Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach Review

As someone who has been a mostly console-based player his whole life, the Five Nights at Freddy’s remained a mystery to me. I’ve admittedly never played an FNAF game before, but have watched some streams and videos about its infamous jump scares. As someone who is not particularly fond of horror games, I was cautious about actually playing the game because I didn’t want to give myself a heart attack in broad daylight.

Fast forward to 2022 (or December 2021, rather) and we have Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach, the latest in a long line of games that have captured the imagination and attention of audiences worldwide. Without talking about previous installments, given the fact that the series has quite its rich history, I’ll be treating this review from the perspective of a first-time player and see if it is enjoyable enough for newcomers to the series.

(Jump) Scares Galore

The premise of Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach is simple – You are Gregory, a young boy that has somehow found himself locked inside the Mega Pizzaplex and has to find a way out. You’re tossed into the game with absolutely no reason why you’re there or why Vanessa the security guard is after you, although you would think that the first instinct is to actually approach the guard for help.

The most immediate change in this installment is its free-roam nature, which is a huge departure from previous entries where camera-hopping was the main schtick. Players are free to roam around the halls and explore this vast structure, all while avoiding getting caught by animatronics in between.

The game looks… good? Certainly better than previous installments, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that this is the best-looking game in the Five Nights at Freddy’s series, emphasized by the great atmosphere it creates. The game gets really dark at times, blacking out objects and obstacles until you really get close to them, which is a great way of building tension and uncertainty that’s punctuated by the numerous instances of jump scares along the way.

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach is not an easy game by any means, especially on your first playthrough. A lot of the challenges here will rely on trial and error, which can get frustrating at times due to its horrible save system, highlighted by sporadic save consoles across the Pizzaplex. You get access to the Faz-Watch which lets you plan out your route across the complex, an important aspect if you want to avoid getting bumped back to your previous save point. It will happen often, so be patient!

Five Nights Too Long

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach has some clunky menu and control issues that really frustrated me throughout my playthrough. Bringing up the Faz-Watch using triangle (PS5) was fine but my natural instinct was to press O to get back into the game was greeted with a question mark as I needed to press triangle again.

The game also has a gimmick of holding the square button down for too long when trying to access a save point or inspecting an item. I can imagine that it adds a level of tension especially when you are being chased around the area, but it just lengthens the process to an unreasonable degree that gets frustrating as you play the game.

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach also suffers from some widespread bugs that are actually hilarious but takes you out of immersion oftentimes. You’ll see animatronics T-posing, running around in circles, and teleporting Freddy’s that can give you a laugh instead of scaring you, only to realize that you’ll have died and will need to go back to your previous save spot.

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach takes around 8-10 hours to finish on your first run depending on how you play, which is quite a good length for a survival horror game.

What We Liked:

• Effective jump scares
• Good audio and visual implementation

What We Didn’t Like:

• Numerous bugs and glitches
• Questionable design decisions and shoddy UI
• No checkpoint system

Verdict: Wait For It.

Overall, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach is a solid entry in the long-running series that has garnered a cult following throughout the years. It is the best-looking game in the series and really excels at creating a tension-filled atmosphere that will keep you on your toes.

Despite its many bugs and glitches, the core gameplay remains enjoyable as long as you can learn to put up with some of its questionable design decisions that can pile up to be a source of frustration while playing the game.

Fans will definitely want to check out Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach if only to experience a fresh new take on the game with its free-roam mechanic. Newcomers will find it harder to take notice of the game, but a deep sale would certainly be a tempting proposition.

*Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach was reviewed on a PS5 with a review code provided by the publisher.