Shock Labyrinth EX. biohazard

Shock Labyrinth EX. biohazard (戦慄 (せんりつ)迷宮 (めいきゅう)EX. バイオハザード, senritsu meikyū EX. baiohazādo) was a haunted house attraction which lasted from 6 October 2007-3 February 2008. The attraction was part of a collaboration between Capcom and the Fuji-Q Highland amusement park located in Fujiyoshida, Japan, using the existing framework of the Shock Labyrinth, then the Guinness record holder for largest haunted house by length of route. Entrance costs were 700 yen per person. While younger people were allowed to attend, elementary school students were required to be accompanied by an adult or teenager.

Plot

In the year 19XX, the residents of a small mountain town are plagued with an increase in missing persons and unexplained suicides. One day, three young people break into the long abandoned Donlaiha Hospital on the edge of town, but their fun goes awry. Two are killed in suspicious circumstances, and their bodies are recovered. The third, Tommy McGregor, has simply disappeared. Park Rangers Kenny and Wendy head out in search of Tommy, and are drawn back to the hospital he was last reported in. Soon after arrival, they find Tommy laying motionless at the entrance; his face is pale, his eyes white and his veins protruding along his body. Kenny picks up the body to take it back to town, only to discover Tommy is alive but in a violent, delirious state. After biting into Kenny's shoulder, Kenny throws him off and is forced to kill him with his shotgun. As he checks on his wound, Kenny and Wendy receive a report that the two "corpses" recovered from the hospital earlier have woken up mid-autopsy and attacked the coroners, who are now showing similar symptoms of violent impulses as Tommy had. Believing it to be the outbreak of some mysterious disease, the two rangers make their way into the hospital in search for information on a possible treatment that could prevent Kenny suffering the same fate. Soon after, the Special Tactics and Rescue Service arrive and cordon off the area while they head inside to search for the Rangers, finding documents suggesting the hospital is not abandoned at all and is actually operating as a front for the Umbrella Corporation, who are using it for illegal human experimentation and organ trafficking.

Development history

Shock Labyrinth is a haunted house attraction which was opened-up at Fuji-Q Highland in July 1999, with the theme being that visitors were touring the mysterious and abandoned Jikyu General Hospital" (慈急 (じんきゅう)総合 (そうごう)病院 (びょういん), jikyū sōgō byōin). Over the next few years it went through refurbishment and occasional theme changes, such as being a haunted hotel in 2002. In July 2007 the "4.0" version was opened with new rooms and an altered exploration route.

In 2007 talks began on the collaboration event, which was designed to be an airsoft shooting range built atop the 4.0 room layout, now changed to being a hospital within the Resident Evil universe. To beat the game, players had to find a treatment for the t-Virus to allow them to rescue Kenny. The military-themed costume and airsoft retailer Tokyo Phantom also took part in the production, working on the costumes and displays. On 5 October, the day before its public opening, the press was invited on a publicity tour of the attraction. Following this a presentation chaired by the park's president was held at the Highland Resort Hotel, which included promotional footage for Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and Resident Evil: Extinction.

The hospital setting itself was spread out across multiple floors with various themed rooms each with their own horror props. This included an organ storage room, an X-ray room and an ICU. Disinfectant was used to give the hospital an appropriate smell. Corpse mannequins were placed around the hospital, some of which would be revealed as Zombies.

Gameplay

The game is played conforming to a linear story path. All participants must first pick up their handgun at the shooting range where they are taught how to use it. After this, the game begins with the players arriving at the front entrance and exploring the hospital. The first missing of the game is to figure out the number for the locked doors which open up more of the hospital for investigation. Not all rooms can be explored, instead existing to offer disturbing imagery for the player. Rather than firing bullets, the guns use laser and vibration technology; when the laser sight contacts a censor placed on a Zombie dummy or actor, pulling the trigger will register a 'hit' and shake the gun, simulating recoil. Following the training course, players would enter the briefing room at the hospital, where they would watcha five minute live-action film detailing the story and purpose of the game; according to Famitsu this original film was reminiscent of the Resident Evil opening cinematic. After getting the door code the player must find the vaccine and acquire documents. If the players got too distressed from the Zombies, at least one emergency exist was available for them to abandon the game.

Gallery

Front entrance to the abandoned hospital.

Prop crows near the roof.

A mannequin on the rooftop.

S.T.A.R.S. officers at the entrance to the attraction.

Ditto

Shooting course

A corpse marked S.T.A.R.S. as a crime scene.

Press tour of the inside, featuring Dengeki and IT Media teams.

An example of props being used to give a creepy atmosphere.

A hanging corpse.

Crows looking down at people

X-ray lab

A mummified corpse in an oxygen tent

A female zombie on a staircase

Organ storage room

Zombies in the morgue

A Zombie next to two dead coroners

A S.T.A.R.S. officer with a rocket launcher

Typewriter

Rules list before playing in the event.

Players waiting for their turn could play Umbrella Chronicles.

The hotel presentation after the press tour

An Umbrella Chronicles developer on the press tour.

Sources

notes

references