Let me say this, i love the art style of Exit. Unfortunately that is about where my love affair with this game ends.
Platformer elements come into play as you can run/jump/climb/push and hang depending on the situation. Sounds good right? Well not quite. For a successful platformer, tight controls are essential. While the controls work, they are nowhere near the level that most gamers have become accustomed to. When you want to climb down a ledge, you must be at the very edge. If you are not, Mr. Escape will crawl. If you want to go down stairs, you better be at the right spot or else....you will crawl. Do you want more complaints? Alright, how about the fact that you can run but when you do things like climb ladders or go down stairs, you do so at a snail's pace? That might not seem like a big problem but you will feel my pain when time is counting down and you don't make it because you are still shimmying across a pipe. Controls would not be an issue if time was not a factor in this game.
The art style of Exit is interesting to say the least. The 1920's art deco style gives the game a classic yet modern feel. Unfortunately, somebody should have told Taito that it would have been nice if the gameplay felt modern as well. Big props to Taito for the design on Mr. Escape. He just looks cool. When he walks, he holds onto his fedora. Extra style points for that little touch. As much as I hate the controls, Mr. Escape looks smooth doing whatever he is doing. The color choices fit extremely well with the theme. Black & white for the characters, while things like fire stand out because they are a sharply contrasting orange. I can't explain how much of a fan I am of the style & design in this game. It's probably the game's saving grace.
Thank you Taito for trying to add some value to this game. There is no multiplayer, but there are downloadable bonus packs. If you can stomache the controls and manage to complete the game, you have some extra content to go through. At the time of this writing, two packs were available online. I believe they plan on having 5 total.
The difficulty is not too bad. I rated it at hard because you have to get use to the controls. I didn't really go into it, but they will be confusing. You have to open a door but it's locked, one button uses the key while a different button must be pressed to open the door. Doesn't sound too difficult right? Well it gets worse. You have the ability to control people you rescue. This is a great idea, but the controls come back to fight you again. I had so much difficulty micro managing large groups. Trying to tell this person to follow, while telling another to stay and then grab this item, just trying to control everybody felt like another game itself!
After all is said and done, I do hope a sequel is made. If only to make the game that this game should have been. Taito has the foundation, they need to take that and improve upon it.....a whole lot. Thank you for reading my review!