Parents' Guide to Bendy and the Dark Revival

It's always great to leap into a sequel that not only fixes the former's games issues but properly utilizes many often-underbaked horror game themes. Bendy and the Dark Revival impresses on nearly every front – from its story-related ambitions all the way to its mechanics. The game's weakest element is easily its combat, which can feel sluggish for most of the game's length. But there comes a point where something will "click," and instead of treating combat as you would in any other horror game with combat as a main feature, you'll utilize combat as a last resort. While it's possible to swing your way out of a situation where three enemies are on you at once, it isn't a wise decision as you'll lose most of those engagements. In this case, it's recommended to find a nearby hiding spot and wait until your enemies spread out so you can sneak behind them and take them out one by one. Even when you get your trusty pipe, it's always a good idea to hide rather than fight head-on.

Without spoiling too much, hiding becomes a tense, heart-pounding necessity early on in the game, which is a breath of fresh air. In many horror games, hiding is introduced and afterward is often rarely utilized by the player. Here, players won't have much of a choice. The audio logs scattered around the game are also interesting and expand the Bendy lore enough to incentivize players to find as many of them as possible to discover how the collapse of the original animation studio behind Bendy affected many of the employees – as well as what was happening behind the scenes. The plot goes to some truly bizarre, wild places, and there are enough "breaks" from the moment-to-moment gameplay with unique encounters and sequences that keep the experience fresh and fun rather than wearing out its welcome as it progresses. Bendy and the Dark Revival isn't perfect, but it's more than worthy of picking up and playing as it makes the most of every terrifying minute players will spend with it.