Without Escape Reviews

This is a point and click that has puzzles that are illogical like finding a key in an oven or turning on the water in the bathroom sink and having a set of lockpicks pop out of the nozzle. I'm not joking about that. All together this was really about a small developer who had a vision and started small with different versions of their vision which later lead to Xbox 360 and finally to the PC. Unfortunately, that vision needed better design and story development. The developer has come a long way from their first iteration of the game and hopefully has learned a lot to create a better product than the one you are given to play. It's just not that great. 2 out of the six endings were finished in 1 hour of gameplay and the other endings will take even shorter gameplay to finish them. For a $5.00 asking price there are better titles out there.

I try to be a bit lenient on indie games as sometimes they're just finding their feet but Without Escape was...not very good. The graphics were decent enough. he music fit the moods and scenes. The rooms felt real. But the angles were off. Not in the Silent Hill 'ooh, this is a little mind-fuckery" in a good way but off as in they make no sense. You play in first person, pretty typical of point and clicks, and upon leaving the bedroom that I was currently in, I was in a hall. No problem. But on trying to move I realized that I was not on a hall facing another landing of doors but my view was from an upper corner and my person was apparently invisible. This angle was repeated often, almost like a surveillance camera. The puzzles make zero sense. If you're trying to fish a key out of a poo toilet in a bathroom with running water, what do you do? Grab that key and wash your hands? No, silly. You find a sweater, wrap it around your hand and grab it. So now you not only have a poo covered hand but a poo covered sweater. At least they don't make you see it. Another odd puzzle is where you need a specific number from a periodic table (the element changes during each playthrough) but you have to actually look it up out of game. The answer or hint should be in the game somewhere. It is not. So you'll be leaving the game (or using your phone). You shouldn't have to do this. To talk about the other problems I had with it I have to spoil the ending. So, beware upcoming spoilers if you plan on playing it. You start out in your house, left alone for the evening. A noise awakens you and kicks off the game as you explore your normal, but slightly off, home. After reaching a certain point the game turns your lovely home into a hellish area with bodies, heat and torture rooms. It feels very much like an homage to Silent Hill (as does the poo toilet and your player's comments on the save point). Once you've completed the required elements to get to the third act you're...in space. And aliens are so impressed with my ability to find keys and figure out a few puzzles that they want me to join them and become a new Maker. Our universe has been rendered extinct. You have two choices for two different endings. There are five in total. Soooo, what's the deal with the horror-themed areas? You got me. They don't seem to go with the overall story and your actions there don't go with it, either. It feels very tacked on to score horror points. All in all Without Escape is not a terrible game. I've played a lot worse. It's not broken and I had no tech issues on my potato laptop. It seems to be set up to be speed-run friendly with leaderboards and scores for times. Which is probably why it's light on story. It has a bit of replay value for that if you're interested in speedruns. It also has several different endings that you can get and nine achievements total. After my first playthrough I did another and it took me roughly twenty minutes or so. So, while it does have some replay value, it's also very short. I would get it if it were on sale like I did.

I lasted two hours, the insanity of the plot and a total lack of logic made me lose the will to live. The ridiculous comments made by the character you play could be seen as amusing or that he was probably very embarassed to find himself in this game... Maybe it gets better later but I just can't stand to play any more. It could have been fun but it just wasn't.

Was expecting a somewhat fun point-and-click escape game but the majority of the things in this game makes little to no sense. Even when watching a guide to get through it, it made very little sense. Finding items in the game is entirely based on luck and the "story" as well makes no sense. You start the game and all of a sudden you're finished because you managed to find one of the multiple "endings" I would say that the absolutely most annoying part is having a text box taking up a quarter of the screen at all times and the only way to get rid of it is having the space bar continually pressed down. It's not very fun and completing the game to any ending is not satisfying at all.

Meh.. It's an okay point and click puzzle horror game that has decent visuals and reminds you of 90's point and click adventures, but that's about it. There isn't anything particularly scary about this game other than the odd movement sounds in your "normal house" and a few grotesque images in the alternate realm. The puzzles are straight forward and quite goofy and the story doesn't really make any sense. Too many random endings/achievements try to make up for a lack of depth. I would give this a more than a thumbs down but can't. It's a very average game that can be completed in under an hour easily and doesn't really provide much else.

I really wanted to like this game and in the beginning I did. But the farther along I got, the more convoluted the puzzles became. There were a few that made absolutely no sense to me as there wasn't even any indication as to how I was supposed to complete said puzzles. I felt that the game was over with too quickly, I think the game concept has a LOT of potential, but I feel there could be more added to it.

A fairly solid, but basic point and click adventure that will last you around an hour or so. Nothing too scary to speak of really, just simple gameplay paired with some really nice looking visuals. The story is also... Odd. Take it or leave it. For the price, I'd recommend this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsBMJjZ8uOI

A well-made point-and-click game. I liked the idea that the game gives you clues on how to get the answer to puzzles.

Although [b]Without Escape[/b] is an undeniably pleasant throwback, it lacks the depth of a conventional adventure and as a result, it leaves you with a bittersweet taste after you finish it. Granted the story is [i]meant[/i] to be confounding; however, there is a limit to [b]how little of an explanation[/b] you get as to why the whole ordeal began to start with. In fact, it seems some of the [b]Silent Hill-inspired scenarios[/b] are there just to appeal to its [i]horror[/i] tag rather than serve an actual purpose. Yes, the general vibe is [i]adequate[/i], but if you are looking for a typical horror experience, you [i]may[/i] end up disappointed.

I bought this after playing the Xbox 360 version of it years ago (2013 or 2014 or something) and it's definitely a big improvement, since everything that exists in the Xbox version also exists in this version along with even more content (e.g. the last few parts of the game are completely new). Pros: -Anyone who likes point and clicks will like this game. -Nice soundtrack -Six different endings meaning you can play through six times (or more if you want a certain achievement) -Leaderboard system for speedrunning is pretty cool. Cons: -On Xbox 360 I remember this game costing 80 Microsoft Points, equivalent to £0.74, or $1. Considering the fact that this game contains significantly more content, you could say that the price definitely should be more than the Xbox version. But asking for £5.19, or $7, is pretty ridiculous. The game takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour to complete, and most people will only play through once. -The puzzles are the same in every single playthrough. Why would you make there multiple endings if nothing changes at all? The only exception is one that involves changing the water temperature. - Speaking of the water temperature puzzle, you have to use Google to find the answer unless you've memorised the atomic number of complex elements such as Krypton. You should never have to tab out of a game to find the answer to a puzzle. There should be some way of finding the answer in-game, for example placing a periodic table poster on the wall in your bedroom. -Thinking about it, the ending and storyline was pretty weird. Especially the main ending which seemed kind of out of place. Not too big of a deal though. Suggestions: lower the price (to about £2-£3, $3-$4), add a periodic table poster in the bedroom so you don't have to tab out to find the answer, make the puzzles change in different playthroughs. Overall: Good game but you should only buy it when it's on sale.