The Escapists 2 is pretty good, all things considered. It definitely improves upon a lot of the core concepts introduced in the first game: There are a lot of prisons to try and break out of in a wider variety of ways, and the addition of both time-limited, mobile “transport prisons” and a unique but optional way or two to get out of every prison (such as posing as a TV crew member) makes it feel better than the original, where I just tried to cut my way through fences or dig through walls time after time. The ability to play with up to 3 other people also can’t be discounted, even if it cheapens the experience a little with some rather easy-to-accomplish co-op escape routes.

In case you’re not familiar, in The Escapists, you’re a prisoner seeking to get out of their sentence a little earlier than anticipated. By managing stats, items, crafting, and following “the routine” until you see an opening to do otherwise, you slowly (at least, at first) plan your escape by doing things such as figuring out where to get the key-cards you need or how to turn off the power. Your goal is to get out as fast and clean as possible, with the ideal performance usually being within a few days without drawing any attention.

This game is not without its flaws, however. It feels like a lot of minor bugs overlap to diminish the experience bit by bit, the netcode for online play is less than stellar, and after you’ve slipped out of each prison a few times, there’s not much reason to go back to them. It’s been patched several times since release to fix a few of the more glaring issues, but trying to revisit it with some other people still felt like it was more of a chore than it should have been. I recommend it, but with the catch that your enjoyment may vary wildly based on your tastes, and somewhat on your hardware.

The Escapists 2 is pretty good, all things considered. It definitely improves upon a lot of the core concepts introduced in the first game: There are a lot of prisons to try and break out of in a wider variety of ways, and the addition of both time-limited, mobile “transport prisons” and a unique but optional way or two to get out of every prison (such as posing as a TV crew member) makes it feel better than the original, where I just tried to cut my way through fences or dig through walls time after time. The ability to play with up to 3 other people also can’t be discounted, even if it cheapens the experience a little with some rather easy-to-accomplish co-op escape routes. In case you’re not familiar, in The Escapists, you’re a prisoner seeking to get out of their sentence a little earlier than anticipated. By managing stats, items, crafting, and following “the routine” until you see an opening to do otherwise, you slowly (at least, at first) plan your escape by doing things such as figuring out where to get the key-cards you need or how to turn off the power. Your goal is to get out as fast and clean as possible, with the ideal performance usually being within a few days without drawing any attention. This game is not without its flaws, however. It feels like a lot of minor bugs overlap to diminish the experience bit by bit, the netcode for online play is less than stellar, and after you’ve slipped out of each prison a few times, there’s not much reason to go back to them. It’s been patched several times since release to fix a few of the more glaring issues, but trying to revisit it with some other people still felt like it was more of a chore than it should have been. I recommend it, but with the catch that your enjoyment may vary wildly based on your tastes, and somewhat on your hardware.