Slender is one of those rare games that go under most people’s radar, and this is a huge problem. Slender gives more scares than most other games in the same genre for less than what you would pay for its competition.
The whole objective of the game is to collect eight pages hidden around on one of the game world’s ten major landmarks within a pitch black forest. Collecting these pages is no easy feat either, as you will be hunted from the time you pick up the first page.
The Slender Man is a supernatural being that follows the player as they go about their mission of acquiring these pages. The Slender Man is portrayed as a tall, thin man with long arms wearing a black suit and a pure white face, with no distinguishable facial features. It isn’t how he looks that makes the game so scary however; it is more of the game tapping into the player’s fear of being stalked and alone in the dark with nothing to be able to stop it.
The Slender Man gets closer and closer the more pages you collect, eventually getting close enough to turn you around and end the game. Even if you are caught or if you stare at the Slender Man for too long your screen will become distorted by static and a loud screeching noise will play, signaling the end of the game and presumably your death to come.
The only real downside to the game is there is no way to win. Even if you collect all eight pages the Slender Man will still catch you. However once you do collect the pages the player will unlock a daytime mode, which has the same objective but without the creeping darkness and a flashlight as your best friend. However anyone wanting to experience daytime mode in Slender Man should hurry, as it has been deemed a bad game mechanic by the developers and community, and is being planned to be removed from the game in an upcoming patch.
The game looks great for being a free download; the world is detailed quite well giving the sense of being in a real forest. The landmarks are easily distinguishable from the rest of the environment and are still good looking from farther away. However if you want to get picky and in-depth, you will notice that the game is heavily pixilated.
Sound is simple within the game and suits the horrific state of mind the game suggests like a glove. The only noises you’ll notice are from the ambiance of the forest and the heavy footsteps of the Slender Man stalking you every which way. These footsteps sound extremely creepy and make you want to run away as fast as possible from them—however, the Slender Man doesn’t like this idea and stays with you no matter what.
Overall Slender is an enjoyable experience if you are feeling brave late at night while alone in the dark. You will jump and some players do cry, but try it anyway and you won’t be disappointed.
Review by
Brandon Morgan
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Very interesting. I myself am a complete pansy when it comes to scary games. Slender makes me think of Amnesia, you can’t fight off enemies; you have to run for your life and hide! Hearing the Slender Man stalking you in the shadows everywhere you go sounds very unnerving, but I find it odd that you can’t win. Is the daytime mode the only reward you get?
I can’t do scary games either. The first Resident Evil kept me awake for a flippin’ month as a kid.
Exactly. I have a hard enough time sleeping as it is! I don’t see the appeal of playing a game that gives you nightmares for a week.
Yea only daytime for winning, that was the biggest reason I didn’t give the game a perfect score. I could definitely see them improving upon the game and adding more to it, most likely making it a purchasable game.
Yeah. They may add on something else with the patch that gets rid of the daytime bonus.
I love anything horror. I’m not very good at them because of that though, when I played Amnesia I tried chasing the monsters down and killing them, couldn’t bring myself to get into it.
Played the game and damn near shat myself. It’s a very slow paced game… But you don’t really know when its going to happen…
Play the game to find out what I am talking about!
holy shit the game is so scary i palyed it at night last night with my brother……………….ahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahaha….. it was so scary
It is pretty terrifying. If you want true terror, you should definitely check out Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
Can he attack?
I have see him
He doesn’t attack per say… he just follows you around until he catches you. So you better be swift in collecting those pages!