Slender Comes to Horrific Life

[Andy Chalk]

Slender Comes to Horrific Life

​

The new indie horror game Slender looks awful, in all the right ways.

The Slender Man "myth" is actually the result of a Something Awful Mythical Creatures and Beasts Wiki [http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3150591&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=3], but the short version is that he's tall, very thin and able to stretch his limbs and digits to bizarre, inhuman lengths to both terrify and ensnare his prey. The Slender Man was first seen in the early 1980s, so the story goes, but almost nothing about him, or the ultimate fate of his victims, is known.

It's a pretty creepy story, reinforced by the excellently unsettling SA photos, and now we can all enjoy it up close and personal thanks to Slender, a free indie horror game based on the legend. The premise is simple: Alone at night, with only a crappy flashlight to guide you, you must find eight pages that have been torn out of a notebook about the Slender Man.

But you're not alone.

Slender appears to have a very Amnesia [http://www.amazon.com/Amnesia-The-Dark-Descent-Pc/dp/B004FZ9822/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341418760&sr=8-1&keywords=Amnesia+the+Dark+descent]-like vibe, in that what you don't see is possibly worse than what you do see - and when you finally do see something, all hell breaks loose. Catching sight of the Slender Man will drive you closer and closer to insanity; the closer he is and the more directly you view him, the greater the effect.

Slender is currently available in both Reddit [http://www.parsecproductions.net/games/Slender_v0_9.zip]. Good luck! Try not to die.

Source: Indie Games [http://indiegames.com/2012/07/terrifying_free_beta_slender_m.html]


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[Chaos1228]

In short:

Oh. My. God.

It'll be interesting to see what happens when you run into him though

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

Downloading it now, although I'm not sure I should. Marble Hornets scared me so much I couldn't sleep properly for days after certain entries.

On another note, the description of Slender Man is decent, but what truly makes him scary is that he doesn't do anything. Seriously, most representations of the thing depict him just standing there, watching. Waiting. And most of the time you have no effing clue he's there until after the fact. To the point where you basically self destruct out of sheer paranoia.

...maybe I'm just a wuss though.

 

[80Maxwell08]

Well I figure I'll go a bit off topic here and tell this stupid story of mine. When I first saw the videos on slenderman I was actually dumb enough to think they were real. I actually lost sleep over them (yes laugh that's why I'm posting this). Then I looked them up more and found out their origins. Also it took me 2 more weeks to actually finish that article because I didn't want to keep reading. Then one of my friends pointed out to me that the very first paragraph of that article said it was fake. Yeah I'm an idiot.

Now then to be on topic. I'm going to be honest I hate horror games. I already said I'm a total wuss and an idiot so I'm definitely not in a hurry to go scare myself. I've managed to be kept awake because a blanket looks like a monster in the dark. Well halfway through the video. Ok thank god for pausing since I paused right at the moment he showed up. Well the model needs some work but aside from that it looks like this person has the right idea for horror. Dark to the point of barely visible and the slenderman not popping up every second to start. Granted there's no way in hell I'm going to play this but I hope it is good for those that will.

 

[Kopikatsu]

In short:

Oh. My. God.

It'll be interesting to see what happens when you run into him though

Screen zooms in on his face and goes all static-y. Game Over.

 

[lacktheknack]

That trailer was great. The total lack of sound when you see him is a fantastic idea.

 

[Dastardly]

While I'd have preferred a little less clarity in the Slender Man model, the overall feel of the game is remarkably effective. I had the first genuine scares I've had in a long time.

The game doesn't try to be "scary." It creates an atmosphere that is tense. And when you're wound that tight, any little thing will send you flying.

 

[Dreadman75]

I wonder if ol' Slendy will make an appearance in the upcoming MMO The Secret World. IMO that game seems like the perfect place for him. Creepy atmosphere, unconventional quest structure, he would fit right in and scare the crap out of everyone.

 

[Bat Vader]

So it is basically Marble Hornets the game. The trailer did look pretty interesting. I will have to give it a try.

 

[Flight]

That looks interesting! I've enjoyed what I've seen of Marble Hornets so far, so I might just check out this game.

 

[yeti585]

Just downloaded it and helped spread the word. I'm now battling with myself whether to play now or wait until dark. stupid windows!

EDIT: I just played it. The game has a feel of mindlessly and helplessly wondering through the woods which works in it's favor. The Slenderman model needs to be thinner and taller. And when the game is lost and it shows his face, a scream or something should be added there. I like how Slenderman can grab you from behind, but he only occured in my play through around big pieces of set. You know, the pieces that scream "I don't have a page! no way! not here!" then you walk 'round back and its on the wall. It's too hard to lose the game when not grabbed by slenderman. You see him coming from a mile away in most settings. Though once I was in a building I can only assume was a public bathroom that had encircling hallways with many corners. I gripped the mouse with every turn, ready to kick off my flashlight and run. I'd also like to see slenderman stalking around in the woods a bit. Overall, with a little polish the game is awesome.

 

[Furioso]

The model for Slender Man was just awful, he didn't look all that slender, or tall, or scary, other than that it looked really good

 

[Ghonzor]

A game based on Slender Man? That's it, I'm out

 

[deth2munkies]

Another nod to Marble Hornets here, although it's significantly less scary nowadays.

See, it's set out like a documentary, but when Youtube puts big, splashy, colorful ads in front of it, it destroys any tension that you might have clicking on the video and makes it unejoyable.

It's sad, really, I remember being genuinely disturbed by it back in the day.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Slender is currently a beta (as far as I know) so there's still a chance (hopefully) that the visuals of the Slender Man can be improved for the final version. The game is brilliant as it stands, but a good, genuinely holy-shit-creepy model would really sell it.

 

[tehweave]

I watched some gameplay videos of the game. I don't understand what the point of it is.

Spoiler

When slenderman shows up, the whole screen goes to static. The entire screen goes white with slenderman's blank face taking up the whole picture. Static again, and the game ends.

Is there a point to the game, or is it just a 10-20 minute romp that leads up to one single jump scare?

 

[itsthesheppy]

Yeah... the Slender Man isn't really scary if he's not very slender.