RATING: 1 Key          RESULT: Loss          REMAINING: X:XX

Enter a vaguely post-apocalyptic wasteland to find the cure for… something.

Remedy was hidden… as directed. 25 years later the Voice has instructed the Remedy to be moved. A lot has happened since then… as tends to happen in 25 years. Your team is headed to a deserted town devastated by the nuclear catastrophe. You will encounter a fully immersive environment. Your goal is to gather objects, find clues, decipher codes, and solve puzzles in an effort to get your hands on the Remedy. Let’s hope the Geiger counter readings are accurate!

With the promise of exploring a desolate town in the wake of a nuclear disaster, survivors form their own rag tag crew of misfits willing to risk potential radiation exposure in search of the Remedy. Do survivors know what this Remedy does? No. Has the team been told why, after twenty-five years, the time has come to retrieve it? Also no.  But has the team been given a reasonable answer as to why they need to find it within an hour? Again, no.

The storyline here is bare bones and murky at best. Almost nothing mentioned in the pre-show introduction carries over into the game itself. Worst of all, without any sense of urgency bestowed upon the crew it’s hard to muster up much emotional investment on this journey into the wasteland.

The alleged storyworld of Remedy… 25 Years Later creates more questions than it answers. By the time one starts to wonder “wait, what is this Voice that was mentioned once and never again” it’s too late. 

You’re whisked off into a dimly lit room filled with… drawers and cabinets? It is evident that they’re post-apocalyptic drawers and cabinets because everything has been painted grey and there’s also a trash can lid on the floor. There are no surprises to be found, with all future chambers in the “town” telegraphed by literal doorways. 

Sadly, what awaits explorers beyond the first room is so devoid of scenic embellishment it made us yearn for the lackluster world of discount kitchen furniture from whence we came.

Explorers follow a lengthy series of nearly identical combination locks, often opening one cabinet or drawer after the next. 

The tasks involved with determining the requisite four digits per puzzle are relatively straightforward and, for the most part felt like more of an obligation than a test of wits. Almost none of puzzles propel the narrative or even relate to the storyworld promised before entering. One can’t help but feel they are working through puzzles put in place merely for the purpose of filling up time.

Our biggest roadblock came in the form of a puzzle whose answer felt entirely subjective. There were multiple correct solutions to the puzzle, all of which made perfect sense. Yet when we finally obtained the correct answer, we were not bestowed with a feeling of “ah ha!” or even “how did we miss that?” Instead we were left scratching our heads, wondering exactly how the correct solution was determined.

Remedy… 25 Years Later suffers on all levels from a lack of definition and purpose. Sitting squarely in the middle of well-worn narrative territory, almost nothing within the room suggests even a passing connection to the attempted storyworld. 

The lack of innovation in plot could be forgiven if the atmosphere created within the game was immersive enough. Sadly, with such sparse scenic elements it makes it nearly impossible not to think about how the task at hand does not make a whole lot of sense.

 And we never did figure out where that Voice was coming from.

Show your support for Escape Authority and get social with us:

Venue: Adventure Rooms

Location: Middletown, CT

Number of Games: 5

GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:

Duration: 60 minutes

Capacity: 8 people

Group Type: Private  / You will not be paired with strangers.

Cost: $30 per person