Five Nights At Freddy’s: Into The Pit Review (PC)

I was a freshman in high school when the first Five Nights at Freddy’s came out in 2014. After watching YouTubers play the game, I quickly joined the fandom. Ten years later, I still have a soft spot for the FNAF games. When I saw it had released another game in the series, I was intrigued. Would it be legitimately scary like the early entries in the franchise or watered down like FNAF: Security Breach? For me, FNAF: Into the Pit is not only creepy, but it tells an interesting story within a short amount of time. 

Story

The story centers around a boy named Oswald and his father. Oswald’s father often leaves him at a dingy pizza joint called Jeff’s Pizza while he’s at work. One day, Oswald hears about a closed-off ball pit in the back of the pizzeria. Feeling rebellious, he decides to check it out and discovers that those who enter the ball pit can travel through time, specifically to June 1985, back when Jeff’s was Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria.

After exploring the past, Oswald returns to the present, and a mysterious man in a bunny suit (whom fans of the franchise will recognize as Springtrap) follows and kidnaps Oswald’s father, trapping him in the Freddy’s era. Oswald tries to get help from his mother, but since Springtrap has the ability to perfectly capture his father’s appearance, she doesn’t see anything wrong and brushes aside her son’s concerns. It’s up to Oswald to save his father and other victims, alternating between the past and present, while avoiding Springtrap over the course of five nights. 

The story is unique for a few different reasons. Since it was based on one of the Fazbear’s Fright novels, it is more about human characters who are not directly related to the animatronics or the infamous missing children incident. Second, the gameplay consists of more than keeping track of the mascots around the pizzeria. Oswald mostly sneaks around the place, helping other children trapped at Freddy’s. Finally, we follow Oswald throughout multiple locations like school, the library, and even his house instead of just at Freddy’s. This all made for a unique experience from the other FNAF games, though it can be a bit jarring if you’re a fan of the classic tropes of the franchise.

Gameplay

As the newest entry in the FNAF franchise, this game has a lot going for it. The best aspect of Into the Pit is its creepy atmosphere. There is a lot of snooping around at night, whether it’s to escape your house or find clues as to what happened to your father at Freddy’s. There are also sinister animatronics roaming around, mainly Springtrap but also classic characters like Bonnie and Chica. You have to keep quiet and run to a safe hiding spot if you get caught. At times, I felt nervous about going into the next room for fear of running into Springtrap, so the game has to be doing something right. 

There was also great sound design. The game recommends that you play with headphones and this was a smart choice because the music, sound effects, and even general ambiance really help set the tone of the game. I was immersed in the experience, especially while running away from the animatronics. Since this is a FNAF game, there are a few cheap jump scares sprinkled throughout, such as when Bonnie pops out from under the tables and grabs Oswald’s leg, but in general, the sound in this game is expertly handled. 

There is also a lot of replayability with multiple endings. I received two bad endings during my first playthroughs and that really motivated me to play more so I could get a better one. (There are some special items that need to be found and secret puzzles to be solved in order to get the true ending.) This speaks to how much the game got me to care about the human characters, which is tough to do in a franchise where the animatronics are the clear stars of the show. There are also two game modes at the start, Creepy and Frightening, with even harder difficulties reserved for when you complete the story one time through. 

Fatal Flaws

However, there are a few downsides to the game. One major criticism is that since you are doing the same thing for five nights, the gameplay does feel a bit repetitive at times. I appreciated that even though Oswald had to escape the house to go to the ball pit each night, he had to find a different way out of the house each time. I would have liked to see more variety like that throughout the game, but instead the story followed a similar pattern each night of going back in time, getting an item from the present to save a victim from the past, rescuing the victim, and then going back home.

The daytime sequences where Oswald goes to school weren’t particularly riveting and although you do acquire important items for dealing with the animatronics during these scenes, I could have done without them. Aside from that, some of the animations on the animatronic characters were a bit odd, particularly from Chica, which was a little distracting. Lastly, a couple of the secrets needed to get the true ending are hidden almost too well; it would be difficult for most players to find them without looking at a how-to guide. 

Summary

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit is a creepy game with a unique story and characters. However, while the story kept my interest, the gameplay was repetitive at times, which held the game back from being great. As is, Into the Pit is a fun, short experience that fans of the franchise will enjoy. 

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Into The Pit is now available on PC. The title will also be released in the future for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One.