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Five Nights at Freddy's 4

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Five Nights at Freddy's 4
Steam storefront header
Developer(s)Scott Cawthon
SeriesFive Nights at Freddy's
Platform(s)
Release
  • Windows
  • July 23, 2015
  • Android
  • July 25, 2015
  • iOS
  • August 3, 2015
  • Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
  • November 29, 2019
Genre(s)Survival horror, point-and-click
Mode(s)Single-player

Five Nights at Freddy's 4 (FNaF 4) is a 2015 point-and-click survival horror video game made and published by Scott Cawthon. It is the fourth installment of the Five Nights at Freddy's series. The game takes place in the bedroom of a child, where the player must avoid attack by nightmarish animatronics that stalk them. Unlike previous games in the series, the player does not have access to a network of security cameras to monitor animatronic progression, and instead must rely on audio cues. In-between nights, the player is able to play Atari-styled minigames that tell the story of a young boy that is consistently tormented by his older brother.

Five Nights at Freddy's 4 was first announced in April 2015, advertised as "The Final Chapter". Though initially planned to release on October 31, 2015, the game was pushed forward numerous times and eventually released on July 23, 2015. In the following days, versions for Android and iOS devices released. Five Nights at Freddy's 4 received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its unsettling atmosphere but were polarized over the game's mechanics and sound design. A sequel, Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location, released on October 7, 2016. Versions for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One were released on November 29, 2019 alongside the first three games in the series.

Gameplay

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A gameplay screenshot showing the protagonist shining their flashlight down the left hallway

Five Nights at Freddy's 4 is a point-and-click survival horror game.[1] Like previous games in the series, the player is tasked with surviving from midnight to 6:00 a.m. against homicidal animatronics. Unlike previous installments which took place in restaurants, the player takes control of a young child alone in his bedroom, and the animatronics wander around their house while targeting the bedroom. The animatronics in this game are known as the "nightmare" animatronics.[2][3]

The player is able to run around the bedroom, going between the closet, bed, and two doors. The player's only means of delaying animatronic advancement is a flashlight, which can be flashed down the halls to scare them away.[2] Unlike previous games in the series, the player does not have access to a network of security cameras, and must take advantage of audio cues in order to track the movement of the animatronics.[4][5] The player can also temporarily hold one of the doors shut at a time. If an animatronic enters the room or if the player encounters it directly at the doors, the player will be jumpscared and killed.[3][4] On the fifth night, the enemies are replaced by a single animatronic known as Nightmare Fredbear, which is immune to being flashed with the flashlight, instead becoming more aggressive.[6]

In-between nights, the player can attempt a minigame similar to red light, green light against a character named Plushtrap. If the player is successful, two hours are removed from the next night.[2][4] Additionally, Atari-styled minigames are also playable, which provide insight on the lore of the series and is the source of the game's plot. These minigames are absent from mobile versions of the game.[4]

Plot

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Playable minigames in-between nights tell the story of a young boy in 1983, presumed to be the player character.[7][8] In the first minigame, he is locked in a bedroom with plush toys that he considers to be his "friends". Throughout the minigame, a plush based on the animatronic Fredbear constantly teases and torments him, which strengthens his fear of a family restaurant near his home. Through the next minigames, the boy is terrorized by his older brother, being deliberately scared, abandoned at the restaurant, teased, and unwillingly locked in the restaurant's parts and services room. Throughout the game in the boy's bedroom, a bottle of pills, an IV drip, and a vase of flowers can be spotted at different moments.[7]

In the sixth minigame, the boy is tormented once more by his older brother and several other bullies, who take advantage of his fear and place him head-first into the animatronic Fredbear's mouth for a "kiss". Suddenly, the latter bites down on the boy and crushes him as the bullies watch in horror. On the seventh minigame, the boy is shown in a dark area surrounded by his toys, and is told by an unknown voice that they will "put [him] back together". The toys slowly fade out, and soon the boy does as well, while the faint sound of a heartrate monitor plays, implying the boy has died after being bitten by Fredbear. If the player beats the game on the Nightmare mode, a closed metal box is shown to the player. The box cannot be opened, and if the player attempts to open it, the text "Perhaps some things are best left forgotten, for now" is displayed. The contents of the box or its meaning is never explained or elaborated on.[7][9]

Release and reception

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On April 27, 2015, an image was uploaded to Scott Cawthon's website that teased a fourth game in the series, advertised as "The Final Chapter" with a planned release date of Halloween of that year.[10] In July, a trailer for the game was released, and the release date was later pushed forward to August 8, 2015, which marked one year since the release date of the first game.[11][12] On July 23, 2015, Scott Cawthon announced that the game was finished, and released it early on Steam.[13] The game was released for Android on July 25, and iOS on August 4 of 2015.[14][15] An update for the game released on Halloween of that year, adding additional content for those who had completed the game such as a cheat menu.[16] On November 29, 2019, the game released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One alongside the first, second, and third games in the series.[17]

Five Nights at Freddy's 4 received "mixed or average" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic, assigning the Windows version a score of 51 out of 100, based on six critic reviews.[18]

The gameplay of Five Nights at Freddy's 4 received a mixed response. Some reviewers felt that the franchise and its gameplay were becoming stale, such as Nic Rowen of Destructoid and Omri Petitte of PC Gamer.[2][3] The former described the game as a "bone dry" repeat of Five Nights at Freddy's, recommending people not play the game, and the latter wrote that the gameplay had little variety or strategy, and that it was too much of a chore to interest him.[2][3] Contrarily, Angelo M. D'Argenio of The Escapist praised the reworked game mechanics and story, describing it as "perfect" for fans of the series, though criticized the glitches present within the game.[23] The removal of the story based minigames from mobile version of the game was criticized by Shaun Musgrave of TouchArcade, who wrote that the removal of the story was detrimental to a game advertised as the final chapter.[22]

Response towards the atmosphere and sound design of Five Nights at Freddy's 4 was positive, though some aspects were criticized.[21] The game was described as being the most frightening in the series by Mitch Vogel of Nintendo Life, though he also described the game's jumpscares as being jarring, and that it made the horror elements feel "unearned".[19] Nadia Oxford of Gamezebo praised the game's sound design, though criticized its gameplay for being too reliant on sound, theorizing that those in loud spaces would've had difficulty playing the game.[5] Matt Purslow of PCGamesN praised the game's atmosphere design, but commented that the reliance on audio cues made him feel a lack of control, and that it was difficult to tell which sounds indicated the animatronics were approaching, and which were just for atmosphere.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Pitcher, Jenna (July 14, 2015). "Five Nights at Freddy's 4 Release Date Pushed Forward". IGN. Archived from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Review: Five Nights at Freddy's 4". Destructoid. Archived from the original on June 26, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Five Nights at Freddy's 4 review". PCGamesN. July 27, 2015. Archived from the original on July 28, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d "'Five Nights At Freddy's 4' Review – The Latest Freddy Gets The Worst Port Yet – TouchArcade". August 10, 2015. Archived from the original on August 12, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Oxford, Nadia (July 30, 2015). "Five Nights at Freddy's 4 Review: Hey! Listen!". Gamezebo. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  6. ^ Oxford, Nadia (July 31, 2015). "Five Nights at Freddy's 4 Tips, Cheats and Strategies". Gamezebo. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Hernandez, Patricia (July 28, 2015). "10 Secrets Hidden Inside Of Five Nights At Freddy's 4". Kotaku Australia. Archived from the original on May 17, 2017. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  8. ^ Hoolihan, Hannah (October 24, 2023). "How to Play the Five Nights at Freddy's Games in Chronological Order". IGN. Archived from the original on November 19, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  9. ^ Andy Chalk (August 25, 2015). "Five Nights at Freddy's creator says he won't open "the box"". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  10. ^ Hillier, Brenna (April 28, 2015). "Five Night's at Freddy's 4 teased for Halloween release". VG247. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  11. ^ Campbell, Colin (July 13, 2015). "Five Nights at Freddy's 4 trailer gets its first creepy trailer". Polygon. Archived from the original on April 15, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  12. ^ Pitcher, Jenna (July 14, 2015). "Five Nights at Freddy's 4 Release Date Pushed Forward". IGN. Archived from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  13. ^ Macy, Seth G. (July 23, 2015). "Five Nights at Freddy's 4 Jump-Scares a Surprise Early Release". IGN. Archived from the original on June 4, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  14. ^ Squires, Jim (July 25, 2015). "Five Nights at Freddy's 4 Is Now on Android". Gamezebo. Archived from the original on November 16, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  15. ^ Slater, Harry (August 4, 2015). "Five Nights At Freddy's 4 is out on iPad and iPhone right now, just in case you didn't want to sleep again". www.pocketgamer.com. Archived from the original on November 21, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  16. ^ "Five Nights at Freddy's 4 Halloween Update Detailed". GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  17. ^ "Five Nights at Freddy's 1, 2, 3, and 4 for PS4, Xbox One, and Switch launch November 29". Gematsu. November 27, 2019. Archived from the original on November 16, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  18. ^ a b "Five Nights at Freddy's 4 for PC Reviews". Metacritic. July 23, 2015. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  19. ^ a b Vogel, Mitch (December 11, 2019). "Mini Review: Five Nights at Freddy's 4 - A Surprisingly Scary Return To Form". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on December 12, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  20. ^ Petitte, Omri (August 5, 2015). "Five Nights at Freddy's 4 review". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on August 7, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  21. ^ a b "Five Nights at Freddy's 4 - Too much is too much". www.pocketgamer.com. July 28, 2015. Archived from the original on December 28, 2023. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  22. ^ a b Musgrave, Shaun (August 10, 2015). "'Five Nights At Freddy's 4' Review – The Latest Freddy Gets The Worst Port Yet". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on August 12, 2015. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  23. ^ a b D'Argenio, Angelo (July 27, 2015). "Five Nights at Freddy's 4 Review - Change, Improve, Jumpscare". The Escapist. Defy Media. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
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