LOWDOWN:
Lost in the forest, you seek out the lost 8 pages of the manuscript with nothing but a flashlight. Written on these 8 pages are parts of a story of the local internet myth, Slender Man, a man who simply follows and watches you, slowly entrancing you with his stare, driving you to insanity until you can do nothing but stand there and stare yourself to death. Welcome to the world of internet freeware game Slender from Parsec Productions.
Slender Man is an entity that follows the player. He resembles a tall, skinny man dressed in a dark-colored suit with a featureless pale, white face. Slender Man appears far away at first, and proceeds to get closer with every additional note that the player collects. He will also teleport to catch up to the player, and may even fully disappear from view at times. Nowhere is safe, as he can show up anywhere at any time, though he is often found trailing slightly behind the player. As the Slender Man gets nearer, the camera's recording will start to become distorted. If the Slender Man gets too close, the screen will fade to complete static, the Slender Man's face will appear on the recording, and the game will end. 
Slender is a short game that is graphically on par with a high school gaming project from 2001, however do not let that deter you. One part Alan Wake, one part atmosphere of Fatal Frame, you are on the edge of your seat as you seek out the manuscripts. This game is entirely built upon the tension it creates as you walk around, there are no attacks, no special moves or fancy cut scenes. Slender relies entirely on your fear. It is just you and the ever watching eyes of the Slender Man. Slender, it is without a doubt, the scariest game I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing. Just finishing the brief game’s only task (find all 8 notes) is a marathon of mental perseverance. I wanted to give up on more than one occasion because I was so creeped out. The game is incredibly simple and I think that’s part of its genius. You walk through the woods, abandoned buildings and stranded farm equipment in search of eight notes left behind by somebody. Each note reveals a little bit more about the Slender Man and each note picked up results in an increase in intensity. In terms of audio there’s a sound of your character’s heartbeat, her footsteps, wind blowing through the trees and that’s about it. You’re given a flashlight, no way of defending yourself, and the ability to sprint. The game is set in a first person perspective, making it all the more horrific. Slender does what most horror movies almost never get right: pacing, tension and atmosphere. I don’t want to give anything away because this game relies entirely upon the tension created and the payoffs, but if you shut the light off, turn up the sound and focus you will have a wonderful time.
the game is free to download and free to play at www.slendergame.com. I would highly recommend anyone who wants to burn an hour or two playing a game to download this as soon as possible.
5 templar crosses out of 5
It is a thing of beauty in terms of creating a feeling without depending on graphics. We are becoming spoiled with great graphics and forgetting that sometimes the best scares come from the things we can’t see.
No comments:
Post a Comment
COMMENT POLICY
We’re all here for the same reason: to share information, to discuss all things pop-culture, to better ourselves as writers, directors, cinematographers, producers, photographers... whatever our creative pursuit happens to be.
Criticism is valuable as long as it is "constructive", but personal attacks are grounds for deletion; you don't have to agree with us to learn something. We’re all here to help each other, so thank you for adding to the conversation!