We were given free tickets to experience Containment. Whilst we were given the free tickets, we have full editorial control of what our review of the experience says.
On the 19th of October we were kindly invited to the press night for Containment at The Great Escape Game at the Leeds Location. The Great Escape Game Leeds hosts many scary escape rooms, some that we had already experienced at the Sheffield location. These games included RUN, The Devil's Playground and Abducted The Leeds location also has a sister room to RUN, Haunted, which we have already decided that we will have to venture back to try. Anyway back to Containment. We arrived at 7:45 and after a short 15-minute wait it was time for us to take on the challenge ahead with only the inside screams giving any hint of what we would face.
Minor Spoilers Ahead
We were given a clipboard and a pen proving this would not be your usual style of scare maze that we were expecting. Heading down the steep stairs into the dark basement of Atlas House we began the first of our challenges ahead. The first room works well to build up tension before meeting the first character of the show, who was played fantastically with a mixed air of mania and euphoria, the first character really is where your narrative is laid. After a two to three-minute interaction, you begin on your journey in the next room and this is where one impressively timed scare made Dan jump out of his skin. A great start so far.
It has to be said being only two to three rooms in that although the company didn't have the biggest budget to put this show on they have more than made up for it in theming effort and some of the sets albeit simple are equally beautiful in design and lighting. Challenge completed in this room, again we're not going into detail but each room does have a point and a challenge to complete in order to complete your end goal of creating the vaccine. We headed off to the next room and this is where things get messy, At the time of writing this and we are not sure if this scene will change, all we will say is if your squeamish or just don't like getting your hands messy then get a friend to take over. If you're all unsure then draw straws or body parts.
Now we will say one of our only bad critiques up the point is we wish we were able to wipe our hands down at this point and unfortunately the substance you handled did stain Dan's T-shirt so maybe some wipes in the room for after would be a nice touch (Even themed as decontamination) could work well and eliminate this problem. On to the last chamber, we enter a scene with intermittent lighting, never a good sign for guests because when used properly this can really get some great scares. Dan was sent into this room to complete the last challenge and worked cautiously in the room, expecting a huge scare but sadly we were left with a little of scare "Blue balls" without being too crude. Don't get me wrong this room has a lot of potential and with the right practice could be a terrifying and not just intimidating experience. All 4 challenges were complete and it was time to make our exit which was a little confusing to start off but once we navigated the darkness we ended up back in the first room for one final scare(A little weak but again with practice and timing could really be a great finale), We headed back up the stairs to see if we had completed our tasks correctly and enter back into the light of the foyer.
Top Tips - Roll your sleeves up, prepare to get a little messy and have fun.
Things that bite - Last two scenes seemed a little lacking but again with practice could be fantastic. Or maybe it's just that we're a little more immune to scares.
Value for Money - At £12 per person for a 15 minutes experience and an optional free alcoholic shot, we think so.
Would we recommend - Yes but a little more practice wouldn't go a miss in some key areas.
We would just like to say this was the first run of the show and the experience may vary from the 28th onwards. All in all, we had a fantastic time and wish the team all the best for the Halloween run and say thank you once again for inviting us along.
Containment is a limited-time attraction and runs on the 28th,29th and 31st of October.
if you would like to book hit the link below.
Written by Dan and Dane