When the topic of discussion is horror games, popular names such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill would often be the first things that come to mind. However, some have forgotten that there was once a franchise that dominated the genre, scaring many with its unique gameplay that evolved with every entry: Five Nights at Freddy's.
Created by Scott Cawthon, it became widely popular due to its ability to draw people in with its mysterious lore, all while masterfully inducing fear via simple mechanics that revolve around preventing jump scares. Because of the franchise's popularity, many often debated which one offered the best scares.
As someone who has played nearly every entry, I would say that the fourth Five Nights at Freddy's not only overshadows its siblings in regards to striking fear, but it's also one of the best indie games to ever tackle the horror genre. To understand why, it's important to know about the game's concept.
Five Nights at Freddy's 4 has you playing from the perspective of a child, specifically a little boy. Throughout the entire game, you are forced to stay in a bedroom every night, wherein you must constantly be on the lookout for nightmare animatronics. Given that you're playing as a small child, the only thing you have to ward off the scary creatures is a flashlight as you check the closet, the bed, and the doors that lead to the hallways.
That already sounds terrifying, but it seems no different from the mechanics of the other games, which involve constantly checking on different areas where animatronics may lurk and ensuring they don't jump scare you. But where this entry differs from the others is how it emphasizes that, to survive, players need to utilize sound.
Whilst checking around the areas of the bedroom, there will be audio cues that tell the player if an animatronic is there or not. If a player fails to hear any, it will likely result in the untimely demise of the child, which involves a loud jump scare of the animatronics attacking the screen.
By making sound an extremely important aspect, it induces a level of fear that none of the other entries have been able to manage. Players are forced to listen deeply if they want to get through, but doing so means getting blasted by the jump scare.
Having gameplay revolve around sound is a simple yet very effective method of raising anxiety, as it makes the atmosphere extremely scary before anything frightening has even appeared on screen. It exudes a feeling of helplessness that the other games do not, as nobody wants to be jump scared, but they must risk it happening if they want to finish the game. Such a thing also helps in emphasizing the game's premise of being a defenseless child who has to survive against such nightmarish creatures, allowing for a truly frightening experience.
With all that said, Five Nights at Freddy's 4 has to be the scariest entry in the entire franchise. Should you have the time, I implore you to play it so that you can better understand why it claims that title and why it's the perfect example of what horror games should do: scare players from beginning to the end.
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