The Escapists

The concept of prisons as a whole, that dangerous and dysfunctional society of criminals and crooks being managed with a heavy-handed approach by officers of the law in a facility designed to hold them securely with airtight security, invites a level of curiosity rarely seen in other premises as no doubt such TV series as 'Prison Break' and 'Orange is the New Black' highlight to great effect. Naturally I first came across playing the role of the warden via a similar game, Prison Architect, and finding that a good deal interesting although it wasn't until later on that I came across one of Team 17's most unique titles in the form of The Escapists, a game that puts you in the shoes of a common criminal (whether guilty or innocent!) where the goal is the exact opposite of Prison Architect, tasking the player to escape from six increasingly secure prisons that you have been sentenced to live the rest of your days in. To preface this review, I originally played the console edition on the PlayStation 4 back in 2017 and found that it was more than I could chew on as I didn't particularly take a keen interest on some of the game's more extensive mechanics as going for the simple path of beating and tying up guards is a proven method for the first two prisons that are primarily aimed at beginner players. However, having not the patience for anything more involved at the time, I will admit to the shame of having quit prematurely and not picked it up again for quite some years now. Though with having fancied that prison escape experience once more, I aim to fully explore all that The Escapists entails here and what better way of doing that than discussing the multiple systems at play here throughout this simulation experience of living in a prison, the first and most obvious of which is the various strict routines one must abide by whilst slowly working on their stats, the items (both legal and contraband!) and managing relationships with fellow prisoners and guards alike to get by, all whilst surveying the layout of the prison in a cunning attempt to execute that perfect escape that lands you out of the joint as it were! No doubt one of the biggest aspects of The Escapists that I quite enjoyed is, ironically enough, the freedom it gives to players as far as how they wish to approach the main objective at hand. Since one can just go the brutal force way as I spoke of earlier, however other methods can involve concealing walls dug through with posters and holes in hidden areas to dig one's way outside over time. Perhaps using forged keys from putty merged with a real key from a knocked out guard and molten plastic alongside using cutters to get through locked doors and pesky fences alike or an even more involved process where unique obstacles like electric fences, active mines and jeeps on patrols are concerned! A big part of how you go about this largely revolves around gathering various items and combining them into mostly illegal but useful tools that can aid a player in their escape plan. How you get these can be gained from either snooping around other prisoners' desks when they aren't looking or looting an unconscious prisoner although usually it comes down to training on your Intellect so you can make many of the desirable items (some of which are otherwise unobtainable) or working out on your Strength and Speed stats so that you can fare better in combat as part of a prison breakout or when doing a fellow prisoner a 'favour'. These favours tie into not just increasing one's reputation with that specific NPC but gaining money, which is also quite handy for buying items without risking the anger of prisoners and guards alike! Since a big aspect of being in each prison is that you have several jobs that you need to do in order to gain money, however one important detail of this is that certain jobs have perks to them that others do not. For example, a gardener or janitor can freely roam the prison whilst doing their job which makes doing other activities on the side easier. Meanwhile a metalshop or woodshop worker has access to an infinite amount of contraband that, with the right tools, they can smuggle through detectors for further usage in their own escape plans. Considering how involved the whole process of forming that perfect plan is, certainly I find it to be quite the exhilarating experience when attempting a daring escape! However one noticeable negative in all of this is that trying to gather specific supplies can prove to be quite the frustrating exercise. Duct tape is one special type of item that you'll likely be on the hunt for as this is key to many useful tools for escaping, though having plenty of money and frequently checking on prisoners who are selling alongside looking through each desk every single day helps to mitigate this issue somewhat. Another point of contention is how trying to work out a more 'clandestine' approach can be quite tricky without spending entire days or even weeks wasting both resources and time working out the layout of the prison that is outside of the areas where prisoners are allowed to be in. This can prove to be annoying when you plan an escape and think it will go to plan, only for a wide array of new threats to come up and catch you off-guard which sends you to a trip down solitary lane and losing pretty much all progress! (It's why I recommend closing the game and restarting the day to minimize frustration) Other small issues that I had outside of the extensive waiting periods for the right items to show up would be the arguably-dated pixel graphics that will turn some modern gamers off (something the sequel solved quite nicely, albeit that has its own problem with the game's challenge veering towards being too easy) alongside the price point being a bit too high when you look at what the indies of today has to offer, though thankfully this game frequently goes on sale at a good discount. Having said that though, The Escapists has a lot to offer where these types of unique experiences go as there is a fair amount of strategy that goes into how to plan your own route of escape here and it's one that I am quite glad to have fully experienced the way that the developers behind Team 17 originally intended! Certainly go out of your to buy this, especially if it's on sale as it currently is at the time of writing this review with a hefty 80% discount, and see if you are up for the task of breaking out of jail with all of the fun and exciting thrills that it entails! TLDR Version: • Unique simulation game where it puts you in the shoes of a prisoner looking to escape prison, with plenty of options available at the player's disposal for those patient and cunning enough to pull it off (+) • Offers a multitude of systems to keep track off that influences the player's ability to engage with other prisoners and guards alongside crafting various items, all whilst sticking to a strict schedule to avoid heat and detection (+) • Provides six increasingly challenging prisons that all have various routes of escape for the player to work out and build towards in secret (+) • The Escapists has a simple yet endearing pixel artstyle that is visually pleasing to the eye as far as retro fans will enjoy (+) • Resource gathering can prove problematic when in need of a specific item to progress, with duct tape being a particularly egregious example with it being key to many crucial craftable items, as this slows down gameplay (-) • The game's graphics is likely to put off some as will be the 'hard as nails' challenge, something the sequel makes an effort in improving (-) • Working out how to escape is often a 'trial by error' as solutions won't be apparent until you make enough progress to find out, losing lots of hard work and progress without shutting down and restarting the game (-) • The Escapists' price point of £12.99 will be a hard bargain for those who don't buy this title when it's on a steep discount (-)