Mission: Runway Demo

Fashion is considered a very touchy subject in most circles, because everyone seems to have an opinion on it. To make matters worse, fashion trends oscillate wildly from one year to the next, which creates a lot of confusion among those who take it upon themselves to stay in tune with it. Thankfully, there are many shows and magazines to keep you updated about what’s in and what’s out.

Mission: Runway is not your typical fashion game, because it involves more than just throwing together a bunch of outfits in order to score points. In fact, your actual purpose is to please a jury and participate in a reality TV show, featuring multiple episodes with different themes. On the other hand, this aspect is mostly cosmetic, because the actual gameplay revolves around your ability to combine clothes and colors.

There are multiple participants in the show, which means that you have opponents to compete against every round. Just in case the pressure wasn’t high enough with the addition of a jury, you also have to pray that you do not get sent home during the elimination round at the end of every episode. Naturally, the final goal is to make it to the last round and be declared the winner.

As every designer will tell you, fashion is not just about the clothes. An outfit includes the makeup and the accessories that go along with it, such as hats, necklaces, bags and various other small but important components. In the game, you have complete control over these aspects as well, not to mention the fact that you can decide the color and the pattern on every clothing item you include in the outfit.

Unfortunately, the actual challenge is a bit chaotic and pointless, because you are never given explanations regarding high or low scores. The members of the jury just tell you whether they liked the outfit or not, but not why. Another annoying part is the graphics engine itself, or more exactly the animations. While the clothes and the models look decent, the illusion shatters once the girls start doing their thing on the catwalk.

In the end, the game can be both fun and a failure, depending on how you look at it. Hence, Mission: Runway probably won’t be the best fashion game you have ever played, but it can be entertaining for a couple of minutes.