Steel Wool Studios ventures beyond animatronics and pizzeria halls, but does this bold direction breathe fresh life into the FNAF series or leave it lost in its identity?
Since the first game, Five Nights at Freddy’s has been linked to dark pizza shops, scary animatronics, and jump scares in survival horror. Security Breach was made by Steel Wool Studios, which has taken up the torch with a desire to grow the universe beyond its roots. The newest part of this evolution is Secret of the Mimic, which takes place in Murray’s Costume Manor, a huge, empty costume shop instead of the series’ usual small settings.
There has been a big change with this departure. In previous games, you were only able to move around in small rooms and hallways that were watched by security cameras. This game, on the other hand, lets you explore bigger, more open areas with multiple levels and interactive settings. Instead of just using animatronics, the threats in the game now come from costumes that look like the people who wear them. This adds a new, yet slightly unsettling, layer to the FNAF game.
This change shows that the developers want to take the series in a new direction. However, such ambition comes with risks when departing from the franchise’s signature formula. It’s never easy to balance new ideas with what people expect from a franchise.
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic is about solving mysteries in Murray’s Costume Manor, which is falling apart. In previous FNAF games, the story was mostly hinted at through scattered tapes and vague notes. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic, on the other hand, tries to be more story-driven. The character Dispatch, who sounds snarky and bad, guides you and talks to you over the radio, giving you clues and sarcastic commentary.
This choice of tone doesn’t always work, though. The over-the-top voice acting and dialogue in Dispatch sometimes feel out of place and clash with the creepy, unsettling atmosphere of Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic. The story segments don’t flow together well, and some important plot points feel unfinished or poorly connected. For instance, cutting quickly from intense chase scenes to waking up in a safe room with little explanation makes the experience feel disjointed.
The story has more details than the others, but it’s also harder to follow if you don’t know a lot about FNAF. Costumes, Mimics, and the history of the manor are all linked vaguely but not fully. This makes it hard for casual players to get invested in the story, so it feels more like background noise than a strong reason to keep going.
The gameplay is based a lot on the stealth elements that were added in Security Breach. You mostly need to sneak, run, and hide from the Mimic and other scary costumes that are roaming the manor. The Mimic is an enemy that can change its appearance and keep players on their toes by switching between different costumes and acting in various ways.
The idea of a Mimic costume that can change forms is interesting and adds some variety, but the AI that controls these enemies isn’t always reliable, which can break the immersion sometimes. At times, the Mimic doesn’t seem to be aware that you’re there, and at other times, it finds you right away with little warning. This lack of predictability detracts from the skill-based stealth experience that players are seeking, making the game more reliant on luck than strategy.
Scripted chase scenes are added to build tension, putting you in dangerous runs through the manor’s halls. These parts should be heart-pounding highlights, but there are problems with the way they work. Your character will sometimes clip through walls or objects because of collision issues, and enemies will sometimes move through the environment in a way that doesn’t make sense. This breaks the players’ immersion and makes them angry.
Even worse are the instant deaths that happen when you make small mistakes during chases—one wrong turn or stumble, and you die right away, having to start over from a checkpoint. Instead of making things more tense, these harsh punishments stop progress and make people angry.
In Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic, there is no real combat. Instead, you have to be sneaky and avoid getting hurt to stay alive. There are no weapons to defend yourself, which makes you more vulnerable and should make you more afraid. But the stealth parts of the game don’t live up to their full potential.
The puzzle parts of Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic are mostly about exploring, finding items, and using keys or codes to get into new parts of the manor. The way collectibles are handled is a major source of frustration.
Instead of automatically picking up items, you have to grab each one, carry it to a designated drop-off spot, and store it before moving on. This process that needs to be done over and over again breaks up the flow of the game, turning what should be an exciting exploration into boring work.
Also, puzzles and stealth challenges don’t always feel well-balanced. For instance, fighting “Big Top,” an enemy in a clown costume, can feel unfairly punishing because it requires precise timing and timing that the game doesn’t always make clear. Overall, the puzzle and stealth design has some creative moments, but the controls are subpar, and the game’s mechanics are difficult to understand, which detracts from the immersion.
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic doesn’t have a formal experience or leveling system, unlike many modern games. To move forward, you must only survive encounters, solve puzzles, and move the story along. Optional collectibles make exploration more fun, but they’re less appealing because they’re hard to handle by hand.
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic stays linear because there is no XP or skill progression. This keeps the focus on tension and atmosphere, but it also makes it harder for players to make choices and play the game again.
The graphics in Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic are great. Steel Wool Studios utilizes state-of-the-art hardware to create environments that are both detailed and atmospheric. Murray’s Costume Manor has numerous areas that feel alive, even though they are falling apart. Deep shadows, flickering bulbs, and glowing eyes coming out of the darkness are just a few of the expert lighting tricks used to build suspense.
The costume designs are creative and creepy, with everything from twisted clown themes to gross animal masks. The Mimic’s ability to change costumes makes it stand out visually and adds variety and surprise.
The animations are mostly smooth, but there is some clipping during chase scenes that isn’t great. Still, the overall look is great and shows that the developers know how to use technology to create a scary yet believable world.
Another great thing about Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic is the sound design. Noises such as creaking floorboards, footsteps in the distance, and whispers that are barely audible create an unsettling atmosphere. Sound cues are crucial for helping players stay safe while playing stealth games.
The voice acting in Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic gives it personality, but the over-the-top bad guy tone doesn’t always fit the scene, so it can be jarring at times. Still, the different sound effects, such as jump scares and background noise, always make the mood better.
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic is an ambitious attempt to change the beloved horror franchise from the cramped pizza shops and animatronics that it is known for. It adds a huge new world, an enemy that can change its form, and more story focus, all of which show that Steel Wool Studios wants to try new things.
Still, this goal hasn’t been fully reached. AI that isn’t always right, frustrating stealth sections, collecting the same things over and over, and glitchy chase sequences ruin the experience. It’s harder for newcomers to stay interested because the narrative is more detailed but sometimes hard to follow or doesn’t make sense.
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic sounds and looks great, creating a believable world and memorable character designs. If you liked Security Breach or want to see how FNAF’s story changes over time, Secret of the Mimic has some interesting parts that you should check out.
However, people who prefer polished gameplay or a smooth horror experience may not like it. It seems like the game is stuck between the past and the future. It tries to be both a new take on the series and a classic FNAF game, but fails in both areas.
If Steel Wool Studios keeps making games in this series, they might be able to find a better balance between bringing in big new ideas and keeping the suspense and tight design of the first few games in the series.
