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Slenderman Re-Arrives In Slender: The Arrival

Hey everyone, Slenderman's back! Again. Also, he was never really away, seeing as he's always right behind you and - seriously - he never went anywhere. After redefining the phrase "anatomy of fear," Slender spawned roughly 300 (just kidding: actual number is one gazillion) imitators of varying quality and, er, existence. But now, original developer Parsec Productions is on the comeback trail - this time with a full commercial release. I have to wonder, though: How far can this go? I mean, Slenderman's overnight fame precedes him. At this point, what's left for him to kill aside from the element of surprise?

The new game is actually a joint production between Parsec and Blue Isle Studios, a small developer (and former StarCraft II total conversion mod team) that's also working on a mobile RTS codenamed "Project Warfare." Here's the skinny:

"Slender: The Arrival is the official re-imagining of the original release that will engage players with the same terrifying gameplay, while adding a complete gaming experience that the fans have been asking for. With more levels, improved visuals, and an engaging storyline, the commercial release takes Slender to all new heights."

It's slated to release "in the coming months." I'd guess Halloween or somewhere thereabouts if it didn't require such an insanely quick turnaround time.

I'm interested to see what a "complete gaming experience" entails, though. Will there be other enemies? NPCs? Weapons? Curse-laden co-op? Psychological hallucinatory tricks? Because I'm not sure how I'd feel about any of that. On one hand, Slender's hell-borne pony knows precisely one trick, but on the other, the purity and brevity of that scare is - in large part - why I think it works so well. Piling on other elements stands to bury the experience under fright-suffocating fluff. Obviously, it's quite a conundrum. But then, I suppose a hallmark of great horror is keeping people nauseatingly on edge consistently, so now it's Slender's turn to either enter horror canon or fade into obscurity.

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Nathan Grayson

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