The Backrooms: Forsaken Anmeldelse (Xbox Series X|S)

Fatigue is as inescapable as the yellow-washed walls of The Backrooms—a cortex that, true to the power of trend-setting cult fiction, has seen more corridors, more anomalies, and more poolrooms than any other psychological thriller in recent years. The Backrooms: Forsaken, in an ideal world, wants to pivot elsewhere, to an uncharted realm where stories outweigh mindless labyrinthine exploits, and where familiar portals can unveil more than predictable canon fodder for a smoking gun that has since exhausted all of its ammunition. It wants to keep its target demographic at bay, but it also vies to reinvent the wheel with its own narrative. The question is, does it fire a blank, or does it give a tired concept a well-needed facelift? Let’s talk.

At a glance, The Backrooms: Forsaken is a brief sixty-minute walking simulator that combines the classic puzzle arrangements and yellow-soaked complexities of a traditional Backrooms escapade with a somewhat rich and original plot. Similar to the your typical Backrooms stint, it frequents the conventional path—the pools, the ball pits, and the seemingly endless corridors, naturally. But, what it also features is a storyline, which in itself is a sight for sore eyes, given the sheer volume of backwater, pulse-less Backrooms titles available on the market.

While we’re on the subject of plot points, here’s all you need to know: The Backrooms: Forsaken centers its narrative around two distinct characters, each of whom are given the “opportunity” to endure the trials of the cult-like underworld. Bound together, they embark on a desperate journey to find that ever-elusive escape point. It’s a simple premise that, well, still leaves a lot to be desired I’ll admit. That said, with fully-voiced characters and enough emotion to add an extra layer to an excruciatingly familiar world, it does make for a pleasant surprise, all things considered.

Of course, the world isn’t all that different from what you would have seen in the past. True to the original lore, The Backrooms: Forsaken spreads out its short runtime over a series of claustrophobic settings, with each location having its own layout, threat, and set of puzzles, some of which are logical, others of which require you to think outside of the box, so to speak. For the most part, though, The Backrooms: Forsaken plays out like a traditional walking simulator with labyrinthine-like effects. It’s confusing, unsettling, and above all, eerily reminiscent of a fever dream.

If you’re not aimlessly roaming the halls of a maze in Forsaken, then you’re doing one of two things: aiming a gun at a creature as it awkwardly skewers through the world, or engaging in light small talk with one of the two protagonists. As there isn’t much of a threat, however, the majority of your time is devoted to the monotonous task of walking until you find that next all-important story beat. But that’s a Backrooms affair for you.

With all of the above in mind, it is worth taking The Backrooms: Forsaken with a slight pinch of salt. Visually, it looks awfully familiar, to the point where you wouldn’t be able to differentiate it from a bog-standard Backrooms game. Though, that does appear to be the case with most of these love letters to the internet phenomenon and dream-core flicks, in general. It’s a universally accepted setting, yet one that, on occasion, fails to leave much to the imagination. In other words, if you’ve romped around one corridor in The Backrooms, then it’s unlikely that you’ll find something out of the ordinary here.

I suppose, what truly sets The Backrooms: Forsaken apart from its adversaries is its timely adoption of a storyline. Is it a great story? Not at all, no. But it does, however, provide a little extra depth to an otherwise run-of-the-mill rehash of a familiar exploit. The voice acting is passable at best, and the characters are diverse enough to abolish the notion that Backrooms clientele are motionless wooden puppets. And as for the animation, eh — it works. Granted, it isn’t perfect, and it does fall short on airtight fluidity, but it does work with what it has, and that counts for a great deal here, truly.

For the short amount of time that The Backrooms: Forsaken sticks around to spin a yarn, I’d say that it does just enough to keep you engaged. With some harrowing environmental effects, mind-fumbling puzzles, and a plot that’s compelling enough to keep you pushing forward, it delivers a well-rounded experience that, when all’s said and done, is a lot better than your cheap piece of shovelware. And if there is one thing that I will more than happily entertain, it’s a Backrooms game that dares to go beyond conventional practices. Forsaken, thankfully, does just that.

Suffice it to say, there isn’t a flawless experience with genre-altering facets here. There are, however, tons of fantastically apt ideas that compliment the simplistic nature of Backrooms lore and give it that little extra nudge in the right direction. As for whether or not it does enough to redefine the sub-genre is another question. For what it’s worth, though, I will say that it makes for a pleasant surprise. And that counts for a tremendous amount in a world that has quite clearly had more than its fair share of stale ingredients and cheap stories.

Verdict

The Backrooms: Forsaken tweaks the universally beloved internet phenomenon to adopt an overdue narratively focused overhaul, with a plot that reinvigorates the existing formula and a setting that perfectly encapsulates an instantly recognizable world of yellow-soaked walls and dream-like dioramas. Although it falls short on original ideas and creative puzzles, it frames the Backrooms surprisingly well, with a great deal of suspenseful encounters, perplexing environments, and foot-in-mouth confrontations.

While it’s no secret that The Backrooms is sick to its stomach from the endless digestion of countless odes to the lore, Forsaken does make for a genuinely fun palate cleanser, all things considered. It might not do much to reinvent the wheel, but it does add a fresh lick of yellow paint to a wall that is in dire need of TLC. For that reason alone, I’d say that it’s worth taking a chance on.