Let me start by saying that this is a fantastic room! The theming and attention to detail is superb and this room is on another level completely to their other room 'the time machine'.
The effort that has gone into putting this room together is very apparent; the room designs, the use of space, and the audio all combine beautifully to create a truly immersive experience.
If you aren't used to doing multiple rooms in a day then the "2 hours" tag may seem a little daunting but it's perfect for this room. It gives you time to get through the huge variety of puzzles across multiple rooms, whilst still being able to take in the experience unfolding around you. It didn't feel like we had to rush at any point and we even had time to stand around debating over who was going to go and do which scary thing (which is probably what took us the longest to be honest)! Everything was very cleverly signposted to somehow be both clear and discreet as to what you needed to do next, and at no point were we left wondering what to do next. The only issue we had in that regard was right at the end when we had somehow missed a key element - this is where we found out about the lack of hint system, as when we asked for help, we were played a pre-recorded message that didn't answer our question at all. Thankfully, they noticed we were completely perplexed (entirely our own fault for not looking around properly in the first place) and the GM/Actors very cleverly helped us out without breaking any immersion, which was fantastic.
The puzzles all felt very original and where there were more 'classic escape room puzzles' they had been so beautifully blended in with the theming that they felt new and fresh.
Now for the elephant in the room - the actors and the horror element.
I am not a fan of horror actors in rooms - I have high anxiety and am very susceptible to jump scares. That being said, I love horror-themed rooms and am a huge fan of the genre. This is where the review comes down to personal opinion. I cannot speak for every team as everyone reacts differently and every host may do things differently. I found the actor to be way too intense at times. It started off well with some well timed jump scares and cinematic use of the actors, but it progressively got more intense. (After talking to the host at the end we believe that they may have upped the intensity when they realised we weren't reacting much.) The actors in here WILL touch you and you are encouraged to move quickly through very tight spaces which is just going to lead to injuries when everyone is panicking in the dark. I felt extremely on edge the entire time. I was purposely avoiding going near some puzzles for fear of being grabbed from behind and really struggled to focus. With me as an exception, we are not a team that scare easily, so when even the lads were nervous to go into certain areas it shows that this is not a room for the easily scared.
I believe that its a fantastic room, it really is. But taking the "less is more" approach would have worked a lot better in this situation. Subltle sounds and movements in the dark mixed with corner of the eye sightings and suspense would have been much more creepy. But as I say, this is entirely personal opinion and different actors may play the role very differently.
I highly recommend this room! But do proceed with caution if you have high anxiety, or have a chat with the host to adjust for a less intense interaction if nervous - because the room is well worth a visit if you can handle the scares!
One other small thing we noticed was that one of the lights in the final area wasn't working, which made it tricky to tell if you were completing the puzzle correctly, but is still solvable if you just assume its on when you press it.
