Escape Plan is a 2D puzzle platformer portrayed in a beautifully created black and white world. Throughout the entire game the greyscale visual style is kept constant, giving the game a great look and feel.

The game involves Lil and Laarg, the two protagonists, who are trapped in prison-like complex, trying to escape from Bakaku and his evil minions before they get recycled.

The complex consists of multiple areas that have different rooms, each filled with deadly traps. It is up to the player to help Lil and Laarg solve each puzzle by getting out of the room, without them falling victim to these traps.

Puzzling

Lil and Laarg each bring unique characteristics that allow for different ways of playing and solving puzzles. Lil, the scrawny one, can move faster when under the influence of caffeine, or inflate like a balloon and float to areas out of reach. Laarg, the bulky one, can break obstacles by rolling through them, or use his weight to break wooden platforms underneath him.

Lil and Laarg are controlled with the Vita’s front touchscreen and rear touch pad, as well as the Sixaxis controller. The camera is controlled using the two analog sticks to look around and zoom in and out. Swiping across a character will make him walk forward and tapping on him will make him stop.

Tapping on objects on the front screen will make them move away from the player’s perspective, while tapping on them from the read touch pad will move them toward the player. This allows the user to interact with the environment to help Lil and Laarg escape the rooms.

Trial and error

Each puzzle has a scoring system that involves counting the amount of gestures that were used to solve the puzzle. It also tracks the time taken to solve the puzzle and takes it into consideration. Your performance is then scored on a 3-star system for each level. Throughout the game there are also Easter eggs in the form of various warning signs that can be collected.

The nature of the game means that Lil and Laarg will die multiple times. For each death, the number on their body is incremented. Even though it is quite hilarious how Lil and Laarg blow up as they die, as the numbers on their bodies approach triple digits, one really strives to keep them alive. To my dismay, I never really could accomplish that for long.

The look and feel of the game is enhanced with its great soundtrack and sound effects. There is canned laughter and applause that responds to what the player is doing.

If a player kills an enemy by luring it into a trap, they will be applauded; but if Lil or Laarg trips over an object and dies, they will be laughed at. Such a simple touch greatly increased the humour and the enjoyment of the gameplay.

Sweet escape

Escape plan is a great game but unfortunately it has its flaws. The touch control system does not always respond correctly, sometimes moving the wrong object when tapping objects that are bunched together; at other times it does not even register a swipe or a tap.

There were many occasions in which I had to tap multiple times before objects responded at all.  It was also frustrating, when attempting to clear a level with 3 stars, accidentally brushing against the back or front touch pad, and have it count as a gesture.

Escape plan is a great game that showcases the alternate control scheme of the PS Vita very well. The look and feel is also something I fell in love with almost immediately.

Despite its frustrating faults, Escape Plan is a humorous and fun game to play, with some good replay value thanks to the challenges and collectibles hidden about the levels.