From ink-stained horror to survival thriller: Boris returns in Bendy: Lone Wolf.
The Bendy series has always been a weird and interesting mix of creepy and cute. The series, which was made by the independent-minded team at Joey Drew Studios, went from being a weird, ink-soaked horror curiosity to a cult hit. Beginning with Bendy and the Ink Machine, gamers were taken to a strange world where cartoon figures weren’t just cute, but also alive, dangerous, and haunted.
Over time, spin-offs and side stories added to the story. One of these was Boris and the Dark Survival, a roguelike top-down survival game with short bursts of stress and an addictive “one more run” loop. Now, that idea is back, renamed and improved as Bendy: Lone Wolf. Fans can enjoy a polished and slightly larger version of the game, racing their hearts with each turn.
You play as Boris in Bendy: Lone Wolf. Boris is a manifestation of Daniel “Buddy” Lewek, who was sucked into the Ink Machine and stuck in the nightmare Ink World. Boris is shy, scared, and quiet because he has lost a lot of his humanity. He is always being chased by the Ink Demon, who hides in dark puddles.
The story builds up slowly, with environmental storytelling and collectible audio logs giving more information than straight narration. Players explore run-down studio hallways, warehouses, and the spooky Bendy Land, trying to figure out what happened to this world and how they turned into their twisted selves.
Some important tasks include finding horrifying clones of Boris on operating tables and dealing with twisted characters such as the Twisted Angel, who is a grotesque version of Alice Angel and is obsessed with fixing her messed-up body through horrifying experiments. Other logs from Wally Franks and Bertrum give us hints about where the Ink Machine came from, the theme park gone wrong, and the evil experiments that gave birth to the hostile Lost Ones.
Shifts in point of view, like the ones that happen between Porter and the Lost One Heidi, give the world more depth and show how human weakness can be twisted into monster shapes. At the end of the story, Boris faces the Ink Machine directly, which opens a portal to the real world. It is a trip full of fear, strength, and freedom in the end.
Between Porter and the Lost One Heidi, give the world more depth and show how human weakness can be twisted into monster shapes. At the end of the story, Boris faces the Ink Machine directly, which opens a portal to the real world. It is a trip full of fear, strength, and freedom in the end.
Boris has little to no combat and defense. Boris can’t fight the Ink Demon directly. Instead, players use environmental traps, weapons that don’t work very well, and miracle stations to hide threats or briefly stop them. Boss fights, like with the animatronic Boris, take more than one hit to disable, but Bendy: Lone Wolf still stresses avoiding conflict over engaging in it.
Puzzles are easy to understand and use. They show up as small breaks in the middle of dangerous survival scenes and require players to move forward by manipulating mechanisms, unlocking doors, or collecting keys. The graphics and controls for these puzzles are better than in the last game, but they’re mostly about changing the pace and breaking up the survival loop, not really testing the player’s intelligence.
The fighting and puzzle systems work well with Bendy: Lone Wolf‘s theme, which is to emphasize fear and tension over mechanical complexity. This way of exploring puts the player on edge because every step could mean meeting the Ink Demon or a hostile Lost One. The bad things are that the Ink Demon’s AI can be dull once trends are found, and a lot of the traps just look cool instead of being useful for strategy.
Even though the puzzles are well done, they don’t feel very rewarding besides giving you a short break from the evasion routines. These features work well for setting the mood, but experienced players may want more ways to interact with Bendy: Lone Wolf or more options for dealing with threats.
Even though Bendy: Lone Wolf doesn’t have standard XP or leveling, you can still move forward by collecting items and running Bendy: Lone Wolf over and over again. Each run gives you resources, items you can unlock, and audio logs that add to the story.
This makes playing through Bendy: Lone Wolf story more than once feel satisfying, both in terms of story and strategy. This loop makes players want to try out new places, figure out how enemies move, and slowly put together the story. The small unlocks, like safe house additions and cosmetic weapon changes, give you enough in the long run to justify playing more than once without making Bendy: Lone Wolf too hard to enjoy.
Bendy: Lone Wolf looks better now than it did before. The lighting is more deliberate, the shadows add to the mood, and the textures feel clearer. These changes give the Ink World more presence and danger. With the new camera movement feature, players can get a better sense of their surroundings and feel more immersed before moving forward.
These little details not only make Bendy: Lone Wolf easier to understand, but they also make the scary parts stronger, making each meeting with the Ink Demon or Twisted Angel more shocking.
The sound is still a big part of the Bendy experience. Footsteps, low groans, and background ink sounds build tension, and collectible audio logs tell story snippets in a captivating and often creepy way. A sudden sound cue lets the player know that an enemy is nearby, which makes them more scared.
The music in the background is just the right amount of quiet to keep them guessing without being too loud. The sound design in Lone Wolf goes well with the graphics and creates a creepy mood that keeps players on edge.
Bendy: Lone Wolf is both old and new to me. It doesn’t completely change the survival model from Boris and the Dark Survival, but it does make it better in every way: it has bigger environments, tighter controls, more story, and better graphics and sound. Fans of the series will enjoy the deeper story and small changes, while newcomers will enjoy the tense, atmospheric survival game with easy-to-understand controls
Bendy: Lone Wolf is great at making exciting hide-and-seek times and keeping the tension high between runs. But it’s still mostly a refinement rather than a revolutionary addition. AI that is too predictable and simple problems keep it from being more than a carefully improved spin-off.
At the end of the day, Lone Wolf makes players care about Buddy Boris’s situation, giving them an experience that is both exciting and emotional. People who like survival horror, especially those who are interested in the Bendy world, will get lost in the Ink World and have to look for things, hide, and hope they can get out one more time.
