Mr ESC can’t find a good enough exit this time
As “Mr. ESC,” a professional escapologist who can rescue people from just about any situation, EXIT players must negotiate numerous obstacles while rescuing victims from ever more dangerous situations. With over 100 ever more life threatening levels, the player must deal with everything from earthquakes to fire to floods in tall buildings, collapsing tunnels and exploding factories. Players will undertake various actions, including running, jumping, climbing onto ledges and climbing down ropes on their way to becoming the ultimate escape artist!
Intense Action Puzzler: Players use decision-making skills and wits to escape various obstacles while rescuing people from more than 100 different emergencies.
Do Whatever It Takes: Rescue people and find the fastest way out while braving exploding factories, burning buildings and flooding subways. Players will climb ladders, move objects, slide down ropes and collect numerous rescue devices to assist them in their missions.
Turn Victims Into Allies: Saved characters can be enlisted to help move heavy objects, master tricky obstacles and help each other.
Smooth, Stylish Character Design & Movement: Alongside the intense action puzzle gaming are some of the most stylish graphics and character animation to be seen on the Nintendo DS system.
Show You Are The Fastest Escape Artist Around: Upload your mission completion times via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and compare yourself against other players.
There have been a few versions of EXIT like on the PSP and XBLA and even then they got somewhat average reviews. The DS version had potential to overcome them and be more innovative with the stylus control, but it becomes more of a hindrance than a help. The trouble is that you have to tap Mr ESC and then tap where you want him to go for each move; it slows the whole pace of the game down and can become increasingly frustrating to play.
There’s also the problem that some moves aren’t recognised, for example it took me about 30 mins to work out how to get Mr ESC to dangle off a ledge as the move wasn’t working. I’d have rather preferred that he was moved with the D-Pad instead of what the setup is on the game, it’s just plain annoying and not fun at all.
To put out obstacles like fire you have to grab a pink collectable and then tap the fire for Mr ESC to use the fire extinguisher on it. It’s simple and that’s probably the one part of the game that I enjoyed, although not so much as for me to suggest you should buy it, if anything…it’s probably the only highlight and it wasn’t that great.
You can upload completion times on Nintendo WFC, but what’s the point? Why not include a multiplayer option instead, say that two players race to free as many victims as possible within a time limit or something like that, just putting the times on a leaderboard isn’t putting the WFC to good use, its minimal and disappointing. Visually, the game isn’t that great to look at either…it has a very basic look and one that I don’t particularly like that much.
The Verdict
EXIT for DS is definitely the worst version of the game, it has horrible controls and isn’t fun to play. The game is quite long, but that’s not enough to save it from this score.
