Review: Infinity Escape - Zombie Lab

RATING: 4 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: 22:00

“Look what I started. Now it’s coming for you!” – Edward Grimm

Story

You are a C.I.A. operative dispatched to Cryotech Labs, a secret bio research facility located in Orange County. This facility has been taken over by Edward Grimm, a disgruntled lab assistant who intends to release the necro virus and a hoard of flesh-eating zombies into the city. The rogue lab assistant who booby-trapped the facility is challenging you to stop his plan to release a new society of hybrid zombies using the necro virus he created!

Your mission is to stop Grimm and contain the zombies before they are released to infect all of Orange County and potentially the World!

Do you have what it takes to outsmart Grimm and his series of mind challenging obstacles to contain the zombies and save Orange County from impending disaster?

Tasked with the protection of the planet, a courageous team of scientists must stop at nothing to ensure the zombie infection remains contained. If they are to succeed, they need to outsmart an evil and stereotypical “mad” scientist, who has concocted a series of elaborate tests to challenge the heroes in their quest.

Scenic

Teams of brave scientists step into what was once a fully functioning, cutting-edge laboratory. The remains of several experiments are barely detectable at this point, now that the undead have been resurrected in this very space. Beakers and test tubes of varying sizes and shapes fill the shelves, each containing fluids and substances of research studies past.

A functioning desktop computer remains on the workspace in the corner, papers and notes spread all over the surface. Across the lab sits a window, where the recently turned zombies can be seen wandering outside. Pipes and compartments adorn the final wall, elements of experiments long forgotten. In the center of the room is a full examination table, with an overhead work lamp, and a small metal tool shelf to one side.

What completes the entire ensemble of set dressing, however, are the undead carcasses of the former laboratory techs and assistants located within. One is slouched up against the wall, the loser of an obvious struggle with the living; another is cuffed and chained to the exam table, still putting up a bit of a fight for his “life.” Another still sits in the desktop chair, as if meticulously studying the notes at hand.

The lights flicker throughout the space. Aluminum garage doors slam with the sounds of the undead ramming their rotting bodies into the outside. Truthfully, the set design aspects of Zombie Lab left nothing to be desired, as the team at Infinity Escape knows what they’re doing when it comes to setting the scene.

Puzzles

The puzzle design throughout Zombie Lab is quite excellent. Each mystery fits into the storyworld and captivates the struggling scientists working to find the cure. Technology also plays an enormous part in the puzzling of the experience, as a Zombie Lab without tech would be relatively paradoxical.

As entertaining and creative as some of the puzzles are, there are a few brief moments where the continuity or logic of a certain puzzle seems a bit off. In most cases with Zombie Lab, the location to plug in an answer appears obvious once the answer is revealed. In a couple of instances, an solution is believed to be found with multiple possible entry locations that make completing the task a bit more of a challenge than it needs to be.

There is also a moment where a key is found that will not be used until later on in the game, but fits locks that can be found from the beginning, thus creating many frustrating attempts at unlocking a lock that feels like it should open, but obviously will not.

To be clear, these small problems do not do enough to detract from the overall enjoyment of the experience, but are worth mentioning as areas for improvement.

Overall

While some of the puzzles may present a few unnecessary difficulties, Zombie Lab at Infinity Escape is quite the find in Fullerton, CA. The owners could not have been more gracious and are simply delightful to speak with. Our group had another room to get to, and still talked escape games with them for nearly thirty minutes, too short a time to be honest.

Infinity Escape has made a strong first impression in Orange County, and hopefully they continue to grow and bring more creative and exceptional escape experiences to southern California.