Five Nights at Freddy's 4th

Five Nights at Freddy's 4th
Part of the series: Five Nights at Freddy’s
Studio	Windows, Android, iOS, Windows Phone: Scott Cawthon Android (revised), iOS (revised), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One: Clickteam
Publisher	Scott Cawthon
Senior Developer	Scott Cawthon
Erstveröffent- lichung	Windows : July 23, 2015 Android : July 25, 2015 January 16, 2020 (revised) iOS : August 5, 2015 January 16, 2020 Nintendo Switch, Xbox One: November 29, 2019 PlayStation 4: November 29, 2019 February 3, 2020
platform	Windows , Android , iOS , Nintendo Switch , Xbox One , PlayStation 4
Game engine	Clickteam Fusion 2.5
genre	Survival horror
Game mode	Single player
control	Keyboard , mouse , touch screen
system advantages preconditions	2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 / AMD Athlon, 2 GB RAM
medium	Download
language	English
Current version	1.1
Age rating	USK PEGI

Five Nights at Freddy's 4 (German about: Five Nights at Freddy's 4 ; often with FNAF 4 or FNaF-4 for short) is a point-and-click - survival horror video game , that of Scott Cawthon was conceived and developed and fourth part of the series Five Nights at Freddy’s .

Unlike in the previous parts, in FNaF 4 you don't play a night watchman who guards a building and meets the animatronics in the series, but a person who is attacked by them in their own house. It is not clear whether the animatronics really exist or are the product of hallucinations or nightmares .

action

Most of the plot of Five Nights at Freddy's 4 is conveyed, as in earlier parts of the series, in mini-games in the style of the Atari 2600 , which take place between the nights of the main game.

These show the last days of a small, nameless boy who is crying all the time and who is about to celebrate a birthday party in a rumored pizzeria , of which he is very afraid. There are two animatronics in the pizzeria, a big yellow bear named Fredbear and a yellow rabbit. The first mini-game, which takes place before the first night, takes place five days before the birthday party, and with each night in the game it gets one day closer.

The boy is massively bullied by his older brother during the games. For example, he takes great pleasure in frightening his younger brother by putting on a Foxy mask that he has apparently torn off one of the boy's plush toys, hiding in the house and ambushing the boy. The boy finds mental support from a Fredbear plush toy that seems to be talking to him and follows him everywhere.

In the first mini-game, the boy was locked in his room. The plush doll tells him not to be afraid. The boy knocks on the door several times and then crouches in front of it, whereupon the doll says “Tomorrow is another day”, which closes the next three mini-games and ends the game.

Another mini-game takes place between the first and second night, in which the boy starts again in his room, which this time is open. Thus the house can be explored. If the boy goes too far into the living room, which is to the left of the bedroom, his big brother jumps out from behind the TV and scares the child, whereupon the mini-game ends.

In the third mini-game, between the second and third night, the boy is in the pizzeria, where the Fredbear stuffed animal explains that "he" left him on purpose, knowing that the boy hates it, but he does was near the exit and could escape quickly. It is unclear whether "he" means the child's brother or father. If the player tries to go deeper into the restaurant, the puppet reminds him of "what [he] has seen" and does not allow it. If the boy goes to the exit, a man appears in a Fredbear costume. The doll instructs the boy to run away and find someone to help him. The boy knows what would happen if "he" caught him. When the boy goes deeper into the pizzeria, he sees the shadows of the animatronics on the stage. The plush doll assures him that if he is strong enough to cross this room, he can find help. In the middle of the room, however, the boy collapses crying, which marks the end of the mini-game.

The fourth mini-game starts again in the pizzeria, but this time it is possible to leave it, as the puppet says. Outside there is an entire street that many other children are on. The children talk about the rumors about the pizzeria, their toys and the protagonist's upcoming birthday party. Eventually the boy arrives at his house, where the mini-game ends when he enters his room and is frightened once more by his brother who comes out from under the bed.

In the fifth mini-game, you see the boy locked in the restaurant's spare parts store, where he desperately begs to be released and finally crouches down again. The Fredbear doll does not speak in this mini-game or the next.

After the fifth night, the sixth mini-game takes place, which shows the boy's birthday. During the birthday party, the big brother and his friends, who show all the masks of the animatronics, surround the protagonist, heave him up and, despite pleading and crying, drag him to the show stage. The group puts the little boy head first into Fredbear's open mouth and laughs. The desperate kicking of the child causes the animatronics' mouth to snap shut, crushing the boy's head. At that moment the brother and his friends suddenly stop laughing.

There is also a mini-game after the sixth night. It shows the protagonist of the previous mini-games in a gray environment, in front of his soft toys, which he called his “only friends” in the game. A voice asks the boy if he can hear him and apologizes. Another voice notes that it is broken and that she would put it back together. As the voices speak, one by one the boy's plush toys disappear. In the end, the boy himself disappears, while the zero line of a heart rate monitor can be heard in the background , which indicates his death.

At the end of the seventh night, instead of another mini-game, there is a multi-locked chest. After a while the text "Possibly some things should be forgotten, at least for now" appears above the chest. There is no way to open the chest.

interpretation

Due to its narrative style and the many plot points that had been started, the plot of FNaF 4 remained highly controversial in the community for years after its appearance. A multitude of theories have been put forward about the details and meanings of the game, some of which are hotly debated.

On August 25, 2015, Scott Cawthon expressed his disappointment in a Steam post that the community had not been able to solve the plot of the game and announced that he would not open the box shown at the end of the seventh night because he was afraid , the fans would not accept the resolution of the plot.

Gameplay

scene of action

In contrast to the previous games in the Five Nights at Freddy's series, the setting is not a night watchman's security office , but a children's bedroom. There are no cameras and there is no phone gu y to give instructions to the player during the game. Instead, the player stays in the middle of the room, from where he can - optionally - walk to the left door, to the closet opposite in the middle, to the right door or to the bed behind him. The doors and cupboard can be closed as long as the player is actively holding them shut.

Rules of the game

The game is played in single player mode. The player's job is to check the doors, closet and bed for animatronics . Similar to the second game , the player is equipped with a flashlight , but this time there is no battery limit. There are eight nights in total, each of which is getting more and more difficult. The seventh night is called like the sixth from FNaF 3 Nightmare , the eighth 20/20/20/20 , which is an allusion to the most difficult game mode of the first game.

The flashlight can be used to ward off nearby animatronics: To be absolutely sure, the player has to illuminate the long hallway behind the respective door. Any animatronics at the end of the hallway will withdraw immediately. Illuminating the hallway carries the risk that an animatronic that is already lurking in the doorstep will attack the player, which would result in a jump care and the end of the game. The player can, however, hear whether an animatronic is lurking in the doorstep, as in this case he is gurgling, heavy breathing. In this case the door should be closed immediately and held for a few seconds until the animatronic withdraws.

The second important point is the closet. It has two large folding doors and is always a little open. Nightmare attacks Foxy from the closet, but he will never start there in the regular game. Like Nightmare Bonnie and Nightmare Chica , he moves through the halls of the house but attacks from both sides. He can also be moved to retreat by the flashlight. If he reaches the door, however, he moves to the closet, which is shown to the player by briefly moving the closet doors. Nightmare Foxy has several phases in the closet, from being a harmless doll to sticking out of the closet and yelling at the player. As long as it is not illuminated, it progresses through the phases. If he is ignored for too long in the last phase, he attacks the player. Nightmare Foxy can be brought back into deeper phases by closing the cabinet doors. The closet pays homage to the Pirate Cove from the first part .

The third point of attack is the bed. Nightmare Freddy is hidden under this . Little by little, three soft toy versions of Nightmare Freddy appear on the bed, which the player can drive away by lighting them up with a flashlight. If he doesn't, the three minifreddys call Nightmare Freddy, who attacks the player. The three mini reddies are a kind of countdown , the principle being reminiscent of the music box from FNaF 2 . In general, the screen starts to flicker when an animatronic attack is imminent.

In the fifth night, the gameplay changes a lot, as all previous opponents are replaced by Nightmare Fredbear . This attacks from all sides and is not scared off by the flashlight. A faint movement noise alerts the player that he has changed halls. In the hall in which he is, the door must be closed, whereby he withdraws again. When Nightmare Fredbear laughs, he has either moved onto the bed or into the closet, but this does not apply if the sound of movement can be heard again after the laugh. If it is in the closet, its doors must be closed until it leaves it, if it is on the bed it must be illuminated until it disappears. Nightmare Fredbear also appears on the sixth night, but not until 4:00 a.m. The same applies to the nightmare , which works exactly the same and only appears on the seventh and eighth night.

After reaching certain milestones in the game, the player is rewarded with stars on the main menu. The first four stars are awarded after the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth nights have been played through. Four more stars are given out if the seventh night is managed in one of the four more difficult modes that can be switched on via the extra menu. Another star can be achieved if the seventh night is played through simultaneously with the modes Blind Mode , Mad Freddy and Insta-Foxy and another star if the player manages it in All-Nightmare mode and Blind Mode at the same time.

Halloween update

The Halloween update plays for the most part in the same way as the regular game, since the changes are almost all aesthetic. The only thing that makes a difference in the game is the transformation from Nightmare Foxy to Nightmare Mangle , as Nightmare Mangle continuously emits static that can distract the player.

Mini-games

After every single night the player can play a timed minigame called Fun with Plushtrap (German "Fun with Plushtrap"), each round lasts around 80 seconds in real time. The player has the task of guiding an possessed plush toy called Plushtrap to a point marked with an "X" on the floor within 80 seconds. The stuffed animal sits on a chair at the end of a long hallway with four doors. The player has to switch his flashlight on and off again and again, as Plushtrap only moves when it is dark. If it is lit as long as it is in the hallway, it immediately stops moving or hides. He will therefore scurry from door to door and try to hide in the door frame first and then stalk the player until he is close enough to attack. If the player manages that Plushtrap lands on the "X", he can start the next night at 02:00. This bonus can only be used once and after a game over (if the player loses the round) the night starts again at 00:00. In the Halloween update, Plushtrap will be replaced by Nightmare Ballon Boy, without the gameplay changing.

In addition, right at the start of the game and after every successful night, the player is put into a minigame that is supposed to tell the background story to FNaF-4. The graphics of the minigames are based on those of the Atari 2600 . During the mini-games, the player takes on the role of the young, nameless protagonist.

Extra menu

After the end of the fifth night, an extra menu can be used that allows to see models and jumpscares of the individual animatronics as well as to make the game easier or more difficult. In addition, you can start the seventh night, Nightmare, and after you have finished, the eighth night, 20/20/20/20 , by typing in “20202020” . The ease of play can insert a map into the game on which the whereabouts of the animatronics are always recorded, make the nights significantly shorter and insert a hazard measuring device that sounds an alarm if the player is standing in front of a door and an animatronics is directly behind them. In addition, Fun with Plushtrap or Fun with Balloon Boy can be played to get the earlier start time in the nights. The game can be more difficult with a blind mode ( Blind Mode ), a much more active Nightmare Freddy (Mad Freddy , dt. Angry Freddy), a Nightmare Foxy that is already in the closet at the beginning of the game ( Insta-Foxy , dt. Foxy) and a mode in which only Nightmare or Nightmarionne attacks ( All Nightmare ) all night long.

The menus to make the game easier and more difficult can only be used after 20/20/20/20 has been played through. The Jumpscare menu only opens after the sixth night, as does Fun with Plushtrap . Fun with Balloon Boy can only be used after 20/20/20/20 .

Antagonists

There are a total of seven antagonists in Five Nights at Freddy's 4 . It remains to be seen whether they are real, trauma-generated nightmares , or mere ghosts . All animatronics have in common that they look worn and riddled with holes.

Regular game

• Nightmare Freddy : It is based on the animatronic Freddy Fazbear from the first part of the game . Nightmare Freddy is a large, anthropomorphic bear in a top hat and bow tie. In contrast to the original, Nightmare Freddy has five, instead of four, fingers that end in pin-point claws. Its mouth is studded with several rows of sharp teeth. It is located under the protagonist's bed. On this, three smaller versions of Nightmare Freddy , called Freddles , appear , which the player has to scare away with his flashlight. If he doesn't, Nightmare Freddy attacks him.
• Nightmare Bonnie : It is based on the animatronic Bonnie from the first part of the game. Also Nightmare Bonnie is a lavender blue , anthropomorphic rabbit. Like Nightmare Freddy , Nightmare Bonni has five-fingered clawed hands. It also has several whiskers sticking out on either side of its snout. Nightmare Bonnie always appears in the left hall.
• Nightmare Chica : It is based on the Animatronic Chica from the first part of the game. Nightmare Chica is also an anthropomorphic, mustard yellow chick with a bib around its neck. For the first time in the Five Nights at Freddy’s series, your cupcake has its own jumpscare if the player is attacked by Nightmare Chica in the room instead of at the door. Nightmare Chica always appears in the right hall.
• Nightmare Foxy : It is based on the character Foxy from the first part of the game. Nightmare Foxy is an anthropomorphic red fox with a grappling hook in place of the left hand. He moves through the halls and approaches the closet from which he can attack if he reaches him. The closet pays homage to the Pirate Cove from FNaF 1 .
• Plushtrap : It looks like a shrunken copy of the animatronics Springtrap from Five Nights at Freddy's 3 . Plushtrap is a waist-high, anthropomorphic and gray-yellow stuffed bunny with large, rigid googly eyes and two rows of pointed teeth. It makes him look like he's grinning all the time. Plushtrap appears within a series of time-limited special rounds - lasting around 80 seconds - in which he tries to leave his child's chair. According to the 8-bit mini-games, Plushtrap emerged from a finger trap .

• Nightmare Fredbear : He looks a lot like Nightmare Freddy . However, his body is yellow and his top hat and bow tie are purple. His belly looks like it consists of a closed mouth with sharp teeth. Nightmare Fredbear becomes active from the fifth night and is particularly intrusive. It can appear in both hallways, on the bed, and even in the closet. If Nightmare Fredbear is active, he is the only opponent until the end of the night.
• Nightmare : Nightmare looks exactly like Nightmare Fredbear , only pitch black, with a gold-colored top hat and bow tie and red eyes. He also behaves like Nightmare Fredbear , but is much more aggressive and only appears on the seventh and eighth nights. According to some theories embodies Nightmare to death .

Additional opponents (from the so-called Halloween update )

• Jack-O-Bonnie / Jack-O-Chica: Two characters who look very similar to Nightmare Bonnie and Nightmare Chica, but glow with a strong orange light from the inside. Jack-O-Chica also has pumpkin instead of a cupcake.
• Nightmare Mangle: Nightmare Mangle is based on Mangle from Five Nights at Freddy's 2 . It takes on the role of Nightmare Foxy . Once in the closet, it makes the same noises as in FNaF 2 . If it is not illuminated for too long, a jump care takes place.
• Nightmare Ballon Boy: Nightmare Balloon Boy is based on the Balloon Boy from FNaF 2 and takes on the role of Plushtrap in Fun with Ballon Boy . It was added in the Halloween update , but also appears in the regular version of the game.
• Nightmarionne: Nightmarionne is based on the character The Puppet from FNaF 2 and takes on the role of Nightmare in the Halloween update .

development

Just a few days after the publication of Five Nights at Freddy's 3, scottgames.com had a picture of a cylinder like the one Freddy Fazbear wears, lying on the checkered tiles used by the pizzerias in the row, with a spotlight on . This led, also due to the end of FNaF 3, to suspicions that the end of the series had come. However, on April 22, 2015, the hat was removed from the picture, sparking speculation about a new part in the series.

On April 27, 2015, a teaser was posted on the website showing Nightmare Freddy lifting his hat while the Freddles crawling on him. The picture included a title for the game, The Final Chapter, and stated the release date October 31, 2015, i.e. Halloween . In the following weeks, pictures of the rest of the Nightmare animatronics were uploaded to the site, in the order Nightmare Bonnie , Nightmare Chica , Nightmare Foxy and Nightmare Fredbear . Each of these teasers contains a variation of the sentence “Was it me?” And, when illuminated with an image editing program , the word “Nightmare”. “Nightmare” can also be found in the teaser by Nightmare Freddy, while the Nightmare Foxy teaser also says “Out of order”, which becomes visible when the image is darkened. The sentence "Was it me?" And the source code of the page, which contained large amounts of the numbers 8 and 7, made fans suspect that the game will revolve around the '87 bite .

Between the Nightmare Foxy and the Nightmare Fredbear teaser, a picture was published on June 12th that shows a sparkling clean floor made of checkered tiles on which a purple top hat and a purple bow tie with a spotlight are placed. When it is illuminated, there is a lettering that shows the content of the picture as the property of a company, the name of which is largely hidden. The most common theory for the company 's identity was Fredbear's Family Diner , named in FNaF 2 as the original owner of the restaurant chain. On July 9th, another teaser was uploaded showing Plushtrap sitting on his chair in the hallway where he can be found in the game.

Scott Cawthon stated in an email to well-known FNaF YouTuber Dawko on July 12th that FNaF 4 would be released on the anniversary of the release of the first game, August 8th, 2015. In the same email, he also announced a trailer . The trailer was uploaded to Scott Cawthon's YouTube channel on July 13th and showed gameplay for the first time .

Various well-known Five Nights at Freddy's YouTubers received a demo version of the game on July 21, which was finally released without further notice on July 23, because Cawthon no longer wanted to sit on a finished product. The game was initially downloadable for computers from the Steam platform , an Android version was released on July 25, and an iOS version followed on August 5, 2015.

Halloween update

In the July 12, 2015 email announcing the advance of the FNaF 4 release date , Scott Cawthon also announced that a free update with some additional content would be released on the game's original release date instead. Cawthon detailed its plans for the August 25th update. He proposed a menu for cheats and one for challenges, which also came with new stars on the main menu.

Between October 15 and October 29, 2015, Cawthon uploaded several teasers on his website showing the new animatronics of the DLC in the order Jack-O-Bonnie, Nightmare Balloon Boy, Nightmarionne, Nightmare Mangle and Jack-O-Chica . The update was finally released on October 30, 2015.

Reviews

Meta-ratings Database Rating GameRankings 70.00% Metacritic 51% OpenCritic 67/100 reviews publication Rating Destructoid 4/10 PC Gamer US 70/100 TouchArcade 3/5 LevelUp 3/10 PCGamesN 5/10 Gamezebo 4/5 148Apps 3.5 / 5 BonusStage 8/10

Five Nights at Freddy's 4 received average reviews overall. The game website Gamerankings.com gave the game 70%. Other websites, such as TouchArcade (3 out of 5 stars), 148Apps (3.5 out of 5 stars) and Gamezebo (4 out of 5 stars) also rate FNaF 4 positively.

Game critics like Nadia Oxford awarded the game 4 out of 5 possible stars and praised the intense atmosphere, the dark background story and the sad ending. The only thing that was criticized was the fact that the 8-bit minigames - which are important for the background story - are missing in the Android version. Angelo M. D'Argenio was similarly benevolent, praising the fact that the player had to rely more on his good hearing than on flickering camera screens.

Other game critics, such as Nic Rowen , were less gracious and criticized above all that FNaF 4 was unimaginative and uncreative. In addition, game mechanics and character design are based too much on the first game part, which makes FNaF 4 disappointingly predictable. Rowen also complained that FNaF 4 was not able to clear up well-known puzzles and theories about the background story of the Five Nights at Freddy’s saga and instead only created more rumors.

Web links

• German Five Nights at Freddy's Wiki (German)
• Five-Nights-at-Freddy's -Wiki (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Patrick Klepek: Five Nights At Freddy's Creator Says 'Not A Single Person' Has Figured Out His Game's Story. In: Kotaku. Gawker Media, May 25, 2015, accessed March 9, 2020 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Angelo M. D'Argenio: Five Nights at Freddy's 4 Review - Change, Improve, Jumpscare on escapistmagazine.com . (English)
3. ↑ Hernandez, Patricia: Everything We Know About Five Nights at Freddy's 4 (So Far) . Kotaku. July 24, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
4. ↑ Five Nights At Freddy's 4 Announced, First Image Looks Horrifying. In: Cinemablend. Gateway Blend, April 28, 2015, accessed March 9, 2020 . 
5. ↑ Five Nights at Freddy's 4: Release on Halloween. In: ingame. inwave media GmbH, April 28, 2015, accessed on March 9, 2020 . 
6. ↑ Tasos Lazarides: More 'Five Nights at Freddy's 4' Teaser Images - Say Hello to Nightmare Chica. In: TouchArcade. Audentio, May 18, 2015, accessed on March 9, 2020 . 
7. ↑ Tasos Lazarides: New 'Five Nights at Freddy's 4' Teaser - This Time it's a Tricky One ... In: TouchArcade. Audentio, June 12, 2015, accessed March 9, 2020 . 
8. ↑ Tasos Lazarides: New 'Five Nights at Freddy's 4' Teaser - Terrible Things Await. In: TouchArcade. Audentio, July 9, 2015, accessed March 9, 2020 . 
9. ↑ ^{a b} Joe Parlock: Five Nights at Freddy's 4 coming August 8, free content update on October 31. In: Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming Inc., July 13, 2015, accessed March 9, 2020 . 
10. ↑ Danny Gallagher: Freddy follows you home in trailer for Five Nights at Freddy's 4. In: CNET. CBS Interactive, July 14, 2015, accessed March 9, 2020 . 
11. ↑ Scott Cawthon: First Reaction Videos! In: Steam Community. Valve, July 21, 2015; Archived from the original on July 24, 2015 ; accessed on March 9, 2020 (English). 
12. ↑ Adam Dodd: Surprise! 'Five Nights at Freddy's 4' is Out Now. In: Bloody Disgusting! July 24, 2015, accessed March 9, 2020 . 
13. ↑ Five Nights at Freddy's 4 Jump-Scares - a Surprise Early Release on ign.com . (English)
14. ↑ Information about the iOS release on gamerankings.com . (English)
15. ↑ Zorine Te: Five Nights at Freddy's 4 Halloween Update Detailed. In: GameSpot. CBS Interactive, August 26, 2015, accessed March 9, 2020 . 
16. ↑ Rachael Marifosque: 'Five Nights at Freddy's 4' updates: game's official website offers teaser with nightmare Puppet behind plush Freddy; suggests inclusion in the game's Halloween edition. In: Ecumenical News. October 28, 2015, accessed March 9, 2020 . 
17. ↑ Meta-rating for "Five Nights at Freddy's 4" on metacritic.com (English), last accessed on March 9, 2020.
18. ↑ ^{a b} Information on various ratings on gamerankings.com (English).
19. ↑ Meta-rating for "Five Nights at Freddy's 4" on opencritic.com (English), last accessed on March 9, 2020.
20. ↑ Omri Petitte: "Five Nights at Freddy's 4 review" on pcgamer.com (English), last accessed on March 9, 2020.
21. ↑ ^{a b} Nic Rowen: "This guest has overstayed its welcome" on destructoid.com . (English)
22. ↑ Alonso Zamora: "Five Nights at Freddy's 4: La ley del mínimo esfuerzo" on levelup.com (Spanish), last accessed on March 9, 2020.
23. ↑ Matt Purslow: "Five Nights at Freddy's 4 review" on pcgamesn.com (Spanish), last accessed on March 9, 2020.
24. ↑ ^{a b} Nadia Oxford: "Hey! Listen!" on gamezebo.com . (English)
25. ↑ Shaun Musgrave: “'Five Nights At Freddy's 4' Review - The Latest Freddy Gets The Worst Port Yet” on toucharcade.com , last accessed on March 9, 2020.
26. ↑ Rob Rich: "Five Nights at Freddy's 4 Review" on 148apps.com (English), last accessed on March 9, 2020.
27. ↑ Elliott Osange: "Five Nights at Freddy's 4 Review" on bonusstage.co.uk (English), last accessed on March 9, 2020.