The Exit 8 - Walking With Fear

Long before internet forums were even a thing, urban myths and legends still had a way to exist and thrive simply by word of mouth. In fact, some of these stories would even traverse continents and reach unexpected places. Not surprisingly, public transport has always provided an ample setting for such stories to emerge out of thin air and become a permanent part of the zeitgeist.

Train stations are an enigma in many ways, a cornerstone of industrial developments and revolutions, and still an essential yet dreaded component of public infrastructure. In the modern age, we all love to hate our public transport system; it doesn't matter if the trains are on time or not, and as much as we like to complain, we simply cannot do without it.

Train stations in particular have become a constant source of stories and incidents. Most of these are comical, awkward, and embarrassing, enough to ruin your day. Sadly, train stations have also been a place of crime, although nowadays the security and follow-up are pretty on point. Having lived in Sydney for quite some time, I always found that Central Station spooked many residents, especially that one incident of a stabbing that continues to make rounds on university campuses. I'm sure such an incident may have happened, or at the very least, someone may have been caught with a dangerous object, but it's unclear when exactly or who exactly it was. None of the details or facts matter though, because most students are still terrified of Central Station even after the renovations.

The Exit 8 is a brief demo of an idea built around the concept of a haunted train station, and it fits within a strange subgenre of Japanese gaming: "horror walking simulators". It's pretty simple really; keep walking until you encounter the jump scare....and that's about it. It has the anticipation and build-up with the shock after but it's a one-trick pony really. This genre may also have inspired the early email chains with the annoying scream when you scroll down enough...or when you get sent a video with a sudden scream embedded. I prefer to be Rick Rolled, thanks.

In Exit 8 players walk through an endless corridor over and over with the main idea being to keep an eye out for any anomalies. If anything feels a little off, that's when you turn around and make a run for it. The whole experience is meant to last a few minutes at best and more often than not, it's lights out. It has atmosphere, a growing sense of tension, and a spooky delivery, but it is one of those things that's meant to be tried once. I suppose the only appeal is to pass the game to an unsuspecting player just to get some amusement out of their reaction. There's not much else to this experience, but the pricing is appropriate for what it is.