Review: Five Nights at Freddy's (2014)

'Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike.'

★★★★

When one thinks of horror games, "Five Nights at Freddy's" is a common response. It has become such an iconic, household name that if anyone hears it, they'll know what you're talking about. In honor of its 10th anniversary, I've decided to write a review of this beloved video game.

"FNAF" was developed and published by retired video game developer Scott Cawthon. Prior to "FNAF," Cawthon wasn't as successful as he is today. In 2013, Cawthon released a game called "Chipper & Sons Lumber Co.," which performed terribly. Due to the overwhelming criticism, Cawthon became depressed. Critics and players thought the characters were unintentionally "creepy" and resembled "scary" animatronics. Later, during his depression, he decided to take those criticisms and create "Five Nights at Freddy's." That is when Scott Cawthon's career finally took off.

"FNAF" is a survival horror game unlike anything else. The game takes place in a pizzeria called "Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria," where the player takes on the role of a night guard named Mike Schmidt, who watches the place from 12 AM to 6 AM. The game consists of five nights, plus two extra nights. Completing the five nights unlocks a 6th and 7th night. As the nights progress, the game becomes harder. Your office has two doors and door lights, which are considered "blind spots" in your camera view. However, since the building is old and on a low budget, the power is limited. This means you must use your power wisely. A power outage results in a game-over.

The game's characters include four animatronics, the night guard (the player), and the "phone guy." Each animatronic is an animal: Freddy is a bear, Bonnie is a bunny, Chica is a chicken, and Foxy is a pirate fox. The player is you, and the "phone guy" is basically your friend in the game. Throughout nights 1-4, the "phone guy" leaves messages for you, giving you tips and info on the animatronics. He's just wrapping up his last week, so he thought it would be best to help out the new guy. The "phone guy" is voiced by Scott Cawthon. During night 4's phone call, the "phone guy" is presumed to be killed, as you hear in the recording. Nobody knows what happened to the "phone guy" exactly, or if his body was ever found. During the fifth night, the player is left with a strange phone call. It features a disturbing and scary voice. In the beginning, it kinda sounds like "you’re wasting your time looking through the stuffed animatronics." I have no idea what that's about. But here's something interesting: if you reverse it and make the pitch higher, you can hear an excerpt from a book called "Autobiography of a Yogi." I don't know if Scott intended that, but it's cool nonetheless. My guess is since the passage it comes from talks about metal more or less having a life force, it lines up with the whole "possessed robots" angle. In other words, the five dead children in the suits.

This game is a masterpiece. It's simple, fun, difficult in the right way, and the building block for the rest of the series. Ever since its release, theories and gameplays have been featured all over YouTube. YouTubers like Markiplier and Game Theory received a huge boost in popularity because of this game. It's not perfect, though, even though I called it a masterpiece. Nothing in this world is perfect. Things can be masterpieces, but not perfect. It's been 10 years, and here's to another 10 years of FNAF!