They also exist outside of games, where they're used as plot devices, yielding a Live-Action Escort Mission, where The Load takes the place of the NPC. Alternately, you can give the NPCs Gameplay Ally Immortality, but that tends to lead to You Call That a Wound?, and in some of the best Escort Missions, instead of giving the character you have to protect a bad AI, they are given no AI at all and they just follow a predetermined path, or even just walk straight.Įscort Missions are typically found in First Person Shooters, Third Person Shooters, and flight simulator style games, as well as some styles of RPG. One way to make them less annoying is to give the NPC some combat ability of their own. It takes a bit of effort to do one of these levels well, but when they are, it can be amazing.

Most of the time, these NPCs are considered to be cast in a support role or otherwise allied to your cause from a plot point of view. Missions not formally meant to be Escort Missions sometimes become them when you're saddled with aggressive NPCs whose survival is one of your victory conditions.

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