PSVita
Released: Feb 15, 2012
Developer: Fun Bits Interactive
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Escape Plan is one of the first games I played on the Vita, months before its release, and it instantly became my most anticipated game for the system. The arresting art direction that utilized gorgeous saturation and stark, black and white contrast, coupled with a Looney Tunes-esque classical soundtrack and some hilarious moments – comedy always seems to be lacking in games – had me sold. While the game ultimately delivers on these points, the final product doesn’t come together entirely contiguously.
Escape Plan tasks the player with abetting the escape of Lil and Laarg, compatriots fleeing their captor, the menacing Bakuki. Lil, the smaller of the two, is incredibly frail and so much as tripping over a brick on the floor can result in a splattered death, while Laarg is the burly muscle, capable of breaking weakened doors and floors. The two work in concert on a large percentage of the levels, but frequently forge different paths more suited to their abilities, separating them.
