menu navigation does take a little bit to get use to but I’m pretty happy with how the Escapists plays on Nintendo Switch.

The Escapists 2 is a really fun game. It can be a hard game; Escapists doesn’t hold your hand (though you can make a phone call for hints). That said, if you have a friend to play with or a find a really good player online, things will go a bit easier. The Escapists 2 isn’t perfect but I think its a game that people will really enjoy. And while the game won’t wow you with its graphics, its still a good looking game.

The Escapists 2 has retro graphics that remind me of Stardew Valley a bit. The game looks retro but nothing about the game screams retro because the developer clearly put most of the game’s memory into creating huge and interesting mini-worlds. Each of the prisons look different and unique. Many of the characters look the same, though that can be forgiven because of how much variety there is to each prison.

That said, the game doesn’t look that great on TV. Things seem pretty small, especially what characters are saying. You really need to play The Escapists 2 in portable mode to get its best look. The game does have some framerate issues occassionally and of course the online lag I mentioned, but I think that players will still enjoy this game in portable mode.

Meanwhile, the music in The Escapists 2 is not bad, each prison has its own unique music. The sound effects in the game are pretty good. Overall, The Escapists 2 is a great game.

Have you ever wanted to escape from a prison without having to go to jail in real life? Well, if you have never wanted that, The Escapists 2 may still be the game for you! This game has humor, sim elements, action, adventure, online multiplayer, and a lot of content. It may not perfect, but I think Switch owners will want to escape from prison soon!

Thanks to Team 17 for providing a copy of this game for review. The Escapists 2 is currently available on the Nintendo Switch eShop!