Just a quick notice: this review is slightly different from my usual work.
Like many other people, I heard about this game when it was recommended to me by a friend. He wanted me to play it and see my reactions, assuming that it would be hilarious to watch. I thought it was a good idea, agreed and downloaded the free indie title called "Slender". I thought I'd launch it up and play it once before recording anything - just to see what I actually have to do, what I'm up against, etc. Unfortunately, I was thoroughly disappointed with what I experienced. My expectations were not that high; I know that an indie game, made by one person, has certain disadvantages due to resource & budget limitations. Sadly, this game has almost no redeeming qualities. However, if you really want to try it because you're wondering if it could scare you, then feel free to read on and find out if it will.
The gameplay of the game is a rather simple idea that has plenty of potential, but ends up being terribly executed. You play as… I don't really know who you play as, but that doesn't really matter. You play as someone, and that someone is stuck in a forest during a pitch black night. The only item you have with you is a flashlight, yet even that has its limitations. Your goal is to collect eight pages of notes scattered throughout this woodland area, whilst trying your best to evade a dark entity known only as 'Slenderman'. For those who don't know: Slenderman is a mythical creature that was formed by the dark depths of the internets, as part of a photoshop contest which aimed to scare gullible individuals using digitally altered photos with disturbing backstories behind them. It was later twisted into many different and hilarious memes, but many still reinforce its dark roots of fictional horror.
The gameplay itself is not very well thought out. The walking speed of the player character is slow, sluggishly-paced and unrealistic. It's like the protagonist is constipated or both of his or her legs are broken. Obviously, it was put in to make the game more challenging and frightening, but in the end it just doesn't work and ends up being an annoying & unnecessary feature. Although there is an option to jog, it is surprisingly relaxed and somehow pulls the light beam of your flashlight down to the ground, where it remains steadily poised for the duration of the slightly-accelerated-walk. Therefore it is just as frustrating, since you can't see where you are going. Your flashlight gradually loses power depending on how long it is turned on, but this is barely noticeable and has almost no effect on the gameplay. It feels more like a feature that was put in for the sake of just being there, even though it's almost non-existent in practice.
At the beginning, your enemy does not chase after you or reveal himself properly until you find the first page (or take too long to find it); things really only start getting a tiny bit tense after you find two pages. With each page found, the music gets creepier and your pursuer gets more obnoxious. This sounds like a good idea on paper, but it is horrendously executed. Basically, whenever you turn around & look back, Slenderman will probably be behind you. Chances of him being there increase with each page of scribbles you collect. The longer you stare at him, the more static appears on the screen until he eventually moves closer and kills you. Game over. If you take your time searching for the next note, there is a chance that the camera will forcibly turn towards Slenderman and you will die again. Occasionally, when you turn around and don't expect him to be there, Slendy will appear - a short and frightening tone of music will play resulting in the famous, so-called "jump scare"; the cheapest type of fear available. However, most of the time when did this happen unexpectedly, I thought there was more humour than terror in it because (in this game) Slenderman looks like he is made of Plasticine.
In the end, it's not hard to realize after playing it that Slender is a fairly easy to complete, uninspired and generally more boring & frustrating experience rather than a fun horror game. There is nothing entertaining or terrifying about it. It's not the fact that it's an indie game which pulls it down. It is the fact that it's a promising idea which is badly fulfilled and designed. It's a shame that this is an independent production, because its low development values provide no redeeming qualities. Actually - other than the idea around which it is based on - this game has no saving merits. Then is it worth the download? While it's true that many people found Slender creepy, I honestly don't know why. This game simply isn't scary... at all. If some friends are coming over to your house and you'd like to see if you could MAYBE scare them by using Slender, then feel free to download it. After all, it's completely free. If not, then it's best to not waste space on your hard drive with an application that fails to do what it aims to do.
OVERALL RATING - 3.5/10 (Bad)
NEW GS RATING – 3/10