The Artful Escape

 PC
User Score
6.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 61 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 61
  2. Mixed: 23 out of 61
  3. Negative: 14 out of 61

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. sabev94379
    Sep 14, 2021
    3
    There are some nice visuals, decent performances, and even a few moments of inspired writing in The Artful Escape. It's not enough to buoy a game with this many glaring, bone-deep, ever-present flaws. I'll start with the most damning: the music in this game is pretty bad. It sets a bar for itself with some Bob Dylan-inspired folk music near the beginning which it then completely fails toThere are some nice visuals, decent performances, and even a few moments of inspired writing in The Artful Escape. It's not enough to buoy a game with this many glaring, bone-deep, ever-present flaws. I'll start with the most damning: the music in this game is pretty bad. It sets a bar for itself with some Bob Dylan-inspired folk music near the beginning which it then completely fails to live up to with a nearly nonstop rush of nonsense guitar shredding/wailing. Music forms the basis for all character motivation, plot developments, and gameplay in The Artful Escape. The fact that it doesn't sound good and is extremely clunky to engage with is just too much. No game is strong enough to shoulder that kind of burden. The Artful Escape, in particular, is too weak to support almost any part of its genuinely interesting premise. If you've seen the trailer for this game, you've played all the best parts of this game.… Expand
  2. pahoxa
    Oct 13, 2021
    4
    The Artful Escape is too earnest to hate but just too plain artless and incompetent to love. The game spends the majority of its time setting up character arcs that it never executes. At a certain point, we're just back on earth and the story is over. Nothing ties together. In terms of story, it's a complete failure in terms of both vision and execution. This is to say nothing of theThe Artful Escape is too earnest to hate but just too plain artless and incompetent to love. The game spends the majority of its time setting up character arcs that it never executes. At a certain point, we're just back on earth and the story is over. Nothing ties together. In terms of story, it's a complete failure in terms of both vision and execution. This is to say nothing of the gameplay, which even fans of the game acknowledge is really, really bad. All you do is press a single button to shred electric guitar, noisily overrunning the soundtrack in a way that never becomes remotely listenable. In terms of the performances . . . they're fine? Was it really worth it to shell out the money for Lena Headey, Jason Schwartzman, Mark Strong, and Carl Weathers? Perhaps that time and money might have been better spent giving the script a second pass (or giving the core gameplay a first pass). There seems to have been a strong bend to make this game as filmic as possible, which does give it some personality around the edges. But it kills The Artful Escape dead. Instead of a remotely playable game, we as the players get a very, very poorly-written film which runs for 3 hours and only proceeds from one samey scene to the next when you press a button that emits some of the least-musical modem dial-up noises you've ever heard.… Expand
  3. hosolah302
    Oct 21, 2021
    2
    In some ways, The Artful Escape plays out like a film director's first attempt at designing gameplay. At other moments, it feels like a game developer's first attempt at writing a story, any story. Overall, it's an extremely bad game with a very meh story that spins its wheels for a few hours and then unceremoniously ends with all its characters half-developed. It's a game in which theIn some ways, The Artful Escape plays out like a film director's first attempt at designing gameplay. At other moments, it feels like a game developer's first attempt at writing a story, any story. Overall, it's an extremely bad game with a very meh story that spins its wheels for a few hours and then unceremoniously ends with all its characters half-developed. It's a game in which the gameplay sucks. It's a story about expressing one's self through music, but the music is the least expressive part of the game by far.… Expand
  4. hamik17594
    Nov 9, 2021
    0
    As other reviewers have pointed out, this isn't a game with any real gameplay mechanics. If you're playing The Artful Escape, you're playing for the story and music. Let's be real: The story is poorly-written in terms of character development, pacing, plot, pretty much anything that you'd want a story to do well. The music is much, much worse. Even as a fan of this style of music, theAs other reviewers have pointed out, this isn't a game with any real gameplay mechanics. If you're playing The Artful Escape, you're playing for the story and music. Let's be real: The story is poorly-written in terms of character development, pacing, plot, pretty much anything that you'd want a story to do well. The music is much, much worse. Even as a fan of this style of music, the music is a pretty much non-stop assault of bottom-tier guitar noodling. There aren't enough drugs in the world to make The Artful Escape an interesting trip.… Expand
  5. Chensa
    Jul 24, 2022
    4
    It breaks my heart because I really wanted to love this game, but I couldn't, and not for the lack of trying. In my opinion, it falls short at almost everything it tries to achieve. Many already mentioned that this is barely a game, without any enjoyable game mechanics, but it also fails as a movie-game because instead of leaning back and watching cutscenes you need to press a button toIt breaks my heart because I really wanted to love this game, but I couldn't, and not for the lack of trying. In my opinion, it falls short at almost everything it tries to achieve. Many already mentioned that this is barely a game, without any enjoyable game mechanics, but it also fails as a movie-game because instead of leaning back and watching cutscenes you need to press a button to progress the dialogue. It's just terrible. Additionally, it doesn't "celebrate" music at all, the soundtrack is repetitive and annoying, and the playing parts don't even require you to stay on a beat. So you just press buttons, not creating music. The story didn't stick for me, and although this project doesn't lack imagination, and the writing and voice acting are pretty good, I couldn't recommend it to anyone. Such a shame.… Expand
  6. Magboyok
    Jun 12, 2022
    3
    A game without a game. The art is out of this world, but this is it's only redeeming factor. The music "riffs" are repetitive during level runs and non-existent during the supposed Battle-Of-Bands style bosses which is a damnation for a game all about musical artistry. The gameplay is next to non-existent and the dialogue broadens on hilariously cringe inducing or skippable. The overallA game without a game. The art is out of this world, but this is it's only redeeming factor. The music "riffs" are repetitive during level runs and non-existent during the supposed Battle-Of-Bands style bosses which is a damnation for a game all about musical artistry. The gameplay is next to non-existent and the dialogue broadens on hilariously cringe inducing or skippable. The overall message - "Be Yourself" is a nice one, but ultimately shown at face value through the entire game and at no point is the main character challenged in his view that his secret alter-ego is awe inspiringly cool, it's supported entirely by every character in from beginning to end. Would've been better as a series of animations with actual music.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

86
#86 Best PC Game of 2021
97
#97 Most Discussed PC Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 28
  3. Negative: 1 out of 28
  1. TierraGamer
    Nov 11, 2021
    80
    The Artful Escape might seem easy to some players, but its flawless and engaging music and art direction make it worth your time.
    Read full review
  2. Meristation
    Oct 21, 2021
    75
    The Artful Escape focuses the attention on the narrative through a powerful audiovisual staging, reducing the platforms and the challenge to the minimum expression to provide the player with an authentic festival of rock, psychedelia and surrealism.
    Read full review
  3. The Indie Game Website
    Oct 4, 2021
    90
    By the time the final credits roll on The Artful Escape, it’s a challenge to succinctly summarise what you’ve just experienced. It’s a game without a genre, one composed of familiar elements blended in an unfamiliar way, creating something that is uniquely its own. It’s been a long time coming since The Artful Escape was given its initial glimpse of what was in store, but when it’s all said and done, it leaves the audience satisfied but still wanting just a little more. Like any good concert.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »