Mechanic Escape Review

There are many, many, many, many, many indie precision platformers. There are very few fantastic ones. Mechanic Escape is an experience that keeps the player playing but never manages to engage them. Its platforming is fast but not because you want to beat the level as fast as possible. No, to play this game methodically and slow is not an option. Fortunately, playing the game is optional. The platforming is manageable at best. It’s not overly punishing by design but there are some faults with its construction that causes nothing but frustration.

So, the premise is that you play as a giant walking TV that has to jump, swing, blast and just plain outrun everything to save all your friends. Your friends in this case are smaller flying televisions that, for some reason unbeknownst to anyone, need your rescuing because they can’t just fly away with their own wings… anyway, it’s a platformer. Who cares about plot, right?

Now, seeing as controls are everything to a game like this, I was surprised straight off the bat when the controls were very floaty. The precision needed to make this game a contender in the genre does not exist here. Super Meat Boy is the obvious point of reference when looking at similar games. SMB’s controls are so well balanced and finely tuned that the core gameplay is what keeps you playing, the amazing level design is just a plus.

Mechanic Escape does not make up for the lacking controls with level design either. The design is fine, there isn’t anything wrong per se, but there are some irritating choices. The game is made up of four chapters consisting of twenty levels each and the chapters have an overarching boss character that you will get to know very well. The game forces you to be chased by them in almost every level, and good lord does it hamper the overall experience. This one feature manages to single handedly break any enjoyment I did get out of the game, yet it’s also tied to the game’s only real element that’s half-decent.  

The game feels like it was designed towards the idea of speed: get everything done, fast. There are levels that almost all of it is being chased by the aforementioned boss but after the first time this happens, it starts to get old - ironically - fast. This is before we get started with the placement of some of the obstacles that are, it seems, only there to irritate and annoy. This feels like a way to artificially elongate the playtime and not for any solid design reason.

The levels give the illusion of choice with several lanes through levels, but actually these all turn out to be branching paths that all lead to the same point and most of them even allow you to go back to collect any flying televisions you missed by going the other way. This is just another black mark in the game design. It’s more options, but pointless ones. Exploration should never feel as tacked on as it does here.

The game looks nice enough but, once again, up against its peers, this game just isn’t anything special. There are four different aesthetics, one for each chapter. Bland, uninteresting and boring are the phrases that come to mind when thinking about it. There are just things that look prettier or are more interesting to look at. Had there been a few other enemies or more interesting level design things would be better.

At no point during my time with the game did I feel like I was enjoying myself. Enjoyment is, I believe, the core to any game and there is just not much of it to be found here unless you’re a true masochist. From the moment I started playing it felt like a chore and that is the worst that can be said for any game. This game is not fun and with many other options in the genre, I would suggest almost any other over Mechanic Escape.