Need a very short term summer job? Some easy money in your pockets? Come work at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza! It’s fun for the whole family… or is it? I bring you all Five Nights at Freddy’s. It’s a simple horror game in which you have been hired as the third shift security guard at Feddy Fazbear’s. It’s not much pay but all you have to do is keep an eye on some old animatrons. Piece of cake, right? I really wish it was. Instead it’s a job that takes it’s tole on your nerves and leaves you wanting to check your doors.
When you start the game, you are greeted by the guard before you as he was so kind to record messages for you. The previous guard, known to fans as Phone Guy, gives you the legally required welcome speech and informs you that the animatrons are set to a free wander mode for the sake of their servos not locking up. This wouldn’t be so bad if, at night, they assumed everyone is a robot and if they catch you then they’ll assume you’re a skeleton without a costume and so kindly put you in one. Yet, that’s not all. The costumes are filled with machinery and crossbeams. So after they stuff you into a suit, all that will see the light of day are your loose eyes and teeth.
Such a grim end for a family friendly restaurant, isn’t it? And so your watch begins.
As you play, the Phone Guy leaves you messages on the following nights, which paired with news articles on the restaurant halls, unveils a dark history of the Chuck-E-Cheese-esque establishment. First you hear of the bite of ’87 in which one of the animatrons bit off the frontal lobe of a customer. While the customer survived, the event has since tarnished the reputation of the restaurant. Other articles tell of a man dressing as Freddy himself and luring five children into one of the back rooms and murdering them. Though the killer was caught, none of the bodies were ever found. This has led to a few fan theories of the characters being possessed by the dead children. This is enforced by an article claiming that Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza is being shut down for sanitation issues because the animatrons has a reported odor along with blood and mucus around their eyes. Another theory is that there was no killer and the man caught was innocent, pinning the murder on Freddy himself. Whatever the true cause, there are a lot of dark things surrounding this restaurant. One can really only take solace in the rules of Freddy Fazbear’s and that only means so much.
As much as I’d love to tell you about the characters, Bonnie, Chica, Freddy, and Foxy, I fear that would give too much away and potentially spoil some of the novelty the game provides. The controls are all mouse driven and the focus is resource management more than anything. Checking your cameras, using door lights, and shutting down your doors to keep Freddy and his friends out all drain power. Once your power reaches 0%, everything goes out and you’re at the mercy of the animatrons. You win when you complete your six hour shift and survive all five night at freddy’s. Yet, there is one thing you have to ask yourself. Are you ready for Freddy?
[Warning:] Video is NSFW and contains heavy language and jumpscares. You can watch me play Five Nights at Freddy’s here.