Walking Simulator: The Long Walk Home is a unique game, based on...Wait, that's not the title? No one will know the difference anyway. Moving on, it is based on a very popular game from a few years back on PC, which was spawned by the Slenderman craze brought on by Marble Hornets and decently written 3/5 might recommend creepypastas on Something Awful. I was honestly excited for this game when it was announced (I have no idea when that was, mind you), and after playing the Genesis version of the game, I decided to pick this up. Where does this sequel fit in?
Well, the game is short. Much longer than the PC title that inspired it, but still incredibly short. In fact, there is an achievement for beating the game in 45 minutes. Even if you grab all the collectibles and soak up the largely unimpressive environments, the game still takes no longer than an hour and a half from beginning to end. The original PC game, entitled Genesis, is available after completing the game, but that might add 20 minutes of play time, assuming you've never played it before. The gameplay itself is as basic as basic can basically be, with LT to run, RT to shine your light brighter to blind enemies (you might need to do this once), and Y to turn your light off entirely. Nothing special, nothing tricky.
Throughout the game you'll mostly be moving through a forest, but you also get to spend some time in a mine, in a cave, and in a few houses on a farm. Nothing jumps out graphically, and the game seems dull and uninspired. Since this is marketed to the horror crowd, one would expect a few scares to happen along the way. Sadly, these are very few and far between, although the ones you do get are pretty well done and more or less unexpected. The actual level breakdown, however...That's where the game loses the most points for me. If you played the original game (Genesis) you'll remember picking up 8 pages of a book scattered throughout a forest, with Slenderman appearing in front of you when you least expect it, forcing you to find a way to run around him. That's basically all this game is, but extended. The 2nd level (8 Pages) is so reminiscent of Genesis that you'll wonder if it's just the exact same thing, with landamarks swapped out. The following level (Into the Abyss) yet again feels like the same damn thing, except instead of pages you have to turn on generators to escape. The rest of the game follows suit, with light exploration to find a key to continue, all the way up until the "Wow, I saw this coming in level 1" finale.
The achievements for the most part are simple and easy, requiring all the collectibles to be found (there are 50, but sometimes you can get up to 4 laying next to each other in a room), the game to be beaten, and for you to die specific ways. The main pain in the ass is beating the game on Hardcore mode, and beating the game in under 45 minutes. Hardcore mode is frustrating because it requires speed, especially in the first few levels. In 8 Pages, if you're unable to locate all the pages quickly enough (you will be stuck at 7, multiple times) your flashlight will die and you'll be plunged into darkness. Normally that'd be something cool, an idea that enhances the gameplay a bit, but not in Slender. You'll be left stumbling through the woods, unable to see ANYTHING, let alone where the path is. If your flashlight goes out, dying or restarting the game are pretty much your best options. In a normal game, that wouldn't be a problem. Simply figure out where you're supposed to go, and go there. The issue with Slender is that item locations and spawn locations are random for a majority of levels, not giving you a good idea of where you're starting, let alone where you're going. This also does nothing to aid replayability, it only creates frustration once you realize "Ah shit, the keys not here. Better pop my head into every door in this hallway now".
The game certainly does have its shortcomings, but there are some pretty decent jumps throughout. If it's on sale, it's not a terrible game to get. For the $10 price tag? I can't say it's worth it.
2/5
2.0