“Five Nights at Freddy’s” feels like it has always been around. With its first game releasing in 2014, developed by Scott Cawthon, “FNAF” quickly garnered a devoted internet following. The basic premise was that you, the player, had to stay for five nights at Freddy’s pizzeria, the twist being that all the Chuck-E-Cheese-like animatronics want to murder you. These animatronics were Foxxy, Bonnie, Chica, and Freddy Fazbear himself. With the success of the first game, sequels and spinoffs quickly went into development, with mostly the same concept and gameplay. Fast forward a couple of years: Scott Cawthon hands over development of the “FNAF” series to Steel Wool, a relatively indie company, to continue his franchise. On August 9th, 2019, Steel Wool presented a new installment of the “FNAF” series that they dubbed “Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach”. After a short delay, “FNAF”: Security Breach launched on December 16, 2021. Once again, the “FNAF” series bathed in the internet spotlight, as it seemed like everyone was playing it.
As soon as the player launches the game, the first thing that is made clear is how different it is to past installations in the “FNAF” franchise. For the first time in history, instead of being stationary for the majority of the game, you are free to run around and explore the mystery of the Pizza Plex. The graphics have also received a big boost in quality, making use of Nvidia’s ray-tracing technology. The basic plot boils down to this:
At the beginning of the game, you are introduced to the animatronics of this game. There are two returning animatronics (Chica, and of course Freddy) and the introduction of two brand new characters, Roxanne Wolf and Montgomery Gator. During a live performance, the animatronics malfunction, leaving the new location (Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Plex) to close early. You, as the character of a young boy named Gregory, stays behind to check out the Pizza Plex after hours. As you will soon realize, every single animatronic/robot in this building is after you, except Freddy, who you have partnered up with.
From here, alongside Freddy, you make your way through the different zones of the Pizza Plex, battling your way through the hordes of Workerbots and Animatronics. From ripping apart the corrupted animatronics for parts to finding out the secrets of a strange and quite eerie security guard, you are immersed in storytelling and lore. By the end of the game, you are faced with a multitude of questions pertaining to the mystery of the Pizza Plex, but I will not go into specifics, seeing how it would probably need a full length book to explain some of these secrets.
My brief synopsis doesn’t do the game justice, for it has a fantastic balance and pacing, considering it was the first time this developer took on a game at this magnitude. This is by far one of the best games in the “FNAF” series to date, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.