Escort Mission

NPCs don’t usually have any active roles in video games, unless they accompany your character on a mission. Granted, you might have pondered on the subject sometimes, because it’s interesting to think what happens with their lives when your hero plunders their houses searching for items to steal and sell. In fact, you can sometimes slay them without any repercussions whatsoever.

Escort Mission is an interesting game idea in which you take the role of the defenseless NPC for a change, while a mighty hero tries to defend you from hordes of monsters. Granted, the game is pretty much empty at the moment, which makes it difficult to judge properly, but the core concept is worth a shout. Hence, this is basically a survival game, except that it features apples and huge monsters instead of zombies.

You appear to be a classic female NPC from a fantasy flick, wearing the usual dress that makes it kind of difficult to run or move any quicker than a fast walk. The goal is to collect as many apples as you can, while the hero tries to repel wave after wave of monsters. However, there are always more creatures than the brave knight can handle, so you’ll take some hits as well.

Another disappointing fact about the game at this stage is that there are only a handful of trees generated at a time, while the rest of the landscape is blank. More of them start to appear if you move further away, but the generation algorithms are pretty slow and sloppy. There are just too many monsters to stand a chance over longer periods of time, especially since your bodyguard is usually busy doing something else.

As far as the graphics are concerned, the game uses the Unity engine, but the assets are the real issue. While your character and the hero appear to be quite similar in terms of appearance, the monsters look like something taken straight out of Gears of War instead. Naturally, it’s worth remembering that this is merely a concept at the moment, but you need to be prepared for it.

All things being equal, Escort Mission is not the kind of game you would enjoy playing right now. However, the core concept is worth pursuing, because it could lead to great things with enough effort and dedication.