Escort missions?

[Nutmeg]

Have you ever enjoyed one? Any game, any genre? Which ones are your favorites?

I'm struggling to think of a single one

Of course Ancient made Gotta Protectors: Cart of Darkness where every level is an escort mission, which I assume plays well enough (I don't actually know), but that's different from a game that places escort missions in a more general simulation engine.

 

[Ezekiel]

E.E. was cute.

 

[I eat frozen vegetables]

Enjoying an escort mission is akin to liking genital flogging.

 

[Melcar]

Depends on how much they charge.

 

[Faarbaute]

While they tend to be frustrating to deal with, I think that they serve an important purpose together with the other kind of missions that complicate the standard formula, by temporarily removing some amount of control over the scenario from the player, by introducing an unpredictable element, or placing some other kind of novel constraint on the player. They force you to engage with the game in a way that is not rote and repetitive. By contrast, they also allow you to appreciate the standard formula more, when there is no curveball currently being thrown at you. Being able to take your time, to pick your fights, etc, these things that are otherwise often taken for granted, become exciting possibilities, when they are not always at your command.

 

[Nutmeg]

They force you to engage with the game in a way that is not rote and repetitive.

They all seem to boil down to mixture between plate spinning and shooting gallery, which is a very basic type of action gameplay, tho not necessarily bad.

But yes I understand the variety is good argument for escorts missions. Any ones you've particularly enjoyed?

 

[Ol' Willy]

 

[Faarbaute]

Any ones you've particularly enjoyed?

I'd have to think about it.

 

[Zlaja]

They can be tolerable when YOU are the one that is being escorted. Several Piranha Bytes games have some character escort you somewhere early on in the game and help you deal with enemies and you get the exp for the kills.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Ico (2001) is the only example of a game with good escort missions, because this is the entire premise of the game, which is therefore designed around it.

 

[Glop_dweller]

The cute puppy in Earthworm Jim!

 

[Vic]

Depends on the ass.

 

[Nutmeg]

because this is the entire premise of the game, which is therefore designed around it.

Yes, see also my example of Cart of Darkness which I mentioned in the OP (originally I also mentioned the prequels, but in those the princess didn't move, so I suppose it doesn't count as escort).

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

Bioshock Infinite had Elizabeth follow the main character. Narratively, it was "an escort mission", even thought it lasted half the game. Mechanically, she wasn't a nuisance, and even helped a little (IIRC?). It was refreshing and played well.

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

The ony shit I despise more than escort missions are underwater levels.

 

[Nutmeg]

Bioshock Infinite had Elizabeth follow the main character. Narratively, it was "an escort mission", even thought it lasted half the game. Mechanically, she wasn't a nuisance, and even helped a little (IIRC?). It was refreshing and played well.

Never played it, but that reminds me, escorting Ashley in Biohazard 4 for a similarly lengthy time wasn't too bad. Can't remember if it actually stopped you from zipping ahead (instead causing her to teleport?). Well in any case if you were playing with the challenge rule of not simply running around every enemy, then she would occasionally start getting kidnapped, which would factor into how you approached levels.

 

[Zombra]

I enjoy the occasional escort mission in City of Heroes. Usually when you rescue someone, they're invulnerable; you simply have to walk them to the exit, sometimes surviving ambushes yourself along the way. Even if you get defeated, the enemies recapture the hostage and you can go back and try again. Also there are different wrinkles sometimes, like some hostages can't follow you if you have stealth powers turned on, so you have to disable them and fight your way out without relying on them. Often a hostage will lose sight of you if you get too far away, so you can't simply fly out at super speed. These disruptive little limitations shake the gameplay up. Other times, the "hostages" are combatants themselves and in more traditional fashion you have to protect them along the way, but you get the advantage of them being able to fight back, which usually makes the missions easier rather than the awful babysitting slogs we're used to in most games. Other times it doesn't matter whether they're knocked down or not. All depends on how the mission was written.

 

[Beastro]

Have you ever enjoyed one? Any game, any genre? Which ones are your favorites?

I'm struggling to think of a single one

Of course Ancient made Gotta Protectors: Cart of Darkness where every level is an escort mission, which I assume plays well enough (I don't actually know), but that's different from a game that places escort missions in a more general simulation engine.

Zanzoken already made a thread about escort missions: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/have-you-ever-had-sex-with-a-prostitute.149499/

 

[Nutmeg]

already made a thread about escort missions:

You're the third person ITT to make that joke, but you probably won't be the last.