As the years wear on, horror game developers have had to get more and more creative in order to give their players a proper scare. Scary monster designs and clever presentation still works, but nowadays, it’s in facing players with the unknown and uncanny that real fear is evoked. Such is exactly what The Exit 8, newly released for Switch, taps into.
The Exit 8 is a self-described walking simulator that challenges players to find their way out of a vast network of underground passages. One would think it would be n easy task considering that subway systems are built to be easy to use, but it’s not that simple. See, in The Exit 8, there’s only one way out: finding exit number eight.
Even the walls cannot be trusted in The Exit 8.
In most walking simulators, that would mean just following signs to the exit, but in The Exit 8, the signs can lie. This is because players are actually trapped in a sort of alternate version of the underground, not too dissimilar to the Backrooms: a vast, empty space that almost seems intent on keeping any who stumble into it from escaping.
This is a space that’s filled with anomalies: irregularities that can and will mislead those who fail to spot them. As players try to navigate the endless passageways in search of their one and only exit, they need to constantly pay close attention to their surroundings. If something looks off, anything at all, then they’ll do well toturn back and try to find another path.
There doesn’t seem to be much threat of monsters in The Exit 8, so one might wonder if there are all that many scares to be had here. Indeed, there are, but they’re of the sort that comes from being lost and alone in a place where one clearly doesn’t belong. It’s a kind of fearful feeling that onecanactually experience in real subway systems if they happen to be wandering around them in the dead of night.
In the Tokyo system, especially, there’s little actual danger, but the place being so empty, cramped and sprawling inspires a bit of a cold sweat while making one’s way through it. If that sort of experience sounds interesting, then perhaps a sojourn into The Exit 8 would make for a good opportunity.
The Exit 8 is available now on PC and Switch.
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