Just spent some time playing through the Escape Goat 2 alpha
http://www.magicaltimebean.com/escape-goat-2/
After a bit of a steam key related mix-up (check your humble store for a new one if you couldn't access the alpha earlier) Escape Goat 2 is back with a short taste of what is to come.
The first thing you'll notice as you start up the handful of levels, is how much of a graphical leap there is over the original. Everything in the game has received a significant upgrade from the menus to the main sprites and especially the environments.
From that base, things proceed in much the same way as the first game. Mechanics such as jumping, throwing switches and using your mouse companion are introduced progressively. While this is great for new players, be aware that veterans will not find anything too taxing in what is on offer. If you have played the original you'll know exactly how to get through each of the challenges without reading the hints, with only the final levels of each path representing any sort of difficulty.
Controls are still extremely tight, the levels logical and the sense of always making progress seems intact. My only slight quibble is the art change has meant the charm of the original goat has been lost in the translation. It isn't that the new goat isn't without charm, it is just that it is a different sort of look. Given that, an optional pixel Goat would be a welcome addition.
The main new feature introduced is a branching structure care of a mini-map. While it doesn't play too big a part in this demonstration (the choice is simply binary at one point) you could imagine that the idea is expanded upon in the full game. Just how well it works and how many options it provides remains to be seen. Ultimately you will probably want to visit every area anyway so it might not play too big a factor beyond the simple gate system of the first game.
On the other hand, it would have been nice to try the "other path" out without starting from scratch. Hopefully the full game does let you go back and try an alternate path at will.
Overall there isn't much to complain about here. Escape Goat is back, it looks amazing and the quality of the music is still excellent. This alpha is more of a tease at this stage for veteran players, but if you had any doubt about the quality of the final experience, getting your hands on this will more than settle those concerns.
