In what is quickly becoming an overly-saturated genre, Nox Noctis have taken a chance in making their first game Do Not Open a first-person horror game with a heavy escape room feel. For the most part they’ll be glad to know the risk has paid off, and if you can ignore some minor issues, you’ll have great fun and mild terror playing through it.
Do Not Open – Seriously Don’t Open Any Doors
We were given the opportunity to preview Do Not Open earlier this year, and it seems I’m going to be echoing a lot of the comments Daniel gave the game, because for the most part it Not only delivers on what the preview promised, but builds upon it.
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For those unfamiliar with Do Not Open, you’re tasked with visiting an old childhood home of a recently deceased Aunt, who in her passing, has left the house to you. In a predictable turn of events, the inheritance isn’t a particularly straight forward one, and you wake up in a dingy basement with no recollection of how you got there, how to get out or where your daughter and wife have gone.
With absolutely no hand-holding or tutorials, you’re quickly thrown into your first puzzle where you have to figure out how to escape the basement. Putting together the seemingly innocuous clues into a cohesive answer is genuinely rewarding, but it is easy to see how some may get frustrated with the puzzles on offer in the game.
Later you’ll be introduced to the supernatural horrors present in the dilapidated house, which include ghosts, deformed figures and a truly horrifying feminine like figure that is hunting you whilst you try to put together the puzzles and escape. If she catches you, you end up having to restart the section, hence the potential frustration, especially when components of the puzzle shift with every death.
There were genuine moments of terror during my playthrough, half of it from the tense and creepy environment, which is gorgeously lit and well crafted, the other half trying to figure out the puzzle before the almost inevitable screeching and grabbing by the aforementioned figure.
As you’re exploring the levels you’ll come across all sorts of story-expanding collectibles, from notes, pictures, painting and ominous news clippings, it helps build the world in a creepy, if overly-used trope into today’s games.
Unfortunately, one part of the game that isnt up to scratch is the poor voice acting of the protagonist, which became incredibly grinding every time you’d unbarricade a door to hear ‘ Good’, or for hear him screaming for his wife and daughter without a genuine bit of emotion, all whilst he’s supposed to be sneaking around and keeping quiet.
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The story does take a back seat to the puzzles, which isn’t a surprise for an escape room game, but it will keep you guessing throughout, and with the game relatively short, you’ll be able to test yourself and see if you can make it through the game without failing a puzzle or even getting caught by the monster as much as you’d like, with each time feeling fresh due to the almost randomly generated puzzles.
7/10
Do Not Open was played and reviewed on a code supplied by Perp Games.
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