Gameplay
Slender: The Arrival offers a single player campaign that consists of five chapters, a secret level that gives us clues from events prior to the main campaign, and a hardcore mode with an alternative ending.
The game starts with Lauren visiting her friend Kate after her mother has died. After parking her car at the head of the driveway, she walks down a path to Kate’s home but the sight of a door left open is no good sign. Kate is nowhere to be found, and there are drawings and wall-scratchings hinting at the Slender Man. When Lauren finds Kate’s room, a drawn-out scream is heard from the back gate. Taking a flashlight with her, she leaves the house to investigate.
The majority of the game takes place in abandoned areas (house, defunct mine, etc.), and each stage plays out essentially the same. You search for a certain number of items/notes/generators while avoiding Mr Slender. As you find more of these collectibles Slender gets more aggressive.
The game uses similar mechanics to its predecessor, The Eight Pages, and even though there are no fights, no puzzles to solve, the game manages to create a feeling of constant anxiety from the beginning until the very end. The limited defense forces as your character is armed only with a flashlight give a sense of helplessness, as the best way to survive in the game is to run whenever in danger. All these are presented through the lens of a handheld camera, probably a nod to modern found footage horror movies.
The Slender Man’s behavior changes slightly between levels. In level one, he is seen at most once, but as the game progresses he can also teleport off-screen or just out of the character’s line of sight. Furthermore, the range of enemies has been increased but now they’re all capable of killing you instantly and without warning
Speaking of deaths compared to the first game the death screen is entirely different. While in Slender: The Eight Pages, the player saw a white static background with his faceless head, the one for Slender: The Arrival is black, with an overhead-lit and color-distorted hue. Unlike The Eight Pages, you don’t need to start over each time Slender catches you. You can start at the any of the stages you have unlocked
The Arrival will take you around 2-3 hours to complete, but there are reasons to replay it a Hardcore difficulty mode will unlock when you beat the game offering you also a secret level.
Conclusion
Slender: The Arrival continues what Eight Pages had done and that is to terrify you, this time with a campaign, improved graphics and enemy A.I as well as a few nice surprises. You might felt that it would be possible for Slender to get “more scary” but somehow ParsecProductions did it. The constant feeling that you have a story behind everything, manages to give you enough chills.
Slender: The Arrival is currently available for the mac and the game, without added extras, costs $10. For $15, you get the game and it’s soundtrack. For $20, you get the game, the game’s soundtrack, and 5 downloadable high resolution paintings from the game.
Gameconnect Rating: 8.0
