Five Nights at Freddy's 4

By: Robert Murphy

There is nothing more terrifying than being alone in the dark when you’re a kid, there could be monsters, demons and god knows what else lurking in those shadows or at least that’s their mind set. Well, for the unlucky child of Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 his nightmares have become all too real as he finds himself defending against nightmarish version of the already deadly animatronics animals of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. Yes, the classic tradition of playing a lowly security guard looking to make some quick cash has now been dropped. No long do you have security cameras to help you see what’s coming but rather you’re only armed with a simple flashlight, little legs and hopefully some expert listening skills. I have to say, the odds don’t look good for you.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 features more of a style that was present in the first the game where you are centered in a small room with doors on either side of you but you no longer feel so helpless, sort of. For the first time ever your character is allowed to move around the room which serves as a replacement for the ability to look around an entire building with the use of the security cameras. Movement is something that was a double edged sword however as the panic from moving between the two doors, your closet and looking behind you on the bed made things quite stressing. That being said, the camera system is not something I found myself missing as the tougher nights in previous games made it near impossible to look around the building for the animatronics in the first place as they were already charging towards you. This is one thing that definitely hasn’t changed as the famous electronic monsters have received a more frightening look and are ready to catch you at every opportunity if you are not listening carefully.

Sound and atmosphere is a key feature to this latest installment of Five Nights. While you are able to run up to all the doors and either flash your flashlight down the hall or slam the door tight for sweet protection, you have to be sure you’re doing both of these things correctly. The flashlight is honestly a very powerful weapon, as ridiculous as that sounds, and it was also a well done mechanic. Your character can use the flashlight to shine down either hall if you hear the thumping sounds of Bonnie, Chica, Foxy or any other of the later enemies that come up. You will also need it to shine on the bed when tiny demented Freddies appear there, let too many get up there and you will end up getting attacked by them.

While this is all well and good, you have to know when to use your handy dandy flashlight to ward off your enemies. Once at any of the doors you must be sure to listen carefully for breathing or the electronic noises that they all create because shining your flashlight at that moment will get you killed in a horrible jumpscare, leaving your heart racing and your pants wet. The solution for this to simply hold onto that door for dear life once you hear the breathing but as I said make sure that’s what you heard because closing the door when their isn’t anyone there will also land you in some hot water too. While this is the mechanic for most of the first few nights, things change up drastically later on with the addition of some other familiar and not so familiar faces. This is something which makes the challenges you face never too unappealing or monotonous as it started to feel in the previous installment.

Perhaps the best received addition though has to be the incorporation of a stronger story. After completing each night players are transferred to an Atari style world like the ones in the previous game but these tell more about what is happening this time around. As you delve further into each night you learn more and more about the child you’re currently playing as and perhaps why he is having these bad dreams in the first place. The specifics are still left slightly up in the air as is Scott Cawthon’s trademark way of presenting the story. However, I love this aspect to the story and the way it is presented as you never truly know what is happening in these games, you must decide that for yourself.

The final feature is a something entirely new where you are allowed to advance two hours into your next night if you are able to catch a new animatronics called Plushtrap (a smaller version of Springtrap) with your flashlight and place him on a white x. It is a small but cheeky addition to the game and one that led me to feel all to confident as I stumbled into another night with my head held high, only to be sent running from my screen.

I am entirely delighted by Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 as it makes a whole new interpretation to its nightmare fueled story. The animatronics of Fazbear’s Pizza have never looked scarier as their appearances get warped and exaggerated by the mind of your young character. Features such as a much more telling story also add to what was an all around enjoyable horror experience. I find myself being a kid again and checking the darkness while I hide under the blankets, hoping that no mechanized monsters coming stumbling out of the darkness for me.

Good:

- New nightmarish forms of the animatronics

- Terrifying atmosphere

- The sound center gaming experience will creep you right out

- A more in-depth story

Bad:

- Besides the fact that it cost me a new pair of boxers, I’ve got nothing

Scully Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Five Nights at Freddy’s 3

By: Robert Murphy

It feels rather fitting that a company would come along after thirty years to the decaying ruins of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria and try to earn a quick dollar by marketing off of the mysterious deaths that took place there so many years ago. Yes, we head into the future for the third installment of Five Nights at Freddy’s but not a lot has changed considering you’re still a lowly security guard working the night shift in this new establishment. Your work conditions haven’t gotten a heck of a lot better either, dingy work environment, small little office space and the added treat of some of your electrical system malfunctioning and causing you to slowly lose oxygen and hallucinate. And the getting murdered thing too, I don’t know how that slipped my mind. This quickly brought together facility doesn’t feel like the greatest environments but that certainly added to its horrifying charm as all the haphazardly put together pieces created a psychological terror.

As I said, bits and pieces from the seemingly long forgotten Fazbear’s Pizzeria have slowly come together by the unknown owner of your new place of work, Fazbear’s Fright. The owner knows the legend and the hauntings all those years ago are sure to earn him a pretty penny on opening day, if it ever gets that far. As you look around the ten different rooms on your first night you will see old arcade style video games, tattered posters and the various disembodied pieces of the former Fazbear gang. Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy now decorate certain parts of the establishment in the hopes to scare kids and teens as they travel from start to exit. But, if they’re on the walls and decorating the place, you might be wondering what there is to worry you and this was also my big question my first night as well. Scouring the place looking for something to scare me I found nothing but then night 2 came.

Your new enemy has apparently just been found by the owners, a faulty and decaying machine that looks like Bonnie but has simply been named Springtrap due to a faulty mechanism in the suit. How the owner didn’t see the rotted corpse inside, I will never know. This horrifying Frankenstein monster is now roaming the halls and trying to get inside your cramped little office space to say “hello” and you have to stop it. The new security system appears much like the old one you had but now you also have an audio, camera and ventilation screen so you can reboot faulty systems when they inevitably break down. Your audio system is your line of defense, activating the eerie voice of Five Nights 2 character Balloon Boy in various rooms will lead Springtrap towards them and far away from you. But, as I said, the systems are faulty and will break down so you must use them wisely. Camera systems being down lets Springtrap run amuck and get close to you, audio being down leads to not being able to distract your new foe and don’t get me started on ventilation.

The terrifying factor often comes from this system going down, sometimes there is an alert to let you know to reset it and sometimes there isn’t, but you will know whether or not it breaks down when the hallucinations start. Springtrap may be your main enemy and the only one who can kill you but the hallucinations help him out greatly. Freddy, Chica, Ballon Boy, Puppet Master and Foxy all return in “shadow” versions of themselves and each have their own ways of messing with you or scaring the crap out of you. Personally, Chica was a favorite of mine, when you start to go loopy, you would see a terrifying vision of her in an arcade game and then you would exit the security monitor to find her in the room, jumping out at you. This causes your character to panic and it will deeply mess with your head, the others are just as terrifying. This new mind game aspect was quite interesting to me and felt like a great way to shack up the dynamic to the Five Nights players have come to know.

This also brings up the new aspect that you really never tried before in one of these games and that is looking around the facility. In Five Nights at Freddy’s 1 + 2, you probably spent most of your time focused on what’s in front of you or one or two rooms, not doing too much exploring do to fear and wanting not to lose focus and die. With Five Nights 3 players are more inclined to keep their eyes on the screen so they know where Springtrap is and move he/she/whatever the hell it is to where you need it to be. This helps the hallucinations grab you as you’re forced to look in the various rooms and then have the gaze of any one of your foes be upon you. Puppet Master could appear in front of you and block your access to the monitors or Foxy could shriek in your ears, messing up your audio and not allowing you to hear Springtrap get up in your face. It’s a balanced system of fear and enjoyment that I loved.

While it is enjoyable though, it does lose its appeal as you progress to later nights in the game. The problem with having a single enemy that can harm you is that things can get a little tedious once you’re use to the events each night can hold. Yes, the scares are terrifying when Chica or any of the shadow cast comes to greet you but they can’t harm you so really you just have to calm yourself and keep an eye out for good ole Springy. This also makes the harder nights appear to drag on for a bit and fear more luck based, before with the other Five Nights games you could learn to stop your foes but now the hallucinations are inevitable and you can’t prevent them so it becomes trial and error till you win. This mainly happened for me on Nightmare mode which is the 6^th Night so I was glad the tedium didn’t come any sooner than that.

In conclusion, I’m a little sad to know that Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 will most likely be the final game for the series as the ending for the game seems final and getting all the secrets throughout, ties the game up in a nice little bow. Secrets have always been hidden in these games but now their importance is much higher so keep your eyes peeled. I loved the game though for it’s new mind game angle and the genuine fear that comes across for your character now. Springtrap is also a terrifying new enemy, keeping him busy and avoiding systems errors makes the games all the more engaging and difficult. I only wish the content lasted much longer than it did, fighting off only one “real” enemy doesn’t work forever and will wear down the fun after awhile but still I’ve had a blast with this trilogy regardless.

Good:

- The new shadow enemies add a new level of terror

- Springtrap is gruesome and a fantastic enemy to face off against

- Your new environment is gritty, fun and filled with little secrets

- A few questions remain but if you reach the “true” end I believe many of the fans will be satisfied

Bad:

- The singular enemy aspect is good but in later levels it will start to drag

- You will undoubtedly build up a tolerance to the jump scares and they won’t effect you as much as you try to complete the game

Scully Rating: 8.0 out of 10 

Five Nights at Freddy's 2

By: Robert Murphy

As if the animatronic nightmare that was set forth in the first Five Nights at Freddy's wasn't enough, now the developer has released a sequel of the terrifying indie horror game onto us all. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 sounds like it would be a much more easier affair on your heart as now you have your own flash light and a Freddie mask to avoid some of the dangers but wait.....what the heck? Where are my safety doors, the little net under the trapeze wire that made me feel safe and happy. Those are gone and now you sit looking down a large hallway as doom approaches you and the doors to the left and right of you have been replaced with ventilation shafts into which the characters like to crawl through to tear your face off. The danger is now even more adrenaline provoking and Freddie and his new friends are out to get you like never before. 

Your questionable career choices seem to follow you into the sequel for Five Nights, even though the pay is a few dollars less too. A newly renovated pizza emporium awaits you here and Freddie and his pals have all been decommissioned and left half destroyed creations of terror and replaced by newer and sleeker models of their predecessors. This does not make the new Freddie and his friends any less terrifying though, technology may have made them look better but they're prettier painted faces of joy still inspired me to crap myself just as much. However, new robots also have come to this Chuck E. Cheese style nightmare, a balloon dispensing child and puppet themed creation and both bring new challenges to the game with them. The aptly named Balloon Boy doesn't really attack you in the way the other robots do, no this grinning, smiling and laughing pain in the butt will instead block the main hallway on you and not allow you to shine your flash light on his friends. This is a huge problem and makes me despise Balloon Boy more than any other as he laughs at the fact that you will soon meet your end. As for The Marionette, he is an enemy that sits in slumber in the new kiddie room for toddlers and will leave you alone as long as you keep him lulled to sleep with a music box. The box needs to be wound up every so often to avoid him from lunging out of the dark hallway right at your face, which is not easy considering everything else you have to deal with. 

Now with all the new features and enemies you might expect things to be more terrifying with it's jumpscares and you'd be right! The animatronics are now in your face in a very real way, before you never saw too much of your furry friends until they were knocking outside your door. Now though you see everything!! You shine your light down on your enemies as they come towards you, creating polarizing images of them as they slowly make there way towards you, disassembled arms stretched out and jaws wide open. What I learned though, your mask is your best friend and best line of defense you can have against all that you will face. Flipping it on at just the right time is crucial when Chica or Bonnie, really any of the nightmare gang get into your room. This fools the robots into thinking your one of their brethren, saving you from a gruesome death and allowing you to make it through another night. It however doesn't prevent you from getting scarred to death as you peer out through the eye holes at your enemies and deeply breathe in and out until they disappear like they were never even there. Why is nobody doing something to help me here?

That question brings up the fact that our friendly disembodied voice has return on your speaker phone to give you advice on surviving the five nights or week if you're feeling brave. Bravery is what is needed more than ever too as things are insanely more difficult this time around. Just like before, as the nights go on the difficulty is increased and that is to be expected but now the difficulty gets amped up quite fast, I spent hours just trying to get through night three as I switched from winding up the music box, shining my flashlight on incoming baddies and hiding for my life. The whole thing requires reflexes of steel and the gumpshun to keep trying and trying until you get through, a challenge fans I'm sure will take but new comers may find daunting. There are also some curiosities that come up in the story aspects to the game, there are still only theories as to what is happening in Five Nights like who are buddy on the phone is and why is he here in this game again. Also, there are some cut scenes between nights on the job that show you inside of a suit yourself or someone in a suit and you are looked on by Freddie and his friends, what did this mean? There are still many unanswered questions that I hope to be answered in some way but for now it's a confusing pile of information. 

Five Nights at Freddy's 2 serves as a great new challenge for returning fans of the game. The added features and dangers such as that cursed Balloon Boy, the lack of automatic doors and many more ways for you to be grabbed continues the fun and fear that you would expect for the game and makes it even better. However, the punishing level of difficulty will likely leave newcomers as well as some seasoned players to feel a drained after playing the much harder nights ahead of you and make you also think twice before trying the sixth or seventh night. This aside and my thoughts on the story elements, I still loved the sequel to Five Nights at Freddy's and wonder if there could be more in store or even more that I might have missed in this game. One way to find out, masks on everyone. 

Good:

- Still an insanely terrifying experience, if not more terrifying than before

- The new added challenges and features such as the mask and music box were all great aspects that added to the fun

- There could very well be more secrets to find in the gameplay, there always are and if you're brave enough to look, good for you

Bad:

- The difficulty level this time around can be jarring 

- Personally, I'd like some more details but I know it's hard to add into such a straight forward game to tell something of a story

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10

Five Nights at Freddy's

By: Robert Murphy

Did you ever get the feeling that those animatronic creatures at your local fun land were watching you as you walked by or maybe it was just all in your head like your parents said. Well, in Five Nights at Freddy's the robots are in fact very much alive and they're looking to add you to their ranks. The game is set in a small room in the security office of Freddy's Pizza Emporium and you have come here in the hopes of earning a quick hundred and twenty dollar paycheck for each night of work you put in. But, there's always a catch to something being this good and in this case I would rather stay at the job I have now and never trade it for anything in the world. Freddy and his animal pals want to come and stuff you inside of your own human sized bear suit and join in their merry band so you can help them bring smiles to kids faces every day. Yeah, they omitted all that in the newspaper ad. 

The object of FNAF's is quite a simple one when it gets down to it, survive the night from 12AM to 6AM before the doors open and the new day begins. Obviously though there is quite a trick to it though as Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy the pirate fox all come to life and wander the halls of the building and general terrify the living crap out of you. Your only line of defense is the automatic sliding doors, flickering light switch and the security monitors placed throughout the building. Other than that, you're just a simple man, panning your head back and forth waiting for that glorious time clock to tick over to 6AM and you see that paycheck come from the heavens. Power is the key to the whole thing, you start your nights with 100% battery life and it slowly widdles down to nothing the more you use the security monitors, lights and doors. Irregardless of your power saving usage though, the power will still go down do to the flickering light source placed in your security office and the always rotating fan, apparently out of reach for you to switch off. I vote using the power though because the alternative is to sit around waiting for your fuzzy buddies to scare the crap out of you and grab you, ending the night and your life. 

Despite the basic nature of the layout for FNAF's, the whole thing feels like an extremely devilish affair when combining the strategy that goes into planning out your battery usage and the paranoia that comes from hearing every little sound going off around you. This includes the pitter patter of footsteps coming down your hallways, the squawking sounds of Chica the chick and the general rustling that goes on as the four robots stumble about looking for you and looking for trouble. What is even worse than all this though is the false hope that the first few nights will give you, for the most part there isn't too much to fear on night 1 and night 2, if you keep your head on straight. You begin to think the whole thing is a cake walk and that's when you screw up, you forget something, maybe you forgot to check on Foxy in his pirate cove or didn't flash the lights long enough on Bonnie and then you're jumping out of your seat, screaming like a girl and needing a new pair of shorts. 

Each night as I said will get harder and harder, the animatronic gang will start moving as soon as the nights start and you never quite know just whats going to happen the next time around. The whole experience is a bit of a learning experience, in the words of Cleveland Brown "You do a little better each time" and as long as you keep your wits about you, you can make it through with a little pattern recognition. After awhile you start to see what each character is all about, what they like to do and what they will do before they make a move to come in and grab you out of your chair. This though does not make the experience any less terrifying when you think everything is going smoothly and then out of nowhere you're caught. Between that and the breathe taking moment of realization you get from not being able to close one of your automatic doors, Five Nights at Freddy's becomes a real scary affair. 

Overall, Five Nights at Freddy's is a great Indie game for anyone to pick up, whether you love scares or want to test your will power with your friends and see who can make it furthest. There isn't a lot going on in the game and there really doesn't need to be because the simplicity is what makes the game fun. The AI are not super calculating and they will follow stock paths and go through the same things but that does not make the experience any less terrifying because you just don't know when your number is up or whether or not you screwed the pooch in some way. That feeling of paranoia is probably the best feature that I can attribute to FNAF's, while you sit there in your tiny little room, you must wait and wait and wait wondering when and how they'll get you this time. 

Good:

- A paranoia and fear filled game experience

- A simple but fantastic set up as you sit patiently waiting for the nights to end

- Freddie and his crew are truly terrifying when they get up close and personal 


Bad:

- AI patterns will get figured out after awhile


Scully Rating: 8.9 out of 10  

YouTube and beyond!!

Hey everybody, a bit of bad news for the moment as the new releases for the Naruto and Bleach chapters have not been released quite yet. But the good news is we still have content to share with you all, Dibble and I both have been working to start the YouTube channel for you all and so far we hope you like what you've seen. In the first video above we both try to work as a team to beat the campaign missions for Towerfall Ascension and needless to say it doesn't go too well. Then in the second video, I make my return to Five Nights at Freddy's for night 3 and see if I can pull the tail out from between my legs long enough to survive another night. Feel free to check out some of the other videos and subscribe to our channel here. We hope to bring you even more videos and reviews with your guys support and without further staling, I'll get back to it. Peace out everyone. 

YouTube and beyond!

By: Robert Murphy

Well it looks like I can't hide from my fears any longer as I take on Freddie and his animatronic buddies in Five Nights at Freddy's. Feel free to question my manliness as I attempt to brave through the first few nights here and avoid getting murdered to the best of my abilities. We hope you all enjoy our videos as we begin to pump more and more of them out to you all, along with our regular reviews. Thank you all so much for your continued support and we'll do our best to keep giving you all what you need from the world of gaming, anime, TV and more.