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You can argue till the cows come home about the origins of certain monsters. True, Dracula may be the most famous vampire out there, but he was by no means the first. Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla pre-dated Stoker's tale, and there are those who despite even this origin. Slender Man, on the other hand, can be traced all the way back to.. er, 2009. Yes, the tall faceless business-suit wearing bogeyman that is the chief bad guy of Slender: The Arrival was in fact thought up just five years ago, in an attempt to create a new urban legend.
And now, here he is, in his own game. Not his first game, mind. Slender: The Arrival is in fact based upon Slender: The Eight Pages, a freely downloadable game that was the subject of many a Youtube Let's Play video. You don't play as Slender Man, since he's the villain of the piece. Instead, you play as a girl by the name of Lauren, who has travelled to her friend's remote house in Oakville, to find out why she's been acting so weirdly. Yeah, that probably won't end well.
Slender: The Arrival is a first-person game, though not a shoot-em-up, since you don't have much to defend yourself with. Instead, running away is your typical method of survival. You're tasked with heading through the game's six or so spooky levels, accomplishing the odd objective and basically surviving. You aren't genuinely in danger till you hit the second level where you find yourself roaming through a forest having to collect - wait for it - eight pages.
Yes, the second level is basically a rehash of the original free game, and the third level is pretty similar. You have to collect/activate objects in both these levels while avoiding Slenderman. The terrifying thing about Slenderman is that he can pop up anywhere, your screen distorting as gets closer. Look at him too long and it's game over. Get too close and it's game over. He's also assisted on level three by a humanoid character, the chaser, who will attack you - though you can survive three hits from them - unless you blind them with your torch.
All of which leads to a pretty tense couple of levels, both of which are completely open, Slenderman becoming more frantic in his pursuit as you collect more pages or - in the third level - activate more generators. You can see why the original Eight Pages was such a favourite as it's really tense. The Eight Pages game is also included in its original form as a bonus level. Scary stuff indeed.
The problem is that the rest of the levels are just padding, and aren't all that scary or interesting. Level two actually randomises the locations of the pages, so there's some replayability there, but the rest of other levels are fairly linear. I will give the game kudos for expanding Slender Man's mythology, as related by the notes you pick up. But the rest of the game isn't particularly creepy or terrifying. The graphics and sound are okay - though they don't need to be spectacular anyway.
Granted, Slender: The Arrival isn't an expensive game, at a penny under eight quid. And I would heartily recommend it if it were half that price. But given that you'd be paying money for something you can get for free on the PC, I really can't recommend this as is. Download the original Eight Pages game and play that instead, and wait for this to come down, presumably in the 360 or PS3 Halloween sales.
Score: 6 out of 10.
Pros:
Two out of the six or so levels are genuinely scary.
Cons:
You can get the original Eight Pages game for free on the PC.
It feels like they've taken the main game and padded it out unnecessarily.
And now, here he is, in his own game. Not his first game, mind. Slender: The Arrival is in fact based upon Slender: The Eight Pages, a freely downloadable game that was the subject of many a Youtube Let's Play video. You don't play as Slender Man, since he's the villain of the piece. Instead, you play as a girl by the name of Lauren, who has travelled to her friend's remote house in Oakville, to find out why she's been acting so weirdly. Yeah, that probably won't end well.
Slender: The Arrival is a first-person game, though not a shoot-em-up, since you don't have much to defend yourself with. Instead, running away is your typical method of survival. You're tasked with heading through the game's six or so spooky levels, accomplishing the odd objective and basically surviving. You aren't genuinely in danger till you hit the second level where you find yourself roaming through a forest having to collect - wait for it - eight pages.
Yes, the second level is basically a rehash of the original free game, and the third level is pretty similar. You have to collect/activate objects in both these levels while avoiding Slenderman. The terrifying thing about Slenderman is that he can pop up anywhere, your screen distorting as gets closer. Look at him too long and it's game over. Get too close and it's game over. He's also assisted on level three by a humanoid character, the chaser, who will attack you - though you can survive three hits from them - unless you blind them with your torch.
All of which leads to a pretty tense couple of levels, both of which are completely open, Slenderman becoming more frantic in his pursuit as you collect more pages or - in the third level - activate more generators. You can see why the original Eight Pages was such a favourite as it's really tense. The Eight Pages game is also included in its original form as a bonus level. Scary stuff indeed.
The problem is that the rest of the levels are just padding, and aren't all that scary or interesting. Level two actually randomises the locations of the pages, so there's some replayability there, but the rest of other levels are fairly linear. I will give the game kudos for expanding Slender Man's mythology, as related by the notes you pick up. But the rest of the game isn't particularly creepy or terrifying. The graphics and sound are okay - though they don't need to be spectacular anyway.
Granted, Slender: The Arrival isn't an expensive game, at a penny under eight quid. And I would heartily recommend it if it were half that price. But given that you'd be paying money for something you can get for free on the PC, I really can't recommend this as is. Download the original Eight Pages game and play that instead, and wait for this to come down, presumably in the 360 or PS3 Halloween sales.
Score: 6 out of 10.
Pros:
Two out of the six or so levels are genuinely scary.
Cons:
You can get the original Eight Pages game for free on the PC.
It feels like they've taken the main game and padded it out unnecessarily.
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You can argue till the cows come home about the origins of certain monsters. True, Dracula may be the most famous vampire out there, but he was by no means the first. Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla pre-dated Stoker's tale, and there are those who despite even this origin. Slender Man, on the other hand, can be traced all the way back to.. er, 2009. Yes, the tall faceless business-suit wearing bogeyman that is the chief bad guy of Slender: The Arrival was in fact thought up just five years ago, in an attempt to create a new urban legend.
And now, here he is, in his own game. Not his first game, mind. Slender: The Arrival is in fact based upon Slender: The Eight Pages, a freely downloadable game that was the subject of many a Youtube Let's Play video. You don't play as Slender Man, since he's the villain of the piece. Instead, you play as a girl by the name of Lauren, who has travelled to her friend's remote house in Oakville, to find out why she's been acting so weirdly. Yeah, that probably won't end well.
Slender: The Arrival is a first-person game, though not a shoot-em-up, since you don't have much to defend yourself with. Instead, running away is your typical method of survival. You're tasked with heading through the game's six or so spooky levels, accomplishing the odd objective and basically surviving. You aren't genuinely in danger till you hit the second level where you find yourself roaming through a forest having to collect - wait for it - eight pages.
Yes, the second level is basically a rehash of the original free game, and the third level is pretty similar. You have to collect/activate objects in both these levels while avoiding Slenderman. The terrifying thing about Slenderman is that he can pop up anywhere, your screen distorting as gets closer. Look at him too long and it's game over. Get too close and it's game over. He's also assisted on level three by a humanoid character, the chaser, who will attack you - though you can survive three hits from them - unless you blind them with your torch.
All of which leads to a pretty tense couple of levels, both of which are completely open, Slenderman becoming more frantic in his pursuit as you collect more pages or - in the third level - activate more generators. You can see why the original Eight Pages was such a favourite as it's really tense. The Eight Pages game is also included in its original form as a bonus level. Scary stuff indeed.
The problem is that the rest of the levels are just padding, and aren't all that scary or interesting. Level two actually randomises the locations of the pages, so there's some replayability there, but the rest of other levels are fairly linear. I will give the game kudos for expanding Slender Man's mythology, as related by the notes you pick up. But the rest of the game isn't particularly creepy or terrifying. The graphics and sound are okay - though they don't need to be spectacular anyway.
Granted, Slender: The Arrival isn't an expensive game, at a penny under eight quid. And I would heartily recommend it if it were half that price. But given that you'd be paying money for something you can get for free on the PC, I really can't recommend this as is. Download the original Eight Pages game and play that instead, and wait for this to come down, presumably in the 360 or PS3 Halloween sales.
Score: 6 out of 10.
Pros:
Two out of the six or so levels are genuinely scary.
Cons:
You can get the original Eight Pages game for free on the PC.
It feels like they've taken the main game and padded it out unnecessarily.
And now, here he is, in his own game. Not his first game, mind. Slender: The Arrival is in fact based upon Slender: The Eight Pages, a freely downloadable game that was the subject of many a Youtube Let's Play video. You don't play as Slender Man, since he's the villain of the piece. Instead, you play as a girl by the name of Lauren, who has travelled to her friend's remote house in Oakville, to find out why she's been acting so weirdly. Yeah, that probably won't end well.
Slender: The Arrival is a first-person game, though not a shoot-em-up, since you don't have much to defend yourself with. Instead, running away is your typical method of survival. You're tasked with heading through the game's six or so spooky levels, accomplishing the odd objective and basically surviving. You aren't genuinely in danger till you hit the second level where you find yourself roaming through a forest having to collect - wait for it - eight pages.
Yes, the second level is basically a rehash of the original free game, and the third level is pretty similar. You have to collect/activate objects in both these levels while avoiding Slenderman. The terrifying thing about Slenderman is that he can pop up anywhere, your screen distorting as gets closer. Look at him too long and it's game over. Get too close and it's game over. He's also assisted on level three by a humanoid character, the chaser, who will attack you - though you can survive three hits from them - unless you blind them with your torch.
All of which leads to a pretty tense couple of levels, both of which are completely open, Slenderman becoming more frantic in his pursuit as you collect more pages or - in the third level - activate more generators. You can see why the original Eight Pages was such a favourite as it's really tense. The Eight Pages game is also included in its original form as a bonus level. Scary stuff indeed.
The problem is that the rest of the levels are just padding, and aren't all that scary or interesting. Level two actually randomises the locations of the pages, so there's some replayability there, but the rest of other levels are fairly linear. I will give the game kudos for expanding Slender Man's mythology, as related by the notes you pick up. But the rest of the game isn't particularly creepy or terrifying. The graphics and sound are okay - though they don't need to be spectacular anyway.
Granted, Slender: The Arrival isn't an expensive game, at a penny under eight quid. And I would heartily recommend it if it were half that price. But given that you'd be paying money for something you can get for free on the PC, I really can't recommend this as is. Download the original Eight Pages game and play that instead, and wait for this to come down, presumably in the 360 or PS3 Halloween sales.
Score: 6 out of 10.
Pros:
Two out of the six or so levels are genuinely scary.
Cons:
You can get the original Eight Pages game for free on the PC.
It feels like they've taken the main game and padded it out unnecessarily.