EXIT game review

[Kippers]

As my coursework was to do a review of either a game or movie i though i may as well post this here as well to see what ya'll thought of it.

 

EXIT

By Kippers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

General information

 

Format

PSP

 

Genre:

2D Platformer

 

Developer:

Taito Corporation

 

Publisher:

Ubisoft

 

Online?

Yes

 

Release Date

Already released:

 

March 31st '06 (UK)

February 14th '06 (US)

 

General Price:

£29:99

$30.00

 

 

Rating:

7+ (UK)

E Everybody (US)

 

Learning Curve:

Half an Hour

 

Difficulty

Medium

 

Connectivity:

Wi-Fi

 

Number of players:

1

 

Multimedia:

Screenshot 1

Screenshot 2

Screenshot 3

Screenshot 4

Screenshot 5

 

The Rundown

 

When I first saw the mysterious black and white figure, yellow hat and red scarf waving in the wind leaping across a yellow painted cover, tall building of a city in the background and with an unusual name like EXIT slapped across it in the shops one day, I couldn't help but wonder over and check it out. Next to the box was an untouched PSP, again, showing a yellow screen with the mysterious word 'EXIT' to the top and underneath the words 'Press START button' with little black silhouettes running up stairs and down ladders, glowing, begging me to start her up. My curiosity had taken over any control I had of what I was doing and before I knew it I was rescuing more black and white shaded people from burning building, putting out fires, climbing up rope ladders and running like a little girl towards the exit of each level. Playing possibly the most addictive PSP game around and I just had to take a copy home with me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gameplay

In this game you play as Mr. ESC (Mr. Escape), an 'Escapologist', making a living out of helping people escape from all sorts of situations using nothing, no tools at all apart from his wits and stupidity. Rivalled against 'Jet' Mr. ESC's competitor, but it's all in Jet's head and Mr. ESC just tends to ignore him.

 

When you first start up the game and pressed the X button twice, you're presented with a table with numbers 1 -10 going across the top and right side, representing all the stages of the game. The situations are arranged horizontally and the levels are arranged vertically. To the left of the table you are given the stage. EG: 01-01. Situation 1, stage 1. and then the time limit you're allowed for each stage to rescue the victims, then best time, best score and total score for that stage (All self explanatory) and you can go back and improve on these later if you aren't happy.

The presentation is very good, and it's clear as to where you are and at which level you're on. Each level is represented by a little square, and there are 10 squares to each situation (the 10 levels) 10 situations with 10 levels in each one = 100 levels. Your current level is coloured yellow and completed levels in orange so you can never end up accidentally repeating stages.

Something I find annoying is that the tutorial consists of the first 10 levels/stages, so you actually only have 90 levels of being on your own and not being stopped for any tips.

 

Before I carry on I should point out that this game is a puzzle game that makes you stop and think about what you're next move is. I think that this game is suitable for all; if you usually find yourself yawning over a puzzle game then you should still try this out as you may find you actually like it.

Throughout each stage there are plenty of things getting in the way of your objectives, such as fires, gaps, locked doors, uneven or unstable floors and switches which need to be pressed in certain orders, and some of these aren't possible for Mr. ESC on his own. There's more to the people you save in each level than just a mere reason for a game, no. Your companions can actually help you through the obstacles that you're faced with, but sadly not all survivors can help in all situations.

There are 4 types of survivor in EXIT: young adults, grown adults, children, and the injured. Young adults are about as fit and strong as Mr. ESC and can do pretty much everything he can do. Adults are stronger, which means they can do things that Mr. ESC can't like moving heavy objects, but would require assistance to get over ledges from another Adult because they're too heavy to lift themselves. Children can get through very small gaps which none of the other 3 types could ever manage and walk across surfaces that would break if anyone else were to walk across. The companions/survivors are usually only used if there's an injured person who needs to be carried by Mr. ESC or if there's more than one thing needed to be done at any one time. The AI for the survivors can get annoying at times as they sometimes won't respond to orders, do the wrong order, you ask him/her to climb a vertical rope but they'll end up trying to do a horizontal movement and just get stuck, or just keep saying the same phrases over and over again.

As with some puzzle games you can't set a difficulty level, but as you gradually advance through the game the levels get much trickier and require you to think a lot more as the puzzles get cleverer and the time limits get shorter. This becomes frustrating at times and makes you want to throw the psp across the room because you just can't figure out what to do or just can't do it in time. (But don't all puzzle games do that?)

You'll find yourself for the most part standing around ordering your surviving friends around the place so sometime it can get a little boring.

 

Gameplay 8/10

 

 

Downloadable content:

I myself haven't downloaded any of the downloadable PSP content for this game yet, but from what I've read it sounds great. Once you've downloaded all the downloadable situations (That's 11 bonus situations) there are 10 stages/levels in each, that's 110! Read it, 110 extra levels for you to do. So that makes up for the 10 lost to the tutorial at the beginning of the starting 100.

 

DC 10/10!

 

 

 

Controls:

The first 10 levels you're put into are tutorials to the games controls and essentially your first look at the graphics (We'll get back to that bit later) the controls to this game are very simple indeed. You can only use the D-pad to move Mr. ESC around the levels, and you'll see why in a minute. To Jump you simply press X whilst walking and to climb up stairs you have to press up whilst next to them to make him walk up, and press down to make him walk down them. Same goes for climbing up small walls and dropping off them. The controls are extremely simple and are well explained through out the tutorial levels.

As your main goal is to find all the living survivors in the building, it's made surprisingly easy to do so. If you move the analogue stick in any direction, a curser, like the ones on computers, will appear and you can look around a certain distance in each direction from where your character is standing to find people. Unfortunately this can make the game some what easy, as you know exactly where to go and pressing select brings up a map showing you exactly where they are. But on the other hand it's a very useful little feature because it allows you to see any dangers that may lie ahead or any traps or obstacles lying in your way. You also use the analogue sick and it's cursor to tell your companions/survivors to do something. For example you have a small space that you can't get through and the only companion with you is a little girl or boy. You would move the cursor over them press TRIANGLE and give them a destination/task to do.

The control scheme can also get annoying at times when you're under pressure from limited time, you can easily forget what to press and spend a precious 10 seconds trying to figure out how get up a set of stairs.

You also can't change the control scheme in the options menu but to be honest the controls are so simple and easy to use you'll never need to change them anyways.

 

Controls 9/10

 

 

 

Graphics

First of all, this is a 2D platformer, so much so it instantly reminded me of Mario's first game where DK was throwing barrels at you and you had to climb ladders to reach him and save Princess Peach in every single level, this is sort of the bases of this game too, jumping up from level to level saving helpless (Or sometimes just plain lazy) people from certain death before the timer runs out and the building you're in collapses killing you all, dodging fires, dead ends, uneven floors the whole journey down (and up). Although this game is 2D it does have a bit of 3D added to the mix, like the way your character and surviving companions walk, jump and generally move around, some of the scenery like the walls are also in 3D.

The game is also very bright and colourful with different shades of bright yellow, white, grey, black, green etc making it appeal to a lot of children and making it look fun and interesting to play, whilst maintaining the difficulty to appeal to older gamers. The cutscenes are of a comic strip style, still images moving across the screen at ridiculous speeds and bursting with colour.

The character design adds interest to little kids playing, always wondering why he's black and white. (Maybe due to lack of imagination on the makers' side) or just pure genius. The buildings the levels take place in are full of little background details which will mostly go by unnoticed but add a lot to the feel of the game and the frame rate remains constant throughout play, and With a cartoon feel to it all you just can't stay mad at the graphics for long, if there's anything to get mad about.

 

Graphics 10/10

 

 

Sound

The soundtrack used for EXIT is upbeat and heart racing giving you a sense of speed and urgency to each stage. There's always a great variety in the music for the game which is sadly ruined by the voicing for Mr. ESC and his companions, the phrases are fine to start with but the more you play the game the more repetitive and the more time you'll hear each phrase, and by the end you'll probably find yourself knowing most of them off by heart and saying them in your sleep.

 

7/10

 

 

Replay Value

You'll definitely want to see this game through to the end, the puzzles aren't overly difficult but hard enough to keep you busy trying to figure them out. There is definitely a lot of replay value in EXIT. From replaying missions to get better scores by completing the level with more time to spare, to doing all 110 extra levels that are downloadable for the game which are even harder than the starting 100.

There are also some aspects to the game that really might make you not want to replay the game a second or third time. There are no checkpoints in this game. You can search high and low, under every table and chair in the game and you won't find a checkpoint. If you die this is what the game calls a 'Fatal error' Basically if Mr. ESC falls from too high up or touches fire or electricity the game is over, the same goes for the companions, if they make a stupid mistake and die, the game is over, meaning you have to start the mission over the from the very beginning regardless of how far through It you are. This means you can get frustrated with a level that you can't complete and eventually just give up on the game.

 

Replay value 8/10

 

 

 

 

OVERALL SCORE: 9/10

Edited May 30, 2006 by kippers

[Vanillainy]

I seen this ages ago i think, i must admit, it looks awesome. And what a great review!

 

Im definatly buying this.

 

 

[TenaciousD.]

reading now, very good so far. Your reviewmay decide whether i buy this game, better be good

 

EDIT:- Looks good, i'll saveup and get it, amybe online against each other one day ?

Edited May 29, 2006 by tenaciousd2005

[gillies]

Good review kippers. I wish I were able to write about a game for one of my classes.

[Sixdust]

This game looks sooo excellent, I have been wanting to pick it up for a while, I just dont have the cash or time to get it. It looks like an original concept and a great title for the lacking amount of games for the psp. Thanks for the review, it has swated me even more to get this game.

[Rayo Puño]

Good review, the game is indeed pretty fun to play. If it had custom soundtracks it would be so much better though.

[Kippers]

Forgot about custome soundtracks. That would be awesome

 

Thanks for the comments

[Andyzoot]

Looks good and may sway me into making this my next PSP game. Any idea of what grade you got for your coursework?

[The-end]

Wow awsome review Kippers, great work dude

[Kippers]

Thanks mate.

 

I got an A. I know when you breeze through it it doesn't look like A material but it's all about content not length to the teachers. but i'm not complaining.