Five Nights at Freddy's Is the New Standard For Horror Games

Five Nights at Freddy's is a new horror game that has helped revive the genre. The near viral nature of the game has made it a phenomenon. What is it about this game that captivates it's audience in such a way?

[uth11]

Really? I've heard mixed reviews about this game.

[Somebody]

You sit there and wait for scary stuff to jump at you? That's the new standard of horror games- Jump-Scare Simulators?

[Akira2020]

I tried to sit through his video....I really did. But after watching about 5 minutes of it, I just wanted to choke out a hamster.

[Samuel-Rodrigues]

If the title of the article is at all accurate then that is not good news for the genre in my opinion, it's definitely a hit of a game no matter which way you look at it, and simplistic gameplay is often a positive thing in horror, but to this extent? There's feeling helpless because of an intentionally limited control scheme like Silent Hill for example, and then there's just flat out feeling un-involved.

[DragoonsScaleLegends]

All the kids(brothers and sisters) at my house are in love with this game and know all of the characters names. They even built these characters in their Minecraft worlds. I still don't understand the popularity of this game and when I first heard them talking about it I thought it was about Freddy Krueger but I wasn't even close to being correct. Also if any game reignited or set a new standard in the horror genre this year I would say PT was as close as it comes to that.

[Summons75]

No, just no....

There is barely any gameplay, they rely on jump scares which is the weakest form of "horror" and honestly isn't horror at all, the story is weak and not compelling at all.

[blakstarz]

I played this on my tablet and I found it boring and uninstalled it. If this is the new definition of horror, then we are in trouble.

[Darth Gamer]

Exactly what everyone above me is saying. This is definitely not the new standard and if it was, the horror genre is in deep trouble. My children used to play this game when it first came out. After watching for a good 5 minutes, I was ready to shoot myself. Boring as hell and absolutely no game play. They sat there and clicked 2 buttons on screen to turn on a light and close a metal door. Other than that, they watched simulated screens of a Chucky Cheese. I own every system made in the last 20 years and probably over 300 games for them and this is what my children choose to play. So Sad.

[electricrabbit]

" The thing is, if you just breeze through this game and not thinking
about it, only viewing the jump scares as “those things that are in all
horror media” then you’ll be missing out on what makes this game a
bizarre masterpiece of horror. It sets up the atmosphere so the player
will be unsettled, but only by further investigation can the player be
truly frightened. "

[Avaril]

All the comments about not understanding why kids like it so much remind me an awful lot of old people complaining about rock & roll. And D&D. And movies. While the title may have been a bit exaggerated, the gaming audience has changed a lot since the days of Silent Hill, and naturally the newcomers will bring new tastes with 'em. Old-fashioned horror games won't go away (at least not any more than they already have), there will just be another type aimed at a different audience.

And on the topic of jump scares: those aren't the Big Scary Thing™ of the game, it's only the game over screen. You KNOW they're coming, but you don't know when and how, and that's what creates the atmosphere, or at least the surface layer of it.

[RavenKingSage]

Lol @ commenters who obviously didn't read the article past the title

If you seriously see the game as nothing but a shallow jump scare fest, you're missing the point. The point is the atmosphere leading up to the jump scares, the usage of uncanny valley versions of pieces of our childhood in the form of these creepy animatronics, and the feeling of helplessness. Five Nights At Freddy's delivers more genuine horror than Resident Evil has delivered in some time.

[blakstarz]

I can see what everyone is saying in defense to this, but to me this game just reminds of the trite new trend of horror movies that is being labeled as "found footage" (watching through a camcorder lens and have a few jumps come out) the game is not really that unsettling and the "jump and boo" tactics may work for some, but not for others.

I won't knock the game since it has a following of sorts, but I just can't get into it, looking at the animatronics just don't have that scare to me, it anything it reminds me of Foozy bear from The Muppet's.