The Escapists took the indie scene by storm, now its trying to take over the underworld with its new DLC, The Escapists: Walking Dead.
Looking at the statistics for both The Escapists and The Walking Dead gives a real insight into the proverbial gold-mine Team17 is sitting on. Debbie Bestwick, the Managing Director for Team17 released this information on the game’s sales:
“With well over 600,000 units sold, the award-winning The Escapists is one of the hit indie titles of 2015″
Now, combine this with the huge fanbase of The Walking Dead and Team17 have really created a winning concept. The Season 5 debut of The Walking Dead alone pulled in 17.3 million views, meaning this combination is bound to increase The Escapists buyer base substantially. Daniel Murray, Skybound Entertainments President, said:
“Team17 presented a creative plan to blend The Walking Dead into The Escapists and our response was simple. When do we get started? The Escapists is a charming example of a single creator’s vision come to life. We are excited to offer fans of The Walking Dead something different and The Escapists: The Walking Dead is just that. A playful interpretation that we believe fans of great games in general will love.”
My first thought on the matter was one of confusion, on how Team17 was going to merge the ‘prison escape simulator’ gameplay with zombies. Now I realise in today’s gaming climate, a company can stick a ‘Z’ on the end of anything and call it a new game; but Team17 have presented their idea, and it sure sounds interesting. You take on the role of Rick Grimes, the apparent face of The Walking Dead, and lead a group of survivors.
Instead of escaping prison however, you attempt to escape YOUR DOOOOOM. No seriously, you are trying to escape from dangerous, zombie infested areas through the safest route possible. Rick must explore, gather and think tactically in order to get the most survivors through in the safest manner possible.
Now if that doesn’t whet your appetite I don’t know what will. The game also follows the precise timeline of the comics, meaning that players will be able to carve their own path through the award winning graphic novels. This faithful homage to the comic is sure to bring in some of the more hardcore fans.
You can watch the teaser below.
