Expedition to the Backrooms Review (PC)

Etched between endless corridors and a yellowish tint from the nauseatingly bright lights, I find myself left with yet another ultimatum to respond to—another crossroad to ponder. Do I continue down this road, knowing that it will take me to another corridor, or do I turn back, and hope that whatever noises are coming from behind me will be friendly and not just another trick of the mind? I’ve seen these paths before, but not once have I seen a glimmer of light with my own two eyes. Believe me, this isn’t my first Expedition to the Backrooms, but even so, I feel as if a wealth of knowledge counts for nought when it comes to this realm. It doesn’t matter if I know what lurks on the other side of the veil, either, because I know that there is no way out. I’m a prisoner once more.

There’s no structure here—no purpose. I could walk for miles, and yet, I still wouldn’t find a meaning to it. There are dots I can connect, and there are puzzles that I can solve. But here, in the underbelly of the fabled Backrooms, progress isn’t rewarded; it’s mocked, and often followed with another question for you to answer—another crossroad to contemplate. There is no exit, only corridors that stretch for miles, and rooms with objects and anchor points that have no place in the real world. The only thing that I can do is keep nudging this old sack of bones forward and open the next door. It seems here, then, that curiosity will plunge me deeper into the rabbit hole. I just hope that this expedition will be more forgiving than the last.

A One-Way Ticket

Expedition to the Backrooms follows a similar script (or lack thereof) as a lot of Backrooms-centric horrors, with its foundations more or less shrouded in endless corridors, illogical ideas, and unorthodox patterns. In other words, it relies on the imagination to steer its narrative—a narrative that, although without clear signals and dialogue, you yourself must learn how to weave together as you gradually progress deeper into the cortex of rooms and other nonsensical structures. Naturally, there are puzzles for you to solve, and there are objects for you to interact with, much like most, if not all Backrooms. Also like its peers, it extends its arm to you with the promise that, should you choose to carve even deeper into its nexus, great things await on the other side of the labyrinth. But, if you’ve ever played one of these games before, then you’ll know better. Hopefully.

Story-wise, Expedition to the Backrooms follows an explorer who, after mistakenly discovering the inner boroughs of the Backrooms, embarks on a hopeless journey to unravel its secrets en route to the exit. With that, your job is as transparent as they come: sink deeper into the tunnels, and connect the dots whilst building an image of the Backrooms and its contents — abnormalities and creatures included. And yes, there are creatures that populate its world—foes that, quite frankly, don’t have any intention of befriending you as you assemble the slate and formulate your own conclusions. But more on that shortly.

A Perpetual Cycle

Expedition to the Backrooms is divided into two types of activities, one of them being based on exploration, and the other revolving around puzzle solving and mind mapping. In a nutshell, the game tasks you not necessarily with understanding the world, but rather, figuring out how to traverse it, as well as finding ways to build one bridge without setting another alight. In addition to all of this, the game also requires you to carefully consider your options, with spiritual threats often popping out from beneath the woodwork to exhume another obstacle for you to overcome.

As with most Backrooms-like horrors, the experience is more or less confined to a series of perpetual cycles—cascading loops that frequent perplexing rooms with countless doors or stairwells, as well as numerous other disturbing images and ambient elements. And while this world, in particular, isn’t bleeding out the seams with wall to wall jump scares, it is, however, masterful of its ability to establish suspense in the way it composes its settings. It gives that certain sense of dread that often comes with most natural-born thrillers—a fear of being isolated, confused, and without the helping hand of a glimmering beacon or waypoint to pursue. And it captures all of this well, too, with a retro-like VHS aesthetic and an ominous soundscape, to boot.

Verdict

Suffice it to say that, if you relish the thought of being alone and without guidance in a perpetual nightmare that shackles you to a series of disturbing events, then chances are you’ll not only enjoy Expedition to the Backrooms, but most Backrooms, in general. I’m not saying that this ode to the internet culture is the better choice of the bunch, mind you, for it does foster a lot of the same basic ideas—squeaky clean facilities, tantalizingly gloomy lighting, and even the rubber ducks, of all things. But that’s something that we can often expect from a love letter to Backrooms lore, so it’s not as if we can slate it for its lack of authenticity.

If you’re somewhat familiar with VHS horror and the Backrooms phenomenon, then it’s likely that you’ll feel right at home in these dauntingly dark corridors. And even if you’re unfamiliar with these tainted waters, chances are you’ll be able to extract a solid couple of hours out of Expedition to the Backrooms, mainly due to the fact that, as well as it being a great tribute to the source, it is also a fairly decent horror with a great level of depth and atmospherical complexity. Granted, the VHS format is rather dated, and it’s nigh impossible to find a Backrooms game that doesn’t lean on all of the same trappings to form its own narrative. Even still, like anything that comes in the form of an episodic format, if you like one chapter, then you shouldn’t find it an issue to enjoy everything else in the book.