Review: The Escape Room - The Cure Room: Part III of the Zombie Apocalypse Trilogy

RATING: 4 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: 8:38

An epic 3-year trilogy comes to an end, but the world doesn’t have to, thanks to The Cure Room.

Story

You have escaped The Plague Doctor’s Zombie Room. You realize that the only known cure for the Zombie Virus is found in his lair. You decide to secretly re-enter it in hopes of finding the cure and escaping before you are found. But there is a problem. The Plague Doctor has a robust security feature guarding the cure to the Zombie Virus. Zombies that roam freely.

The Cure Room is the third installment in the intense Zombie Apocalypse Trilogy: Part I – The Zombie Room; Part II – The Infected Room; and Part III – The Cure Room. The trilogy began in 2015 with Part I, where we found ourselves in the lair of The Plague Doctor, the mastermind conducting human trials in order to test a biological defense against a zombie outbreak. The 2016 episode involved a flashback in time to when The Plague Doctor was early in the process of developing and testing his cure formula on lab rats at work. Employees infected by a diseased rat were in the process of turning, which in this universe means they retained some cognitive abilities, had gone completely blind, but – most importantly – had exceptional hearing in order to track us down if we made even a peep.

For this final 2017 installment, the zombie virus is running rampant in society. A glutton for punishment, we decide to push our luck by re-entering The Plague Doctor’s lair to retrieve the cure that he is hoarding and has protected by free-roaming zombies hell bent on making our brain meat their next meal. But, no pressure – only the entire world’s survival depends on us.

This exciting finale throws players right into the uncomfortably realistic setting of a post-apocalyptic free-for-all. Though simple and straightforward, the story remains intense and engaging all the way throughout the entire experience.

Scenic

The scenery is quite modest, but exactly as this type of environment should be. In the aftermath of people fleeing hastily in mass confusion combined with the looting that is part of the every-man-for-himself scenario, all that seemingly remains is useless junk and trash. We are also surrounded by walls and segments of fences, which close in and form a maze around us.

But, this is only after we can see our surroundings. Did we mention that we are handcuffed with a hood over our heads? Things don’t improve much when we take off our hood only to discover that we are in almost complete darkness and some members of our group are missing.

In the darkness, we can hear that there are zombies close enough to touch us if we are not careful. We are not skittish at all, but when one of the zombies towers over us at around 6’10” and can also turn us into the undead with just a touch, it can be a little unnerving. The intensity is amplified as other players are screaming and scurrying about within their own areas. It makes for all-around, fantastic chaos.

Part of our journey gives us a glimpse into The Plague Doctor’s den, where we discover his taste in interior design isn’t half bad. Any self-respecting vampire would find the space quite suitable and the perfect setting for any creature of the night.

It is safe to say that a legitimate part of the whole experience is felt inside the players’ own bodies, as their hearts pound from the excitement and anxiety of finding themselves in this situation – something they may regret having done willingly.

Puzzles

There is little to no tech involved in this game, and the puzzles are somewhat on the novice level. However, this environment is not conducive to more advanced puzzles, and we were thankful for that fact. What concentration we were able to maintain was hard to come by, as it is understandably and incredibly difficult to keep your focus when all hell has broken loose and a zombie is breathing down your neck.

Given players start out in complete darkness, it is safe to say that one of our first tasks was finding a light source. We had to forage for it, though, and found it just out of reach. Armed only with trash found in the darkness, we had to obtain those unreachable sources of light in order to escape our enclosure.

Essentially you are a rat in a maze in which you must not only discover the way out, but also seize the cure along the way – while fending off zombies. The journey through standing, crawling and crouching mazes includes puzzles challenging enough to delay one’s progress so the zombies have just enough time to catch up.

Since time is of the essence and it seems like there is always a zombie right behind you, it is imperative that players always have their eagle eyes on so they do not miss anything on the first pass. Believe us, one thing you do not want to do is go back looking for missed clues or leave your group without a light source. They will likely not be happy if you take their only means of illumination and leave them in the darkness. It would be unwise to make any enemies, because players will need to team up on a few puzzles later on in order to complete them.

Other puzzles will require some deciphering skills, and if ever in a pinch, players can make clever use of some of those “useless” items found in the room to defend against the zombies’ advance – or at least perhaps to distract them.

Overall

For all the horror fans out there, this room is not to be missed, but wear something you don’t mind getting dirty. It is a very large, multi-room experience located in an old mall store space.

It is an intense game containing actors, so kids under 13 are not allowed to play. For those who feel this experience sounds a little too intense, you can simply call ahead and the venue will scale back the scare factor by having no actor interaction during gameplay.

As a bonus, this venue has announced the next room theme will be along the lines of The Purge. So, if you love haunted houses or horror movies, you simply must check out this venue.