Trapped In A Nightmare That Never Ends
A beige yellow completely engulfs you. As you slowly regain consciousness, it’s unclear whether this is a distant memory from your youth, or simply an imitation doing its best to bring you fake ease. Regardless, it isn’t successful, as each weighted step and long-drawn breath brings closer to where you began. It couldn’t be a loop… if you found a way in, surely there’s a way out? Yet still, you must soldier on, with each wall passed somehow seeming further drained of any semblance of colour, and each shadow seeming further inhabited by the mysterious and evil unseen. And as you courageously decide upon a step into the shadows, you soon discover a slender and distorted figure has decided it would be your last…
This description sums up an average experience with Escape the Backrooms, a new entry taking on the much-loved (you guessed it) Backrooms location. With such an over-filled sub-genre, of which many entries are of a high standard, where can yet another survival horror game fit amongst them?
Clever Ideas Lost In A Maze Of Frustration
The overall gameplay loop of Escape the Backrooms can be summed into two distinct parts: puzzles and exploration. Puzzles vary from simple-to-follow yet entertaining, to an infuriating blend of trial and error leaving a lack of incentive to progress in the game. Take for example a puzzle found in the game’s second stage, during which you’re presented with an elevator locked behind a keypad consisting of four sections, each with four colours to choose from. Your options are as follows: attempt to guess each colour (an effort that will be long and arduous) or search for clues to progress. If you opt for the latter, you’ll soon discover a car park with a note ordering the appearance of cars from one to four, with each of their colours corresponding to the colour of the aforementioned lock.
This is an example of a successfully simple puzzle that rewards player initiative, yet in the same stage lies a test that insults the same players’ intelligence. You’re left with three floors of the car park to search, each with over ten doors that have the chance to lead to an elevator. Your only chance at finding it comes down to luck, requiring opening each and every door whilst being hunted by an entity all for the chance to escape. These two examples during the same stage highlight Escape the Backrooms overall quality, constantly zigzagging through largely enjoyable to severely underdeveloped.
The Monsters Are Better Than The Mazes
Speaking of these entities, the Backrooms IP owes a huge debt to these for its charm and distinct personality, yet can Escape the Backrooms do them justice? Thankfully, this is one aspect the title succeeds in, with a diverse range in design and functionality present. It begins with the Bacteria entity in the classic yellow corridors, slowly lurking in the shadows and abruptly jumping out to chase you. Fast forward to later stages, and terrifying foes such as Skin-Stealers, alien-esque grey monsters which disguise themselves as other players and chase you once their true form is revealed, or Smilers, enemies which only appear in the dark, will appear. Each of these contain strengths and weaknesses players can soon learn to take advantage of (apparently supernatural entities haven’t figured out to open doors) all coming together for a compelling, horror-filled “escape” sector of gameplay.
Whilst their concept and execution is largely successful, one aspect these entities drastically fail in is the enemy AI; it seems all these creatures are only capable of following players in a straight line, without any mechanics to slowly adapt to how you approach situations. Perhaps this is asking too much from a relatively small game, yet once you understand the predictable AI, Escape the Backrooms loses much of its horror. Likely in an effort to combat the limited capabilities of foes, is a unique and gripping mechanic know as sanity. It functions as such: overtime your sanity level will decrease causing blurred vision and hallucinations of those pesky Smilers, and if it reaches zero… you die. An item known as Almond Water can be found throughout various drawers and cupboards to restore one’s sanity, leaving survival more compelling than a simple exploration game.
Every Level Has Its Own Identity
With such a diverse range of creatures lurking around, Escape the Backrooms thoughtfully utilises the various levels synonymous with the creation as stages for players to progress through. Whether it’s the dull, corporate yellow corridors haunting the initial stage, the liminal and eerie Poolrooms harbouring a reflective atmosphere, or the party area mimicking human celebration in everything except soul, each area maintains a unique style which supports the general premise of the Backrooms, all offering a visual and emotional value distinct from one another.
Unlike the puzzles which often provide compelling snippets of potential, exploration in Escape the Backrooms remains consistently detrimental. Of course a staple of the Backrooms is the labyrinthian, maze-like design leading those unfortunate enough to become stuck in loops, yet this inevitably fumbles when translated to gameplay. Incorporating items such as torches (or flashlights for our friends across the pond) introduces a decent blend of risk-reward due to your peripherals blurred upon use, yet it still can’t save the flawed system. Exploration feels aimless, environments feel soulless, and any real progress made ultimately feels like luck. My proposed change would be incorporating a Hansel-and-Gretel inspired system, in which distinct patterns on walls, engaging clues, or any form of memorable visuals aid in understanding your place on the overall map. In its current form, Escape the Backrooms is significantly hindered through a fundamentally flawed approach to stage design.
A Decent Escape That Never Finds The Exit
As a horror experience, Escape the Backrooms manages to coalesce these elements that succeed, and those that are not so compelling, into an experience that can only be described through a single word… decent. The game succeeds in jump-scares and lurking terror, yet contains a gameplay loop void of the stereotypical compelling exploration and rewarding entertainment other titles provide.
Whilst far from the definitive liminal-space horror experience, Escape the Backrooms does fulfil many of the sub-genre’s oversaturated expectations. Striking a great blend between eerie aesthetics and clever puzzles sadly can’t save the aimless exploration employed to link these elements together, leaving Escape the Backrooms a divisive entry in an overstuffed genre.
Important Links
Escape The Backrooms – One Of PC’s Biggest Horror Hits Joins Game Pass – https://www.thexboxhub.com/escape-the-backrooms-one-of-pcs-biggest-horror-hits-joins-game-pass/
Download via the Xbox Store, through Game Pass if you wish – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/escape-the-backrooms/9mw15l8frt9p
