Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma

Zero Time Dilemma, the final game in the Zero Escape trilogy, looks to shake things up while retaining the series’ sinister brand of zaniness. Taking place between the previous two installments (999 and Virtue’s Last Reward), players control three teams of three people, all of whom are trying to escape deadly games devised by diabolical mastermind Zero.

The plot thickens as the bracelets from 999 and Virtue’s Last Reward return. However, instead of detonating a bomb inside the wearers or poisoning them, these bracelets inject characters with a special sleeping drug every 90 minutes. When the injected characters wake up from their nap, their memories have been erased, which is sure to make for some loopy fun in the plot.

The biggest change for this entry is the text-based segments that dominated the prior entries are being replaced by animated and fully voiced cutscenes. The cast of unfortunate victims in Zero Time Dilemma includes new faces as well as returning characters, like Sigma and Junpei.

During puzzle segments, players attempt to escape deadly traps while controlling a variety of characters. After these sequences, players are forced to make difficult choices that can determine the fate of other characters — often with randomized outcomes.

During the demo I saw, one trap involved a revolver loaded with three blanks and three live rounds being pointed at a character’s head. In the first playthrough of the puzzle, one of the blanks went off, and the character survived. In the second, one of the live rounds fired instead, so the character perished.

Another wrench in the established formula is events can be played out of chronological order, with the player having the option of jumping around at various points in Dilemma’s massive branching timeline. You can shift between any of the three teams at any time.

However, it’s probably not a good idea to get too attached; according to Aksys, the only way for the nine characters to escape the facility they’re trapped in is to reach an elevator in the middle of this facility that requires six passwords. Passwords are only given up when a player dies, meaning ostensibly there can only be three survivors.

Zero Time Dilemma is intended to be a plot-independent game, meaning players who haven’t played the other two entries should be able to comprehend the storyline, but Aksys claims this installment will tie up certain mysteries left unresolved by the other games.

From the lengthy demo of gameplay we saw, it seems Zero Time Dilemma is positioned to deliver what fans of the series have come to expect, while also being enough of a standalone game to draw in newcomers who enjoy sadistic brainteasers.