"The Exit 8" is a very short walking simulator inspired by Japanese underground passageways developed by Japanese indie developer Kotake Create. The game also takes notes from games like
Twelve Minutes and the very popular P.T. (Playable Teaser) created for the now cancelled "Silent Hills".
The gameplay is pretty simple: You are caught in a loop, walking through an "endless underground passageway", with a long straight walkway and 2 S-bends in-between, where another business man passes by. The location gives off a profoundly unsettling vibe. There is a sign at beginning of the loop explaining the player to look for "anomalies", if you find one you should turn around and walk back, if you don't see one just continue forward. Anomalies are random and can be obvious things like the lights going dark, but also small things like a small change in one of the posters on the wall or a missing door. There is a poster with a counter which reset to 0 if you make a mistake and counts up if you react correctly to anomalies or the lack for them up to the number of 8 after which you win the game. The experience feels similar to the afore mentioned P.T. where you are also stuck in looping hallway with an eerie vibe and you never know what to expect the next time you walk around the corner. The game employs subtle psychologic horror which plays with the players mind rather than employing cheap jump-scares. Unfortunately once you've seen most of the anomalies the game loses it's mystery and you'll be able to quickly identify anomalies making it feel like a routine.
The game has a very clean presentation. The underground tunnel is covered in white, clean tiles, some advertisement posters are decorating a wall, bright neon lights illuminate the place. It looks uncomfortably life-like in Unreal Engine 5. It's simple yet effective.
All the game's achievements can be unlocked in around 1-2 hours, even less if a guide is being used. While there are some miscellaneous achievements which are easy to overlook, it's not a big issue as you can finish a playthrough in less than 5 minutes.
In summary The Exit 8 is a short indie walking simulator employing a looping gameplay with a fun psychological horror aspects, for less than the price of a Big Mac.
4.0