Developer: Blue Isle Studios
Platforms: Epic, PC (Reviewed), PS5, Xbox Series S/X
Genre: Action, Adventure
Publisher: Blue Isle Publishing
Slenderman: The Arrival is an upgrade of the sequel game released in 2013. This game is a sequel to the original game, Slender: The Eight Pages game, which was released in 2012. Slenderman: The Arrival is a first-person survival horror game. The game was developed by Blue Isle Studios and Parsec Productions. It is published by Blue Isle Studios and Midnight City. This review was done for the PC, but the game is also available for all other gaming platforms.
Slenderman: The Arrival is a long-waited upgrade of the original game made back in 2013, marking its 10th anniversary. Back in the day, this game would have so much hype around it, with many players streaming and making videos on it. This game features the core of a good horror game, which lies in the character, The Slender Man. Slenderman is the horrifying, stalking presence of a boogeyman character that everyone is now familiar with. The character design is unique as it is depicted as a tall, thin, faceless figure dressed in a black suit. It is portrayed as having long, slender arms, which adds more to its eerie appearance. This game focuses on a story in which the main character, Lauren, goes back to her old home and has to find her childhood friend as she hears a mysterious scream. Through this, you explore the vastness of the dark forest and try to look for clues whilst avoiding Slenderman at all costs.
The controls for this game are extremely simple when playing on the PC. When starting the game, you go through a tutorial as you explore the area, and the controls are generally easy to get a hold of. As you progress more through the game, other controls are taught, like blinding with the flashlight and zooming in with your camera. Overall, the controls work really smoothly, but there does seem to be a little lag or hiccup with the rendition of the game at times. I am not entirely sure if it is intended due to the perspective of the game, but even if it isn’t, it adds more eerie character to the game.
I remember watching people play the very first Slender game, and the visuals back then were terrifying because it was all pixelated and had a lighter rendition to it, which made the back more scary. Even though that was the case back then, with the visual enhancement, this game has captured the feeling of being there. In a way, the visuals of the game remind me of the visuals from The Forest. I really like the take on the camera border and having the ability to zoom in, as it gives more realistic features to the game. The visuals are beyond clean and realistic, and with the sound design makes the game more scary. The environment you play in is so much larger. The game has more to it than just the dark forest; it has areas such as creepy mines and abandoned homes/construction sites, which gets the player to really survive. The lighting is also kept to a good level as it makes the atmosphere more spooky. I would have to say that what sells the game is definitely the sound design. When playing this game with a headset on, the surround sound is unreal. At times, I get paranoid about whether I’m hearing my footsteps or if it’s Slenderman approaching me from within the trees. The footsteps are loud and vivid. The noises from various characters are so clear and crisp. The soundtrack is so ambient, with jarring noises that really send a shiver down your spine because you never know when Slenderman will pop right in front of you.
The game has nine different levels to it, each story-driven with similar mechanics. Sometimes, it can be you collecting a bunch of pages or starting up generators. The main premise is not to encounter Slenderman, and if you do, you can just try again. Once you’ve started the game, it’s honestly hard to get out of it because the story is also quite interesting, and it gets the player wanting to know what Slenderman’s purpose really is. There are also some extra chapters that can be played once completely in the first nine chapters. I also enjoyed the faceless pumpkins that you could collect. Each pumpkin had a mysterious riddle to it, which I found amusing to try to collect without getting killed.
I really enjoyed this game as it brought back the memories of when Slenderman was such a hype, and I think this game coming back now is perfect. It really does capture that good, first-person survival horror game with a creepy-looking entity. Everything in this game, from the choice of text font, the opening drawing scene, and the atmospheric noises, just brings the scare to life. In a way, it also causes panic where you really don’t want to be encountering Slenderman. I would say that the jumpscares in the game are not that scary, but the overall experience is terrifying. Trust me, the best way to play this game is in a dark room with a headset on that’ll get you scared. There’s more story to this game, and the game has a great ability to be played more than once. The replay value of this game is good because secret items and collectables also randomise at each new turn, so things are never in the same place, which makes it more difficult for players. This game does justice to a perfect survival horror game, and it’s a relatively good length for its price.
Even if you’ve never heard of Slenderman, or maybe you have, you are going to want to check this game out. Slenderman: The Arrival is a perfect remake of its original game that captures stunning visuals, an atmospheric soundtrack, one of the most eerie characters to exist and a thrilling story. The game is worth the horror experience and is definitely worth picking up right around the time of Halloween.
Overall: 9/10
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