Five Nights at Freddy's 4

The original FNAF (Five Nights at Freddy’s) was a tremendously frightening experience, with unnerving tension, horror and animatronic mascots with murderous intentions. Scott Crawford has also developed two sequels that again brought in new elements and dynamics for horror style gameplay. Some worked, other changes didn’t. But a great effort by a single person developing these games.

FNAF 4 does indeed take things in a new direction while keeping much of the original concept. Taking place before the events of the first three games, we dive into the mind of small child, who for five nights must defend himself from the vicious animatronics within the confines of his own bedroom. It’s somewhere more personal and playing as a frightened child brings an unsettling vibe that's pretty uncomfortable to play. Overall its a great twist as the defenceless child can’t rely on camera feeds or neat gadgets to stay safe. Instead he must rely heavily on his own senses and observational skills, bringing you closer to the horror.

Players will benefit from wearing headphones as FNAF4’s observant gameplay is taken from a visual perspective to a more audio one. Listening for footsteps and bumps in the night will help determine where the lurking NPCs will spawn at their multiple locations. Checking two hallways, a closet and the bed behind you is tiring work and the enemies are relentless in their pursuits. For players to avoid the dreaded jump scare, listening for heavy breathing at the door will determine if players should shut the door immediately or scare them off with the flash light if they're lurking at the end of the corridor. Shining the light too late or not closing the door soon enough will end the game in a scary manner (even if you've played the other games before, its still scary). This entry feels more organic and places a stronger emphasis on your own observations. But it also adds an element of helplessness and the limitation you have as a small child without the upper hand.

The Character designs are unbelievably disturbing, fitting well within the narrative and theme of this instalment. The child sees these creatures as his worst nightmare and through several moments in the game, we see why. Along with bringing in new elements such as a “boss encounter” (of sorts) there is also a mini game that helps players take off two hours in the next night if successfully completed. As for the narrative, the story helps clarify some facts but doesn’t tie together the overall narrative for the series. Rather it just expands on one single element which might have been better left alone. It’s adds even more to the uncertainty, making it feel a little cluttered as to what is going on. i know many fans like this style of story telling, but after four games you'd expect something to be cleared up properly. There is planned DLC which is a shame as story elements should be included and not sold separately.

The pacing is also somewhat a mess as the original games build the tension and brought in new NPCs with each night. FNAF 4 pretty much throws most of them all in at one go but towards the end adds a particular NPC as a special encounter and one in the bonus nightmare mode. This could have saved the game from its repetitive nature but sadly fails as the behaviours of all the NPCs are pretty much the same as each other. They don’t change and are fairly easy to deal with if your reflexes and listening is pretty good. Still the game offer a great deal of bonus content which is warmly welcomed, including the nightmare and 20/20/20/20 mode.

This is a strong entry to the series and does add many effective elements such as the audio gameplay, mini games and the unnerving atmosphere that's been created with the new setting. But FNAF4 does fall short by delivering the same old concept we've seen before, predictable NPC behaviours and its confusing narrative that really doesn't explain anything. However FNAF4 is still worth checking out if you’re a fan of the series. But check out the videos on youtube to get an idea of what to expect.