Nowadays you can find an independent franchise built around corrupting every one of your precious childhood memories. Loved Chuck E. Cheese as a kid? Scream your face off at the hordes of freakish animatronics in the expansive Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise! Remember walking into that magical childhood toy store? Run from the towering Huggy Wuggy as you struggle to survive in Poppy Playtime! Recall the days at Disneyland? Enjoy the rides at Indigo Park! Forgotten your days at kindergarten? Make sure you won’t with the horrifying Garten of Ban Ban! Still fond of Sesame Street or Thomas the Tank Engine? Welcome to My Friendly Neighborhood or Choo Choo Charles! Even delicious cereal has its dark fantasy in the game Finding Frankie! The list goes on, but you get the general idea. Each of these games deserves its own individual analysis, but today let us address a unique specimen, one as complex as it is inky, and one that just might be as close as we can get to a decent horror game.
Perhaps second after FNAF, Bendy and the Ink Machine has captivated players since its first unveiling in 2017. So enthralling was the game that its fanbase created practically a whole new division of music surrounding the events of the story. Eventually, the game’s success warranted a spin off mini game, before releasing a six hour long sequel. Furthermore, as of the writing of this review, three additional games have been teased as well as a Bendy movie. Indeed, the Bendy and the Ink Machine (or BATIM) has proven to be a captivating game. However, like any horror game the usual message applies: “This game contains flashing lights and may cause epilepsy.” If this applies to you, or if you are younger than the recommended age, I encourage you to save yourself the twenty bucks, and find some other means of entertainment.
The Story
For being a game composed almost exclusively in two colors, the story is colored with an abundance of colossal wonders, complex characters, and moments that are so utterly terrific, in every sense of the word. Without giving away too much of the story, the premise is that you are an ex-employee, named Henry, who has been invited to return to the old cartoon studio that he used to work at. The place is seemingly abandoned, until, surprise, surprise, he is jumpscared by an embodied likeness of the cartoon that he used to draw, Bendy. In his escape from the beast, he falls through the half-decayed floors finding himself in a world of living ink and cartoons incarnated. While some of the characters do prove to be loyal friends, most turn out to be twisted abominations. If and how he escapes the studio I leave to be discovered…
The story is ultimately the largest selling point of the game. The five-chapter tale contains twelve distinctive characters (including Henry) all of whom have their own unique development and sub-plot. Even more appear in audio logs which litter the studio’s halls as the hidden lore behind the corruption of the studio becomes gradually unveiled. So intense is the story of BATIM, that the game seems to be more like a movie than it is a video game! That is probably the reason why it is actually receiving a film adaptation.
Gameplay
Overall, it’s a solid experience. While it seems more like a walking simulator when compared to similar games, you are usually given a weapon at the times you need to defend yourself. In my personal experience, the game was relatively bug-free, and can be completed without worry of restart. While the puzzles and challenges vary in difficulty they mostly make sense and will not have a thorough player banging their head against the wall too long. As further aid, you always hold a card detailing your next mission, which can be viewed on the pause menu. The helpfulness of the card fluctuates, but sometimes either an audio log or your character himself will drop a hint.
However, there is one challenge which can’t be passed realistically with a lower-end computer. That is, (sigh)… the duck-hunt game in Chapter 4. Initially I could not get past it, and only after I installed it on a different device and restarted the game from scratch, could I finally win it after what felt like my five-hundredth try. Unfortunately the mini-game is the only way to open a crucial door, and therefore is a mandatory challenge to progress.
Another place I could see people getting stuck on is in the long fighting sequence in chapter 5, but if you just hide while your NPC buddies fight for you, you can get through it fast enough. Otherwise, the movement, and handling of the game is okay after a quick trip to the settings menu. The game can be played on almost every platform, even including mobile (although I highly recommend playing it on something larger for an optimal experience).
As to the combat side of things, the game is about par. Despite being armed for most of the game, your abilities are pretty meager. For instance the reach of the melee weapons is about the same as if you were slapping them with your hand, and the one ranged weapon, the tommy gun (which is only able to be acquired under certain circumstances), practically is just a fancy noisemaker. Needless to say, if you are playing Bendy for the action, I suggest you skip to the game’s sequel, Bendy and the Dark Revival, or find something else.
Finally, what Bendy and the Ink Machine lacks in combat it makes up for in case sequences and boss fights. There is a lot to be asked of in a boss fight. The audience wants it to be fast paced, straight forward, not too hard, but engaging, a good length, and not to mention awesome, all at the same time. Additionally, if there are multiple of these throughout the game, there needs to be some variety among them. While the actual boss fights, and chase sequences themselves are a little slow, the game does a wonderful job at incorporating them into the story. Not only are they the turning points to the narrative, but they make the game seem extra real. You feel the pain, triumph, sorrow, confusion, and yes, fear that Henry feels, as he fights, and flees, and hides from the evils lurking in the studio. Don’t believe me, try the game for yourself and try not to cry at the end of chapter 4. Again, the story is the main selling point.
Spiritual/Moral Aspects
While Bendy and the Ink Machine is a game free of most objectionable things (language, nudity, excessive gore) it, unfortunately, does not escape dealing with the supernatural. The audience is told that Bendy is a literal demon, and another character, Alice Angel, dons both a halo and a pair of horns, and there are one or two sightings of pentagrams throughout the game. These are not inherent red flags, as representations of Satan occasionally even appear in our very churches, but it is nevertheless a perilous one. This brings up an important distinction between the evil art and the art of depicting evil.
Joseph Pearce explains the difference in his article Satan and the Art of Darkness:
“Evil art makes sin attractive, denying its sinfulness and seducing us with the lie that it is only a pleasure to be grasped when the opportunity presents itself. Such art reduces all morality to mere ambivalence and ambiguity, and replaces the truths of religion with the mere opinions of the relativist. The art of darkness, on the other hand, shows the ugliness of sin and illustrates its destructive consequences. It is not evil art but the realistic portrayal of evil in art. It is not sinful but is full of sin” (Pearce).
The reason why the demons are sometimes portrayed in Catholic art is not to honor them, but to depict how God triumphed over them. Even so, movies, and books, as well as video games often do give the glory to the wrong sides. In the worst cases, these stories are so twisted that either the forces of darkness are the heroes, or they are so attractive that the audience begins to identify with them1.
However, in the case of BATIM, I am not so sure it is that twisted. Bendy, for instance, is neither relatable, nor revered (except by one obvious nutjob character, Sammy Lawrance). Furthermore, though Bendy does reign sovereign over his little world, he is not its god. In the end he is defeated by a kind of alpha and omega, the last reel of film made by the company’s founder, Joey Drew. Is this analogy on purpose? Perhaps, but this investigation best deserves another paper. All this just goes to show that the game walks the line between making the game scary, but not to the degree that the audience becomes haunted or fascinated by it.
Otherwise, the game does not seem to pose many serious problems beyond it being a horror game with some violence. Joey Drew Studios is perhaps the most depressing and eerie place ever conceived, and you and your companions do kill a number of monsters of various levels of intelligence, with some dying in somewhat spectacular ways. Still, one could say the intense murkiness highlights the scant goodness of the studio, and most of the bloodshed is done in self defense. And finally, concerning the pentagrams mentioned before, they are hardly included in the game, and they don’t serve any part in the underlying lore.
Conclusion
If you are having a friend over and you don’t just want to watch them fumble around with an FPS game that he’s not familiar with, or if you just want to enjoy a good complex story, Bendy and the Ink Machine might be the perfect game for you.
Scoring: 80%
Story: 5/5 The story is well made and well developed.
Gameplay: 3/5 The game play is decent, but weapon mechanics are tricky and limited.
Replayability: 3/5 Though it has a low score, I consider this one of its strong points. Nevertheless, If you’re the kind of guy or gal who likes to watch the same movie again and again then change this rating to a 5/5. Otherwise, there is a sequel (and three more on the way) so you can discover how the story ends.
Graphics: 4/5 The graphics are simplistic yet oddly elegant in design.
Music/Ambience: 5/5 This game’s music will have you sobbing with fear one moment and tearing up the dance floor the next!
Morality/Parental Warnings
Violence: The gore is moderately juicy, but all the blood is replaced with black ink. A character gets his head ripped off, one gets stabbed through the chest, another gets squashed by a heavy box, and a fourth gets axed in the head.
Magic/Occult: The main monster is a demon. In some areas there is a slight religious theme, and there are several pentagrams on the floor at one point. Another character also worships the aforementioned demon and attempts to sacrifice the player’s character to him. In spite of this surprisingly, the story does its best to avoid the occult beyond a few references.
Other Misc Horror: Several bodies of dead monsters litter many of the rooms, and there are several chase sequences and jumpscares. Additionally, a few of the monsters are just plain revolting; this game is not for the faint of heart.
- A few recent examples of these include: Hazbin Hotel, The Cult of the Lamb, Hollow Knight, Poppy Playtime etc. ↩︎
