By Jack Acebedo
What do you think of when you hear “Five Nights at Freddy’s”? The immense amount of success and recognition it got? The immersive and creepy atmosphere it creates? Perhaps, the mysterious backstory? Well, if your answer was “What the hell is this game?!” I’m here to provide answers.
The Lead Developer
Not much is known about Scott Cawthon’s personal life, other than his mother got him some special game-development software when he was 13 or 14, he lives with his family in Texas, and his children were the beta-test team for both games. His professional life however, is a much different story. He’s been developing games for a long time, but he started doing it professionally around 2007. His three most influential games were “The Legacy of Flan”, his very first game, and the two that were key players in the creation of Five Nights, “Chipper & Sons Lumber Co.” and “Sit ‘N Survive”. Sit ‘N Survive introduced the idea of the main character sitting in one place, defending from attackers. And when Chipper & Sons Lumber Co. came out, all of the critics stated that the animals “looked too animatronic”. This event caused Scott to go into a depression, and almost stop making games completely. He then decided to use this to his advantage, and thus the Five Nights at Freddy’s series, was born!
The Story
In terms of story, the details are vague. What I can tell you is, in the first game, you play as Mike Schmidt (no, not the baseball player you dummy!) As Mike you apply for a job at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, “Where fantasy and fun come to life!” Yeah… right.
This franchise was inspired by places such as Showbiz Pizza and Chuck E Cheese. This pizzeria however, has had a dark and violent past. The head security guard, your boss, is voiced by the creator himself Scott. In talks with your boss he references an incident known as “The Bite of ’87”, where an animatronic lashed out and bit a person’s frontal lobe. There are also several posters referencing another instance where someone lured kids to the back room using a golden Freddy Fazbear suit, and murdered them. There were even rumors of a previous location that was shut down due to health issues. Parents complained of the suits smelling like “Decomposing Corpses” and some noticing blood and mucus leaking from the mouth and eyes of the animatronics. In the 2nd game, you play as Jeremy Fitzgerald, he has gotten a job at “the new and improved version” of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. This new location has no doors! There is also more than twice the amount of the animatronics. There could be anywhere from 5 to 10 animatronics that attack you on certain nights! The old animatronics from the first game lay scrapped in the back, In favor of the newer, “kid friendly” animatronics with new features like facial recognition, which is connected to a criminal database, able to detect predators from a mile away. I won’t spoil what happens in the second game, but it’s a classic twist done right! And I love all the theories that have come out of it!
The Gameplay
The gameplay factors from both games are fairly similar, with minor differences to keep each game fun and interesting! The idea is that you have to work from 12 am to 6 am, and survive your shift. Why do I say survive you ask? The head security guard that calls you on most nights says that the animatronics, when in night mode, will not recognize Mike or Jeremy as people, and will see them as bare endoskeletons without costumes on. Since this is apparently not allowed at this establishment, they will try to forcibly stuff you into a Freddy Fazbear suit, filled with crossbeams and wires that will cause death to the player.
What is the only way to prevent this gruesome death? Keep an eye out for the animatronics, monitor them, and if they get close, close the doors to the office! But be careful! Your power only has so much juice! So make sure to conserve your energy. The animatronics will become more active as the week progresses. So you should sharpen your senses as the game continues. “But wait Jack!” you say, “You said in the second game there are NO doors!” I was telling the truth, the way to make up for that in the second game is that the location is considerably larger, giving more space between you and the ‘bots.
Another new mechanic to help you keep you safe is the empty Freddy Fazbear mask, which will fool most animatronics under the right circumstances.
There are two animatronics in the second game that completely ignore the mask, one you have to stop by flashing a flashlight at it, the other you have to pacify by winding a music box that keeps it stationary.
Anyways, I hope you found this article informative, and make sure to play the game. I played all of 1 minute, before pissing myself like a little baby. Happy hiding readers, oh and watch out for the Mangle…
“OH GOD IT’S SO SCARY!” – RaptorJack 2015
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