Video Game Series Review - The Escapists

We've seen a lot of prison things such as Prison Break and Orange is the New Black. So as part of the Steam Greenlight process, we get an indie game all about escaping prison. Sounds like a lot of fun and for the most part, it is. Three games have been made and while none of them have a story going for them, it pretty much let's players be what it says on the tin. So let's try and escape:

The Escapists

The game let's you play as a prisoner who wants to escape. The prisoner is allowed to do as he/she pleases in finding ways to escape such as finding tools, earning the respect and help from fellow inmates and a whole pile of other things too. Of course this being a prison based game, this won't be easy as the guards will be watching you and will deal with you should you try and escape. While there isn't much else to talk about, you get your moneys worth with this game. It's a lot of fun despite being hard at times and you get the full prison experience as seen in many TV shows and films set in a prison as well as the full escaping prison experience. All with 8-bit like graphics to give it some nostalgia value as well. 9/10

The Walking Dead

So the idea here is that it uses various scenarios from The Walking Dead comicbooks and rather than be an escape prison game, the player leads a group of beloved characters from the comics to escape many walker situations. Such scenarios include escaping the hospital that Rick was at the very beginning as well as some fan favourites such as Woodbury and Alexandria. Like with the main game, you can take part in various tasks while boosting the moral of your favourite characters. While I've always said that the TellTale games are the best when it comes to story telling, this game manages to stay faithful to the comic books while letting us experience those situations for ourselves. In other words, this is more for the Walking Dead fans than non fans, but you will still enjoy it. 8/10

2

The sequel to the first game, gives us pretty much the same experience, but with a lot of new things. Multiplayer, the ability to make your own prisons, going to more than one prison (thus giving the game some variety), character customisation and a new combat system just to name some of the many new features. It is a step up from the first game and while it would be nice to have a story campaign mode, players will enjoy this game just as much as the first. And I gotta say, it really does go above and beyond what made the first game great. 9/10

So they are not big games as such, but you do get your money's worth and it's a lot of fun really. Though I do look forward to seeing what's next for the series and whether or not we will get a third main entry game. We shall see. Now go and escape while you can!! 9/10