When we reviewed Turbo Button’s PSVR version of Floor Plan, it stuck with us as a novel way to approach the escape room genre. Now, there’s a brand new sequel that’s coming out for the Oculus Quest version and will get versions for other platforms later.
Interestingly enough, Floor Plan stood out because it found a way to work around the static nature of wired VR by placing you inside an elevator and using that to transport yourself up and down to explore different floors/locations without having to physically move through a location. Because this is ultimately a multi-platform release that approach hasn’t changed, even though the Quest would have allowed for more (roomscale) mobility for players.
In that sense and others, Floor Plan 2 is a return to what made the first game fun. It’s about puzzles, doesn’t take itself too seriously with its cartoon-like humor and visuals, and the elevator mechanic still works in creating the illusion that you’re exploring far more than just the inside of an elevator and what’s just outside of its doors. What you encounter on each floor can often also be connected to whatever or whoever is on another floor, so there’s a bit of a meta-puzzle here as well.
Story-wise you’re a part of the Puzzl corporation and you’ve been instructed to retrieve a couple of valuable objects from a skyscraper with the aforementioned elevator. And although it’s not roomscale, you can now also get out of the elevator and explore some more – hinting at a larger scale game with more gameplay, even though the adventure is still on the relatively short side. You’re looking at three to four hours of gameplay here, which is a big improvement over the first Floor Plan.
So Floor Plan 2 is longer than the one hour experience of the first game, and there’s more to explore as well. You’re not just restricted to the inside of an elevator, and after a while you can even get in a second elevator as you navigate more of this giant skyscraper complex. It’s often a good idea to explore as much as you can when you’re stuck, as a solution can present itself in a different place from where your next puzzle objective is. And if you still happen to get stuck, there’s also a hint system that you can use – where each time you use it you get a less and less cryptic hint until you’re able to figure out what to do next.
Once you’ve completed the narrative, a new option called “overtime” unlocks, which lets you revisit the game’s locations to find “Red Harrys”, creatures hidden underneath small puzzles – with new puzzles that get added to the towers upon completing the game. So while Floor Plan 2 is familiar to the first game, it’s better in almost every way. More content, better replay value and brand new characters and funny gimmicks to meet and uncover. It’s too bad that it can’t be played in a roomscale format, but this one is highly recommended if you enjoy VR escape room type games.
Score: 8.0/10
Press Play Media 