Review: escapeVektor

Posted by Ben on January 20th, 2013 | 0 Comments | Tags: escapeVektor

escapeVector is fiendish. Whenever I think that I’ve managed to conquer it, and put the game down for the day, I find myself picking it right back up eager to play more. What Nnooo have done here is make something incredibly fun and challenging, but not without its curious flaws. Playing as Vektor, the player is transported inside a computer, with the aim of freeing Vektor from the clutches of the CPU, which has been holding him captive. Through that, you’ll be dodging enemies, avoiding obstacles, and generally speeding around fearing for your life. It’s a tense experience that never lets up when you’re playing it, the game demands every ounce of your attention.

The game itself is rather simple. Played from a top-down perspective, the player has to navigate a variety of mazes, all the while escaping from the enemies or obstacles within. You’ll slowly gain new tools to help you make your way through the game, but when you first start off the pace feels a little slow. It isn’t until you unlock the boost abilities that the game really picks up the pace. I didn’t really enjoy my time with escapeVektor until I gained this new power, but after that? It was an absolute joy. You earn further boost abilities along with bombs, so the more you play the game, the faster the action ends up going, until you’re zipping around these mazes desperately trying to not come to a fast end. Failure arrives quickly in escapeVektor, but the game doesn’t really punish you for your mistakes. Unless you count having to sit through the game’s sluggish menus as a form of punishment. For a game designed around as pick up and play friendly a mechanic as escapeVektor, the fact that retrying a level isn’t nigh on instantaneous is a bit of a blemish. It’s a minor inconvenience, but one that stands out when you’re desperately trying to finish a level.

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Luckily, the rest of the game’s presentation pulls it up a lot. escapeVektor’s art style is clean, simple, and works entirely towards the purpose of helping, not hindering the game. It’s easy to tell what can harm you and what can’t, and extremely easy to discern Vektor from the background elements. This attention to detail also plays in to the game’s music. Featuring a soundtrack that changes in accordance to the game around it, escapeVektor’s tunes grow and change with the game, and no two levels sound exactly alike. The way the music changes when an enemy starts to give chase is absolutely fantastic.

escapeVektor is a good slice of portable fun, and a game that feels entirely suited to platforms like the Vita. The game’s quick, simple levels feel perfectly suited to 10 minute bursts of fun, but it still has the ability to suck you in for hours on end. I’m still playing new levels and figuring out new ways to solve old ones. It may have a couple of odd quirks, but the game underneath is pretty damn fun and rewarding.

A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for review purposes. For more info on our review policy click here. This review is for the PlayStation Vita version of the game.