One of many hottest demos at PAX West 2024 got here from the 5 Nights at Freddy’s group, which provided a preview of Secret of the Mimic on PlayStation VR2.
PAX West 2024 was an enormous present for FNAF on the whole, with one of many largest cubicles within the expo corridor. Attendees might have fun the franchise’s tenth anniversary with a collection of commonly scheduled birthday events, held in an enormous open mock-up of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza in its heyday. The 5 Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic VR demo was in an enclosed house close by, with a packed line on on daily basis of the conference.
Secret of the Mimic is the eleventh sport within the FNAF collection and the fourth developed by Metal Wool Studios. Whereas it’s finest identified at this level for 5 Nights at Freddy’s, Metal Wool has an extended historical past in VR by itself. Its different VR video games embody Bounce, Mars Odyssey, and Quar: Battle for Gate 18, all of which got here out in 2016.
The demo consists of two quick ranges, each that includes elaborate chase sequences by means of a dilapidated toy manufacturing facility. Because the title suggests, the Mimic – first seen within the 2022 prose anthology Tales from the Pizzaplex #1 – is the first antagonist of Secret of the Mimic. Nevertheless, I didn’t see him on this demo. As a substitute, I used to be pursued by means of the manufacturing facility’s again places of work and upkeep corridors by a brand new enemy named Jackie, as a result of generally, video games journalism means you volunteer to get repeatedly murdered by a mechanical clown/spider.
The demo begins within the workplace of a manufacturing facility constructing, which seemed deserted however nonetheless largely operational. The lights had been nonetheless on, and the final impression I bought was that this place had shut down for the night time in some unspecified time in the future however had by no means been allowed to reopen. Progressing requires activating a large jack-in-the-box in a storeroom, which reveals the big marionette inside. This lets me take the crank, which is used on a close-by gadget to open the following door but additionally units the marionette unfastened on you.
That is Jackie: half of a deranged robotic jester that drags itself across the manufacturing facility on its two monumental, extendable arms. She’s bought no decrease half as a result of she yanked herself freed from her field to return choke me out. Good occasions. I used to be first pursued into an workplace, the place a robotic cheerfully went about “sorting” (learn: shredding) all of the mail it may well attain, that’s till Jackie finds you. You need to pull-start a generator to open a close-by doorway, however the ground collapses beneath you shortly thereafter.
The remainder of the demo entails staying one step forward of Jackie, who’s all the time proper on my heels. Secret of the Mimic places numerous effort into its chase sequences, the place any time you miss a mandatory step or take an additional second to determine what to do, Jackie will immediately cancel your birthday.
The subsequent jiffy are a collection of fast scares and faster choices. The trail by means of the manufacturing facility is plagued by air flow shafts, switches it’s essential pull, and crumbling catwalks, with Jackie proper behind me your complete time. Even when she will be able to’t attain me, she’s all the time audible, if not seen, skittering round within the shadows like a spider.
It is a harrowing expertise with little or no margin for error. The ground demo options typical locomotion with a 90-degree perspective snap that is sure to the correct analog stick. In an honest quality-of-life choice, something I might work together with is given a blue define as quickly because it enters my vary, and every space is rigorously lit to focus on mandatory options like gate switches. For those who’re in search of an honest entry-level VR sport, in addition to one which’ll scare any individual’s pants off, Secret of the Mimic appears to have you ever coated.
5 Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic arrives in 2025 for PC, PS5, and PlayStation VR2.
