The terrifying urban legend "Slender Man" is almost a household name in the United States, Slender means slim and slender, so the image of Slender man is a slender man, who always wears an all-black suit and haunts the deserted forest.
The face is completely devoid of facial features, and the slender body that does not resemble a human at all, the image of this horror legend is deeply rooted in the minds of many people. It is said to be able to extend dark tentacles, has the ability to teleport, and likes to hunt children.
Eight pages
The first-person horror game "Slender Ghost: Arrival" is based on the legend of Slider Man. In the early version of the game, Slender: Eight Pages, players will control a little girl to find 8 notes in the dark forest, collect them and pass the level.
However, in the process of collecting, it is necessary to carefully avoid The Slender Man, this terrifying and strange suit monster will move instantaneously, suddenly emerge coldly, and once it is seen, it will immediately shift its gaze, and if it is too long or too close, it will be caught in an instant. As the slips are collected, the more frequently Slender Man appears and the closer the teleportation location is to the player.
The experimental work was a huge success, and the authors expanded the game further, collaborating with other studios, and finally launched Slender Ghost: Arrival, the core experience of the game is very similar to Eight Pages, players must be under the pressure of a horror atmosphere, in an open environment to find specific items or achieve specific goals.
The game excels in graphics, special effects, and sound, and under the foundation of Eight Pages, the horror experience is further enhanced, and players will dodge Slender Man and other terrifying creatures in a dark and eerie environment. This game is based on jump scare ( Jump Scare ) and supplemented by atmosphere creation, which presents an extremely strong fear experience to the player.
A variety of techniques to trigger the player's deepest fears
Let's take a closer look at the game's fear tactics, based on Eight Pages, where players must look for specific items (such as notes) or operate switches in a spooky environment, which is usually not small and open-ended. The game's big selling point: Slender Man, will use teleportation to haunt the player nearby, once the Slender Man appears in the field of vision, the screen will begin to distort, noise appear, accompanied by eerie sound effects, once glimpsed, you will quickly turn your head and pull your legs and run wildly, staring too long or staying in place will soon be caught.
This design creates a frightening game experience, the player will stare at any wind and grass in the screen, creating the player's tense emotions; the uncertainty of not knowing when will appear, making the player suspicious; under these atmospheres of fear, it is impossible to turn around and escape, but to complete specific goals, so that the play is stressed, and under the fusion of these multiple emotions, the effect will be very strong when frightened. The level of this game in creating fear is very high, which is quite commendable.
Fear is in front of your eyes, and you can't escape it
In the past, when I played such horror games, I held the mentality of early death and early super life, and dared to meet these thrilling bridges and seek a quick decision. However, in this game, many times the player has no way to quickly end a thriller experience, the player must achieve specific goals to go to the next level, these goals are randomly scattered in a wide range of scenes, players need to constantly bear these horror atmospheres, blind scene search, can present a feeling of despair and helplessness.
The difficulty of the game itself is quite high, there are two levels are typical "Eight Pages" levels, in the process of collecting 8 pieces of paper, the more paper pieces are collected, the easier it is for Slender Man to emerge at close range, often on the eve of achieving the goal game over, once caught is to start over, most of the levels are not saved inventory. Difficult and terrifying itself is the intention of the designer, the purpose is not to let the player survive the horror bridge at once, forcing the player to continue to try in the horror atmosphere, "see how long you can last".
However, I believe that there are benefits to creating a trial-and-error experience that is prone to failure, but sometimes it can ruin the experience of fear, because players will begin to "get used to" this fear method (PewDiePie is much calmer when playing this game). For some players, the frustration of consecutive failures may begin to "replace" the horror experience, which has both advantages and disadvantages.
summary
The fear experience brought by this "Slender Ghost: Arrival" makes the author quite satisfied, the screen special effects, sound effects, background music are very outstanding, the presentation is very strong, its fear level is no less than "F.E.A.R.", "Escape" and other classic works, very recommended for fans who love horror games, but the game hours are short is the fatal wound of this work, and the difficult design of some levels may also destroy the fear experience.
If you are not interested in high difficulty, or want to keep the fear experience fresh, it is recommended to play in simple mode. Most of the thriller experience in this game is achieved by instant fright (for example, when you turn your head, Slender Man is behind you), the atmosphere creation is only an aid, and it is better for players who are not acceptable for this technique to touch less.