Slipping back to the shadows.

And finally, at least for now, we have Prison, which can be summed up in one word in regards to both the level and its real-world namesake: brutal. The derelict correctional facility in which you're trapped is heinously homogeneous in its visual style and layout, and can easily have even the most diligent player stuck going in circles before long. This time around, the player is collecting photographs during their attempted prison break, which can be found just as often in corners on the floor as they can on raised surfaces such as beds and counters, and for the first time in a Slender Man's Shadow, the character's hand is visibly holding the flashlight in front of them. The new element that really kicks things up a notch, however, is that running now attracts Slender Man's attention in the sprawling, silent cell blocks, making the sprint key an absolutely last-ditch option this time around. Turning and walking away quietly seems completely counter-intuitive at first, and between that restriction and the delay in ground coverage provided by not running, the atmosphere upgrades from mere terror to sheer menace. One of my favorite new elements, however, goes beyond even that; the character's flashlight, at times, will completely and unexpectedly cut out, leaving you plunged in darkness for what feels like forever if you're not in one of the primary hallways. If you live long enough the first instance, you learn that it does switch back on eventually, but that first blackout is tantamount to the first time a Slender virgin encounters our pale, be-suited friend in The Eight Pages. It's a rough ride, Prison, but any substantial progress in it feels more satisfying than any of its other brethren, and the ambient fear is the finest of any Slender Man's Shadow map to date.

Still forthcoming is something marked as a "Secret Project" on the Slender Man's Shadow home page, for which they collected $1,000 in donations but have revealed little else. Current speculation estimates it'll be a compilation of sorts, with the previously announced Carnival map and possibly an SDK to open up creation directly to the community, among other things. However, something completely different is just as likely; a pyramid-themed level was originally slated to release early in the rotation, but was scrapped entirely and hasn't been mentioned since. Either way, the Slender Man's Shadow crew have worked wonders when it comes to perpetuating the surprise scares and ambient dread of Parsec's original Slender, while maintaining an air of homagery rather than seeming merely derivative. Here's to all their good work to date, and to the hope that another dose of apprehension will be delivered in time for Hallowe'en.

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LOOK WHO CAME:

nekobun   

Nic Rowen   1