What if you were trapped in prison, and finally had enough? In The Escapists 2, it is up to you to break out of prison, which is certainly a novel idea. The game throws you right into to what I can only think of as the Shawshank Redemption ending gone wrong tutorial. You are given all the skills needed to get out of prison and everything really feels just a little too quick, but it works. This is by far my most positive experience with this game, as it really shows you the game at its finest.
After you beat the tutorial and learn what you need to play the game, you are thrust into a revamped version of the same prison. Though in this, there really is no sense of danger and thus it is just plain tedious. My prisoner, Clive, roams around and does what he wants, as long as he behaves nothing bad happens. He completes quests for other people and often goes to the library. While there are other prisons that will obviously be a challenge, this opening level doesn’t make it appealing to continue.
There is certainly a part of me that is spurred to play more because of how tedious the game is, but it is not all consuming. I’m playing as a white haired gent wearing a blue bear hat named Clive. Clive is going about his day to day life, completing quests and being as good as he can be. Part of me just doesn’t feel right breaking him out when I’ve been pretty diligent about making him an upstanding prisoner. Sure, he could certainly do more in life out of prison, but when I’m playing there isn’t any drive to break free.
Now, this game is really only like that when you play solo. When you play with others there is a sense of urgency. Playing with others online or locally does provide you with more incentive. Now, here you are ready to break free because you have people to support you. It’s now a true game where you want to get out because everyone wants to. This is where the true fun comes in, even if you are playing in the simple first stage now there is competition.
The Escapists 2, to me, is a game about making prisoners and giving them their own stories. My main character Clive or The Kuma, as I’ve dubbed him, has done heinous things and now he is ready to take his lumps and be good. When playing solo, I found that it was par for the course to inject some story just like in the tutorial level. Without any emotion this game plays just like a simple simulator where you are guided by time lines.
While the game looks nice, and in multiplayer situations it can be fun, I just know this isn’t a game for me. I just find it to be droll, and I know that’s not saying alot having only played the first true level. But, if a game doesn’t pull me in the first level it’s not going to pull me in later.
There may be people who really enjoy this game and more power to them for playing it. But, for me, whenever I play it, I’ll be happy playing as Clive, a former Mob Boss, who now just wants to help find his mate’s harmonica that some other guy stole.
If you are itching to break free from a jail, then Escapists 2, may just be the game for you. While it was dull for me, it may just be a fantastic game for you. So, if you wanna escape prison, do it a game like The Escapists 2!