Without Escape – A Point-and-Click “Horror” Review

Do you want a creepy horror game that fills you with dread while also giving you interesting puzzles to complete? Well, then this isn’t the game you are looking for. Without Escape is supposed to be a horror point and click puzzle game that very much lacks in the horror. However, we’re not in the habit of berating indie games because of one little reason! I believe in a fair judgement of what a video game can bring. So, what exactly are you paying for when it comes to this new indie puzzle game?

Storyline

Okay, first of all, this is not some grand storytelling game. In fact, lets just say that the story was definitely not its strong point. You wake up in your house at 2:45am by some strange noises. You then decide to go snooping around your house only to discover that something strange is going on. Of course, it isn’t long until you find yourself in some other dimesional hell where the floor is literally lava and there is a dead man in your bathtub. And, you thought you were having a bad day. I’ll do my best to not spoil anything but let us say that there are certainly supernatural entities at work.

In all fairness, your character, whoever they are, handles it pretty well. Even after finding an impaled man in your bedroom. Honestly, the story line felt so weak that it almost wasn’t important. And the ending was so unexpectedly anti-climactic that I actually laughed. However, there are apparently six endings to this game. I only managed to find two of them and I have no idea how you get the other four. So, maybe one of those endings would be better.

Gameplay

So, lets get away from the story for a minute. Without Escape is a point-and-click game so its fairly straight forward. And, the puzzles are actually pretty good for the most part. Despite being a very linear game, the puzzles are not that challenging but they are still fun. I did find myself getting frustrated with a few of the puzzles. It was only when I realised I was overthinking it that they became simpler. There is also a lot of back and forth in this game, being set in just one house, there aren’t a lot of places to explore. And, I did find myself pixel hunting a couple of times in case I missed anything.

For the most part, it was fairly fun. I mentioned before there are six endings but I honestly am not sure how you get them since the gameplay felt very straight forward. I do have a feeling one of the endings has something to do with how quickly you can finish the game. If you guys give it a go, perhaps you can let me know. Anyway, gameplay was alright. Not the best but alright.

Graphics & Sound

So the sound design and graphics for this game were very good. I’m not entirely sure what engine it was made on but it does look very good. Then again, there isn’t a whole lot in terms of animations as most of the settings are still. Regardless, it does look very pretty. Even the gruesome bits looked impressive. The sound design was well done also. So, I can’t really fault them here. As it is a point-and-click, I don’t think you can really expect much more from them.

Difficulty

I would say that really depends on who is playing. As someone who is not very good with puzzle games, I struggled with a couple of the puzzles. However, even then, I still managed to finish the game in just over an hour. I didn’t feel overly challenged for the most part of the game as most of them felt very straight forward. You get one item which leads you to the next bit and so on and so forth.

Replayability

I guess if you wanted to go back through and get all the endings for the game then you can. I can’t imagine in would take very long if you knew what you were doing as all the puzzles would be the same. I can’t say I will be playing the game again myself. I don’t see much value in that for a game that didn’t really engage me. For a game that is worth £5 on Steam, you might want to play it again, just to get your money’s worth.