SLENDERMAN: THE ARRIVAL

SLENDERMAN: THE ARRIVAL
2013
MAC PC PS3 PS4 XBOX 360 XBOX ONE
0

Slenderman originally debuted a few years ago on PC and has created quite a following thanks to the tall, skinny character that has its own mythology outside of video games. However, it hasn't really had a chance to make an impact on consoles until now, with Midnight City picking up the publishing rights.

And while the game still has a couple of good scares here and there, it just isn't quite the same beast as it was a few years ago. Something's sorely missing.

Keep Calm And Slender

In the game, you portray a guy who makes his way through a dark locale, trying to locate certain documents that go into more detail about the back story. Of course, as you might guess, things don't go as planned, and soon you have good ol' Slender to worry about. You'll have to make your way through dark surroundings if you want to get out in one piece.

Like the PS4/Xbox One release Outlast, Slender: The Arrival doesn't really give you any sort of offense to deal with. Instead, all you have is a flashlight, and you basically have to use indications with your controller (and sometimes your screen) to avoid run-ins with the Slender – which is easier said than done.

Scary, But Soon The Yawns Set In

The first couple of times you experience Slender in The Arrival, it truly does make for a spooky experience, especially when you’re trying to run away as fast as you can. However, that's really all the game is. There’s no real depth or actually any depth at all. You can probably finish the general experience within a couple of hours, with the only real motivation to go back – if at all – to collect all the items. And even then, there's no real point to it.

Slender's gameplay does okay at first, especially when it comes to the rumbling of your controller but again, there's very little to do after. Worse yet, certain limitations in the level design can be a real strain, especially when all you want to do is go further into the forest only to find that you can't. Perhaps there's some sort of ghostly power holding you back – or maybe the developers got really lazy. Either way, you'll be gritting your teeth as you shake off the shares, and that isn't the experience that Slender should be going for.

Dated Visuals Don't Impressively Scare

As for the visuals, the game is presented with a simple 3D terrain, and does make decent use of lighting at times, especially when you're shining your flashlight in a dank environment. However, there's not really as much detail as there could be, mainly due to underproduced textures. Again, that might have been what the developers had in mind, but the PS3 is certainly more capable than this. This almost looks like a cheap B-movie recreation of a horror game, rather than an experience that's right up there with Outlast.

There are moments of tense atmosphere but again, not enough to go around, and as a result, you may get bored enough with The Arrival to get out of it before you come close to finishing. So much for keeping that horror legacy alive…

Our Ratings

Overall: 4.7/10

Post by The Thoughts on 11/10/2017 - 06:53

OTHER GAMES REVIEWS

The Best Horror Game Ever - Outlast

The Best Horror Game Ever - Outlast

From beginning to end, Outlast’s graphics and audio are one of the best in a horror game. From the intensified lighting to terrifying audio, they both work together to keep the player on the edge throughout the gameplay experience. The lighting in Outlast is very dark to give the player a terrifying vibe. When traveling around, all the player has is a camera with night vision to see because the majority of the asylum is bathed in darkness. The player will be looking through the bright green lens while navigating the asylum, which adds to the tension of the game. Outlast’s horrific survival game keeps players on their toes as they make their way through an insane asylum with deranged mental patients... Read More

Ghost Theory

An Indie Video-Game First-Person, Adventure, Horror Taking you on "Ghost-Hunting and "Paranormal-Research" Featuring Real-World haunted locations! From "Prague" "Czech" "Dreadlocks Ltd" We give you today the game "Ghost Theory" "Dreadlocks Ltd" that developed before "Rune Legend" Formed in 2011 And it's most recent Release, "Dex", an action Role-Playing Game! Even though this is a horror game, ghosts won't appear without provocation! Your task is to find out ghosts and to meet their objectives You'll have many Gadgets, interacting with objects! And you'll see so much more horror! The game'll be released on "PS4", "PC" and "XONE" At Q4 2017 "Be patient! Explore! Observe!" These are the words of "Professor Frost" Your mentor and head... Read More

Overkill's The Walking Dead

Overkill's The Walking Dead

Overkill’s The Walking Dead is a tie in to the well-known series created by Robert Kirkman and to the #1 AMC hit show of the same name. The game will be incorporating the primary theme of survival horror, as well as elements like role-playing, action, and stealth; it “invites players to explore the hugely popular The Walking Dead universe, where they will play the role of survivors fending for themselves in a post apocalyptic world dominated by flesh-eating walkers.” The game will be set in the fall in Washington. Delays for Overkill Software’s anticipated co-op FPS, The Walking Dead are, at this point, unsurprising. The game was first announced back in 2014 and has been subjected to tentative... Read More

Call of Cthulhu

Developed by Cyanide Studios, Call of Cthulhu is an "upcoming RPG-investigation game," according to the game's description. In the trailer, we see private investigation Edward Pierce slowly losing grip on reality, but left unsure whether or not the things he's seeing are hallucinations... or something more.  Call of Cthulhu, the official video game of the tabletop of the same name released a trailer this week showing off its new look. From the trailer description: "In today’s trailer, plunge into the troubled mind of private investigator Edward Pierce, as his perception of reality becomes more and more skewed the closer he gets to the Great Dreamer’s sphere of influence. Clutch to your withering sanity... Read More

Among the Sleep

Among the Sleep

Think what sets Among the Sleep apart from most games is its decision to place the player in the shoes of a child. Not only that, but the game never breaks away from the conceit. This is how Among the Sleep defines itself amongst the horror landscape. Written words are merely gibberish, everything is too big and too high, and the only constant in the child’s journey to save his mysteriously absent mother is a talking teddy bear. All of these aspects combine to create a sense of innocent terror; forget the fact that there is a shadowy figure prowling the environments you roam. There is a lot to love about the way Among the Sleep presents itself, but it is also a game that attempts to have a ... Read More

The Evil Within

The Evil Within

I end up rather clashed about The Evil Within, the most recent game from Resident Evil maker Shinji Mikami. This may well be on account of The Evil Within is from multiple points of view a clashed game all by itself. It is at the same time a reverence to and a separating from Mikami’s most basically acclaimed creation, the splendid Resident Evil 4.  It is goal-oriented yet likewise preservationist, actually radiant yet additionally frustratingly confined. It contains many incredible little minutes, yet winds up feeling like short of what the entirety of its parts. So it is maybe obvious that I was both excited and frustrated by it. This inquisitive mixture of respect and repudiation is clear inside the diversion’s initial... Read More