RFM Talks: SOS: The Final Escape.

Given the terrible weather we’re currently having in the UK it seems an appropriate time to talk about the Zettai Zetsumei Toshi series, SOS: The Final Escape (Disaster Report in the US) and Raw Danger. Two very unique adventure games for the PS2 both set on artificial islands that become destroyed by natural disaster and star a cast of misfits who are trying to escape.
I had initially found out about this series from an old video game TV program which showed off the games connectivity with a bizarre peripheral (Originally released with the game REZ) designed to fit in the players back pocket and would vibrate to “enhance immersion” good idea if a bit creepy.

In SOS: The Final Escape you play as Keith Helm (Great hero name) a plucky journalist moving to a new home and job on Capital Island but on his way there his train is destroyed by a massive earthquake. Like all good journalist’s during his escape Keith realises nothing is all as it seems and he winds up being caught in the conspiracy that is the Island’s collapse being orchestrated by the corrupt Mayor. Dun Dun Duuuun!
Gameplay involves the player exploring the island and traversing dangerous terrain while active earthquakes threaten your progress. Other features include basic puzzle solving similar to that of the Resident Evil series and an original mechanic where the player must keep hydrated by drinking water regularly. Other interesting features include exploring ruined buildings for supplies, clothes degrading over time and an optional task of collecting novelty compasses.

Within the first five minutes of the game Keith saves a woman named Karen and she travels with you for the most part of the game. The player can improve Keith’s rapport with Karen by stopping and talking regularly, being sympathetic to her requests and offering her water along the way ultimately culminating in her being an obligatory love-interest, of course that’s all optional.
You’ll meet up with other survivors like a guy called Greg, a Photojournalist with a permanent cigarette in-mouth who’s stuck around to get that big scoop and at the midpoint you can split up from the others, go to an entirely different part of the city and meet another person called Kelly a young girl looking for her brother. This fork in the road is a nice little feature in the game that gives the player incentive to replay and see what woud’ve happened in the other scenario.

Some of the stand-out moments for me come from the choice the player has with interactions and this is where the game shows its true colours and feels very Japanese and I mean that as a complement. A lot of socially awkward moments can be had with characters for example there’s a point where our survivors need to climb down a large set of ladders to escape a construction site, Karen turns to you and asks if she can go down the ladders first because she isn’t wearing any pants under her skirt. For those who are interested you can deny her request but this will result in her running ahead anyway (I had to check for science). In other scenarios you can offer Karen your umbrella, She asks “But what about you?” one of the options let’s you reply “Oh yeah.” and Keith walks away nice and dry. When exploring her house in Kelly’s scenario you can inspect her underwear drawer to which Keith will comment “I’ll pretend I never saw that.” For those who are curious, I can only imagine Keith found some hidden Christmas presents. It’s moments like this that make the game refreshing and make for genuinely funny sections. It’s very common that a game has you play as a charming, nice guy all of the time, forgetting how much fun it can be to play as a creep for a change.

Another interesting thing to note is the relative lack or violence throughout the game, aside from the game’s villains the player never commits any act of violence which if you take a moment to think about is a rarity in modern games, especially given the games genre. The only exception would be a humorous section in which Keith takes down a helicopter with a fire hose.
Overall the game can be considered a guilty pleasure, the hammy voice acting, melodrama and the dated nature of the controls and visuals would sound off-putting to some people but there is an undeniable charm to it that seeps through.
SOS: The Final Escape shouldn’t be too hard to find and I can’t imagine it being very expensive I would highly reccomend it to an open-minded gamer who would like to try something new.

Thanks for reading,

Kris.

Next time RFM Talks: Raw Danger the sequal that brings more action, more thrills and spills, more zany characters and a Hell of a lot more socially awkward moments.