Twisted Matrix

Overall we had a good time. Some of the dialogue was hard to hear which made the plot a tad confusing. A puzzle in the last room got frustrating because we had to do it over and over again until I did something that seemed sort of like “cheating”, but I’m still not sure. My biggest issue with this room was the excessive use of generative AI. It was disappointing. All the artwork had that AI style to it and all the videos clearly came from Sora or whatever other generator there is now. Most of it wasn’t even necessary. I have a feeling the creator of this game would argue that it fits within the plot. I don’t agree. It was decorative and often could’ve just been excluded if they didn’t want to hire an actor or animator. As an artist myself, it’s hard to support the use of this. I’ve been to so many rooms that have videos with real people in them and not generated by someone on their computer. So my assumption is that they saved all this money by using this software yet they’re charging the same. I would rather my money go to real artists. This game was cool but that left a bad taste in my mouth.

Let me start this review by saying I really wanted to love this room. I’m a big fan of the Matrix movies so I came in ready to be wowed! Our experience was unfortunately full of “puzzles not working as it should be.” When we got there, we started a little bit later because they were resetting the room. Which is fine. But then when we finally got into the room, a good 10 minutes later our game master asked if we could step outside again so he could reset because something that was supposed to trigger did not. This was the first of many. The puzzles themselves were great! I loved the references and there were so many times that I’m thinking to myself, how did they do this? Our game master had to bypass a couple more cut scenes and puzzles because we were not seeing what we were supposed to even though we solved it already. I cannot emphasize enough how grateful we were to be treated with the utmost attentiveness and that our game master was responding to us quickly but I still wanted to see those puzzles! When we got to the final room, there was another mechanic that felt really sensitive so it kept making us do an action over and over again, which got annoying after a while. Overall, if the execution was flawless I would have given this a heart. I’m considering the fact that they just opened so there may be some technical glitches that they still need to work out beforehand.

An incredible room that just opened. I’ve been a huge fan of Armen’s for a long time now. His rooms are always worth a visit. This one might’ve topped them all. So many wow moments. So much fun. And just a really great time end to end. This is worth whatever drive you’d take. Truly one of the best rooms I’ve ever done. Stop what you’re doing and go.

Buckle up for a JOURNEY. There’s a twist at every turn. I usually can guess where things are going, but this room is so well designed that it’s impossible to predict. The puzzles are innovative and blend real world tasks with word/number puzzles. The set will transport you to and from this world. MOST IMPORTANTLY it brings back the joy of what it means to ACTUALLY escape! No longer shall we just accomplish the given task and then our game master casually walks in and says “congratulations”. NO! WE WERE RUNNING, FIGHTING, AND ESCAPING until the very end of that room! Adding this room to my must do in LA collection… and you should too!

Better than Gremlins, better than E.T.