PAX weekend has come and gone, and the sheer number of booths, events, panels and competitions on offer was absolutely astonishing, if not slightly terrifying. However, convention-goers who didn’t confine themselves to the Exhibition Centre and decided to explore may have come across Activision’s latest live activation for the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops III. About 20 minutes east of PAX, in Federation Square, there currently stands a conspicuous and boldly branded Black Ops III shipping container. This is the Shadows of Evil Escape Room, modeled after the similarly titled zombie campaign in the upcoming game.
What’s an Escape Room you ask? They’ve been popping up all over the place, primarily in Australia they seem to be a popular event to run in bars, clubs or even backyard sheds. The premise in all of these is the same – you’re locked in a room with only one escape, solving the puzzles contained within. Often they have themes, such as vampires or film noir. In the case of the Shadows of Evil Escape Room, the production company Secret Squirrel have definitely taken more inspiration from the 1940’s setting and atmosphere of the game, although there are a couple of undead touches here and there (not the least of which are the zombies patrolling outside).
Anthony and myself entered as part of a group of six, under the care of a talented group of performers with (mostly) very convincing American accents. A short video introduced the experience, explaining we were about to enter the private chambers of Nero the Magician, a character from the game, in search of an amulet. Once that’s over, we were very quickly ushered into the main shipping container, replicating a 1940’s guest room with several secrets to unveil.
I won’t go in depth into how we solved the puzzles, so as not to spoil the experience for others – but I will say that the challenges on offer are creative and not too difficult to wrap your head around. The first thing you notice upon entering the room is linked to the first step of the puzzle, and this in turn sets in motion a chain of puzzles which involve exploring (and even taking apart) the room, using objects you find to unlock clues and even some basic physics-based puzzles. It’s not too dissimilar from a classic adventure video game, except transitioned into a live experience.
The popularity of the event means that each group only has around 20 minutes to get through the Escape Room, which sounds like a lot of time, but it goes quickly unless you as a group are organised. We weren’t quite so capable, which is why Nero the Magician is also on hand to offer clues through a booming speaker inside the room. Nero will offer vague hints, which get more and more pointed as time goes on, letting you know if you’re behind schedule or incredibly behind schedule, ultimately even telling you where to look to continue (this happened a fair bit for us). Luckily, in the end we were able to find the amulet and the key to leave the room, leading to a final tricky area (which I won’t spoil) and the exit. Our final time was 22:20, although it would definitely have been considerably longer for our mushy brains without hints.
The Shadows of Evil Escape Room is a really fun event to check out, especially with friends. Secret Squirrel have done a great job bringing some of the creative elements of the game to life, and the experience is a good way to get into the mood for Black Ops III’s zombie campaign. The Escape Room is in Federation Square until the game’s launch on 12:01am, 6 November. Tickets are currently sold out on the website, but you can join a standby line in case there are any no-shows. If you have the time and are able to get in, I absolutely recommend checking it out.
