RATING: 2 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: 26:58
Don’t let anyone fool you, the end of the world always happens in a lab.
Nevada Desert, United States, May 25th, 2015.
Dr. Walter Brandt is a high-ranking chemical weapons specialist for the United States government, part of a secret department that is only recognized by a series of mysterious numbers and letters. He has been developing powerful viruses capable of eradicating enemy forces with swift pace and deadly accuracy.
Foreign powers have noted Dr. Brandt’s work and have recruited him to develop a powerful virus capable of killing their enemies in hours. He has gone rogue and has become a threat to the US and potentially the entire human race.
You are a team of scientists investigating Dr. Brandt’s abandoned laboratory. You’ve been tasked with finding the only known antidote to virus TS-51 before it gets passed into enemy hands.
However, during the investigation a clumsy member of your team bumps into a shelf, sending vials of the highly contagious virus crashing to the ground. One of them breaks and sends plumes of deadly vapor into the air.
Immediately, everyone is infected but that isn’t your biggest problem. The chemical detection sensor has picked up the threat and shutdown the facility. Total decontamination will begin in 60 minutes (eliminating all biological organisms inside)!
A lofty call to action has been placed upon your team. Can your group of scientists save the world? Find the antidote, prevent it from falling into evil doers hands, and play with some science as well.
With the world at stake, once again the team has been called upon to bail everyone out of this situation. Lucky for us our good friend Dr. Brandt likes to leave behind clues and riddles in his work, leading us straight to the antidote.
With a long and drawn out story, there can be some expectations about the importance and risk of the task at hand. However, Antidote takes place in an entirely predictable and standard looking office lab.
Given that Dr. Brandt was a high-ranking specialist, one could expect to land in a state of the art laboratory used to carry out various experiments. That idea is thrown out the window instantly, as we are greeted with items reminiscent of our high school chemistry class days.
Various plastic tubes, beakers, and measuring cups along with the appropriate holders lay stored in locked up cabinets. Of course there are chemical solutions of multiple colors bubbling away in what we can only assume is an ongoing observational experiment.
A decontamination room adjacent to the main lab reminds us that things can and will go wrong eventually. At least it is fully stocked with multiple suits to protect us from the variety of deadly viruses that our hazard prone colleagues could stumble in to.
Behind the decontamination chamber lies a hidden back office, in which much of the same fare is kept. When in a lab, science experiment equipment is expected, and there is no shortage of that around here.
Obtain the antidote, save the world. Everything leads to this one end point. But we are stuck behind in a lab where every door and cabinet is locked.
The puzzle flow in Antidote follows a clear and dry path, without too much of a challenge throughout the game. The standard key and combination lock fare are heavily used in this room, with most solutions blending in to something involving the chemistry type theme.
With the given story line, we would expect to see more experimentation in our tasks rather than decoding word puzzles left behind from Dr. Brandt. At times this feels like puzzle after puzzle of unlocking something just to progress on to the next locked box, without finding any more clues on the actual antidote contained in the room.
With a capacity of six players, a larger group will have difficulty finding work to spread around. There are simply not that many puzzles keeping us away from finding that elusive antidote.
Due to Antidote being on the easier side of the difficulty spectrum, there are not many challenges or puzzles within the game itself. While this is not a negative thing, it is a solid room for beginners, but experienced veterans may storm through it quickly as we did.
A few interactions in the room led us to believe there was a sense of urgency in finding the antidote, but overall it was a bit too much of sifting through puzzles for puzzles sake. One would assume that we would be able to find components of the chemical solution and test our antidote. Though that never happened, leaving us somewhat disappointed for saving the world.
Show your support for Escape Authority and get social with us:
Venue: Escapology
Location: San Diego, CA
Number of Games: 3
GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:
Duration: 60 minutes
Capacity: 6 people
Group Type: Private / You will not be paired with strangers.
Cost: $35 per person
