RATING: 0 Keys          RESULT: Win          REMAINING: not timed

Doc Brown once famously said “If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88mph, you’re going to see some serious shit!”

As it turns out, reaching that goal didn’t require any speed at all.

Great Scott—Biff’s at it again! He’s stolen Doc Brown’s newest time travel device to sabotage the timeline for his gain. Follow Doc’s clues to find the prototype, track down Biff and save the day before you’re outatime. No escape room in the past, present or future has ever been like this. 

Without question, Back to the Future is one of the most beloved film IPs of modern times. The franchise delivered a trilogy of wildly successful movies, shorts, an animated series, a hit Broadway musical and even once had its own theme park attraction right next door at Universal Studios Florida (as well as in the Hollywood and Osaka parks.) There are a *lot* of fans of Doc Brown and Marty McFly out there – so hearing that there’s actually a (very) high budget officially licensed escape game expanding their world is pretty exciting indeed!

Back to the Future: OUTATIME is likely to make those fans want to accelerate a DeLorean to 88mph and then step out in front of it.

Time Travelers begin by returning to the Institute of Future Technology – a fictious locale made famous in the classic attraction, Back to the Future: The Ride. They’re greeted by a new character named Nico who is unrelated to the franchise (because that’s what you do with a beloved IP), and soon after, the tour is thrown off the space-time continuum thanks to interference from a familiar foe, Biff Tannen.

Fans of the films will be thrilled to know that for this attraction, Christopher Lloyd does indeed return to his iconic role as Doc Emmett Brown….’s voice. You read that right; though the character’s voice is authentic, Doc Brown’s appearance in this attraction is regulated to that of a shadowy figure, poorly pantomimed by the most embarrassingly over-acting performer one could ever imagine. Remember when Lorraine said “This is all wrong. I don’t know what it is. But when I kiss you, it’s like I’m kissing…my brother?” Well if you forget the part about kissing Marty, it would be a fantastic description of this experience.

“Wait a minute Doc, are you telling me you built a time machine out of a DeLorean?” How could anyone talk about scenic without discussing the single most recognizable icon of the entire Back to the Future brand: the DeLorean DMC-12. Literally every time a person anywhere in the world sees one today, they immediately connect it to Back to the Future. The DeLorean IS Back to the Future, and Back to the Future IS the DeLorean.

Say what you will about this game’s story or puzzles, but being able to actually strap in to a film-accurate supped up DMC-12 and travel through time is unquestionably the most memorable moment at Universal’s Great Movie Esc….. nah, I’m just kidding.

The actual DeLorean isn’t part of this game at all.

What is, instead, are a series of disjointed scenes very loosely inspired by the films, like an 1800s barn, a 1980s diner and a 1950s school prom. While that vague familiarity may give some hope to fans of the films, the problem is the scenic in much of it is… terrible. Most rooms are small, very cramped and look very flat. Detail feels cheap at best, and sometimes seems like an afterthought at worst. This comes across far more like an unlicensed knock off than the official, high-budget Universal Studios attraction it actually is.

If you’ve read this far, you may think things couldn’t possibly get any worse for Back to the Future: OUTATIME. Wouldn’t that be nice. This experience is full of some of the most poorly thought out, sometimes unintuitive and almost always unengaging puzzles we’ve ever come across in even the worst escape games. Tasks are repetitive and often just boring.

One particularly obnoxious challenge takes place (perhaps appropriately) in the Biff Tannen Museum, requiring time travelers to listen to *very* long audio files from start to finish for every possible answer, over and over again. And that’s only one example in this game.

To allow for multiple groups simultaneously playing within its completely linear flow, it should come as no surprise that pretty much everything involves pushing buttons that do not require reset. Here’s the thing – we don’t generally dislike that style; in fact, some of our favorite games actually utilize his operational model, and do it well. But not Universal’s Great Movie Escape.

These games are some of the only instances we’ve ever had of genuinely feeling like the puzzles are just entirely inconsequential.

Solve something quickly? Congratulations; you get to stand around for the next several minutes until it’s time for the door to open. Don’t solve a puzzle at all? Well turn that frown upside down, little fella; the door is still opening for you at the exact same time. And with puzzles that are, across the board, just not fun, why even try?

From a reviewing perspective, Universal’s Great Movie Escape is an interesting paradox; the quality makes one dread talking about it, but, at the same time, inspires sharing this cautionary tale perhaps more than any other. With all the bad that there is to say, including literally pages of notes we didn’t even touch on to keep this post a reasonable length, the experience can, at the same time, be summed up concisely in just two words: missed opportunity.

Who would have ever thought we’d see an officially licensed Universal Studios-owned escape game themed to one of their most popular film franchises of all time? A company renowned for producing world-class entertainment. A company that’s earned its place upon a pedestal for the scenic detail it puts into *temporary* Halloween Horror Nights haunts. Now combine all of those strengths, all of that creativity, all of that ability into a permanent attraction that we’ve all wished could become real and you end up with… this. Imagine if I told you we’ve heard these games allegedly had a budget somewhere north of a million dollars each.

We are and remain big fans of the Universal Brand as a whole. At the end of the day, we’re just holding Universal Studios to the standard it set for itself.

There’s no better way to end this than with the wise words of George McFly, way back in 1955: “Last night, Darth Vader came down from Planet Vulcan and told me that if I didn’t take Lorraine out, that he’d melt my brain.” Lord Vader, if you’re reading this, please pick us next.

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Venue:  Universal’s Great Movie Escape

Location: Orlando, FL

Number of Games: 2

GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:

Duration: 45 minutes

Capacity: 6 people (or up to 8 for private bookings)

Group Type: Public or Private / You may or may not be paired with strangers depending on your choice of ticket type.

Cost: Ranges between $39.99 – $64.99 per person, or $240 – $390 per group for private bookings, depending on time and date selected.