TGS 2005: Exit Hands-On

TGS 2005: Currently scheduled for release in Japan toward the end of this year, Exit is a puzzle game of sorts in which you assume the role of a mysterious-looking man tasked with entering and exiting buildings and, at least in the demo levels that we played, rescuing other people en route. The colorful cartoon-style visuals and the gameplay are both 2D, although the stylized, mostly black-and-white character models are 3D.

Our primary mission in Exit was to locate and rescue a "survivor" and then to escort the survivor to an exit, and we had to solve plenty of puzzles along the way. Pushing and pulling crates into positions that allowed us to reach otherwise inaccessible areas was a regular activity, as was finding switches that would open doors and, on one of the levels, turn on a sprinkler system to put out a fire. Item-based puzzles were also pretty common, and although most simply involved keys, we had cause to locate and use a rope ladder on one occasion.

After we located a survivor we were able to give the person simple instructions such as to follow us, stand still, or interact with certain objects. On one occasion we needed a survivor to help us push a stack of boxes, for example, and on another the only way for us to collect an item was for the survivor to stand still on a door switch while we went inside a room.

Based on what we saw today, Exit is a great-looking puzzle game that is somewhat reminiscent of the original Abe's Oddysee PlayStation game. We look forward to bringing you more information on the game as soon as it becomes available.