‘Exit 2′ Review (XBLA)

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‘Exit 2′ Review (XBLA)

Sat, Feb 28, 2009

What Is It?
"Exit 2" is the sequel to Taito's 2006 PSP action-puzzle-platformer "Exit," in which protagonist Mr. ESC, a heroic escape artist, travels the world rescuing the hapless and helpless from situations they apparently didn't even attempt to escape on their own. As rescued companions join Mr. ESC, they must team together, employing their various skills and overcoming their various shortcomings to safely make their exit.

What's to like?
"Exit 2" is a good-looking game, particularly for an Xbox Live Arcade title, its technicolor 2-D graphics bright, clean and engaging. Character animations in the game are particularly well-executed; Mr. ESC strides and sidles with all the swagger and flair of a 1940's movie swell. Looks aside, there's some clever level design at work. As the game progresses, puzzles grow more intricate, challenging the player to be ever more inventive in the use of his and his Companions' talents and abilities, and demanding that the player carefully plan and strategize his every move, as one rushed misstep could spell certain doom.

What's not to like?
While keeping a cool head in an emergency is certainly a virtue, the player never really suffers an opportunity to feel the heat, as the game moves at a glacial pace. To learn "Exit 2's" controls, one must undergo a series of tutorial levels in which pop-up screens of text and instructions haunt the player's every second step. Though you may emerge from the tutorial levels with an understanding of the game's controls, an understanding of how they should work is simply not enough to make them actually work during gameplay. The frustratingly awkward mechanics and controls seldom respond to or enact your intentions, as each angle of the thumbstick sets in motion an entirely different action depending upon the player's precise position. Add to these frustrations a soundtrack of smooth jazz punctuated by the grating whines of your companions -- so persistent and unchanging it seems Mr. ESC's motivation for saving these companions is to stop their relentless wailing -- and you may find yourself heading for an exit of your own.

Is it fun?
Unfortunately, fun appears to have been eschewed in favor of a sensible lesson in patience, cooperation, emergency-preparedness and good citizenship. What you're more likely to experience from the game is a mild, not particularly gratifying sense of accomplishment. However, if, god forbid, you should ever be involved in a peculiarly dull disaster of your own, "Exit 2" will have you desensitized to the self-pitying moans of your fellow disaster victims and well-prepared for manipulating them into tasks too dangerous or difficult for you to manage on your own.

Buy, Rent, Bury?
My personal inclination is to bury "Exit 2" in a deep hole in the backyard and carefully cover it with alternating flame-retardant layers of asbestos and concrete. However, for those who might like a change from the hectic, frenetic, run-and-gun pace of most games available these days, you may find a welcome respite in "Exit 2." It's something of a personality test, I suppose: whether or not you enjoy the game probably says something deep and interesting about your character, but that "something deep" is, at the moment, about as interesting to me as this game. At any rate, Xbox Live Arcade offers a free demo of "Exit 2", so, if you are one of those who might be tempted, why not indulge your curiosity? Free things are almost always worth their cost.

exit 2, Platformer, Puzzle, Puzzler, Taito, XBLA, Xbox Live Arcade

This post was written by:

Marie Kare - who has written 152 posts on GameCyte.

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8 Comments For This Post

Ed Says:
March 2nd, 2009 at 10:32 am
Sweet, I need to check this game out! I'm liking the new review subheads layout. Keep it up!
grommit Says:
March 2nd, 2009 at 10:38 am
Well I for one will dig this game up from the backyard. It looks like one I would enjoy. P.s. I like the page design.
Zak Says:
March 2nd, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Sounds like I'll give this one a miss, thanks for the heads-up. I abhor those overblown tutorial levels; I thought game developers had learned by now that I want to learn the game while having fun! No one reads manuals anymore.

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Marie Kare Says:
March 2nd, 2009 at 2:33 pm
I'm with you on the tutorial levels. It would have been easy enough, I reckon, to include notes/text/instructions in a less obtrusive way. blargh.

I feel you on the theme, too, but I believe the powers that be may still be working on the site design.
Scott Says:
March 2nd, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Nice new review style. As for the game, I might have to try the demo. I am a fan of puzzle type games but I also hate consistent NPC moaning.
Marie Kare Says:
March 2nd, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Let me know what you think! I really found the controls cumbersome and annoying. The voices were.....
janice Says:
March 2nd, 2009 at 9:13 pm
cool, thanks for making it easy for me to read this review and figure out if i wanna get the game! (and i have decided...no.)
DownloadableOnlineGames Says:
March 5th, 2009 at 7:59 am
looks good, thanks for the announce

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