The Escapists 2

The game that will get you out of jail. Loads of fun with one or two players, and even better with three or four. The game design is outstanding with its series of prisons each more original than the last, and the gameplay that enables almost infinite ways to escape by breaking through walls, sawing through bars, crawling through ventilation ducts, or by just following the story. Amazing!

Always dreamed of staging your own jailbreak? Digging tunnels, crawling through ventilation ducts, cutting deals with tough inmates, making counterfeit keys, and leaving a dummy sleeping in your bed? Then you'll love The Escapist 2.

For the many fans of 2016's The Escapist, The Escapists 2 is based on the exact same concept. The sequel, though, is far more ambitious in scope. And it's an ambition that has been more than fulfilled in this extremely engrossing game!

The game starts off with a clever flashback in which an ex-con, now lounging on a tropical beach, starts telling you how he made his break for freedom. As he talks, the story turns into the tutorial for the game.

We loved this clever way of teaching you the basics of the game, a game that, as it turns out, is pretty complex. It's a sandbox game that gives players plenty of choice in how to escape from its ten different prisons.

And with so many options open to you, you'll be learning primarily from your failures! So expect to get caught... a lot!

Just like in Prison Break, you'll need to study the layout of the prison if any of your escape attempts are to have hope of success. You'll need to learn the daily rhythms of the prison, follow a specific timetable to avoid punishment from the guards, take note of what time the patrols go round, identify areas where you can stay out of sight, and scope out dark corners...

This routine is broken up with rest periods which give you time to prepare your escape: doing favours for other prisoners to earn money, reading to glean intelligence and learn crafting skills, and even exercising to boost your endurance. Each prison also has its own top dogs and characters that you'll need to get to know, be they your fellow inmates or the screws, and they all have their own different behaviours.

Just rushing out looking for a hole in the wall will get you nowhere, and you'll learn to bide your time and notice everything that's going on around you.

The next phase of your escape is when you craft the tools you'll need to make it out, tools which are often obtained by stealing anything that isn't nailed down, or completing side quests for NPCs.

We liked the cutesy 16-bit aesthetic, which is now much more detailed and varied than in the first game.

Our favourite part was multiplayer mode, which comes in two flavours: a co-op mode for two players, and a four-player head-to-head mode. Both are loads of fun.

Create a diversion by punching a guard while your accomplice steals his map and another tries to reinforce a tunnel dug beneath your cell. That's a good example of how the action goes down in co-op mode.

To help you on your way: if you get stuck or lost, head for the payphones to get some handy tips. Although the game is an open sandbox where you are free to experiment, there's always one way out that's more straightforward than the rest.

This is a fantastic sequel that refines and improves the original jailbreak concept, adding more variety, better graphics, and two fantastic multiplayer modes.

This is your great escape...