Do games really need escort quests?

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Do games really need escort quests?

Written by kube00, Erik Kubik Sunday, 15 May 2011 05:00

Escort quests are hit and miss in the gaming world. Some gamers enjoy them, while others, like myself, grit my teeth in frustration. The question boils down to: are escort quests essential to modern gaming? Or should modern game developers get rid of them?

Most escort quests involve accompanying an NPC from point A to point B. Or in some cases some games force the player to escort the NPC for the entire game. Sometimes the escorts are able to hold their own in combat and players can actively determine their next moves. Escort quests add an interesting element to most games. All of a sudden gamers have to look out for someone other than themselves. This can be an unforgiving challenge.

How about an example of a useful, self reliant escort NPC? Tripp from Enslaved comes to mind. Overall she is pretty useful to Monkey. Although gamers have to protect her, her ability to create decoys and provide players with much needed weapon upgrades are her saving grace. Majin has the same idea, in a different sense. Gamers have to escort the towering Majin. But I have to say having the mighty Majin around to help during combat and with some head scratching puzzles is useful. The Last Guardian by team ICO, which is supposed to be released in 2011 is another great example of an escort quest done right. If developers continue to force escort quests on gamers, then we need more NPC escort quests like those listed above where the NPCs are useful and don’t randomly wander off and die.

Here are several good examples of frustrating escort NPCs. For starters, the NPCs gamers have to escort in Dead Rising 1 and 2 are beyond terrible. Most of them are helpless and cannot keep up with gamers. I think Capcom put them in the game to challenge players but instead this gaming element drags the entire game down.

Ashley from Resident Evil 4 is another fine example. So is Natalya from Goldeneye 64. Both are very useless and do little to defend themselves in the face of danger. NPCs like this make it hard for gamers to enjoy the game. I can’t tell you how many times I would have quickly ripped through Resident Evil 4 without Ashley in tow. The Princess from ICO also meets this requirement. It’s very tough to have her wait while gamers attempt to defend themselves while trying to solve puzzles. I know this was supposed to make the game challenging, but we could do without the princess.

So gamers what do you guys think of escort quests? Do we need them in games? Should there be some sort of standard?

Comments

# puffkix 2011-05-15 18:04

The short answer is no, we don't need them in games. I remember when ICO came out and there was some staunch defense for the escort aspect of that game. Don't get me wrong, I really liked ICO but could have done without the whole "helpless princess" thing.