It is more often than not that you hear gamers complaining about escort missions. "They suck!" They cry. "Do you remember that bitch from Goldeneye 64? MY FUCKING GOD that was awful". "WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?!" That is the general consensus about this huge group of gamers*.
Well, there's a funny thing about those escort missions. Most of the universally loved** and critically acclaimed games have incorporated, in one way or the other, such gameplay design.
Examples such as:
· Yoshi's Island (carrying Mario)
· Dead Rising (saving the survivors)
· Metal Gear Solid 2 (with Emma Emmerich)
· Halo: Combat Evolved (protecting Captain Keyes)
· The Last of Us (Ellie)
· Half Life 2 (Vance / Calhoun)
· Max Payne 2 (Sniping enemies around Max)
· GTA: Vice City (Those infamous "protect this random NPC" missions)
· Vanquish (Aiding the ship)
· The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion (Defending the heir)
· Fire Emblem (That random NPC wife of Dorcas)
· Advance Wars (Basically the same thing as above)
· Bioshock Infinite (Taking Booker out of Columbia)
· Resident Evil 4 (Ashley)
· Uncharted 2 (Protecting Elena)
· Portal (Companion Cube)
· A Link to the Past (Rescuing Zeruda)
· ICO (Yorda!)
What do you think about this mindblowing fact? Does this change your perception of escort missions?!
* This group is based upon a statistic that says that 79% of gamers hate escort missions.
Incidentally, there's also an statistic that says that 67% of the statistics are made up.
** This is, of course, my personal criteria. But it is the one that prevails!
