Doomsday Escape Rooms: Critical Mass (Colchester)

A long awaited sequel

THE YEAR IS 2040. THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT IS SLOWLY GETTING BACK ON IT’S FEET. THE LARGEST OUTPOST OF HUMAN SOCIETY HAS ESTABLISHED ITSELF AROUND THE EDGES OF AN ABANDONED NUCLEAR POWER STATION. EVIDENCE SUGGESTS AN ABNORMALLY RAPID INCREASE IN RADIATION LEVELS SURROUNDING THE STATION.

THE WORLD AS YOU KNOW IT IS TIPPING ONCE MORE TOWARDS CATASTROPHE. MELTDOWN IS IMMINENT… YOU ARE OUR LAST HOPE…

It’s been nearly three years since our last visit to Doomsday Escape Rooms, and ever since we played Pathogen, I have been (im)patiently waiting for the launch of their promised second game. Imagine my delight when it was announced that Critical Mass was open earlier this year. Of course, now that we’re no longer based in London and just a short(ish) train ride away, it took a bit more planning to make it out to Colchester, but with an invitation to a wedding in the area, we had the perfect excuse!

This time, we drove to Doomsday, and took advantage of their onsite parking. Once again, we were waiting patiently on the ground floor for our GM to arrive, when out of the corner of my eye, we spotted someone in a hazmat suit descending the stairs. It was pretty clear that this was our host, as it is, after all, the end of the world once you get upstairs to Doomsday Games.

Michelle, our hazmat-wearing host, led us up the stairs, and through to reception. Here she went over all the health and safety bits and made sure all of our important Nuclear reactor saving equipment was in working order, before giving us a bit of information about just what had been happening in the world in the five years that had passed since the ending of Pathogen.

Once we were fully up to speed, Michelle handed over the all important torch, opened the door, and we were off to avert a nuclear disaster, in 90 minutes or less. No big deal, right?

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

Although it is not necessary to have played Pathogen, the narratives of both games are loosely linked. You won’t miss out on anything if you skip Pathogen or play Critical Mass first, but the back stories of the games flow better if they are played in the order in which they were released, and set, so I would suggest it if possible.

Doomsday Escape Rooms have nailed the epic set/narrative journey for an escape room. Okay, there’s not much to the story – you really are just trying to avert disaster and a story doesn’t unfold as it might in some games, but Critical Mass takes you on an adventure through different parts of a nuclear facility, with each task linked directly to either your mission, or your surroundings, following a relatively linear path, although there were certainly opportunities to split up (and we did).

The atmosphere was palpable, with ambient noises that helped set the scene, and cinematic effects that increased the tension. The game was paced well, although some puzzles seemed to drag. But once we reached the reactor, as each task was completed the intensity began to build, culminating eventually in the dramatic finale.

PUZZLES

Critical Mass had a few challenging moments, primarily due to the nature of the puzzles. There were, of course, a few padlocks dotted throughout the game, but these were placed on things that would logically be locked with a physical lock. But the centrepieces of the game were definitely the high tech and highly tactile puzzles within the game. One was particularly challenging as a team of two, but I’m not 100% certain it actually would have been any easier had we had more people.

The puzzle styles incorporated a fair amount of practical tasks, and lateral thinking in addition to the usual logical deduction utilised by most escape rooms. There were several challenges where it felt like excellent reflexes would be a bonus, but for the most part, observation was key, and a keen eye for searching. Whatever the style, the puzzles throughout Critical Mass, while sometimes challenging, were varied, fair, and often multi-layered.

While we love it when a puzzle has layers, we found that some of the tasks within Critical Mass weren’t so much layers as they were repetitions. There were a few instances when we thought we completed a puzzle only to be faced with another “level,” and sometimes this just felt as though it went on for far too long.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

Michelle was very friendly, and happy to have a chat about escape rooms (we could talk about them all day, so this is always appreciated), before handing over our help system, the CLU98. And as our GM on the other end of the CLU98, Michelle was quick to send help when we were floundering (i.e. making our own puzzles.)

The CLU98 was a lovely little bit of integration to help keep the immersion. Having written clues accompanied by a noise to alert players is nothing new, but having it strapped to one’s forearm, rather than on a screen hanging in the room, makes it much easier to suspend one’s disbelief, and really put yourself into the world that Doomsday have created.

ANYTHING ELSE

If you love a high tech game, you’re likely to love Critical Mass. There were a few things that made me love it a little less than Pathogen, but that could just be me being picky.

Success / Failed

Final Rating:

Team: 2 players – escaped in 63 mins

Address: 1st Floor, Global House, Moorside, Colchester CO1 2TJ

Website: https://www.doomsdayescapegame.co.uk