Without Escape is a point and click horror graphic adventure in which you will need to investigate some mysterious and horrible events that started happening in your house.
Title: Without Escape | Website: Without Escape | Release Date: 24, April – 2018 | ESRB Rating: N/A | Genre: Adventure, Point & Click. Horror | Publisher: Bumpy Trail Games | Developer: Bumpy Trail Games | Platform: Windows (Steam) | Rating: 2 out of 3 | Source: Self-Purchased
Without Escape Review
I try to be a bit lenient on indie games as sometimes they’re just finding their feet but Without Escape was…not very good. The graphics were decent enough. he music fit the moods and scenes. The rooms felt real. But the angles were off. Not in the Silent Hill ‘ooh, this is a little mind-fuckery” in a good way but off as in they make no sense.
You play in first person, pretty typical of point and clicks, and upon leaving the bedroom that I was currently in, I was in a hall. No problem. But on trying to move I realized that I was not on a hall facing another landing of doors but my view was from an upper corner and my person was apparently invisible. This angle was repeated often, almost like a surveillance camera.
The puzzles make zero sense. If you’re trying to fish a key out of a poo toilet in a bathroom with running water, what do you do? Grab that key and wash your hands? No, silly. You find a sweater, wrap it around your hand and grab it. So now you not only have a poo covered hand but a poo covered sweater. At least they don’t make you see it. Another odd puzzle is where you need a specific number from a periodic table (the element changes during each playthrough) but you have to actually look it up out of game. The answer or hint should be in the game somewhere. It is not. So you’ll be leaving the game (or using your phone). You shouldn’t have to do this.
To talk about the other problems I had with it I have to spoil the ending. So, beware upcoming spoilers if you plan on playing it.
You start out in your house, left alone for the evening. A noise awakens you and kicks off the game as you explore your normal, but slightly off, home. After reaching a certain point the game turns your lovely home into a hellish area with bodies, heat and torture rooms. It feels very much like an homage to Silent Hill (as does the poo toilet and your player’s comments on the save point). Once you’ve completed the required elements to get to the third act you’re…in space. And aliens are so impressed with my ability to find keys and figure out a few puzzles that they want me to join them and become a new Maker. Our universe has been rendered extinct. You have two choices for two different endings. There are five in total. Soooo, what’s the deal with the horror-themed areas? You got me. They don’t seem to go with the overall story and your actions there don’t go with it, either. It feels very tacked on to score horror points.
All in all Without Escape is not a terrible game. I’ve played a lot worse. It’s not broken and I had no tech issues on my potato laptop. It seems to be set up to be speed-run friendly with leaderboards and scores for times. Which is probably why it’s light on story. It has a bit of replay value for that if you’re interested in speedruns. It also has several different endings that you can get and nine achievements total. After my first playthrough I did another and it took me roughly twenty minutes or so. So, while it does have some replay value, it’s also very short. I would get it if it were on sale like I did.
You can find Without Escape at Steam
GracieKat was the first co-host of Sci-Fi & Scary, Lilyn’s partner-in-crime, and sub-head of the Kali Krew. She reviews horror books, movies, and games for the site. She also does a weekly Focus on the Frightful feature, and is the site list-maker. She is also in control of the Sci-Fi & Scary podcast which will relaunch soon.
