Backrooms: Escape Together Review

Backrooms: Escape Together is a multiplayer horror game that invites players to embark on a perilous pilgrimage through the titular Backrooms, a vast, labyrinthine void filled with endless corridors and the sickly yellow hue of forgotten fluorescent lights. The game’s premise is deceptively simple: survive. You can choose to attempt to do this either solo or with companions, but either way, are you ready to face your fears or will you succumb to the madness?

A Journey into the Unknown

Almost from the loading screen, it is clear to see that Backrooms: Escape Together follows the same basic formula as pretty much every Backrooms game before it. You are in a bizarre, terrifyingly uniform environment with seemingly no company nor explanation to hand. After a short time exploring, you rapidly become aware that you are not alone after all thanks to the sound of something utterly enormous hulking itself around in the not-too-distant surroundings. This may not sound like anything special, but what you should bear in mind is that execution is everything and that is what will determine if you have an enjoyable experience or not. To save you any further despair, it is fair to say that Backrooms: Escape Together executes this scenario almost perfectly, thanks heavily to the randomly generated environments and items alike.

Backrooms: Escape Together begins with players spawning in a seemingly endless corridor. The atmosphere is immediately unsettling, with the constant hum of fluorescent lights and the eerie silence broken only by the occasional thudding around of some unknown entities. As players venture deeper into the Backrooms, they encounter a variety of terrifying creatures, some familiar to Backrooms veterans and some not!

There is a loose story in place to tie the experience, environment and objectives together, and the developers have struck the perfect balance between gameplay and back story. The main focus remains on the eerie surroundings and tasks at hand without getting too bogged down by details.

Backrooms: Escape Together does a great job of setting a creepy atmosphere from the very beginning and maintaining is throughout. There are several meticulously-crafted aspects, such as eerie visuals that are easy to miss but utterly terrifying when spotted (think scary faces smiling at you from a dark corner in the distance),  and from environment design/generation that keep things both fresh whilst simultaneously difficult.

A Survival Guide

The mechanics in Backrooms: Escape Together are straightforward, with a focus on exploration, puzzle-solving and general survival. Players will need to work together to solve puzzles, find hidden items, and avoid the lurking dangers. The inventory system is simple, allowing players to carry essential items and equipment required for the job at hand.

Players also have the ability to whistle, in order to distract any enemies and possibly to even lure them away from teammates who mustn’t be disturbed during vital parts of the mission.  The lights occasionally go out, which isn’t a huge problem because players’ characters are all equipped with torches. Admittedly, the torches don’t do very much at all apart from illuminating a very tight spot from a distance, which in turn enhances the eerie atmosphere further still.

When players are being stalked by an enemy, there are two main ways to evade said enemy: running or hiding. Running rarely works unless you have a significant head start and manage to lose your pursuer in the maze of walls that make up the Backrooms. Hiding, however, tends to work well most of the time (so long as you’re quick about it). This tends to typically take place either in holes/cavities in the wall or lockers where available.

Multiplayer Madness

One of the standout features of Backrooms: Escape Together is its multiplayer mode. Players can team up with up to five other friends or strangers (six players in total) to navigate the labyrinth together. Not only does this add a layer of social interaction to the game, but it enables players to be more creative in their solutions for achieving their goals whilst escaping the myriad monsters.

Playing Backrooms: Escape Together with others also creates a unique experience that you simply won’t have when playing solo. For example, when playing with others, each player will most likely see or hear their allies being picked off one by one, which in turn enhances the terrifying atmosphere further. This is because being aware of your allies’ demise, you become ever more aware of your own (in-game) mortality. Thus, an entirely new experience is at hand when playing with others, perhaps an even more enjoyable one when compared to playing solo.

Finally, the title “Backrooms: Escape Together” emphasises the cooperative nature of the game, encouraging players to team up for survival!

A Visual and Auditory Feast

Backrooms: Escape Together is immediately visually impressive, with detailed environments and realistic lighting. The environments, despite being grim and decrepit in appearance, are simultaneously rich and feel truly alive as you explore them. Visual elements look so good that they are on the verge of being photorealistic.

The sound design is equally impressive, creating a sense of atmosphere and immersion. Ironically, there really isn’t very much to hear at all, which only enhances the sounds that are audible. Things such as your footsteps, breathing and the low rumblings of the monsters in the distance all do an incredibly good job at keeping the atmosphere tense whilst not becoming distracting in the process.

There is also whistling. Yes, whistling. You have the ability to whistle, which when engaged unintentionally (as I did several times) may as well be a foghorn sounding in the predatory environment that you find yourself in and does nothing to help you feel safe!

Endless Exploration

Backrooms: Escape Together offers a high degree of replay value. The labyrinth is procedurally generated, meaning that each playthrough will be unique and challenging in a different way every time. Additionally, the game features a variety of challenges and secrets to discover, which you will likely not get on a single play through.

Couple those aspects with the fact that you can play with up to five others, and you will likely be able to enjoy Backrooms: Escape Together for a very long time to come.

Conclusion

Backrooms: Escape Together is a high-quality, enjoyable entry into the Backrooms world. It is a well-crafted horror game that offers a unique and immersive experience. The game’s atmosphere, gameplay, and multiplayer mode make it a must-play for fans of the genre. The total play time isn’t very long, however it is in Early Access, meaning that more content will be on the way soon. Overall, Backrooms: Escape Together is a highly enjoyable experience that is good fun to play solo, and incredibly good fun when played with others!

Pros and Cons

Grade: 8/10