The Escapists Is Free On Epic, Again

Monday, I discussed a robot working with Disney to make a game about robots in space having a war, and the Primetime Emmys happened. Tuesday, Kotick was subpoenaed and Acti-Blizz is under a federal investigation, while I discussed my excitement for Hometopia. Wednesday, an indie game about a small child got a release date, an Overwatch 2 executive left Blizzard, and another indie game is a Zelda-like and coming next year. Then on Thursday, David spoke of harvesting people’s organs in the post-apocalypse, then he spoke about Organs, Please.

I must admit, despite really enjoying this week’s free game on the Epic Games Store, I’m not excited by it. Of course, I don’t have to be. I have about 2,000 games spread across several platforms and have my choice of genres up and down the board. However, I do prefer to be excited because it makes talking about something much more fun. Being excited or angry creates a better perspective than blind indifference. This week’s game is The Escapists, the 2013 darling of Steam Early-Access and crowdfunding models the world over. However, (as I’ve stated before) it is not a game you want to play with a controller, which I found out when playing the PS4-version quite some time back.

As I said last week, I do considerably admire The Escapists as a little fantasy of escaping HMP Slade. That’s a reference very few might get, but this is how I make this exciting for myself. Nonetheless, that control system did put a damper on things as it made an otherwise frantic and chaotic series of events into some considerable doubt. On PC, it contradicts itself in how quickly you can react to something like a guard coming around the corner as you create your hole in the wall, like Andy Dufresne. Lulled into a series of tasks and general routines, you learn the schedules and when it is best to steal something, unscrew the vents, or dig your tunnels.

I hark on about this console control scheme and those issues because I genuinely love The Escapists when I am in the mood. It is brilliant in how simple yet exciting it is. You’ve not had a bum-clenching moment like being stood atop your nightstand with bedsheets across the bars as you try to unscrew the vent, and suddenly a guard walks around the corner. If I really had to do that, I’d probably fall and crack my head on the side of the toilet hearing the guard. On consoles, undoing everything you need to correct in those few seconds you have takes a little longer than it does on PC. That right there, that’s my only problem with an otherwise excellent game.

All this week, you can pick up The Escapists for free on the Epic Games Store until the 30th of September. However, that means we need to talk about next week, and that is something I am actually excited about. Next week, I’ll be talking about the 2013 4X game Europa Universalis IV, which is neither about the moon of Jupiter, Zeus’ consort, nor is it about that one Carlos Santana song I like playing. Based on the French board game in its lineage back to the first game in 2000, you do as Europe did between 1444 and 1821, fight either directly in wars or try to control people through things like money and religion. Basically it is a Saturday in Europe.