Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted | |
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Developer(s) |
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Publisher(s) | Scott Cawthon |
Series | Five Nights at Freddy's |
Engine | Unreal Engine 4 |
Platform(s) | |
Release | May 28, 2019
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Genre(s) | Survival horror |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted [a] is a 2019 virtual reality (VR) survival horror game developed by Steel Wool Studios and Scott Cawthon. It is an anthology of minigames based on the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise; the player must complete tasks without being attacked and killed by homicidal animatronic characters. These minigames include VR adaptations of the main Five Nights at Freddy's games, from the original game to Sister Location , and several new experiences. Hidden inside the levels are coins that unlock collectible objects and cassette tapes that provide insight into a metafictional narrative.
Cawthon initially approached Steel Wool Studios to recreate the first Five Nights at Freddy's (2014) in VR. He enjoyed their adaptation and decided to work with them to convert the rest of the series. Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted was released on May 28, 2019, for Windows through Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, and for PlayStation 4 through PlayStation VR.
Help Wanted received generally positive reviews from critics, who called it accessible and tense, though some found the jumpscares repetitive. A non-VR port to Nintendo Switch received mixed reviews. A downloadable content expansion, Curse of Dreadbear, was released on October 23, 2019. Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted 2, was released on December 14, 2023.
Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted is a virtual reality (VR) survival horror game. [1] It is an anthology of different minigames where the player must perform tasks without being caught and jumpscared by homicidal animatronic characters. [2] [3] The minigames include recreations of the main Five Nights at Freddy's games, chronologically from the first Five Nights at Freddy's (2014) to Sister Location (2016), and several scenarios unique to Help Wanted. [1] [4] Most minigames contain security cameras to monitor the animatronics and other tools to prevent them from catching the player. Tools include steel doors, lights, and a mask that allows the player to avoid detection. [1] [5] If a player loses one of the minigames, they are jumpscared and receive a game over. [6]
Completing each level grants access to an alternate, more difficult variant featuring warped graphics. [2] [7] In addition to adaptations of the main Five Nights at Freddy's games, new experiences include: "Parts and Service", where the player performs maintenance on the animatronics without provoking a jumpscare; [2] "Vent Repair", where the player solves puzzles to fix a ventilation shaft while keeping threats at bay; [4] [8] and "Dark Rooms", in which the player shines a flashlight with limited power to catch the animatronics. [2] The player may optionally collect gold coins or cassette tapes hidden inside the levels; coins are used to obtain collectible objects, and the cassette tapes provide background information on the plot. [2] [8]
In the metafictional narrative, the player controls a user of the "Freddy Fazbear Virtual Experience", a VR game developed by Fazbear Entertainment, the corporation managing the Freddy Fazbear restaurants and brand. [4] The company's reputation has suffered due to violent incidents at their restaurants, which have become established urban legends. The problem is aggravated by a horror video game series based on the legends created by an unnamed indie developer. To improve its image, Fazbear Entertainment commissioned the game to convince the public that the events were fictitious.
This narrative is contradicted by sixteen cassette tapes, through which the user is given insight into the game's troubled development. Meant as a warning for players, they are covertly recorded by one of the playtesters, who exposes a lawsuit involving a past employee of Fazbear Entertainment, Jeremy, that put the game's completion in jeopardy. Later recordings reveal that Fazbear Entertainment hired the unnamed indie developer to create the video game series based on the urban legends before cutting ties with him; the games were part of an elaborate ploy to discredit rumors surrounding the company. Lastly, the tapes disclose the existence of malware that was uploaded through an old printed circuit board. This code takes the form of a rabbit-like character called Glitchtrap, who is attempting to escape from the game by taking over the user's consciousness.
Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted contains several endings dependent on the player's choices. These endings include the user having their consciousness taken over by Glitchtrap, another where they complete all the levels and witness the credits while performing on-stage as Freddy Fazbear, and an ending where the player follows instructions stated in the tapes and is locked behind a steel door, where Glitchtrap shushes the user before disappearing behind the edifice.
Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted was developed in collaboration between Steel Wool Studios and the Five Nights at Freddy's creator Scott Cawthon. [7] It received further support from Lionsgate Games and Striker Entertainment. [9] Cawthon initially approached Steel Wool Studios to help recreate the original Five Nights at Freddy's in VR. Steel Wool finished an initial conversion, but felt it was too barebones and could be improved. The animations for Cawthon's characters had to be updated to look convincing and scary in a 3D environment, and the team added finer details to their character designs. Cawthon liked the adaptation so much that he expanded his initial plan, now working with Steel Wool to recreate all previous Five Nights at Freddy's games. [7]
An announcement trailer was shown during Sony Interactive Entertainment's State of Play livestream on March 25, 2019. [10] [11] The game debuted publicly at PAX East from March 28 to March 31, 2019, [7] and was available at subsequent PlayStation VR demonstrations. [12] Promotional artwork released as part of a teaser had to be replaced afterward, as it was found to contain character models based on fan art. Cawthon issued an apology, saying that the person responsible for the images confused the fan-made models with official designs. [13]
Help Wanted was announced for release in April 2019, [14] but was released on May 28, 2019, for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets on Windows, and PlayStation VR headsets on PlayStation 4. [2] [15] A non-VR version, "flat mode", was released for Windows and PlayStation 4 on December 17, 2019. [16] Ports for other consoles and platforms followed throughout 2020, including for Nintendo Switch on May 21, [17] [18] Oculus Quest on July 16, [5] Android and iOS on October 26, [19] [20] and Xbox One on October 29. [15] Halloween-themed downloadable content (DLC), Curse of Dreadbear, was released on October 23, 2020, and additional levels for the DLC were added on October 29. [21] Curse of Dreadbear was released on all platforms except for Oculus Quest, for which it was not released until December. [22] An updated version containing Curse of Dreadbear, Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted – Full Time Edition, was released for PlayStation 5 with PlayStation VR2 support on November 21, 2023. [23]
Aggregator | Score |
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Metacritic | PS4: 80/100 [24] NS: 53/100 [25] |
Publication | Score |
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Destructoid | PS4: 9/10 [2] |
HobbyConsolas | PS4: 73/100 [26] |
Nintendo Life | NS: 3/10 [4] |
The Games Machine (Italy) | PS4: 8.6/10 [3] |
IGN Italia | PS4: 8.3/10 [6] |
The PlayStation 4 version of Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregator website Metacritic; [24] the Nintendo Switch version received "mixed or average reviews". [25] The game was nominated for the Coney Island Dreamland Award for Best AR/VR Game at the New York Game Awards in 2020. [27]
Reviewers found Help Wanted accessible. [1] [2] [3] Destructoid felt that longtime fans and those unfamiliar with the series would enjoy it, [2] while The Games Machine wrote that players previously not fans of the horror genre would be appeased because of Help Wanted's simple mechanics. [3] UploadVR said that the game was a "masterclass in suspense", [5] and IGN Italia called it one of the scariest VR horror games. [6]
Critics called Help Wanted tense and unsettling. [1] [5] [26] UploadVR found the atmosphere intriguing, increasing the impact of jumpscares, and that VR made the game immersive. [5] Vandal said the experience was stressful, and praised the designs of the animatronics as detailed and intimidating. [1] IGN Italia said the game created compelling tension that made the player feel vulnerable. [6] Some reviewers called the jumpscares effective, but felt they became repetitive over time. [6] [26]
Reviewers focused on the minigames. Destructoid praised their inclusion and appreciated that the creators made new experiences beyond recreating the main Five Nights at Freddy's games, highlighting Vent Repair and Dark Rooms as particularly enjoyable. [2] IGN Italia also enjoyed Vent Repair and added that the minigames had significant replay value. [6] The Games Machine felt that they created gameplay diversity, but that some of the minigames retained the flaws of the original games. They found the quality of the original Help Wanted minigames mixed. [3] UploadVR said the game became repetitive despite the number of levels, finding that their simple mechanics did not sustain the experience. [5]
Some critics found the Nintendo Switch port inferior to the VR versions. Kotaku and Nintendo Life found the controls slow and difficult, and wrote that the game lacked the immersion of VR. [4] [28] Nintendo Life said that many of the minigames were worse versions of the Five Nights at Freddy's games already available for Switch. [4] Kotaku liked the new experiences such as the Vent Repair and Parts and Service minigames, but said Help Wanted did not justify replaying the main Five Nights at Freddy's games. [28]
Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted 2 was announced on May 24, 2023, during a PlayStation Showcase. [29] [30] A PlayStation Blog post by Steel Wool Studios on November 20, 2023, announced a release for PlayStation VR2 on December 14, 2023, and disclosed many of the minigames. [31] [32] The game was launched on that date for Oculus Quest and PlayStation VR2, [33] and Steel Wool Studios released a non-VR port of Help Wanted 2 for PlayStation 5 on June 20, 2024. [34] The minigames in Help Wanted 2 are based on experiences from Sister Location and Security Breach , and include a shooting gallery and various arcade-style games. The story has multiple endings, and some levels can only be accessed by completing a puzzle involving the narrative. [35]
Animatronics is technology relating to the usage of electronics to animate puppets or other figures. They are a modern variant of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions.
Clickteam is a French software development company based in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine. Founded by Francis Poulain, François Lionet and Yves Lamoureux, Clickteam is best known for the creation of Clickteam Fusion, a script-free programming tool that allows users to create video games or other interactive software using a highly advanced event system. They are most known for publishing the first seven titles in the Five Nights at Freddy's series.
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Five Nights at Freddy's (FNaF) is a 2014 point-and-click survival horror game developed and published by Scott Cawthon. The player controls Mike Schmidt, a night security guard at a family pizzeria. Schmidt must complete his shifts while avoiding the homicidal animatronic characters that wander the restaurant at night. The player has access to security cameras to monitor the animatronics throughout the shift, and a set of steel doors that can lock out the characters. Using the cameras and doors consumes the player's limited electricity, and draining all of the power causes these tools to become inoperable. If the player fails to keep the animatronics out of the office, they will be jumpscared and experience a game over.
Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is a 2014 point-and-click survival horror game developed and published by Scott Cawthon. It is the second installment in the Five Nights at Freddy's series. Set in a fictional pizzeria, the player takes on the role of night security guards Jeremy Fitzgerald and Fritz Smith, defending themselves from the restaurant's hostile animatronic mascots. The player cannot leave their office, but has access to a flashlight and security cameras throughout the restaurant to monitor animatronic activity. Wearing a mask that looks like one of the animatronics allows the player to avoid being detected in most cases, though some animatronics are repelled via other methods. If the player is detected, they will be jumpscared and experience a game over. As the game progresses, Atari-styled minigames and phone calls provide insight into the history of the restaurant.
Five Nights at Freddy's 3 is a 2015 point-and-click survival horror video game developed and published by Scott Cawthon. It is the third installment in the Five Nights at Freddy's series, and takes place in a horror-themed attraction based on the restaurant chain featured in the first two games. The player takes on the role of an unnamed security guard who must defend themself from a decrepit animatronic called Springtrap that roams the attraction while battling hallucinations of other animatronics. To survive, the player must monitor the building's security cameras while maintaining faulty systems that occasionally shut down. If the player fails to keep Springtrap out of the office or stares at the hallucinations for too long, they will be jumpscared, though only one from the former will cause a game over.
Five Nights at Freddy's 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 (FNaF) is a video game series and media franchise created by indie game developer Scott Cawthon. The franchise features ten main video games, several spin-off games, novels, and a film adaptation.
Scott Braden Cawthon is an American video game developer, writer, and producer. He is best known for creating Five Nights at Freddy's, a series of survival horror video games which expanded into a media franchise.
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Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location is a 2016 point-and-click survival horror video game developed and published by Scott Cawthon. It is the fifth main installment in the Five Nights at Freddy's series and the sixth game overall. Set at a sister location of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria called Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental, players control a new employee who must perform maintenance work while defending themselves from a set of murderous animatronics. The gameplay in Sister Location differs significantly from the previous Five Nights at Freddy's games in that it grants players mobility between rooms where tasks are completed.
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The 2020s is the sixth decade in the industry's history. The industry remains heavily dominated by the actions of Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, but it remains unforeseen how their dominance will be affected by cloud gaming and the smartphone and tablet market. Virtual reality headsets are expected to become more popular over the course of the decade. The industry was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ninth generation of video game consoles went on sale, beginning with the Xbox Series X and Series S and the PlayStation 5. Notable games released in the 2020s included Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Doom Eternal, Final Fantasy VII Remake, The Last of Us Part II, Ghost of Tsushima, Fall Guys,Hades, Genshin Impact, It Takes Two, Forza Horizon 5, Horizon Forbidden West, Elden Ring, Stray, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Cult of the Lamb, God of War Ragnarök, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur's Gate 3, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Alan Wake 2, Tekken 8, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Astro Bot, and Grand Theft Auto VI. Game development companies have come under increasing criticism for "crunch" practices, forcing workers to work long hours in the build-up to release.
Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach is a 2021 survival horror game developed by Steel Wool Studios and published by ScottGames. It is the ninth main installment in the Five Nights at Freddy's series and the eleventh game overall. Set in a large entertainment complex, the player takes on the role of a young boy named Gregory, who must evade the complex's hostile animatronic mascots as well as the night guard, attempting to survive until the morning. The game features significant differences from other installments in the franchise, with primary differences including free-roam gameplay.
Five Nights at Freddy's (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2023 film Five Nights at Freddy's based on the video game franchise of the same name created by Scott Cawthon. The soundtrack consisted of the score written, composed and produced by the Newton Brothers, and was released alongside the film on October 27, 2023, through Back Lot Music.