FNAF: Secret Of The Mimic Is Setting Up The Best Jumpscare Opportunity Yet

The upcoming Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic has the potential to provide the best jumpscares in the entire franchise so far. The horror title’s new gameplay trailer is full of intriguing details, with its setting clearly being ideal for setting up some truly terrifying moments. As such, Secret of the Mimic could be the most memorable FNAF game in a long time based on its scares alone.

The jumpscares in Five Nights at Freddy’s are undoubtedly one of the franchise’s most memorable aspects, having seen dozens of animatronic characters attack the player over the years. As a result, there is no question that Secret of the Mimic will continue the tradition by featuring its own set of jumpscares. However, among all the animatronics in Secret of the Mimic, the unique abilities of one means it has the potential to raise the bar considerably.

Secret of the Mimic’s Costumes Could Create A Tense Atmosphere

Any One Of These Could Hide The Mimic Inside

The new reveals for Secret of the Mimic include the fact that its setting, Murray’s Costume Manor, is full to the brim with a wide array of costumes. Furthermore, the game’s description draws attention to one of the signature abilities of the titular Mimic: it “can adapt to any costume and become any character,” meaning that any one of the many costumes could become home to the rogue animatronic. It is likely that several shots throughout the trailer, such as one of an Elephant character turning ominously to face the player, depict just this.

Some of the costumes seen throughout the recent trailer were previously seen in a degraded state in Security Breach: Ruin, deepening the connection between the two games and strongly implying that the Mimic featured in both is the same base animatronic.

However, the Mimic is clearly capable of doing more than simply changing costumes throughout the game. Considering just how many are scattered around Edwin Murray’s workshop, The Mimic could actually hide inside abandoned costumes and wait for the player to approach. The game highlighting this would create an extremely tense atmosphere throughout the game; after all, if any costume could contain the Mimic, people will need to be constantly on guard whenever they see one.

The Mimic Could Repeatedly Hide In Plain Sight

This Would Lead To Some Very Memorable Jumpscares

Of course, if the Mimic can hide like this, not only walking around but also pretending to be an empty costume, then this creates the potential for some excellent jumpscares. Although most FNAF jumpscares are based on an animatronic the player knows to be in the area catching them, Secret of the Mimic will be able to scare people by obscuring the presence of the Mimic. The sight of a seemingly innocuous costume abruptly standing up and approaching would be terrifying if handled correctly, and would instantly instill paranoia over every other costume in the game encountered afterwards.

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Furthermore, this same mechanic could be used to add a notable level of danger to puzzles, which are known to be part of Secret of the Mimic’s gameplay. If somebody fails to complete a puzzle quickly, or makes too many mistakes in the process, then a nearby costume could become inhabited by the Mimic. Again, this could lead to some excellent scares, especially if the threshold for this were to be changed throughout the game to keep the Mimic from becoming too predictable.

FNAF Shouldn’t Waste This Perfect Jumpscare Opportunity

It Would Be A Waste Of The Perfect Environment That Has Been Created

The cluttered interior of Murray's Costume Manor in Five Nights at Freddy's: Secret of the Mimic.

Of course, this is only a speculative feature of Secret of the Mimic at present, as it has not been confirmed that the Mimic will actually behave like this in gameplay. However, it would be disappointing if Steel Wool Studios disregards what is clearly an excellent opportunity for tension and horror. If moments like these were to be handled correctly, then they could have an incredible impact during gameplay. Moreover, this could in turn help Secret of the Mimic to become one of the best FNAF games so far.

It is clear that Secret of the Mimic is following the example set by Security Breach, with gameplay extending far beyond a simple security office. In this era of FNAF, the horror has evolved to match this new style of exploration-based gameplay, and having the Mimic hide in empty costumes would be the perfect next step in this regard. Security Breach and the Ruin DLC saw their respective protagonists being visibly hunted throughout the Pizzaplex; Secret of the Mimic would benefit greatly by giving its own mechanical monster a far greater degree of stealth.

Murray’s Costume Manor is an interesting new setting for the FNAF franchise which undoubtedly harbors its fair share of dark secrets. But this dark and crowded workshop also provides Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic with the perfect environment for some uniquely powerful jumpscares. If the game’s developers take full advantage of this, it is clear that they could create some of the best scary moments in the entire franchise.