Slender: The Eight Pages was a fantastic game, but since it was free, it wasn’t a very big game. Slender: The Arrival is a sequel which builds upon the original in every way (although, unlike its prequel, it is not free.)
The game follows several different characters who are investigating strange goings on in a small mining town. At first you’re exploring the house of a woman who disappeared and you go on from there into the nearby woods. You end up exploring all kinds of different places, like the mountains and the mine itself and all of them are very eerie locations. The whole time you have the persistent risk supernatural horrors lurking in the shadows. Many of the locations are very beautiful too, calming even, which perhaps makes the horrific things that happen even more potent.
Like the previous game, everything you see and do is through the perspective of “found footage” which helps to make the whole experience much more real and immersive. Many of the game’s locations are really dark too and all you have to light your way is your torch – the limited visibility ends up making things even more tense.
One thing I’ve not really drawn enough attention to is how frightening this game is. I’ve honestly never consumed a piece of media which frightened me more – and I love that! The combination of the cryptic story, the perfect sound direction and horrifying surprises help to create an amazing piece of horror fiction. There’s a particular scene in a church which I found especially scary, but obviously I don’t want to spoil it.
You might think that you shouldn’t play this game without first playing Slender: The Eight Pages, but actually there’s a segment of the game which is essentially a remake of it and since everything in this game is better than its predecessor, you’re not missing out on anything by jumping straight in with this one. As it’s quite cheap and a really great game, you should download it next time you’re looking for a new game. The only downside is that, while longer than the first Slender game, it still felt too short.
Rating: 9/10
(Don’t miss today’s Finger Puppet Show!)
