Shawn
Sep 12th, 2004, 09:12:51 PM
I wrote up a mini-review at another forum and, since it's already written, I thought I'd share it here. I left out the basic premise, so I'll preface it with this:
You play as Henry Townsend, a pretty average guy who rented out an apartment in a small town neighboring Silent Hill a few years ago. But, 5 days ago, you woke up to find that you could not leave your room: Heavy chains cover your doorway, the windows mysteriously won't open and your appliances simply won't work. Worst of all, no one outside of your room can hear your calls for help. That's when the hole appears in your bathroom wall. But it doesn't lead outside...
My final word on the game is at the very bottom, if you don't feel like reading the whole thing.
Silent Hill 4
PC
9 Hours
First off, let me ask you: Are you a fan of the Silent Hill series? If not, there is a good possibility that you may be put off by Silent Hill 4. That's not to discourage anyone who's never played a Silent Hill game before (it works quite well as a stand-alone title), but just a friendly warning.
In an effort to address the numerous complaints about the controls typical of survival-horror games, SH4 uses a forced "2D" control scheme, where your character's movements are relative to the screen, not the character. In other words, pressing Up will always move you towards the top of the screen, pressing down will always move you down, et cetera. The previous Silent Hill titles had this as an optional control scheme, but I found it maddening. However, this game sports a much-improved camera system that makes working with the new controls much less cumbersome. It actually worked out well, once you become accustomed to it.
The combat system has been given an overhaul and, while it may seem clunky at first, winds up feeling much more dynamic. Coming from someone who went through the previous games primarily using a Rusty Pipe, Sword, or other similar weapons, I liked the greater emphasis on melee combat in this game. Do yourself a favor, though, and buy a decent gamepad. I've stopped trying to play console ports without one and you should, too.
The graphics are fairly excellent, if not quite as stunning as those in the previous title. Even the protagonist's spartan apartment feels quite tangible and, as you may have guessed, becomes quite claustrophobic after some time. I found the graphics to be lacking in some areas, but it was mostly inconsequential objects/settings. Everything important was brought to life very realistically. They get the job done without being too flashy. The environments are truly some of the best in the series. Granted, some of them are staples of the genre (Prison, Hospital, etc), but it was the original Silent Hill that pretty much established them as so. In particular, I enjoyed the first area you travelled to, as it felt very dreamlike and subtlely surreal.
The sound, as much as I hate to say it, is this game's weak point. Perhaps it's just because the franchise has been known for some of the best sound effects and music in the biz that this game seems to fall short, but it's kind of disappointing. Music is sparse and, except for the title track, forgettable. As has been mentioned, there are several stock sound effects used. While it doesn't bother me so much that I've heard these sounds a thousand times before, they don't do anything to create the right kind of atmosphere. I was also disappointed by the lack of ambient scares; In SH3, there were several times during the game when you'd simply here something, off in the darkness, and be scared to find out what it was.
The story itself has been touched upon a hundred times, so I'm certain that you're familiar with it by now. But suffice it to say that I found it to be engrossing. There's nothing wholly predictable, nor overly confusing. It's much better than the plot of 3, but not quite up there with 2, I think.
The Room mechanic itself I found to be very original. I liked the idea of being trapped in a very small space, able to see and hear what goes on outside, but not able to effect anything. The switch to 1st person while inside your room was a brilliant decision, as it's the only way to properly convey just how confined you are in such a small space. The apartment parts of the game play very much like Echo Night or King's Field.
The game is not without its flaws, however. About halfway through, you're presented with a companion NPC who will follow you around for the rest of the game. Trying to lead this companion around certain types of enemies can be an excercise in frustration, especially in narrow areas. It did offer a new dynamic to the game, other than "Run into room, find key to next room, kill baddies, move on". Protecting your companion may require some forethought and care. I just wish that there was a better AI system developed for the NPC(s).
Also, another downside: SH4 uses tried and true formula of making you backtrack through areas you've previously been to in order to artificially lengthen the game. Truth be told, this wouldn't have bothered me if the areas were drastically altered the second time around (For Example: The School/Alternate School in SH1), but they're pretty much the same.
As with every other Silent Hill game, there are several incentives to replay the game, such as multiple endings and hidden weapons. While these things may not be enough to motivate everyone into replaying the game, I tend to replay titles I particularly liked multiple times regardless, and so I find them lots of fun to work towards/play with.
And, for those who aren't clear on my overall impressions (and the TL;DR crowd): I was very pleased with Silent Hill 4: The Room. It's easily a contender for the strongest title in the series. For the first half hour of the game, I was unsure if I would be regretting my purchase or not. But by the end of the first segment of the game, I was completely sucked in. My final game save clocked in at 9 hours, and I've already started a second playthrough, so I definitely feel that I've gotten my money's worth. If you're a horror game junkie, a fan of the series, or just someone looking for a game very different than the DMC clones that are continually pumped out, give this game a shot. At $30, it's practically a budget title.4/5
Price Paid: $29.99
Worth: $39.99
You play as Henry Townsend, a pretty average guy who rented out an apartment in a small town neighboring Silent Hill a few years ago. But, 5 days ago, you woke up to find that you could not leave your room: Heavy chains cover your doorway, the windows mysteriously won't open and your appliances simply won't work. Worst of all, no one outside of your room can hear your calls for help. That's when the hole appears in your bathroom wall. But it doesn't lead outside...
My final word on the game is at the very bottom, if you don't feel like reading the whole thing.
Silent Hill 4
PC
9 Hours
First off, let me ask you: Are you a fan of the Silent Hill series? If not, there is a good possibility that you may be put off by Silent Hill 4. That's not to discourage anyone who's never played a Silent Hill game before (it works quite well as a stand-alone title), but just a friendly warning.
In an effort to address the numerous complaints about the controls typical of survival-horror games, SH4 uses a forced "2D" control scheme, where your character's movements are relative to the screen, not the character. In other words, pressing Up will always move you towards the top of the screen, pressing down will always move you down, et cetera. The previous Silent Hill titles had this as an optional control scheme, but I found it maddening. However, this game sports a much-improved camera system that makes working with the new controls much less cumbersome. It actually worked out well, once you become accustomed to it.
The combat system has been given an overhaul and, while it may seem clunky at first, winds up feeling much more dynamic. Coming from someone who went through the previous games primarily using a Rusty Pipe, Sword, or other similar weapons, I liked the greater emphasis on melee combat in this game. Do yourself a favor, though, and buy a decent gamepad. I've stopped trying to play console ports without one and you should, too.
The graphics are fairly excellent, if not quite as stunning as those in the previous title. Even the protagonist's spartan apartment feels quite tangible and, as you may have guessed, becomes quite claustrophobic after some time. I found the graphics to be lacking in some areas, but it was mostly inconsequential objects/settings. Everything important was brought to life very realistically. They get the job done without being too flashy. The environments are truly some of the best in the series. Granted, some of them are staples of the genre (Prison, Hospital, etc), but it was the original Silent Hill that pretty much established them as so. In particular, I enjoyed the first area you travelled to, as it felt very dreamlike and subtlely surreal.
The sound, as much as I hate to say it, is this game's weak point. Perhaps it's just because the franchise has been known for some of the best sound effects and music in the biz that this game seems to fall short, but it's kind of disappointing. Music is sparse and, except for the title track, forgettable. As has been mentioned, there are several stock sound effects used. While it doesn't bother me so much that I've heard these sounds a thousand times before, they don't do anything to create the right kind of atmosphere. I was also disappointed by the lack of ambient scares; In SH3, there were several times during the game when you'd simply here something, off in the darkness, and be scared to find out what it was.
The story itself has been touched upon a hundred times, so I'm certain that you're familiar with it by now. But suffice it to say that I found it to be engrossing. There's nothing wholly predictable, nor overly confusing. It's much better than the plot of 3, but not quite up there with 2, I think.
The Room mechanic itself I found to be very original. I liked the idea of being trapped in a very small space, able to see and hear what goes on outside, but not able to effect anything. The switch to 1st person while inside your room was a brilliant decision, as it's the only way to properly convey just how confined you are in such a small space. The apartment parts of the game play very much like Echo Night or King's Field.
The game is not without its flaws, however. About halfway through, you're presented with a companion NPC who will follow you around for the rest of the game. Trying to lead this companion around certain types of enemies can be an excercise in frustration, especially in narrow areas. It did offer a new dynamic to the game, other than "Run into room, find key to next room, kill baddies, move on". Protecting your companion may require some forethought and care. I just wish that there was a better AI system developed for the NPC(s).
Also, another downside: SH4 uses tried and true formula of making you backtrack through areas you've previously been to in order to artificially lengthen the game. Truth be told, this wouldn't have bothered me if the areas were drastically altered the second time around (For Example: The School/Alternate School in SH1), but they're pretty much the same.
As with every other Silent Hill game, there are several incentives to replay the game, such as multiple endings and hidden weapons. While these things may not be enough to motivate everyone into replaying the game, I tend to replay titles I particularly liked multiple times regardless, and so I find them lots of fun to work towards/play with.
And, for those who aren't clear on my overall impressions (and the TL;DR crowd): I was very pleased with Silent Hill 4: The Room. It's easily a contender for the strongest title in the series. For the first half hour of the game, I was unsure if I would be regretting my purchase or not. But by the end of the first segment of the game, I was completely sucked in. My final game save clocked in at 9 hours, and I've already started a second playthrough, so I definitely feel that I've gotten my money's worth. If you're a horror game junkie, a fan of the series, or just someone looking for a game very different than the DMC clones that are continually pumped out, give this game a shot. At $30, it's practically a budget title.4/5
Price Paid: $29.99
Worth: $39.99