slender the arrival персонажи

Slender: The Arrival

В любой культуре байки и страшилки становятся неотъемлемой частью фольклора. Хотя бы раз с ними непременно сталкивался каждый: кто-то в формате «городских легенд» о крокодилах в канализациях; кто-то все детство повторял загадочные имена, стоя перед зеркалом; кто-то находил в Интернете «крипи-форумы», на которых ужастики дополняются «фотошопом», а потому пугают втрое больше. Именно продуктом такого массового сознания и стал Слендермен — пугающее нечто в пиджаке, компенсирующее отсутствие лица наличием тентаклей.

Статус культового герою принесла Slender: The Eight Pages — игра о том, как собирать бумажки в темном лесу; флагман инди-хорроров, пугающий и лаконичный. У проекта появилась масса вариаций и последователей, а персонаж оброс веб-сериалами, фильмами и мифологией. Разработчик тем временем отправился ваять полноценный ремейк: с сюжетом, шейдерами и фиксированной стоимостью.

История выдумана, все совпадения — судьба

Несмотря на возросшие амбиции, игра выполнена минималистично. Повествование начинается буквально с середины: стартовой отмашкой становится произвольное включение видеокамеры. При этом неясно, кто оператор, куда он направляется и зачем. Это предстоит выяснить только спустя пять минут по контексту: оказывается, под контролем у игрока девушка, которая держит путь к своей подруге в пригород. Увы, вместо горячего чая с пряниками ее приветствуют распахнутая дверь, масса загадочных рисунков на стенах и душераздирающий вопль, доносящийся с заднего двора.

Играть предстоит скорее той самой видеокамерой, чем персонажем: эдакое «мокьюментари», перекочевавшее из Интернет-сериалов. Разговаривать ни с кем не дадут, в мысли главной героини не пустят, а поэтому догадываться о сути происходящего придется исключительно по предметам интерьера и найденным письмам. Приготовьтесь к вызывающей недоумение концовке и перепрохождению: с первого раза собрать картину полностью невозможно. Это и задает весь тон происходящему — Слендермен серьезно давит на психику собственной загадочностью.

Пугаться, впрочем, вы будете недолго. Рамочка дисплея заботливо подсвечивает «объем отснятого материала», и цифра вряд ли перевалит за пару часов. С другой стороны, эта пара часов будет насыщенной: каждый уровень предлагает принципиально иные декорации и здорово модифицированный геймплей. Игра вообще выполнена в очень правильном, кинематографичном ритме — созерцательные и безопасные эпизоды без предупреждения сменяются напряженными, а те, в свою очередь, заканчиваются эффектными кат-сценами. Если переживете, конечно.

Рост: 280 см, непримечателен

Поводов бояться в The Arrival два: вы можете умереть и не можете защищаться. Весь экшен построен на простой игре в «кошки-мышки», знакомой по оригинальной The Eight Pages. Есть вы, есть условные «сырные шарики», которые нужно собрать, а есть нечто загадочное, хищное и следящее за вами. При этом чем ближе вы к успеху, тем агрессивнее это нечто становится: чаще появляется и дольше преследует. А выносливости у вас, увы, не прибавляется.

«Боевые» эпизоды строго дозированы и обставлены в виде «раундов»: сохранение есть только в самом начале уровня, а потому проигрыш действительно пугает. Прелести придает неповторимость процесса: поведение Слендера определяется в реальном времени, поэтому нельзя просто так взять и предугадать очередное его появление. Прибавьте сюда то, что вы никогда не будете знать, в какую сторону идти, — локации также создаются случайным образом. И учтите, что сложность подстраивается динамически, так, чтобы даже самых решительных игроков держать в напряжении. А в дополнение ко всему игровой режиссер обучен паре эффектных трюков, которые наверняка заставят вас не сворачивать за тот угол.

Каждая локация выделяется не только стилистически, но и геймплейно. Ремейк оригинального «лесного» уровня, например, генерируется теперь совершенно случайно: ландшафт тотально меняется после каждого перезапуска, а потому пытаться запомнить, куда идти, совершенно бесполезно. Шахта, напротив, построена всегда одинаково, но предлагает уже двух противников, с одним из которых даже можно бороться. Если, конечно, догадаетесь как — объяснять специально этого никто не будет. Нужно ведь панику поддерживать.

Вызывать эту самую панику Слендер еще как умеет. Умирать во время прохождения придется не раз и не два, что серьезно обостряет чувство собственной беспомощности. Опасность вынуждает тщательно слушать и внимательно смотреть, а игра и рада потанцевать на вашей паранойе, регулярно показывая странные тени и подбрасывая фантомные шаги за спиной. Порой над вами и вовсе откровенно издеваются, давая шанс сбежать из самой безвыходной ситуации: конечная цель все-таки наводить ужас, а не накручивать счетчик проигрышей.

Потерпевший требует сатисфакции

Проблема (а без нее, разумеется, никуда) в том, что, несмотря на правильно выстроенную динамику и великолепную геймплейную режиссуру, полного погружения в мир не происходит. Перед разработчиком стояла непосильная задача — расширить оригинальную концепцию до цельной игры, хотя потенциала явно не хватало. Определенного успеха автор, конечно, добился, но окончательную победу не одержал.

Виной всему в первую очередь система «арен» и небольшая продолжительность. После прохождения игрок оказывается в меню выбора уровня и понимает: ему показали всего пять локаций, две из которых «челленджа» не предлагают вовсе, а три оставшиеся опираются на одну и ту же собирательную механику. Сюжет, которого меньше, чем хотелось бы, не спасает. Улучшенный движок тоже. В сумме все это никак не тянет на полноценный проект — игра в душе осталась собранным на коленке инди.

Более того, она даже не является априори лучшей в жанре. Есть, например, бесплатная Haunt, которая хоть и состоит из единственной локации, но может похвастаться квестовыми задачками, сбором предметов, заскриптованными эпизодами и при этом не упирает процесс в те самые «кошки-мышки». Хотя The Arrival обходит ее в каждом отдельном элементе, сумма оказывается меньшей. Именно из-за «фрагментарности» игрового процесса.

Slender: The Arrival — мощнейший хоррор, который пугает не меньше, чем лучшие представители жанра. Он здорово поставлен и отлично сбалансирован, предлагает оригинальную подачу сюжета и оставляет простор для домыслов и исследований. Кроме того, компенсирует небольшую продолжительность необходимостью пройти себя несколько раз.

Но при этом он не выглядит законченным: все ощущается скорее как набор мини-игр, потому что целостной механики авторам добиться не удалось. После первого прохождения «Слендер» становится чуть ли не «тайм-киллером»: запустить, выбрать уровень под настроение и пару раз пробежаться, благо реиграбельность локаций просто неимоверна. Стоит ли такое развлечение своих денег? Еще можно поспорить, но перед фанатом жанра этот вопрос ставить бессмысленно. Свое, оригинальное лицо проекту сохранить, безусловно, удалось.

Плюсы: сохранена оригинальная механика; разнообразие локаций; шикарный искусственный интеллект; автоподстройка сложности.
Минусы: отсутствие принципиальных нововведений; малая продолжительность; «рваный» геймплей.

Источник

Slender: The Arrival

Slender: The Arrival

Developer(s)

Publisher(s)

Producer(s)

Engine

Platform(s)

Release

Genre(s)

Mode(s)

Slender: The Arrival is the fully-realized, commercial version of Slender: The Eight Pages. It is developed by Blue Isle Studios, in association with Parsec Productions.

The game’s main storyline was written by the cast of MarbleHornets.

The game was released on March 26, 2013 at midnight.

The game was later published to Steam on October 28, 2013 containing an extended prologue and a brand new ending.

Slender: The Arrival was released to the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade on September 23 and 24, 2014 respectively, with 2 new levels from the perspective of two past victims. One of these levels was shown on the E3 show floor providing additional information on the story. These levels are available on the PC and Steam versions of this game for free. The game was ported onto Nintendo Switch on May 29th, 2019.

The ESRB (U.S) rates the game Teen (T) for blood and violence.

Contents

«So often are we guided by our devotion, our love, our affection. A bond that pulls us down paths not bargained for. And when you find yourself alone as HE casts out that bedeviling gaze.

How far will it carry you?»

Chapter 1: «Prologue»

The game starts out when the main character’s (Lauren’s) Volvo is parked at the head of Kate’s driveway, stopped by a fallen tree. Lauren walks down a path to Kate’s home. On the way, Lauren passes another car (perhaps owned by CR, but this is never confirmed). Once making it to Kate’s home, Lauren finds that she is not there. She investigates the house to find it very disheveled—furniture is strewn about, windows are open, etc. Lauren also finds many drawings and wall-scratchings hinting at the Slender Man.

In searching, Lauren finds a key which allows her to unlock Kate’s bedroom upstairs. Inside, she sees walls textured entirely with drawings and scratchings of Kate’s, hinting that the way to safety involves reaching a radio tower visible in the distance. On Kate’s desk is a paper with writing. After picking up this paper, Lauren hears a long, drawn-out scream coming from the woods behind Kate’s house. Lauren goes to investigate, and finds three generators along the way. A burning presence presses down on her, as if she isn’t completely alone.

Lauren finds a burnt house near the end of her trip, black and lifeless. Investigation discovers Charles Matheson Jr. standing in a single corner. He is decayed and starved of all recognizable features. As she goes to see who she is dealing with, the camera flickers several images and then the figure is gone. When at last she arrives at the entrance to Oakside Park, she enters the area and the level transitions.

In the Steam Update, there’s a book with sketches, and then there’s a door. When you enter the door, the screen goes black, and ‘Slender: The Arrival’ logo appears, and then the game proceeds to the Eight Pages.

Chapter 2: «The Eight Pages»

Stepping out of the small building, Lauren explores Oakside Park looking for Kate, whom she believes to be the source of the scream she heard at the end of the previous chapter. Along the way, she collects eight of the pieces of paper with Kate’s mad scribblings on them, and is harassed by the Slender Man. After collecting the 8th page, the Slender Man attempts to grab her, but she breaks free and dashes off through the forest in a blind panic.

This level serves as an enhanced remake of the original Slender: The Eight Pages.

Chapter 3: «Into The Abyss»

Lauren awakes in a field in Oakside Park, near the Kullman Mining facility. As she explores the closed valley, she finds that she must enter a dark tunnel into a mountain that, as is alluded to in a collectible newspaper article, was created by Kullman Mining Co. after purchasing mineral rights from the owners of Oakside Park. As she enters, Lauren sees a sign that instructs that in the event of a power outage, six generators must be activated in order to power the emergency lift and escape. As she powers the generators, she realizes that she is being chased by the Chaser, a terrifying figure in a white hoodie with a mask (who is later revealed to be Kate as a proxy). During this, she is also harassed by the Slender Man. As all six generators are activated, Lauren activates the lift and is risen to the top of the shaft, thus transitioning to Chapter 4.

In the Hardcore mode, Lauren must collect all gas canisters before activating the generators.

Chapter 4: «Flashback»

After making her way out of the mine, Lauren is allowed again to briefly explore the beautiful landscape as she collects evidence relating to Kate. As she traverses, she finds a teddy bear on the side of the trail. She then progresses through a small cave and finds a small building, inside which there is a TV with two tapes on the table next to it.

As of version 2.0, the videotape section of this chapter has been made a separate chapter named Escape. The chapter Flashback is used as a transition to chapters Homestead and Escape.

Chapter 5: «Memories»

This chapter can be accessed by finding the stuffed teddy bear in the woods in Chapter 4.

This chapter allows the player to take control of Charlie, while playing on the beach with his family having a picnic. Charlie spots a trail of toy trains that lead him to the woods. His parents eventually start calling for him after Charlie grabs the last piece of the toy train. Charlie realizes that something is stalking him and begins to look for a way out, only to find a dead end and be captured by Slender Man, while screaming for help.

Chapter 6: «Escape»

One of the tapes shows footage of a girl scribbling on a sheet of paper. The video is of Kate, now controlled by the player, who has to secure her home from the Slender Man. During this process, she sees the Slender Man and tries to hide in her room. She is confronted by the Slender Man, which causes her to crash out of her bedroom window, ending the chapter and the video recording simultaneously.

This chapter is accessed in Chapter 4, along with the tape for «Homestead».

Chapter 7: «Homestead»

This level allows the player to take control of Carl Ross while he’s doing his research about Charlie’s disappearance. While investigating the Matheson Farmstead, CR is chased by Charlie, now turned into a Proxy, while discovering evidence that the Mathesons have been watched by Slender Man for generations. Once CR exits the cellar, he then drops the camera and can then be seen getting chased by Charlie (as a proxy).

This chapter is accessed in Chapter 4, along with the tape for «Escape».

Chapter 8: «The Arrival»

An enraged Slender Man

Lauren walks to the end of the hall where the charred corpse of a man, presumed to be CR, is lying next to a video camera. As Lauren plays the audio on the camera, she hears CR trying to convince Kate to do something, most likely commit suicide with him, as evidenced by note No. 13 and the fridge note from ‘Prologue’. Kate screams that she can’t, and runs away. CR then says sorry to someone, and starts screaming. After a while, a woman, presumably Kate, starts laughing. The audio ends suddenly. The fire near the door where Lauren entered is blown out, and the door can be heard opening and footsteps are heard. The camera, near dead, begins to flash of incoherent shapes and loud noises while the decaying figure is Charles Matheson Jr. closes in on Lauren.

Waking up in a basement, Lauren finds herself with an almost dead camera battery. A quick inspection of the room, gives her a close look at Charlie, who is guarding the stairs that lead up to the rest of the mysterious setting. Attempting to rush up the stairs will be obviously hindered. Exploration instincts kick in and Lauren finds a nearly burnt notebook and one last printed email from CR. She looks again and Charlie is gone, allowing access to the upper floor. She finds, however, she is back in the burnt house from the prologue, replaced by the crying of Kate. Navigating the hallways, Lauren comes face to face with her friend, and a single attempt to get any closer results in her ultimate demise as a sudden switch from Kate to The Chaser in a single instant. And before long, the camera is shown the view of Lauren’s legs vanishing slowly from view as her body is dragged away. And then nothing as the game ends and the credits roll.

Chapter 9: «Genesis»

Chapter 9 (introduced as Chapter 6 in v.1.3) takes place before «Escape». In it, Kate is wandering around a park at night, when she finds a page with disturbing images and text on it. Slender Man begins to stalk her. When Kate finds all of the Eight pages scattered around the park, Slender Man catches up to her. However, rather than abducting her, he simply says, «I have plans for you, Kate.»

This level serves as an unaltered remake of Slender: The Eight Pages, and serves as the driving sequence towards Arrival.

Chapter 10: «Glitch»

A secret level is playable by collecting a missing child poster 3 times during the course of the game, the name of the child being Charles Matheson Jr. The secret level is a series of distorted rooms in which Lauren is trying to go to another room but instead gets teleported to another room. When Lauren enters a room where the door is locked, she will eventually get captured by the Slender Man and a voice will call out and say, «he likes you» and wants to, «play with you».

You are then taken back to the main menu, if the player attempts to continue by checking the option stage selection, all the stages are replaced with the missing child poster you have seen before. You are in front of the house where there are a series of distortion all around the environment and the graphics are slightly low. In this stage you simply wander around the house, where at some point, the screen will cut to black and you are «found».

After that, the player is placed outside, immobile and unable to move due to being set on fire. Slender Man will then teleport closer and closer to the player until the game cuts to black with the image of the missing child poster combined with Slender Man. The final thing that comes up after it is the voice stating, «You are dead», and then the game ends. When you return to the main menu, the only options available are «Start Game» and «Exit».

Choosing «Start Game» leads the player to a scene where Lauren seems to be looking up at the sky. The screen cuts to black once again and the missing child poster combined with Slender Man appears like it did before at the end of the secret level. If the player exits the game, however, the five stages will return back to normal and will no longer have the missing child poster.

Throughout the level, pressing the Esc button will cause the screen to warp as though Slender Man was nearby, even in the menu.

Attempting to exit the game by going back to the main menu during the Secret Level and clicking «Exit» will not work, and instead results in a message appearing that reads «Don’t leave me».

Characters

Easter Eggs

Easter Egg #1

In the PC Version of Slender: The Arrival, if you go to the Dev Console and repeatedly put in the code «iamallama»:

The game will then disable cheat mode and respond to any further attempts to use it by taunting the player with: «Haha. Who’s a llama now?»

Endings

Gameplay

The majority of the game takes place in abandoned areas (house, defunct mine, etc.), each with different objectives. Slender: The Arrival uses similar mechanics to its predecessor, The Eight Pages. The character is armed only with a flashlight. This limited defense forces a sense of helplessness, as the best way to survive in the game is to run whenever in danger. The Slender Man’s behavior changes slightly between levels. In the first level, the Slender Man can be seen outside the window, and after going through the gate outside he can be seen on the top of hills well away from the player. In level two, he most often teleports off-screen or just out of the character’s line of sight, but is capable of appearing directly in front of the player. It is observed that his motion centers around following the player, but consists largely of jumping from place to place, the inconvenience of which is increased as each of the eight pages are collected. His behavior is much the same as this in level four, except more active. In level three, he pursues much less aggressively, though is capable of teleporting directly in front of the player. In this level, the main antagonist is a girl who chases the player (most often following her path directly, but has been seen teleporting. It is unknown whether this is a glitch or an in-game mechanic). The only way of subduing her is by focusing the flashlight (on its second setting) on her. While looking at the Slender Man, the camera succumbs to electronic distortions such as static, blurring, color spots, audio distortion, etc., which obstructs the player’s vision unless facing away, and far enough from it. The player cannot pause while this occurs, to prevent them taking a break due to being frightened. When caught, the game over screen is also different; while in Slender: The Eight Pages, the player saw a white static background with Slender Man’s faceless head, the one for Slender: The Arrival is black, with an overhead-lit and color-distorted hue and less static. There are also new choices in difficulty (which must first be unlocked by completing the game once) being easy, normal, and hardcore. The differences being that hardcore allows the flashlight to run out, enemies are more aggressive and the player’s stamina runs out quickly. Easy has infinite flashlight, a great deal of stamina, and the enemies are not very aggressive.

The Beta version is the second chapter of the full game, The Eight Pages, a remake of the original game, Slender: The Eight Pages. The original pages appear in this level.

There are some notable differences between this map and the original map from The Eight Pages, most notably being the terrain and the layout of the paths. Landmarks such as The Bathroom, The Cross Wall, The Tunnel and The Silo have been removed and replaced with landmarks that look more natural for the setting.

Just like The Eight Pages, the notes are placed in 8 of the 10 following locations.

There is also a secret building outside the boundaries of the map that might have been intended as the original replacement for the silo.

Once you have located all eight pages, the intense music and sound will fade into silence. After this you are allowed to walk around for 10 seconds before Slender Man teleports directly behind you, forcing you to turn around and die, rather than startling you and causing you to run away like in the full version.

Purchase options

Reception

Slender: The Arrival received mixed to positive reviews, with critics praising its soundtrack, tense atmosphere and scares, but also criticizing its shorter than expected campaign length and repetitive gameplay. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Xbox 360 version 61/100 based on 5 reviews, the Microsoft Windows version 65/100 based on 30 reviews, the PlayStation 4 version 60/100 based on 8 reviews, the Xbox One version 59/100 based on 6 reviews, and the PlayStation 3 version 48/100 based on 4 reviews.

In a positive review, The Escapist said «you may have mixed feelings about its brevity and the repetitive mechanics, but it’s certainly a well-built game that, above all, is scary to play» and gave the game a score of 4.5 stars out of 5. VVGtv gave the game a score of 8.8/10, praising the game’s graphics, sound, gameplay (with the exception of a few elements) and mystery element, while criticising the short story, adding that «if you played The Eight Pages and are looking for the next scare to really get your adrenaline pumping and to get you to yell like you did when you first saw Slenderman right behind you, this game will not disappoint». GameSpot gave the game a score of 8.5/10, calling it «one of the most terrifying games in recent memory».

In a negative review, VideoGamer said The Arrival is a «frustrating game, not just because it can be occasionally unfair but because these guys clearly have no idea how to promote fear. Running around playing kiss chase with a trans-dimensional being doesn’t really cut it.» and gave it a score of 4/10. The Metro also criticized the lack of varied gameplay, stating, «the first game had little real gameplay and this sequel does nothing to expand things, just repeat the experience often enough to rob it of its power.» and gave it a score of 6/10.

Источник