Bendy and the Ink Machine (2017)

Bendy and the Ink Machine is an episodic first-person survival horror video game developed and published by Kindly Beast under the name of the game's in-universe animation studio Joey Drew Studios Inc. It was initially released to Game Jolt on February 10, 2017, as the first of five chapters, with a full worldwide release on October 27, 2018. The game was also released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on November 20, 2018, being published by Rooster Teeth Games, and for IOS and Android on December 21, 2018.
Inspired by the BioShock game series, the game is set in the fictional Joey Drew Studios. The player controls Henry Stein, a retired animator who receives a letter inviting him back to his old workplace. Stein discovers a series of strange paranormal activities caused by the titular Ink Machine. In the game, players navigate through a first person perspective and need to complete certain tasks to proceed, such as combat, collecting objects or solving puzzles. Players can also find audio logs recorded by the studio's employees in order to understand the game's history.
Bendy and the Ink Machine was well-received upon its initial release. Praise centered on its vintage aesthetic and story, although its puzzles and combat mechanics were less popular. In the months following its release, the game quickly gained a large following from exposure on platforms like YouTube and Twitch, and eventually was approved through Steam Greenlight in mid-2017. Merchandise, as well as a mobile spin-off, was later introduced to further promote the game. Mike Mood, the game's programmer and co-creator, described the game as an "accidental success". Bendy and the Dark Revival, the next game in the series, was released on November 15, 2022.
== Gameplay ==
Bendy and the Ink Machine is a first person survival that resembles several cartoons in the 1920s to 1940s. The player plays as Henry Stein, a retired animator who returns to his old workplace, Joey Drew Studios, and discovers that a machine has destroyed the entire studio and brought certain cartoon characters to life. The game mixes combat with puzzle mechanics. Players explore through a first-person view and have limited physical actions such as running and jumping. Different items can be collected, some of which are required to perform various tasks before proceeding. Cans of bacon soup can also be collected for achievements and to restore Henry's health if he is injured.
Combat is primarily focused around a variety of different melee-based weapons, such as an axe, pipe, plunger, wrench, or scythe. Additionally there are long-range weapons such as a tommy gun or bacon soup cans. In-game enemies have different strength levels and resilience to damage, forcing players to be tactical about keeping out of reach and striking when necessary. Failure to do so will result in a death. Henry can retreat inside Little Miracle Stations whenever enemies are nearby in order to recover or remain out of sight. If he takes too much damage, he can escape from the ink that consumes him and respawn at one of the numerous statues of Bendy that act as checkpoints. The player can save their progress by interacting with time card stations.
In addition, players can find numerous audio logs throughout the studio that give more details about the game's story, particularly concerning the fate of the studio and its employees, similar to the systems used in games such as BioShock. Some of these logs can be missed and require further exploration to uncover the secret areas they often reside In. At the final chapter, players unlock the Seeing Tool, which is a device used to view secret hidden messages that would be invisible without it. After completing it, players can also use it in the previous four chapters.
== Plot ==
=== Chapter 1: Moving Pictures ===
In the year 1963, Henry Stein, co-founder and former animator at Joey Drew Studios, is invited back to the studio by his former friend and business partner, Joey Drew. Henry enters the studio and finds it abandoned and dirtied up with ink splotches everywhere, as well as a mutilated, anthropomorphic figure in the form of Boris the Wolf, one of the studio's characters. Henry discovers that the messy ink was caused by the Ink Machine, a device Joey created after Henry had left which Joey intended to use to create real-life versions of the studio's cartoon characters. Henry fixes and turns on the machine by collecting various objects in a ritualistic fashion: a Bendy doll, a wrench, a record, a book, an ink jar, and a gear. After doing so, Henry goes back to the machine, but is attacked by a demon taking an ink-based form of the studio's mascot, Bendy the Dancing Demon. Henry tries to escape, but when he reaches the door, the floor under him gives way and he falls into the studio's lower levels. Walking on to find an exit, Henry drains out the ink to move forward and finds a room with coffins and a pentagram on the floor, the latter of which he steps on, causing him to hallucinate before passing out.
=== Chapter 2: The Old Song ===
Henry wakes up and searches for a way out. He eventually comes to the music department and discovers an exit at the bottom of some stairs, but the stairs are flooded and blocking the door. After battling ink creatures known as Searchers, Henry finds music director Sammy Lawrence's office and finds a pump switch inside that could drain the ink at the stairs, but his office is blocked by a massive ink leak. Henry finds two valves that lower the ink pressure, one of which is held by a Searcher with a hat that he must defeat. At one point, he must learn to play Sammy's favorite song to open a door to reach the second valve. After stopping the leak, Henry drains the ink at the stairs. While approaching the stairs, however, he is knocked out by Sammy, who has turned into an ink humanoid with a Bendy mask. After Henry wakes up, Sammy reveals he intends to sacrifice Henry to Bendy, whom he worships as a deity, so that he can be free of the ink. As Sammy begins the ritual, though, he is attacked by Bendy and presumably killed. Henry breaks free and flees from Bendy into a storage room, locking the door behind him. Venturing into the room, he finds a fully intact Boris the Wolf.
=== Chapter 3: Rise and Fall ===
Henry befriends Boris, and after Henry makes him 3 cans of soup, he gives Henry a lever needed to open the exit. The two leave Boris' safehouse to find another way out of the studio. After using a flashlight to make their way through a dark area, they come across the toy department and find a back room full of merchandise for Alice Angel, the studio's lead female. After Boris is briefly separated from Henry, he gives him a Gent pipe to use as a weapon. Henry is then confronted by an ink version of Alice Angel, who briefly knocks him out before summoning him to her lair. Before entering, Henry must choose whether to take the Demon path or the Angel path; the other path will close once Henry makes his choice. Inside, Henry and Boris discover multiple mutilated clones of Boris and other ink monsters collectively called the Butcher Gang, which Alice has been harvesting to improve her appearance. Meeting Alice, who is torturing one of the monsters, Henry is instructed to complete missions from her in exchange for being allowed to escape the studio. Doing so, he recovers things such as gears, power cells, hearts, and globs of ink from Swollen Searchers as well as being instructed to destroy Bendy cutouts and protect Alice's lair from enemies, all the while being hunted by Bendy, Searchers, the Butcher Gang, and the Projectionist, a projector-headed ink corrupted version of Norman Polk, the studio's projectionist. Alice also provides Henry with tools to help him: a wrench, a syringe, an axe, a plunger, and a tommy gun (which can only be obtained if certain actions are taken). Over the course of this, it becomes apparent that Alice is actually Susie Campbell, the original voice actress for the cartoon Alice who became obsessed with Alice to the point of believing she was her character, and grew vindictive after she was replaced by another actress, Allison Pendle; she has since taken Alice's form after being corrupted by the ink. After fulfilling her needs, she sends him to the elevator where he can leave, but forces the elevator to fall after discovering Boris, whom she wants to harvest as he is the most perfect Boris. The elevator crashes, knocking Henry out; as Boris tries to wake Henry up, Alice kidnaps Boris and takes him away.
=== Chapter 4: Colossal Wonders ===
Waking back up from passing out and Boris’ abduction, Henry leaves the broken lift and explores the cavernous archives of the studio to find and rescue Boris. After Alice taunts Henry over loudspeakers about Boris' capture, Henry comes across a lounge filled with Lost Ones, people infected by the ink who show no hostility. After fleeing through the vents, Henry discovers that Joey planned to open a Bendy-themed amusement park called Bendy Land, with the help of famed amusement park designer Bertrum Piedmont. Henry deduces that the haunted house attraction is the way to go and traverses the storage area to find the switches to power the ride up. He activates the four power switches, while in the process sneaking past the Butcher Gang by throwing empty cans, defeating an ink corrupted Bertrum, who has merged himself with an octopus ride, and escaping from the Projectionist, who is decapitated by Bendy and takes his body away. Once on the haunted house ride, Henry is shocked to discover that Alice has transformed Boris into a brute monster. Unable to turn him back to normal, Henry is forced to kill Boris, who fades away. An enraged Alice tries to attack and kill Henry herself, but is killed from behind by another version of Alice Angel and a robot-handed clone of Boris.
=== Chapter 5: The Last Reel ===
The new Alice and Boris, dubbed Allison Angel (Allison Pendle) and Tom (Thomas Conner, the lead engineer of the Ink Machine), lock Henry in a makeshift prison, as they aren't sure if they can trust him. Henry manages to gain Allison's trust, and she gives Henry a Seeing Tool, which is used to see hidden messages; Henry sees a message that says Allison will leave Henry for dead (which is later proven true).
Later, Bendy discovers Allison and Tom's location, and Tom (still distrusting Henry) convinces Allison to leave Henry behind so they can escape, knowing that they can't get him out before Bendy arrives. Henry manages to escape the prison on his own after discovering a secret room with a weapon behind the wall, thanks to the hidden messages. Once he escapes, Henry sees Allison and Tom escaping on a barge through a river of ink. He follows them on a second barge, with a massive Bendy hand chasing behind him. Henry arrives in a shanty town built by the Searchers and the Lost Ones. There, he is confronted by an injured Sammy, who deliriously believes Henry is Bendy and tries to take revenge for almost killing him. Sammy overpowers Henry and tries to kill him, but is killed by Tom, who finally trusts Henry and equips him with an axe. With Sammy out of the way, the Searchers and Lost Ones he was keeping at bay become violent and start attacking. Henry, Allison, and Tom work together and defeat the wave of monsters. Henry leads the way onward, but falls into the administration offices on a lower level. Henry tries to escape through the film vault, but the entrance is flooded. He works to reconnect the pipe system to drain the ink, all while hiding from the Butcher Gang.
Once in the film vault, a message reveals that a film reel has been stolen by Bendy. Allison and Tom arrive and join Henry on his quest to find Bendy. They discover that Bendy's lair is a massive version of the Ink Machine. Henry is forced to go in alone, as the entrance is surrounded by ink, which could reabsorb and kill Allison and Tom. Inside, Henry finds a message from Joey, who talks about his downfall and how Henry can fix the darkness by showing Bendy the stolen reel, titled "The End". It's revealed that the Ink Machine was used in a combination of occult magic and technological alchemy to create real-life mascots for Bendy Land, but Bendy was abandoned in the depths of the studio, as unlike the other creations, which are made from the souls of the staff, he was made from scratch and soulless as a result, locked away in a prison-like throne room filled with cartoons in a vain attempt to imprint the desired traits onto him. Bendy arrives and transforms into a massive monster, known as Beast Bendy, knocking Henry into another room and giving chase. Henry escapes Bendy and returns to his throne to play "The End" reel, which broadcasts the words "The End" on several screens, causing Bendy to dissolve as his story comes to a close.
Afterwards, Henry is transported to Joey's house, who talks about how the two went on different paths, and how Joey's path burned because of his ambition. He summons Henry to the studio and the events of the beginning of the game play again, revealing that Henry is caught in a time loop called the Cycle.
In a post-credits scene, the camera zooms in on a signed picture from Henry of Bendy, Boris and Alice Angel. Offscreen, a young girl (implied to be Joey's niece) asks her "Uncle Joey" to tell her another story.
== Characters and voice cast ==
* Henry Stein (voiced by theMeatly) is a co-founder and animator of Joey Drew Studios, who created the characters in the Bendy cartoons. He is the main protagonist of the first game, who has returned to Joey Drew Studios after 30 years. Throughout his adventure, he realizes that he is trapped within an endless cycle of entering and escaping the studio. He makes a guest appearance in the sequel Bendy and the Dark Revival, trapped by Wilson as a Cycle-Breaker. He was later freed by Audrey and helps her along with her other friends and allies to escape the studio and break the cycle.
* Joey Drew (voiced by David Eddings) is the co-founder and CEO of Joey Drew Studios. Prior to the games events, Joey went bankrupt and the studio collapsed from its former glory. He makes an appearance at the end of Bendy and the Ink Machine to Henry and directs him to the studio and the cycle Henry is trapped in. He makes a guest appearance to Audrey in the sequel Bendy and the Dark Revival as a ghost of the Ink Machine, as he was revealed to have passed away in the 1970s. He later reveals himself as the man behind Henry's adventure in the first game and his identity as Audrey's father. His soul was then permanently killed by the Ink Demon. He is the presumed overarching antagonist of the game.
* Wally Franks (voiced by theMeatly) is Joey Drew Studios' relaxed janitor. Besides Henry, he is the only character to appear in all 5 chapters via audio logs. He is most known for his phrase "I'm outta here!"
* Thomas Connor (voiced by Mike Mood) is a gruff and grouchy mechanical engineer from Gent Enterprises who was hired by Joey Drew Studios to build the Ink Machine. In the game, he has been corrupted by the ink and turned into a Boris clone, who goes by Tom and he travels with Allison Angel, which mirrors his relationship with Allison's human alter ego Allison Pendle. He is shown to be hostile towards Henry. He makes a guest appearance in the sequel Bendy and the Dark Revival alongside Allison.
* Sammy Lawrence (voiced by Aaron Landon) is an antagonist of Bendy and the Ink Machine and the former music director of Joey Drew Studios, who started to go insane. By the events of the game, he has been corrupted by the ink and worships Bendy as a deity. He attempts to sacrifice Henry to Bendy only to be slaughtered by Bendy himself. He later reappeared and fought Henry again but was killed by Tom. He makes a special guest appearance in the sequel Bendy and the Dark Revival as a Cycle Breaker captured by Wilson.
* Norman Polk (voiced by theMeatly) is the elusive and observant projectionist of Joey Drew Studios. By the events of the game, he has been turned into the Projectionist, a humanoid monster with a projected head. In Bendy and the Ink Machine, he was viciously killed by Bendy during a face off. He didn't make an appearance in the sequel Bendy and the Dark Revival, but his projector was seen in Wilson's lair.
* Susie Campbell (voiced by Alanna Linayre) is a main antagonist of the Bendy games and the original voice actress for Alice Angel, who became obsessed with the character, and went crazy when she was replaced by Allison Pendle. By the events of the game, she has been corrupted by the ink and turned into a twisted version of Alice. She is obsessed with becoming perfect and has killed many Boris the wolf clones to achieve that goal. She took an interest to Henry's Boris and captures him and converted him to a brute monster. After her failed attempt, she tries to kill Henry herself, but was stabbed by Allison Angel. She makes a guest appearance in the sequel Bendy and the Dark Revival as a Cycle Breaker captured by Wilson, but has escapes. She faced off against Audrey, only to be stabbed by Allison again.
* Alice Angel (voiced by Lauren Synger) is the lead female in the Bendy cartoons. In the game, she is a twisted form of the original character, taken form through Susie Campbell. A perfect and more kinder clone of her exists, taken form through the second voice actress Allison Pendle.
* Jack Fain (voiced by Bookpast) is the main lyricist at Joey Drew Studios and Sammy's second-in-command. In the game, he has been corrupted by the ink and transformed into a Swollen Searcher.
* Shawn Flynn (voiced by Seán "Jacksepticeye" McLoughlin) is the merchandise director at Joey Drew Studios.
* Grant Cohen (voiced by Will Alex "DAGames" Ryan) is Joey Drew's exasperated accountant.
* Bertrum Piedmont (voiced by Joe J. Thomas) is a famed theme park designer, who built the Bendy-themed amusement park, Bendy Land and rejects his treatment by Joey Drew. In the game, he has merged with an octopus ride.
* Lacie Benton (voiced by Lani Minella) is an engineer working under Bertrum Piedmont.
* Allison Pendle (voiced by Lauren Synger) is the second voice actress for Alice Angel, replacing Susie Campbell. In the game, she has been corrupted by the ink and transformed into a kinder form of Alice Angel named Allison and travels with a Boris clone named Tom. She appears as an ally to Henry and guides him through the remaining parts of the studio. She makes a guest appearance in the sequel Bendy and the Dark Revival and becomes a mentor and guide to Audrey. She, along with Tom and many others, helps Audrey escape the studio at the end of the game.
Additionally, there are multiple characters in the game with no featured dialogue:
* Ink Bendy is the main antagonist of the Bendy games and a vicious and deformed version of Bendy, the main character of the Bendy cartoons. He is known by the ink residents as the Ink Demon.
* Boris the Wolf / Buddy Boris is a secondary character in the Bendy cartoons. In the game, a friendly version of him appears as Henry's companion, before he is transformed into Brute Boris by Alice. Additionally, multiple clones of Boris appear throughout the game as mutilated corpses.
* The Butcher Gang are a trio from the Bendy cartoons, who are always at odds with Bendy. In the game, they appear as the Piper (Charley), the Fisher (Barley) and the Striker (Edgar).
* The Searchers are a group of humanoid ink creatures who attack Henry throughout the game.
* The Lost Ones are employees of Joey Drew Studios, who have been corrupted by the ink, and aren't hostile. A specific Lost One is voiced by Joe J. Thomas.
* The Swollen Searchers are enlarged and passive forms of the Searchers. They are notable for being a source of ink throughout the game.