You know, even though I wrote about appSide Down’s upcoming 2.5D arcade platformer “Escape Doodland” just recently. I still had no idea what I had gotten myself into, because I got fooled by the cute, charming and gullible doodle-like look of the game. Well, let’s just say that the game is much harder than it looks. I should have known better though, as “Escape Doodland” gave me a lot of “Rayman“, “Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee” and “Boogerman” vibes. You see, most of those games are rather damn hard, and make no mistake about it. “Escape Doodland” is not an easy title. So even if you “only” play on hard, you will still struggle on the later stages.
“Escape Doodland” is an arcade platformer with intense and demanding gameplay in a crazy 2.5D doodle world.
Nevertheless, I still had a blast with “Escape Doodland” (I played the game on PC). In the matter of fact, I spent hours fooling around with the eight playable characters (aka “Doodlers”) throughout the four available stages in the demo. Yes, I know what your thinking right now “four stages?! Is that all there is to it?”. Trust me on this one. I’m aware that four stages might not sound like much, but here’s the thing. You will end up playing through those stages over and over again. Why? Because “Escape Doodland” is fun as hell with it’s crazy monsters, fart humor and characters.
There are plenty of monsters and other dangers to watch out for in this game. Furthermore, since “Escape Doodland” is an auto runner, you simply don’t have time to be a slow thinker. In other words, be quick or be dead!
Furthermore, there are coins to collect (you use them to unlock stuff in the game’s shop), and you will try to get better stage scores as well (3/3 stars are the max score). Not to mention the fact that there are eight different characters to play with. In other words, it’s very likely that you will try to beat each stage with every single character there is. So with that fresh in mind, those four stages sure sound like a whole lot more now, right? I also noticed that there are a handful of ways to complete each stage, because every stage have alterantive path ways.
There are eight playable characters in the demo version of “Escape Doodland”, and each character has his or her unique set of looks and skills (some are fast, and some can jump or fly).
You also have three different fart options as well, and those options would be the following:
1. You can slow down the monster (aka “Omnomus”) that’s chasing you throughout each stage (“slow enemy”)
2. Reach to the stars by setting your farts on fire (you can reach items and whatnot via this move, and it’s called “farty jump”)
3. Dash fart yourself through every stage like a boss (“farty fart”)
You can play through four different stages in the alpha demo of “Escape Doodland”. However, it’s worth pointing out that the fourth stage is almost impossible to finish (just watch our gameplay video, and you will understand what I mean by that).
So as you might imagine, there are quite a lot of things to do and experience in the world of “Escape Doodland”, and since this is “only” the alpha version of the game. We could expect even more awesome content in the full version of “Escape Doodland”. As for here and now though, the alpha demo is pretty darn impressing. So if you like auto runners and 2.5D arcade platformers. Then you should most definitely give “Escape Doodland” a try =) (you could always check out our gameplay video down below if you’re still not sure if this game is your cup of tea or not).
Pros:
+ Fun and addicting gameplay
+ Escape Doodland is like a mix of Rayman, Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee and Boogerman
+ You can play as eight different characters
+ The ability to set your farts on fire
Cons:
– The last demo stage is almost impossible to finnish
– Bugs (you can get stuck on things)
– The high difficulty might be a turn off for some players
– No multiplayer mode *sad face*
Gameplay: 4/5
Graphics: 4/5
Sound/music: 3.5/5
Controls: 4/5
Replay value: 4/5
Verdict: 4/5
“Escape Doodland” is a very entertaining and addicting 2.5D arcade/auto run platformer. So I’m quite sure that the final version of the game will do really well on PC and mobile formats. A fair warning though, this is the kind of game that “might” make you want to break your keyboard or monitor out of pure rage (think “Flappy Bird” kind of rage). You see, the difficulty tends to become ridiculously hard later on in the game. However, if you’re cool with that, then it should be no problem for you (I take it that you have found your inner Zen?).
Title: Escape Doodland
Developer: appSide Down
Format: PC
Genre: 2.5D arcade platformer
Resolution: Highest possible on PC
Release date: Q1 2018
Difficulty: Hard
Spent time: +3 hours
Average grade internationally: 69% Metacritic.com (iOS version)
PEGI age rating: +7
Price: TBA
