Review: Escape In Time - Sherlock Holmes vs. Illuminati

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

Locks on Locks on Locks, but which lock do we put the code into?

Story

Sherlock has allowed himself to be kidnapped to uncover the secrets of the Illuminati. He is counting on you uncovering the clues he left for you to free him from his captors. You have 60 minutes before he is lost to the world forever.

It is hard to pinpoint exactly what the story of this game is, or if there really is a plot at all. The game feels like a British Victorian-esque house, but that is where the depth of the story starts and ends. There is not a clear movement of the game that makes detectives feel like they are trying to break into the Illuminati’s secret hideout. It feels more as if the story wraps around breaking into a room and playing some puzzles Sherlock left.

The venue attempts to convince players of a plot that is not only unrelated, but also not intriguing. The most confusing aspect of the game is the alias element that continues to distract players until the end of the journey. Detectives find themselves trying to discover the correct Alias of a criminal that they do not even know the significance of. Who is this person, and why should we care?

Scenic

Escape In Time cleverly decorated the outside of all of their games with a matching theme surrounding the first door. Sherlock Holmes vs. The Illuminati boasts some beautiful bronze lanterns. This, however, is where the impressive scenic design ends. The initial space is nothing far from a typical Sherlock room with “expensive” art work on the wall, a piano and a secret bookcase. One could tell the period of the game, but would not be convinced they were actually transported to a London home. There is nothing quite special.

Going into a game that advertises a battle between the Illuminati and Sherlock, a detective would expect to discover strange surroundings and surprising encounters. Instead the progress of the game continues to move on to another room that is less decorated with thrown in vibes of science. The only Illuminati elements are hidden drawings left behind to decipher.

Puzzles

The flow of the game is very confusing. The main premise of the first room is to find the combinations to a multitude of locks that open a single source, a violin case. In most situations unlocking a puzzle is pretty rewarding because of the opportunity to reveal what is on the other end of the closed contraption, but in this case that satisfaction did not exist because all the locks had to be opened in order to see what is inside the container.

To add to the disappointment of not revealing something at the other end of a solved riddle, it was nearly impossible to distinguish where to apply the answer one comes to. All the combinations that led to the single source with a multitude of latches all used the same four digit code. It became a game of “let’s try to guess if this is the right lock to put the answer into.” This very much hindered the game and slowed down the movement.

The puzzles did not feel connected. There is a lot of discovery phase, then not knowing what to do with the information discovered. It seems as if the creators of the game is just a jumble of unrelated puzzles thrown together in a way that would vaguely feel like they had a significance to the story.

Overall

Sherlock Holmes vs. The Illuminati is an experience that seems as if it was put together very quickly. The story has little to do with the game play and the puzzles are not significant enough to be enjoyable. The room lacks the strong story matched with sensical supporting puzzles that many venues have successfully achieved. Nothing really stands out that would provoke a player to go out of their way to visit.

Sherlock Vs. The Illuminati can be described as a challenge, but only because there is no clear path or clue of what to do with information and where to apply it. The entire experience feels incomplete and unpolished. Everything is missing something.