Slender: The Arrival (Video Game Review)

Slender: The Arrival is a new survival horror title from Blue Isle Studios and Midnight City. The release comes a year after the game first arrived for Steam with brand new console content that expands on the game's storyline with expanded missions. The game is a fun title with plenty of scares, but a bit of repetitive gameplay and some frustrating sections of gameplay upset the game's immersiveness and makes the game not nearly as fun as it could have been. Horror fans will still enjoy the release though, and the game marks the first appearance of the Slender Man on consoles, so it's well worth a look for gamers that have yet to experience this horror series.

Slender: The Arrival arrive two years after the initial release of Slender: The Eight Pages in Summer 2012. The new storyline follows a realtor named Lauren that finds herself running for her life instead of selling her friend's home as she thought she was doing when heading to work that day. The game delves deeper into the Slender Man mythology, as players learn more about how the terrifying entity came into existence and where the character first appeared throughout history. The narrative is interesting for fans of the Slender Man and all of his creepy pasta inspired antics.

In Slender: The Arrival, players navigate a variety of new locations including abandoned houses, sunny hillsides and dark caves. Players experience the game armed with a flashlight and camcorder as the only means to see through the darker areas of the game, and enemies seen through the game are essentially invulnerable and must be avoided at all costs. This musters up real feelings of horror, dread and tension for players during the game, as they are completely helpless against the monsters lurking nearby.

Many objectives throughout the game boil down to running through a centralized area in search of a collection of items needed to progress through the area. These include missions such as finding and starting all of the generators in the mines level in order to power a way out of the haunted caves. Unfortunately, this makes Slender: The Arrival feel fairly repetitive and also similar to the original game that had players tracking pieces of paper in the woods in order to complete that title. Slender: The Arrival is scary enough so that players will not really notice the repetitive nature of the game while playing, but once the game has been completed for the first time, players will notice the game feels a bit like a bunch of fetch and collect quests combined for an hour or two of gameplay.

Slender: The Arrival also has some problems in enemy design. Slender Man does a good job of scaring players through different sections of the game with his trademarked static feed that picks up the closer the enemy gets to the player. Other enemy encounters in the game are less frightening and more annoying though. The mines level of the game has players running from an enemy that is unfairly quick and can come out of nowhere to slash the player to death and force a restart. When the deaths start mounting up, the game begins losing its magic to the point players will be brute forcing their way through the chapter and start enjoying the game again.

The new content extends Slender: The Arrival by about an hour. Players will experience two new chapters for the game's main campaign in the new content. The content isn't console exclusive, and it can be downloaded on Steam for owners of the original game. Players will experience extended levels and battle against an all new servant of the Slender Man enemy that is sure to scare the crap out of all players.

Slender: The Arrival does a fantastic job of setting an atmosphere that is exciting to explore for gamers. The title looks good and fantastic sound design will have players constantly turning and looking to see what is behind them. Dripping water, creaky floorboards and more make each step taken in the game something to fear. Slender Man himself is just as creepy, and seeing his dark silhouette out of the corner of a player's eye is more than enough to send the player scrambling away in the darkness.

Slender: The Arrival is a horrifying experience that has finally made its way to consoles. Gamers will want to pick up the new release to experience all new content that has been created just for the new release. Players will learn more about the history of the Slender Man in the new title, and there are plenty of scares to help players overlook the shortcomings the game presents. Slender: The Arrival is a horrifying thriller experience that should be experienced by all fans of the horror genre. Look for Slender: The Arrival on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC today!

Slender: The Arrival is now available for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Steam and can be purchased for $9.99. Slender: The Arrival is rated T by the ESRB for Violence & Blood. For more information on the game, check out the official Slender: The Arrival website.

Game Features:

• Single Player
• Includes Extended Levels and Storyline for Consoles
• Discover the Secrets of the Slender Man
• Steam Trading Card Support
• Trophy/Achievement Support

Game Information:
Developer: Blue Isle Studios
Publisher: Midnight City
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (reviewed) & PC
Release Date: September 23, 2014

Score: 8 out of 10