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Money is a poisonous commodity. Sadly, you can’t live with it, nor can you live without it. Furthermore, people say that money doesn’t make you happy, but I don’t see too many depressed millionaires, do you? Anyway, I digress! What I’m trying to get at is that money is the root of all evil, and consequently, when you don’t have any, you’ll do insane things to ensure you get some. This is the idea behind Alive. It is a PC-only title that is eerie, and uncomfortable, but strangely tough to put down.
Developed and published by Open Door Games, this is an indie escape room title. What’s more, it has some cryptic clues at its core and is one of the many fascinating titles I saw at EGX 2022. Having experienced a snippet of its gameplay, I couldn’t wait to dive deeper. I played it on both Steam Deck and my laptop, and it performed admirably on both. However, Steam Deck players will not enjoy this as much as it has not been optimised for that platform yet.
Alive has a cruel plot.
The action follows a young man called Chris. Sadly, he is struggling with debt and can’t see a way out. As such, he questions his existence and desperately turns to a competition to win some money. Accordingly, this was a life-changing moment as his world is turned upside down. Upon agreeing to the terms and conditions, Chris must place a VR headset over his eyes, and he becomes trapped in a virtual world. Here, he must escape each room and understand what makes his captor tick.
As you can see, the plot isn’t exactly original, but I loved its cruelty, nonetheless. What was also fantastic was the dark nature of the narrator/captor and the excellent insight into his psyche. As you progress, snippets of information are drip-fed into the conversation. What’s more, each room shows telltale signs of its twisted creator. I adored how these minor details supported the story while adding to the eerie and claustrophobic atmosphere.
Standard escape room mechanics.
If you’ve ever experienced an escape room, you’ll feel very comfortable with the gameplay. Alive uses many well-trodden ideas to test your grey matter and push you to your limits. You’ll be forced to collect items, find hidden keys, search for clues, and decipher codes. Moreover, each item you find has a specific use, and this makes things harder still. For example, you may find a hidden code, but this is useless unless you know how to work out its meaning. Consequently, you must search your surroundings and think outside of the box to find the solution.
This may sound tough and unfair, but the developer isn’t a monster. No, he has placed a two-way communication system if you need to ask for help. However, use this sparingly as you only have 3 hints available. Thankfully, though, if you are logically minded, this should be more than enough to keep you going.
The hint system was fantastic, but at times the action felt too open and free. Now, this wouldn’t normally be a complaint, but in an escape room scenario, you want to be kept on a linear path. Furthermore, I occasionally escaped a room when I thought I had much more to do. Again, I shouldn’t be disappointed, but it left me reeling. Instead of a long-winded and convoluted puzzle, I felt like I cheated my way to victory. Consequently, it would be nice if the developers enforce a more structured approach to each level.
Alive is dark and moody.
As an indie developed title, I didn’t expect triple-A graphics or a highly polished finish. Yet, Alive does a great job with its visuals and its choice of colour palette. With a nicely varied stage design and a mixture of open and claustrophobic spaces, you won’t be bored by what you see. Furthermore, a creepy game about being trapped in a virtual world needed to be dark and moody. Thankfully, this is exactly what you get. Viewed from a first-person perspective and lit with minimal light sources, Alive makes your skin crawl. Subsequently, each stage is eerie and uncomfortable to explore.
This is complemented nicely by the horribly brilliant audio. The sombre music and sparse sound effects highlight your lonely plight. What’s more, the excellent acting and rich tones of the narrator make you feel powerless. As such, it is a dank title that gets under your skin.
A great UI.
With many items to use and tight spaces to explore, the controls needed to be good. Thankfully, they were, and this helps you to search your surroundings. Alongside this, the excellent UI and simple button layout make using each item a cinch. What was missing, however, was a virtual notepad to jot down your thoughts. This was particularly important during the school level, and I think this is something that’ll improve the end product, vastly.
Where Alive falls short, is both its replay value and longevity. With no game+ option or hidden surprises, there aren’t many reasons to return once you complete it. Had the developer introduced a new character with slightly different puzzles to overcome, there would have been a sense of déjà vu and a brilliant twist on the action.
Alive is fantastic while it lasts.
I’ve highlighted a few points that frustrated me, but this doesn’t detract from this amazing title. I absolutely adored my time with it and I think Open Door Games has done a fantastic job. With some minor tweaks to their current build, this will thrill and test you throughout. Furthermore, if some additional content and better structure are introduced, then this will be an incredible title. As it is, I loved it and I recommend you look at it here!
(More information on Open Door Games can be found here!)
