FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S, with Freddy Fazbear being an obvious homage to Chuck E. Cheese, is perhaps the most effective horror game I’ve played so far. If nothing else, it rigorously follows the three golden rules of horror:
1. Less is more.
2. Gore does not equate to horror.
3. The more nervous the audience gets, the greater the payoff becomes.
Rather than having lots of gore, giant set pieces, and an elaborate story, FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S eschews all of these and goes straight for the gut with simplicity.
Just as Stephen King inherently understood children’s fear of clowns with IT, Scott Cawthon inherently understands why anamatronic robots dressed up as creepy animals are just plain wrong.
As a kid, I loved the arcade games, prizes, and pizza at Chuck E. Cheese’s. But even then, I never understood why anyone would want to watch Chuck E. Cheese and his creepy friends play some silly songs live. Still, it never frightened me.
Until now.
The gameplay and plot are as basic as it can get.
You’ve just received a job as a security guard working for a pizza and arcade family center. All you have to do is work the night shift from midnight to six a.m.
This would be an easy job… if not for the animatronics. They unfortunately act a little strange at night, and wander about Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. If they catch you, they mistake you for being an animatronic without its suit and proceed to forcefully stuff you inside a suit filled with sharp metal and wire.
You have no guns or weapons of any kind. In fact, you can’t run or even walk for that matter. All you can do is man the security station and pray they don’t find you.
Fortunately, there are security cameras to keep an eye on your furry friends as you find them wandering from room to room. If they get too close for comfort, you have lights to check to see if they’re standing at your doorway and automatic doors to shut them out. The catch is that the generator has only so much power. Players lacking in conservation skills may find the power drained out before six a.m… and everyone’s favorite bear waiting for them in the dark.
FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S might not seem so horrifying at a glance, but it delivers plenty of terror with a solid one-two punch of making the player a nervous wreck before going straight for the jugular. Rather than having the characters physically moving about (except for one sly fox), Freddy and his friends jump from room to room while you aren’t looking. You’ll find yourself panicking as you desperately try to track down where they went… only to find one waiting by your doorway.
If there were one lesson that other horror games, films, and shows should take away from FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S, it’s this: don’t tell me when to be scared! Rather than cueing up when the monster is about to appear, FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S leaves you waiting in sheer anticipation and then makes you fall out of your seat when you least expect it. I’ve played through enough nights to know what’s around the corner, but no matter how much I brace for it, it still gets me every time.
Without a doubt, FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S is one of the most intense games I have ever played. And while AMNESIA: THE DARK DESCENT and the SILENT HILL franchise offer deeper gameplay, story, and atmosphere, none have made me literally jump out of my seat quite like this one.
At just five dollars and with easy enough gameplay for just about anyone to grasp, FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S is an absolute must buy for anyone looking for an adrenaline thrill ride.
RELEASE DATE: July 24th, 2014
PUBLISHER: animdude
DEVELOPER: animdude
RATING: N/A
August 18, 2014 By Andrew Hudson