7 /10 1 Votes
6/10 GameSpot Initial release date 22 February 2012 Genre Puzzle video game | 8/10 IGN Engine Unity3D Developer Fun Bits Interactive Mode Single-player video game | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date(s) PlayStation Vita
NA: February 22, 2012
EU: February 22, 2012
JP: March 1, 2012
PlayStation 4
NA: December 3, 2013
EU: November 29, 2013 Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment Platforms PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 Similar Sound Shapes, Super Stardust Delta, Little Deviants, Flower, ModNation Racers: Road Trip | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Escape Plan is a puzzle video game released for the PlayStation Vita on 22 February 2012, as a launch title. Escape Plan is the first title from new developer Fun Bits Interactive and is produced by Chris Millar, known for his previous work on Fat Princess. In previews of the game it has been noted for its sharp, black and white visuals, gruesome yet humorous tone and its intuitive use of the PlayStation Vita's inputs including touch and gyroscopic control.
Contents
Gameplay
In Escape Plan, the player controls two characters, Lil and Laarg, through a series of booby-trapped rooms using the PlayStation Vita's front and rear multitouch panels and motion controls. The gesture-based control system requires players to trace paths for the characters and tap obstacles to move them out of the way and clear a path for them. Traps range from a single brick lying on the floor to enormous rotating fan blades. Failure to guide Lil and Laarg to safety usually results in a gruesome death.
The characters can traverse the game world in numerous ways. In some levels they are inflated with helium, requiring the player to tilt the console to guide them as they float around the room. Lil and Laarg usually move relatively slowly and in order to avoid fast-moving traps the player must grab the characters and pull them quickly to safety by pinching the Vita, touching both the front and rear panels at once.
Bakuki's Lair
Chris Millar, Fun Bits Interactive team lead, announced on PlayStation Blog that Escape Plan owners will receive Bakuki's Lair, a downloadable content (DLC) pack for Escape Plan. It adds 19 prequel puzzle rooms to the adventures of Lil and Laarg. Together with the DLC, the update brings new tweaks and improvements based on player feedback, allowing for more pin-point accuracy on tap blocks, as well as an adjustment to the game's Star Rating system. The patch also lays the foundation for future updates.
Reception
At a preview event in October 2011, IGN editors ranked Escape Plan as their favourite PlayStation Vita game so far, commenting specifically on the game's "stunning", black and white chiaroscuro visuals, "great" classical soundtrack and gameplay which makes good use of many of the Vita's control features. In a December 2011 preview of the game, Destructoid's Samit Sarkar described it as "perhaps the best showcase of the Vita’s unique capabilities".
As of April 2012, Escape Plan was the number one selling PlayStation Network game on the PlayStation Vita.
