In this last chapter of the Five Nights at Freddy's original story, you must once again defend yourself againstFreddy Fazbear, Chica, Bonnie, Foxy, and even worse things that lurk in the shadows. Playing as a child whose role is yet unknown, you must safeguard yourself until 6 AM by watching the doors, as well as warding off unwanted creatures that may venture into your closet or onto the bed behind you.

You have only a flashlight to protect yourself. It will scare away things that may be creeping at the far end of the hallways, but be careful, and listen. If something has crept too close, then shining lights in its eyes will be your end.

Development

The game was first announced with a teaser of Nightmare Freddy that was posted on Scott's website. Several more teasers on his website followed, the next being an image of Nightmare Bonnie, then Nightmare Chica and Nightmare Foxy. After this, a teaser with a purple hat and bow tie, similar to the image after the third game, and then a close-up of Nightmare Fredbear's stomach. The last teaser depicts Plushtrap on a chair. The trailer was eventually released on July 13, 2015.

On July 23, 2015, Scott released Five Nights at Freddy's 4 on its Steam page, the page containing various in-game screenshots and the trailer.

On October 15, 2015, the teaser for the Halloween update was added, featuring the head of a nightmare animatronic resembling Springtrap/Spring Bonnie.

Gameplay

Five Nights at Freddy's 4 is a departure from the conventional series format in many ways. Most notably, rather than playing as a security guard in an office defending against roaming Animatronics, the mainprotagonist is a child in their bedroom warding off twisted monster versions of the well-known Freddy characters. Security cameras are not present so the player must rely on environmental noises to tell if something is approaching or about to attack. Also, where the previous games could be played by frantically clicking between screens and defenses, the pace at which the game is played must be slowed down considerably, as making a move without waiting for cues can easily result in a Game Over.

Reception

Five Nights at Freddy's 4 received mixed to slightly positive reviews from professional critics. The game was given an aggregate score of 53.33% from GameRankings based on 3 reviews and a 50/100 from Metacritic based on 5 reviews.

Unlike the previous 3 installments, however, the critics are largely divided from one another on several factors that the fourth game presents. The Escapist and Gamezebo praised the game for the intense environment, darker and emotional storyline, creepy ambience noise, and frightening jumpscares, while reviewers such as Destructoid criticized the same factors, stating the new mechanics were "an easy, dull, obvious trick", and noted being confused on what to do several times.

Updates

v1.1

• According to Scott, there will be a huge update for the Extra menu which is scheduled to be released in October 31, 2015. It includes a cheat menu, the challenge menu, and a twist on a minigame that provides a boost when playing challenge modes.

Trivia

• The fourth game possesses numerous notable differences from the previous three games, including:
  • This is the only game to lack any form of Monitor.
  • This is the only game in which the protagonist can walk/move around physically.
  • This is the only game in which the protagonist is not an adult working as a security guard.
  • This is the only game without any type of Phone Guy to call the player.
    • However, the Night 1 call from the first game can be heard in one of the ambiances of the game.
    • Interestingly, the Night 1 call from the first game is the only time the Phone Guy mentions The Bite of '87.
  • This is the only game in the series to have eight nights, making it have the most ones out of any game in the series.
  • This is the only game which does not have any physical animatronics present, as all the antagonists are considered to be nightmares.
  • This is the only game to not have all of the animatronics active on the same night, unlessNightmare Fredbear or Nightmare is excluded.
• Interestingly, the game's release date was moved up several times. The fourth game was originally set for a release date of October 31, 2015, until Scott Cawthon emailed several FNAF-related YouTubers explaining the game's release was changed to August 8th, 2015 in honor of the original game's 1-year anniversary. On July 23, 2015, however, Scott unexpectedly released the full game on Steam to the public, admitting he was bad at release dates.
• The player's house layout seen on the main menu screen is almost identical to the house layout seen in the 1983 horror film Cujo, based on the novel by Stephen King.