For the casual role playing gamer looking for a humorous, yet clever, role playing game, Escape From Hell might be a pretty good choice. While it is filled with religious parodies and frequent Biblical references, Escape from Hell, overall, is a simplistic and lightweight game. It was published by Electronic Arts Incorporated in the early nineties and was developed by the same company a bit earlier. It was released only to home computers running DOS and falls…despite its evident good nature…into the category of horror gaming.
This is due mainly to the subject of the game. An average guy, likely symbolic of “anyman,” is taken to Hell for no discernable reason. He is not dead, and he is not a terribly bad fellow. However, in Hell he is, and he has to find his way out. Along the way, he will witness all sorts of gruesome acts, made less heavy by the sarcasm and tongue-in-cheek humor that peppers the game. Still, torture, demons and other nightmarish figures are likely not appropriate for younger gamers. At least the game does not have random acts of violence. Each and every one that your character witnesses (and with the large game world
and marathon length of the game, there will be many) has a purpose and it will be explained to you, lest you make the same mistake and have the same fate befall you.
The character will have all sorts of surprises waiting for him. Lo and behold, his girlfriend is also in hell, but his guardian angel has skipped town. That is enough to make you wonder! He will be able to interview all sorts of different nonplaying characters, mostly in the form of gothic monsters and warped creatures. The system for advancement is very rudimentary, and the man will have to perform many adventure-style fetch quests and solve a number of adventure-like puzzles as he strives to both better himself and find his way out of hell. Per usual in RPGs, there will be lot of weapons and armor, and tons of interesting items to find and use to advance the plot.
Overall, this is a very casual RPG that is so filled with off beat humor, that many people may play it just to identify and smirk at the parodies. It is easy to learn and easy to become involved with, leaving the complexities and frustration in the bag for more in depth RPGs.
