Five Nights at Freddy's 2

Five Nights at Freddy's 2

Steam Store artwork
Designer(s) Scott Cawthon
Engine Multimedia Fusion
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Android
iOS
Release date(s) Microsoft Windows
November 10, 2014[1][2]
Android
November 13, 2014
iOS
November 20, 2014
Genre(s) Survival horror, point-and-click
Mode(s) Single-player
Distribution Digital distribution

Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is a 2014 indie point-and-click survival horror video game designed by Scott Cawthon, and the sequel to Five Nights at Freddy's, which was released earlier in the year. The game was released on Steam on November 10, 2014,[1][2] earlier than its two planned dates of sometime in 2015[3] and December 25, 2014[4] respectively, with the latter due to issues with releasing the demo.[5] The mobile port for Android was released on November 13, 2014.

The player plays as Jeremy Fitzgerald, as opposed to Mike Schmidt from the first game. It features six brand new enemy characters as well as redesigned versions of the original four enemy characters from the original game. Unlike the first game, there are no doors to close; instead, the player must put on a Freddy Fazbear mask to avoid being killed by most animatronics.[6][7] A sequel, entitled Five Nights at Freddy's 3, was released on March 2, 2015.

Gameplay

As in the first game, Five Nights at Freddy's, the player must survive a night shift at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, from 12 A.M. to 6 A.M. game time (Approximately 7 minutes and 6 seconds), without being attacked by any of the animatronic enemy characters (11 in all) that wander from room to room. The player cannot leave the security office, but can track the animatronics' movements via a network of surveillance cameras placed throughout the building. The office has three entrances, a hallway and two side air vents; in a departure from the previous game, none of these can be sealed off to block enemies from entering. Each vent is equipped with a light that can be used to check for any characters that are about to crawl into the office.

The player character can put on a mask to ward off approaching animatronics, however this strategy will not work on certain characters, who must be repelled by other means. A flashlight is also available, used to check the hallway and darkened areas of the camera feeds, as well as to reset certain animatronics via strobing. Unlike the previous title, the power supply for the cameras and vent lights is unlimited, but the flashlight does not have an infinite battery life; if it runs out, the player becomes vulnerable to attack. In addition, a music box has been placed in one room and must be remotely wound up through the camera interface, to avoid being attacked by an additional animatronic known as The Puppet or The Marionette that appears when the music stops.

Unlike the first game, after the player is killed, there is a chance that rather than the Game Over screen one of four low-resolution minigames will appear, with instructions given at the start of each. Many speculate that these minigames contain insight into the lore of the game series.

The game consists of five nights, increasing in difficulty. Completing all five unlocks an even more difficult sixth night, which in turn unlocks a "Custom Night" upon completion. In the Custom Night, the player can adjust the AI difficulty of the individual enemy characters or play one of 10 pre-set challenges.

Plot

Taking place in 1987, the player character (who is later revealed to be named Jeremy Fitzgerald)[8] has started working as a night watch security guard at the family restaurant Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. As he did in the previous game, a specific Freddy Fazbear's Pizza employee calls Jeremy on the phone in the office at the beginning of each night to explain both gameplay and the story. He explains that the animatronics, which have special facial recognition software to protect the children from potential harm, were not programmed with a proper night mode, so when they do not hear any noise, their programming tells them that they are in the wrong room and they seek out the nearest source of noise to find people to entertain, which happens to be in the office.[9]

As in the previous game, the animatronics' programming also tells them that there should not be people in the restaurant after hours, so when they encounter Jeremy, they believe he is an animatronic endoskeleton without a costume and stuff him into a spare Freddy Fazbear suit, killing him in the process. The man on the phone also explains that this restaurant has an unlimited power source at night, unlike the previous location, but there are no doors blocking access to the office, requiring the player to use a spare Freddy Fazbear mask to trick most animatronics into thinking he is not an endoskeleton. The player will also be informed to keep a music box wound up to keep an additional animatronic from leaving its box and attacking the player.[9]

The player is also informed their flashlight will cause certain animatronics to reboot and leave the room. As more enemy characters appear as the player advances through the game, the man on the phone informs Jeremy of the characters' presence, their movement patterns, and some background information on their presence in the sequel. For example, the man on the phone explains that the older animatronics are in the new restaurant, and have been retrofitted with the new technology, but as they did not work properly they are kept for spare parts.[10]

As the game progresses, it is hinted that something is going on during the day, as the man on the phone mentions that rumors are going around and, later, that a police investigation is going on. Exactly what is happening is not specified, but the man informs them that someone had apparently entered the restaurant and "used one of the [animatronic] suits" for unknown intentions.[10]

On the game's fifth night, Jeremy is informed by the man on the phone that the restaurant has been put on lockdown due to an event that he will not describe but which is in place to make sure no employees, present or former, can come in or go out. The man also mentions that the position of the restaurant's day shift security has a vacancy and Jeremy may be promoted to it, and that the owner of the older restaurant named "Fredbear's Family Diner" will be contacted for more information on the animatronics.[11]

On the sixth night, the man on the phone informs Jeremy that the restaurant has been closed for undescribed reasons, but he does mention that someone used a "spare yellow suit" for the animatronics and now none of them work properly. He also tells Jeremy that he will be taking over as night shift security guard when the restaurant reopens. If Jeremy is successful in surviving the sixth night, he is promoted to day shift to cover a birthday party on the next day to make sure the animatronics do not cause any problems. A newspaper that is shown in the winning screen of the sixth night says that the restaurant will close down and the newer animatronics will be scrapped, but the older ones saved for when the restaurant reopens, hinting at the events of the first game.[8]

In the custom night level, Jeremy is replaced by a new player character named Fritz Smith due to Jeremy's promotion. If the player manages to win the custom night, they discover Fritz has been fired for "tampering with [the] animatronics" and "odor", a call back to the previous game's custom level message.[12]

Reception

Reviews
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings(PC) 66.25%[1]
(iOS) 75%[13]
Metacritic(PC) 63/100[14]
Review scores
PublicationScore
PC Gamer (US)70/100[15]

Five Nights at Freddy's 2 received generally positive reviews. Omri Petitte for PC Gamer gave Five Nights at Freddy's 2 a score of 70 out of 100, commenting that what he wanted in the sequel "was more mind games and more uncertainty. I wanted the plodding animatronic suits to find me and rip my face off in new and interesting ways. I wanted working legs. What I got was a horror game dipping heavily into deception and subtlety, a wonderfully cruel cocktail of supernatural mystery and jolts of panicked adrenaline. Enjoying the good parts, though, comes with a cost of a frustratingly steep difficulty."[15]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Five Nights at Freddy's 2 for PC". GameRankings.com. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Prescott, Shaun (November 10, 2014). "Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is now available on Steam". PC Gamer. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  3. Squires, Jim (September 23, 2014). "Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 Coming in 2015". Gamezebo. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
  4. Lionet, François (November 5, 2014). "Interview of the author of a top paid game in AppStore". Clickteam. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  5. Jeffrey Matulef (11 November 2014). "Five Nights at Freddy's 2 sneaks out on Steam". Eurogamer. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  6. Carlson, Alex (October 21, 2014). "Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 Hits Steam Greenlight, Removes Doors". Hardcore Gamer LLC. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  7. Prieststman, Chris (October 24, 2014). "Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 Let’s You Wear A Freddy Mask". Siliconera. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Scott Cawthon (2014-11-10). "Five Nights at Freddy's 2". PC. Scene: Ending (Night 6).
  9. 9.0 9.1 Scott Cawthon (2014-11-10). "Five Nights at Freddy's 2". PC. Scene: Night 1 phone call.
  10. 10.0 10.1 Scott Cawthon (2014-11-10). "Five Nights at Freddy's 2". PC. Scene: Night 4 phone call.
  11. Scott Cawthon (2014-11-10). "Five Nights at Freddy's 2". PC. Scene: Night 5 phone call.
  12. Scott Cawthon (2014-11-10). "Five Nights at Freddy's 2". PC. Scene: Ending (Custom night).
  13. "Five Nights at Freddy's 2 for iOS". GameRankings.com. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  14. "Five Nights at Freddy's 2". metacritic.com. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  15. 15.0 15.1 Petitte, Omri (November 24, 2014). "Five Nights at Freddy's 2 review". PC Gamer (Future plc). Retrieved November 30, 2014.

External links