Shipwreck Escape

While disaster movies may be big business at the box office, they have rarely been the focal point for video games. Aside from Disaster Report and Bowser stomping all over my SimCity, there haven't been a lot of notable disaster games over the last few decades. One of my favorites growing up was a Super NES adventure game called S.O.S., which saw you desperately trying to escape a shipwreck before it was fully submerged in ice-cold water. That's the exact same premise of the brand-new Switch game Shipwreck Escape, which sends us on a harrowing journey to solve puzzles, free passengers and work together in order to get out alive. That's a great set-up for a game, but will the repetitive tasks and cringey plot twists leave you seasick? And, more importantly, how does this modern game compare to S.O.S.? Those are just some of the questions I want to answer in my review of Shipwreck Escape.

This is the story of a middle-aged croupier on the luxury cruise ship Ataraxia, a popular vacation spot for the ultra-wealthy that regularly sails between Athens and Dubai. I don't think I'm spoiling anything when I tell you that this particular voyage is doomed, something our unnamed hero realizes as he wakes up amongst the debris of the lower deck. He doesn't remember how he got there or even what happened to the ship, but knows that the lower deck is slowly taking on water and that if he doesn't do something quick, he won't be able to escape.

The good news for the croupier is that there's a woman named Kat nearby who is in similar danger. The two agree to help each other make their way to the top of the ship, which means surviving the dangers of the lower deck, exploring the guest cabins, puzzle solving through the entertainment deck and more. They know that if they don't work together, then they are doomed to drown in the fast-approaching water, and they'll do anything to avoid that fate.

In a lot of ways, Shipwreck Escape feels more like The Lost Vikings than S.O.S. A lot of the levels have us switching between the croupier and Kat in order to help each other get closer to the exit. One will need to turn off the electricity in order to let the other pass, while the other might need to turn on the water to extinguish a fire standing in the way. There are also keys to collect and extremely hot steam pipes to turn off. The goal of each stage is to get both characters to the exit, where you'll do the whole thing all over again in the next level.

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It's worth mentioning that not every stage has you controlling both characters, as some levels are designed for only the croupier or Kat. But even when it's a solo stage, the puzzle solving remains the same. A lot of it comes down to turning off the electricity, extinguishing the fires and managing the hot steam in the right order. The levels start out short and simple, but quickly expand into large areas with lots of knobs and buttons, not all of which you'll need to fiddle with. A lot of the stages in the back half of the game require a lot of trial-and-error tinkering, so expect to die multiple times before you figure out the right path and buttons to press. This is especially annoying in the last few stages.

Speaking of things that frustrated me about Shipwreck Escape, let's talk about the way the story is handled. This is one of those games that tries to convey what's happening through letters and notes left around the sinking boat. This never worked for me and ended up taking me out of what should have been a tense and visceral experience. A lot of these revelations would have been better suited for cinemas that could have played after each level or section of the ship.

The game also has a bad habit of dropping game-changing information on you at the worst possible moments. There's a twist that reframes the entire game that is snuck into one of the levels through a brief inner monologue. Normally, that would be fine, but there's no time to read the massive plot twist when a fire is about to engulf Kat and the water is making it hard for the croupier to breathe. Why reveal this pivotal information at a moment when there's no time to read? Save that for in between the levels. Either that, or add voice acting. The way they handle it here makes it too easy to completely miss valuable information.

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Sadly, the most disappointing aspect of Shipwreck Escape has nothing to do with the writing or trial-and-error puzzles. The real villain here is the repetition. While each new part of the ship adds something new (like a portable fire extinguisher), practically all of the puzzles look the same. It's always the fire, electricity and hot steam you have to worry about. And with no jump button, we're left playing flat stages that may look different, but effectively feel the same. Where are the more advanced obstacles? Where are the new items that change up the gameplay? Where is the creativity? After you've seen the obstacles in the lower decks, you've basically seen everything the game has to show you.

I also found myself unimpressed with the graphics, which are surprisingly boring for a game that takes place on a cruise ship. I don't know if it's the repeating textures or the bland polygonal graphics, but the Ataraxia doesn't have much personality. Even when we get into the upper decks, the game's visuals never impress. Shipwreck Escape is the kind of game that would have benefited from a more stylish presentation, but, much like the name, the developers opted for generic every step of the way.

That said, Shipwreck Escape does benefit from being one of the few games of its type. The fact that there aren't a lot of disaster games on the market means that even a game I labeled as "generic" and "repetitive" can still be worth playing because of its novelty. The tension associated with surviving a boat wreck is easy to understand and a great conceit for a game. Shipwreck Escape may not fully realize the exciting concept, but it still makes for a fun puzzle game that's worth recommending. Then again, S.O.S. is definitely better.