Slender: The Arrival Reviews

Slender: The Arrival is ranked in the 11th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
8 / 10
Apr 1, 2015

The audio is impeccable – all the locations have a foreboding ambience that is heightened by excellent use of sound effects to put you on edge

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7 / 10
Apr 10, 2015

With the move to current-gen consoles and a few new levels, horror hit Slender continues to offer up scares, but at the cost of its own mystique.

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7 / 10.0
Nov 1, 2015

All in all, I had a decent time with Slender: The Arrival. It won't go down as one of my favorite horror games, but the experience was a fun one while it lasted. It's a bit short and there's not a ton of replay value, but Slender: The Arrival offers enough scares and at a budget price, is a no brainer for horror fans.

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7 / 10
Oct 27, 2015

When you're not getting annoyed at being unable to find the final item in a given area, Slender: The Arrival is an excellent horror game that will leave your pulse racing. It's terrifying to be chased by these relentless enemies - frightening to see them no matter where you turn as you lose yourself deeper and deeper in the game's maze-like environments. It's just a shame that it can get so unbearably annoying to have to find a single scrap of paper hidden in a forest while enemies seem to guard its location over aggressively. If you can tolerate these moments, however, you'll experience a truly frightening game that will leave your guts in knots as you try, and fail (and fail, and fail), to stay alive.

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7 / 10
Jul 1, 2019

GOOD - Slender: The Arrival is a unique take on the Slenderman story that has stood the test of time. The game feels as fresh as it did six years ago, and it has been perfectly ported to the Switch with no setbacks whatsoever. It’s perfect for a first-time experience – though if you have already played this game then we’re not sure that this game offers enough to warrant another playthrough.

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7 / 10.0
Jun 20, 2019

I find Slenderman to be a great time capsule for gaming’s history. When we look back on that phenomenon, we can see the impact a video game can have on the real world. It’s for that reason, plus the fact that it’s still frightening, that I can see why Blue Isle Studios wanted to port it to the Switch.

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3.3 / 5.0
Mar 25, 2015

Overall, Slender: The Arrival was pretty well done. It has issues. Make no mistake. There were a lot of glitches (unintentional ones), a lot of scaling and framerate issues, as well as limited controls, vast amounts of dead space, and a story that could still be fleshed out more before being a contender. It needs a graphics update and some good voice actors as well. Again, this game is ten bucks and two hours long, so I wasn't really expecting a massive surprise of awesomeness. But even my innate fear of the Slender Man mythos wasn't enough to keep me invested enough in this game to want or even try a second playthrough. I am a huge fan of psychological thrillers. But for what this game has in its psychological scare tactics, it totally lacks in the things that make a game one that you'd want to come back to and play again and again. So as the title implies, this game truly is thick on scares but slender on everything else.

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6.3 / 10.0
Jul 3, 2019

Slender: The Arrival is a survival horror game. Developed by Blue Isle Studios for Nintendo Switch on June 20, 2019, join us in our review.

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Mar 26, 2015

Slender: The Arrival has solid qualities, as well as some hit or miss tendencies, leaning towards the miss side.

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Mar 25, 2015

Slender: The Arrival is neither a bad or exceedingly good title. If you've played the last-gen version, you'll be getting the same thing here. If you're a newcomer, you'll be getting a fun but quick-to-finish game. The graphics haven't improved all that much and even the same glitch remains, but nonetheless it is still a title that provides entertainment. The soundtrack can be top-notch in places and the run of adrenaline can spur you on to keep playing when you see Slender Man for the first time. At its reasonably cheap price of £7.99/$9.99, the game isn't on the highly recommended list. Slender may be starting to lose his frightening charm, but he still manages to keep us on our toes, even if it is just for a short while.

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Mar 24, 2015

The game isn't lengthy and will take most players only a couple of hours to complete. Regardless, Slender: The Arrival carries some truly notable frights. It's a powerful horror experience that will leave you feeling anxious.

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6 / 10
Apr 14, 2015

Ultimately, Slender: The Arrival retains the same experience as the previous versions, though it lacks the visual polish of the PC original. The move to PS4 also gives it tougher competition as far as horror games go, especially compared to the superior (and still free) P.T. If you lack a capable PC, this console re-release should suffice, otherwise stick to the cheaper and technically more proficient alternative.

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6 / 10.0
Jun 28, 2019

Slender: The Arrival did manage to perform well on the switch and of course give me some truly great scares but let's be honest. The Repetitive mechanics do start to take away from the scares and morph into frustration. The concept was great and I am impressed with how far the developers went but I think a different direction would have turned the tables.

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6 / 10.0
Nov 5, 2013

There are scares here, but not much game. Ye have been warned.

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3 / 5.0
Apr 1, 2015

Slender: The Arrival boasts some genuinely scary moments, but offers little beyond them. Chapters serve as a mini party game with friends, making this point-and-click game more of a horror movie than an actual interactive scare fest. The lack of a real story dampers things further, and if by some weird chance that players suffer the Slenderman hunt a second time, the feeling of that genuine fright will be long gone.

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6 / 10.0
Jun 30, 2019

Slender: The Arrival is a front-loaded horror game that brings its best at first but quickly devolves in quality. While later levels help expand the narrative and give context to what you’re doing, it becomes painfully mediocre with fewer scares and repetitious gameplay. As a port, it is well done. Everything from the original games is intact, except for a few graphical downgrades during certain areas. I would still recommend this game at least to experience a pop culture phenomenon. But, know that you’re not getting a solid return on your investment. Slender: The Arrival is available now on the Nintendo Switch. Let us know what you think!

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6 / 10.0
Oct 31, 2023

This brand new 10th anniversary remake of Slender: The Arrival might be an impressive visual overhaul of what was once a cheap-looking horror game, but at its core, it’s still the same janky and frustrating walking simulator released ten years ago. It may be a cult hit in the horror gaming community, but I didn’t find it very scary, nor compelling. I will give Blue Isle Studios credit for showcasing what Unreal 5 can provide to smaller games and teams, but sadly, mechanic-wise, nothing else of importance has been added.

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5.5 / 10.0
Mar 28, 2015

Although it may please fans of the original, Slender: The Arrival's dull, repetitive mechanics, unsatisfying story and archaic visual design hold it back from being a worthy addition to the horror genre.

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Nov 24, 2013

Slender delivers plenty of solid jump-scares spread across the story mode, but there's far too much repetitive gameplay in between the actual action to make it worth the experience.

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5 / 10
Mar 22, 2015

Short of the performance and presentation improvements, this is the same survival horror game that you've probably already played. It functions fine now, and is perfectly adequate if you're in the market for a cheap and cheerful blast of terror – but don't expect much more. Small in both scope and budget, Slender: The Arrival is little more than a rest stop on the way to something bigger and better.

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