“Five Nights at Freddy’s Help Wanted”
Genres: Adventure game, Casual game
Platforms: Meta Quest, Android, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
Mode: Single-player video game
Initial release date: May 28, 2017

Rating: 9.5 out of 10 

Step into a twisted world of animatronic horror with “Five Nights at Freddy’s Help Wanted VR”, where players will experience every creak, every blur, and flicker in a VR experience. 

Released on May 28, 2017, “FNAF HW” is an adventure horror game developed by Steel Wool Studios and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for PlayStation 4 and PC. The video game is a collection of classic and original mini-games set in the FNAF universe; surviving terrifying encounters with killer animatronics in a new and old classic-style of horror. 

Players will be brought to the menu screen when opening the game, featuring the 3 main animatronics of the game; Bonnie the Bonnie, Chica the Chicken, and Freddy the Bear. Occasionally, these animatronics will follow the player’s movement with their eyes if one leans to the side or moves their head around while in the game. The night shift setting is eerie and surrounds the player’s environment. The game not just tests one’s skills; it challenges one’s sanity. 

There is not a single minute of silence wasted within the game. The controls have been redesigned, allowing the player to experience the game in 3D instead of a 2D version, seeing the animatronics moving around while in the game, and unfolding the story while playing.

By pressing the new game button, the player will be transported to the introduction of the game; A voice will start telling the player about “how Freddy Fazbear is excited to join the digital age with you, and what better way to do that, than on the edge of one’s seat it becomes a virtual reality experience.” When the introduction ends, the player needs to sign a waiver before playing which is just “legal mumbo jumbo about users’ injuries…” The player will be greeted with a screen in front of them. This is the main selection screen, where the player can choose from one of the forty different types of mini-games.

One of the many different types of mini-games players can play is Dark Rooms. The mini-game is a reimagined level of “FNAF 4” where the player plays a child who is trying to survive from 12 am to 6 am, hoping to avoid a jumpscare. Another mini-game that one can play is Parts and Service. During gameplay, the player must fix and troubleshoot broken animatronics while making sure to follow HandUnit instructions or they will end up getting jumpscared. 

Even though there are new levels from the original series, “FNAF HW” there are also the original games in which the player takes control of a nightguard who is working the night shift from 12 am to 6 am. While there are mini-games that can be played, there is a storyline the player must solve and complete to finish the game. While on the main selection screen, the player can head to the prize corner, to see all the prizes that they have won when completing mini-games. While in hard mode players will notice glitches at the prizes corner taking notice of an item that looks like a cassette player. 

The cassette player helps to understand the story, giving an option to a new room, allowing the player to hear the story and the tapes that someone left for them. If one wants to listen to the tapes, then the player must complete the mini-games from within the game; earning more tapes along the way. The mechanics within the game allow an interesting perspective with the ability to free roam allowing them to look around and interact within their environment while being part of the gameplay. In addition to the different types of mechanics the player uses; closing the office and bedroom doors if they feel like something is watching them from outside. However, this is not all if the player moves their head over to the left to see a box with a level with two arrows pointing left and right. 

By switching the lever in the right direction the player will be greeted with hard mode, allowing the player to challenge themselves with even tougher mini-games. While on this new set of mini-games, the player can also experience some new types of game mechanics and gameplay; An example being, changing the player’s vision to the perspective upside down making it harder for them to know what button to press first: or having all color gone and being stuck seeing everything in black and white having a harder time knowing if there is an animatronic near them. 

To sum it up, “FNAF HW” is an amazing experience not because it’s a fun game but because it delivers the unnerving jumps of any VR horror game out there. If a player has to rate this game on a scale from 1 to 10 they would probably give it a 9.5 out of 10 based on the VR experience that it has as a horror game when playing.