Five Nights At Freddy's is the first game in a mostly horror-based
series of games by indie developer scott cawthon. I picked this one up
when it was fairly new, and briefly played it, but didn't get too far.
More recently, I started the game over, but got too frustrated after
reaching night 4 and not being able to get any further. Normally I
maintain a rule for myself that I won't write my review for a game until
I've finished it, but some of the games flaws were so frustrating for
me that I lost the will to keep trying and moved onto other games.
However
before I get into more detail with my criticisms, I do want to praise
the things I enjoy about it: The game is immensely atmospheric and
wonderfully spooky. The music is subtle and very effective, and there's
all sorts of ambient sounds during game-play, some added for atmosphere,
others to provide you with clues on who may be lurking nearby. The
graphics look good, and use per-rendered 3d characters and backdrops-
which is another plus for the game as it is able to have detailed
visuals without being taxing for folks with less powerful computers. The
core game-play is also quite neat when you get the hang of it.
The game creates a great feeling of helplessness by leaving the player
unarmed and trapped in a small room, their only defense being a handful
of tools at their disposal. Lights can be used to check to see if some
of the enemies are nearby, as can the camera system. For defense,
players can seal what appears to be some sort of powered blast door. All
of the tools draw from a limited power source, so as to keep the player
from being able to hold the doors closed through the whole game. The
mechanics are cool, though I do have to acknowledge the strangeness of a
door that needs power to remain stationary. (The door concept is
removed in the game's sequel, so I imagine the creator also realized how
strange this was in hindsight). There are tactics for keeping every
character at bay, which I won't spoil here. Once I understood them, I
felt good keeping managing my defenses.
Unfortunately,
the game has some flaws that were frustrating enough for me that I
ultimately gave up trying to beat it, even when I was so close to the
end.
First off, the game notifies you of your death by
throwing a jump-scare at you. Now, I know some folks can't stand jump
scares at all, but I don't mind them if they're executed into the game
in a good way. I feel a proper jump scare in a horror game is A - one
that doesn't repeat to the point of being annoying, and B - one that
you're able to react to in-game, such as a monster jumping out of a
closet which you then have to fight against or run from.
Unfortunately, this game does neither of those. The more times you die,
the more likely you may be to just get fed up with being needlessly
startled while trying to focus on keeping safe. In a horror game, I feel
it's important that the enemies or enemy always be something scary and
mysterious - if they harass the player to the point of simply feeling
like a chore or an annoyance, that hurts the horror experience.
The
other point of frustration for me is that the randomization of the
characters doesn't always feel fair or well- optimized. I like the idea
that each night ins randomized in the game, because that makes each
night a unique experience. However, on night 4, the randomization kept
putting me in situations where I didn't feel like I had any way to win.
Over and over, Freddy would eventually just "camp" outside my door,
forcing me to hold the door shut and draining all my power before the
night ends. It doesn't feel terribly rewarding when you have figured out
the tactics for each character only to have them just stand around
draining away all your power.
The last issue is not a
criticism of the game itself but a warning to anyone interested enough
to want to buy this or any of the other FNAF games - the creator made
christian computer games before they made this one - and has also donated money to anti-LGBT politicians. If you boycott
christian companies like I do, you may want to steer clear of a
purchase. Thankfully, there is a physical copy for the Xbox One included in "Five Nights At Freddys Core Collection", so it is possible to pick up a used copy of the game rather than giving money directly to scott cawthon.
If
you like horror games, I recommend at-least giving this and possibly the
sequels (which I plan to try out on my little brothers game pass) a
look. FNAF can get frustrating, but the atmosphere and interesting
game-play mechanics are still something I think well of.
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