Header of the game Azooma Escape. Credit to Ash Games Studio, embedded from Steam.
Header of the game Azooma Escape. Credit to Ash Games Studio, embedded from Steam.
This article is written in English. Untuk membaca versi Bahasa Indonesia, klik di sini.

TL;DR

If you enjoy stealth genre games, with a pixel graphics art direction, that can be easily played with a controller/gamepad, you might like Azooma Escape. Maybe...

Unfortunately... The more you play this game, the more bored you'll feel, as it comes across as draggy in padding out its gameplay duration...

Notice and Specs


Notice
  • This article aims to review and share information about this game.
  • There is no intention to infringe any copyright.
  • Copyright of any images, videos, or any other media used in this article belongs to their respective owners, whether the developer or publisher of this game, unless stated otherwise.
  • The author is not affiliated with the developer, publisher, or any other parties related to this game. Although I received a key to write this article, I am not affiliated with the developer, publisher, or any other parties related to this game.
  • This article is purely a review from the author's perspective.
  • This article is based on my experience playing this game with a total gameplay time of 2.4 hours. Future updates/changes to the game may not be reflected in this article.
  • This article was translated from Indonesian to English by Claude. The quality may not be up to par with human translation.
Click this box to see my PC specs.
  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600
  • GPU: Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB
  • RAM: Crucial DDR4-3200 2x8GB
  • SSD: TeamGroup MP44L NVMe M2 1TB
  • Monitor: Lenovo L24i-40 100 Hz and Samsung S3 S33GC 100 Hz
  • Gamepad: 8Bitdo Ultimate 2C Peach
  • Mouse: Logitech Signature M650 Rose
  • Keyboard: Logitech K380 Rose

Game Details

Details

Hero Capsule of the game Azooma Escape. Credit to Ash Games Studio, embedded from Steam. Version Played: Full Version
Developer(s): Ash Games Studio
Publisher(s): Ash Games Studio
Tag/Genre(s): Stealth, Action-Adventure, Linear, Comedy, Pixel Graphics
*Review key for this game provided by Ash Games Studio via KeyMailer.

Trailer

Go ahead and watch the game's teaser below :)

Azooma Escape - Release Trailer

Credit to Azooma Escape channels on YouTube.

Quick Review and Rating

Quick Review

Before receiving the review key for this game, I had actually come across the demo through several events, like the Steam Debut Festival. So, I had downloaded the demo, but never got around to playing it offline. Well, since my request was accepted via KeyMailer, I just played the game on stream instead, to reach a wider audience, you know. You can watch my gameplay video below.

Oh, and some context while I'm at it. After asking Gemini, "Azooma" itself comes from Arabic, عزومة, fitting the origin country of the game's developer. It means a feast/banquet/dinner party. Kind of like "Jamuan Makan" in Indonesian, which basically means a big communal meal. The meaning of the word Azooma in Arabic, according to Gemini.

Quick Rating

Category & Rating Details Score
1. Mechanics & Gameplay
  • Controls: Easy to grasp, honestly, even if you haven't played in a while you can still easily pick up the controls used in this game. The controls themselves are pretty simple — just running, rolling, interacting with items, hiding, and throwing items. However, since I played using a controller/gamepad, I can't really comment further on how the controls feel with a mouse and keyboard.
  • Game Loop: At first... It's engaging, and fun. Seriously. The stealth is enjoyable, and even though it gets frustrating in some areas, it still feels like "Wow, this is fun! I might actually finish this game someday."

    But... Unfortunately starting from areas 6 and 7, the game starts to feel draggy or... Like it's just padding out the time, and it becomes way too hard to enjoy. The early parts are fun, and maybe the hardest thing back then was still getting spotted by enemy cones, but it was still manageable. Sadly, starting from area 5, it just keeps getting harder and feels more like time-wasting.

    From increasingly numerous enemies, ghost enemies that can phase through objects and can't be tricked, to enemies that move way too fast before you can even throw a glass at them. Not to mention several missions that feel pretty pointless, yet you still have to complete them just to finish the main mission — which is escaping from Uncle Shaddad because you don't want to join the feast.
  • Difficulty: Hmm... Easy at the start, and gradually gets harder. As in, you're introduced to the game mechanics first, then things slowly ramp up. Makes sense, but starting from areas 5, 6, and 7, the difficulty goes from still do-able to, in my opinion, just plain annoying.
 6.7
2. Visuals & Aesthetics
  • Art Direction: Pixel Graphics, with some Cartoony elements, like when characters speak.
  • Optimization: Runs like a dream! FPS, CPU, GPU, vRAM, RAM — all smooth. No noticeable stutters that would make the experience unpleasant while playing this game.
  • UI/UX: Hmm... Okay. From a player standpoint, the UI/UX is fine. Easy to read at a glance, no squinting required, all information is readable and easy to find, and so on. Not confusing, in short. However, unfortunately, even though the game claims to support multiple languages, not all of them display properly, like Bahasa Indonesia. Kind of a shame and a bit confusing, since Indonesian uses the same alphabet as English.
 9
3. Story & World
  • Pacing: Hmm... I'm not sure if it's a skill issue on my part, or if the game is just hard. Because in some areas, the pace is short and you can breeze through quickly. But in other areas, they feel massively wide, with a ton of things to do. So... Mixed.
  • Characters: Here, we play as Jaser, the character we control throughout the game. Jaser will meet several other characters like Grandfather, Uncle Shaddad, Fadi, and others.
  • Lore: Honestly from what I gathered, Jaser, the main character, doesn't want to join a feast that's basically considered "normal" at big family gatherings. And here, Jaser's main mission is to show up to the event, and then go home. This is from my memory, mind you. So at this event, after running into Uncle Shaddad, Jaser wants to leave, but the uncle won't let him. That's why Jaser keeps running away from the guards. But to get out of the venue, Jaser can't leave through the front, and instead has to go through a looooot of areas and obstacles.
  • Additional Note: There are also some collectibles if you pay close attention to the areas in this game.
 8.7
4. Audio & Music
  • Sound Design: Fitting! It supports the experience while playing this game. I don't think there was a single moment where the sound effects or sound design made me uncomfortable while playing.
  • Music: Fitting! Not distracting, and at certain moments it builds the "tense" atmosphere needed when things are tense and you're being chased by enemies.
  • Voice Acting: I don't think I heard any voice acting in this game. That said, NPCs do display pop-up dialogue when you approach them.
 8.5
5. Replayability & Value
  • Price vs Content: The non-discounted price is 131K IDR, and on sale it can go down to around 79K IDR. Given the price and the content that should be quite lengthy — I read it can go up to 24 areas — this is actually quite affordable. Because for that price, you should be getting a lot of content.
  • Post-Completion Content: Honestly I won't be continuing this game. I dropped it after finishing area 7, while working through area 8. Like I mentioned above, it starts off interesting, but the further you go the harder it gets and it just feels draggy.
 8
TOTAL SCORE xx

Gameplay Video

Want to watch my gameplay video? You can watch it below:

(EN/ID) Azooma Escape - First Impression - Gameplay (Part 1 - Until Level 4) #KeyMailer #AzoomaEscap

Adli's gameplay on Adli_HM's channel on YouTube.

Steam Price

Closing

Honestly, this game is interesting at the start, which is why playing through the first four areas felt like... "Wow, this is so much fun!". But unfortunately, the further you go the harder it gets. Enemy cones feel incredibly sensitive, and there are just so many enemies. There are a lot of side quests that feel pretty unnecessary, yet you have to do them to "escape" from the event. This felt like my real life which is so hard to achieve what I want somehow... So instead of enriching the story, it just ends up feeling exhausting. That's why I dropped it after finishing area 7. A bit sad, but if I'm not comfortable I'm not going to force myself.

So... It depends, really. If you enjoy the stealth genre, with pixel art graphics, wrapped in comedy and some lighthearted storytelling, you might end up liking this game. As long as you can put up with how draggy it gets, when it could've probably been finished more easily, or at least made easier in certain areas.

That's all!

See you in the next Adli's Quick Games Review :)