Exit DS – NDS – Review

When
Exit was first released on Sony’s portable handheld, it offered an
interesting twist in the puzzle genre that fell short in a few areas. Still, it
was hard to deny that it was interestingly unique and many of the levels
contained inventive puzzles. Making its jump onto the Nintendo DS, Exit DS
means to use the handheld’s touch-screen technology to make this a unique
puzzle game, but it still isn’t able to make this game a puzzle gamers’ dream
come true. 

The art
of escape

You
play the dashing, speedy and mysterious Mr. Esc who rescues the helpless in
dangerous situations and helps lead them to safety. He’s a professional escape
artist who decided to put his skills to good use by saving people trapped in
burning buildings or sinking ships. He’s able to climb his way to some tough
spots and survey the dangers that he comes across and he must do it quickly.
Armed with very little except for his quick wits, you guide Mr. Esc through more
than 100 levels.

The
game begins simple enough with a few tutorial levels that will introduce you to
the game’s basics and how to deal with the various situations and environmental
hazards you’ll encounter along the way. The game’s design may look simplistic
enough but there’s more to it than just narrow corridors and ledges. You’ll
encounter objects you can manipulate and doors you can unlock and open. Later on
in the game you’ll also learn how to deal with civilians you will get to rescue
along the way. The levels in Exit DS might look easy to solve but
appearances can be very deceiving.

Where there’s smoke …

Using
the Stylus, you simply tap on Mr. Esc and tap the area where you want him to
move. He can hustle towards the spot where you want him to move or run depending
on what is needed. There are several environmental objects Mr. Esc can
manipulate such as doors and crates you can push to close a gap in certain spots
or ease your fall when you need to climb down a platform. While this sounds
simple enough, you will often encounter locked doors that require keys and areas
that require you to think before you leap. A timer is running so it’s best to
clear a level and reach the exit on time.

The
best moments in Exit DS happen in the later levels where you’ll be
attempting to save people trapped in a burning building or sinking ship. You’ll
find a number of civilians in these levels and all of them can be controlled by
you much in the same way you control Mr. Esc. While the people you rescue need
Mr. Esc to guide them out physically, these companions aren’t completely
helpless. Each person has an ability you can use in different situations. For
example, children are small and can get through some narrow places adults can’t
get through. Large adults have great strength that allows them to push heavier
objects. Half the fun is trying to figure out how to use different companions as
you help them navigate through each environment. 

The art
of not following orders

Sadly,
as much as I hate to admit it, the Nintendo DS’ touch screen controls do the
game more harm than good. Oftentimes, the Stylus control makes it unclear to Mr.
Esc where exactly you would like him to stand in order to climb down a ledge.
Sometimes, Mr. Esc will run across the ledge and thus falling to his demise when
what you really meant for him to do was climb down to the next platform. It also
becomes very frustrating when you keep having to tap on Mr. Esc to move him
every step of the way so some of the more impatient gamers will be very
frustrated with the controls. Then again, who wouldn’t be when the controls can
be this unresponsive. On top of that, the levels begin to repeat themselves …
that isn’t bad but this is a game that would have benefited from a Level Editor
to come up with your own level designs.

The
game’s visual style is also wonderfully unique and resembles the PSP version of
the game very closely. The characters are silhouettes with Mr. Esc taking on a
look that makes him slightly resemble old comic book character, The Spirit. In
fact, all the characters speak through comic book-styled word bubbles.
Meanwhile, the backgrounds and visual effects (such as the fires) look decently
enough even on the Nintendo DS. The game’s sound, on the other hand, leaves much
to be desired. The music, for instance, simply loops repetitively to the point
that you will turn the volume all the way down. You won’t be missing very much
in terms of the sound effects that aren’t too bad.

Exit
DS is one of
those great ideas that could have really shined on Nintendo’s innovative
handheld but it is held back by a number of things that stop this from being a
true puzzle game classic on the DS. This is actually too bad seeing as there are
some challenging scenarios that are also fun but its clumsy touch screen
controls make for some irritation that is far too noticeable to ignore. If you
can’t live without a portable puzzle game then I recommend you rent this one
first but otherwise there are better puzzle games for the DS.

Gameplay: 6.5
The touch-screen
actions can be very frustrating and even more so for those impatient gamers who
like their games to run at a steady pace. There are some outstanding levels that
offer more than enough variety but in the long run most of the puzzles will
start feeling familiar.

Graphics: 7.0
The game’s visual
presentation is actually quite endearing and tips its hat to those classic games
that closely resemble it. There are some neat little visual effects here as
well.

Sound: 6.5
The music will
start driving you crazy somewhere around Level 20 if not sooner but at least
there are some decent sound effects.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
The game gets
progressively harder the farther along you go and the levels where you’re tasked
with rescuing civilians are even more challenging. Either way, be prepared for
some interesting puzzles.

Concept: 7.0
The touch-screen
action just isn’t as smooth as one would expect on the Nintendo DS but – aside
from some weak Stylus-control issues – there’s some inventive touch-screen fun
to be had during the more complex levels. You can go online but to post your
best times for bragging rights.

Overall: 6.5
Exit DS
is one of those games
that really would have benefited from the Nintendo DS’ touch screen but, sadly,
the awkward controls make for some rather frustrating gameplay. On the other
hand, those who are patient with the game will find themselves enjoying the
puzzles for a short time. It’s a good try but it just isn’t good enough to
recommended.