Capsule Review: Escape Plan
A puzzle game where you manipulate the environment and guide two characters through a series of rooms. It’s fairly atmospheric and has a distinctive aesthetic, but the mood is disrupted regularly because each room is apparently considered a distinct level and after every one you have to be told your time and the number of stars you earned. There’s also a lot of instant death obstacles, and the game actually keeps track of how many times you’ve killed the characters and displays these numbers on the main screen. The solutions to the rooms don’t always feel entirely fair, and it would be okay if the game just let you explore and tease them out, but since it’s constantly rubbing in your face how long you’re taking and how often you’ve had to learn by dying, I found the experience too frustrating to enjoy the atmosphere and put it down pretty fast.
I Stopped Playing When: After fifteen minutes or so I was too annoyed with the game ruining its own atmosphere and punishing exploration to want to continue.
One Star: Not for me. While there might be someone out there who'd enjoy this game, I was actively repulsed by it or just found nothing to latch on to.