18 Floors (PlayStation 4) Review

At first glance 18 Floors looks really quite intriguing. It certainly feels like an Escape Room, with plenty of false leads and puzzles to solve. The atmosphere is unnerving and there are definitely some creepy elements. However, the basic part of this title is puzzles, with no time constraint whatsoever. Starting out in a dimly lit room, different puzzles have to be solved in order to continue. After completing an area, the player returns to an elevator and ascends to the next floor which reveals a new area with puzzles to solve. Areas have different themes and are not necessarily what one might imagine different floors of a tall building to look like. There are no jump scares, however the background sounds and overall atmosphere are rather unsettling and get the heart racing.

It is necessary to explore different rooms and areas by moving around. This is done by pointing the motion controllers to an area and confirming via a button press to jump there. It allows users to jump anywhere that would be appropriate to stand in (in other words, it is not possible to stand inside of furniture or the wall), which permits a great deal of freedom when exploring. Different buttons also make it possible to turn around and fully explore everywhere. This is an appreciated feature because it lets things be viewed from different perspectives and offers the chance to investigate everything. On the other hand, it can also be confusing as some items that can be interacted with aren't necessarily needed to solve a puzzle and allowing a completely free range of movement helps mislead players. Picking items up and using them could have done with a bit more precision. Sometimes items fall through walls or cabinets, which is definitely problematic. A different system here could have made such a difference.

Puzzle design is very important in a title like this. Some puzzles are easy to solve, others need more exploration and deduction, and yet others are downright unfair. Indeed, for every good puzzle there are elements that do not logically make sense whatsoever, oftentimes being confusing to a point of no continuation. This is the big drawback to 18 Floors, as there is also no hint system that could point players in the right direction. This can get so frustrating that it makes the game unplayable, which is truly a shame. Other than that, the game at least looks fantastic. Environments have been designed very well and are a joy to look at, if nothing else. They look fantastical, bizarre and mysterious, and at times dream-like.