The upcoming video game’s enigmatic antagonist.
One of our most anticipated games will be out soon and we wanted to share our thoughts on the Neighbor and his development through the early stages of the game.
We previously discussed the Shadow Man in our series and thought the Neighbor was our next logical choice.
Let’s take a look what we have learned about the friendly Neighbor since Alpha 1.
The first thing that caught our attention was the robot sharks he had employed for security measures. This gave us some insight into his background, perhaps in Robotics and/or engineering. Another thing that stood was various circus tie-ins we saw through out Alpha 1. There was the shooting gallery and the hiding tutorial.
In the house we find a kid’s room with the standard stuff including various drawings scattered across the wall. There is also a creepy distorted teddy bear. It made us wonder if he had a kid at one point or someone else’s room?
Then there was Alpha 2. Here in the opening cut scene where he drugs the protagonist when we enter his house. Later on we get glimpse of him in a struggle with one of his kidnap victims, which is later determined to be a mannequin. Another looming clue was the basement. There we find a crib surrounded by numerous candles.
In the extended trailer of the basement, you can see the neighbor is chasing you through a maze that you need to escape to get away from him. At the end of the trailer, our protagonist goes up to a door with a sign ‘Hide Here”. One scream later, the neighbor finds his way into the room while you are hiding under the bed.
In Alpha 3, there was one thing that stuck out to us. This was when we see the neighbor crying but it is not clear why. Then we get a glimpse of the Shadow man when we peek through the first keyhole.
Alpha 4 provides more interesting stuff about the neighbor’s involvement with the Shadow man. There was a curious cut scene where the Neighbor was looking at a broken gramophone before he catches the Shadow man looking at him before he covers his eyes. It is speculated the Fear rooms are from the neighbor’s perspective since it involves the Shadow man watching us.
Beta 1 did not have much except the Fear supermarket. It takes places in a market called the Golden Apple. We noticed you can find plenty of Golden Apple images through the neighbor’s house. Perhaps he worked there or had a bad experience there.
Lastly in Beta 3, during the intro you see the neighbor watching you from another house when you peer out the window. In your apartment, there is a picture of you and the neighbor. This possibly implies both character may be related to each other.
Then there is the basement. In the camera room, the neighbor is there and if he catches up to you, you can prevent the space button repeatedly to shake him off. It implies this version may not be a physical being since any other time he catches you, there is no escape.
The final part is the giant neighbor. (We won’t be discussing the Hello Bendy mod, perhaps at a later date). After escaping the Shadow man, you are transported to filled with paintings. Then a giant neighbor looks down at you before screaming at you and destroying the building.
This is not the first time we have seen this version. There was a model of him in Alpha 2 but wasn’t used. Another curiosity is his scream, which sounds like something we previously heard. When a kidnap victim screamed out for help. Is there a connection since the same scream was used? The overall fight seems strange and unreal so it may be an illusion or drug induced dream?
Remember those possible kids of the neighbor? Well there are two missing persons posters in the game. One is in the police station and another is nailed to a tree.
Overall we like what they are doing with the neighbor. Some times he seems psychotic and crazy, other times he is down to earth and possible remorseful for his actions.
On a side note, we are still hoping we can trap him in the game.
