Finally...here it is, my first review! It will be about the PC version of Silent Hill 4 because that's the one I played, but I believe that, with the exception of the Graphics category, everything else is applicable to the PS2 and XBOX versions of the game.
I know that it's an "old" game, but since this is my first review I think it's a good way to start.
So let's begin...
- First Look -
Silent Hill 4, the most "recent" installment of a widely acclaimed series, brings all the horror that fans of the previous games, such as myself, are expecting with some changes and/or additions.
The game begins when Henry Townshend, a man living in South Ashfield, one day finds the door of his own apartment chained down. All the while, Henry is haunted by strange nightmares. To add to the strangeness of the situation Henry can't get help since the phone doesn't work and nobody can see or hear him. This situation goes on until one day a hole opens up in his bathroom and he soon finds out that hole is actually a portal to another world.
The game begins when Henry Townshend, a man living in South Ashfield, one day finds the door of his own apartment chained down. All the while, Henry is haunted by strange nightmares. To add to the strangeness of the situation Henry can't get help since the phone doesn't work and nobody can see or hear him. This situation goes on until one day a hole opens up in his bathroom and he soon finds out that hole is actually a portal to another world.
The first thing that somebody that played the previous games might notice, even without touching the game itself, is that, unlike all the previous Silent Hill games, the action in Silent Hill 4 doesn't take place in or around the mysterious city of Silent Hill. Actually most of the action takes place in a small apartment in South Ashfield, a neighbouring city of Silent Hill.
Another thing that people who've played the previous will notice once they start playing the game is the first-person view inside the apartment. This is also something completely new in the Silent Hill universe since in all previous games, the third-person view was king. And, in a way, it still is...let's just say, that now, it shares the throne with the first-person view.
Another thing that everybody who's played a Silent Hill game before should be surprised to find out is the fact that in this adventure there's no need for the traditional flashlight to light our way in the typical Silent Hill darkness and the radio, so useful in telling us when monsters were near.
So, differences aside from its predecessors, it looks like Silent Hill 4 has all the right ingredients to be a great game. But let's take a more in depth look.
Another thing that people who've played the previous will notice once they start playing the game is the first-person view inside the apartment. This is also something completely new in the Silent Hill universe since in all previous games, the third-person view was king. And, in a way, it still is...let's just say, that now, it shares the throne with the first-person view.
Another thing that everybody who's played a Silent Hill game before should be surprised to find out is the fact that in this adventure there's no need for the traditional flashlight to light our way in the typical Silent Hill darkness and the radio, so useful in telling us when monsters were near.
So, differences aside from its predecessors, it looks like Silent Hill 4 has all the right ingredients to be a great game. But let's take a more in depth look.
- Plot/Storyline -
Like I said before, the game begins with Henry Townshend locked in his own apartment with no means of getting help since the phone's dead and none of his neighbours can hear Henry crying for help. And the horrible nightmares that Henry has, where he sees his apartment in a grimy, run-down version and where a ghost comes out of the wall, don't help him to figure a way out of that situation. Some days after all these mysterious events started happening Henry finds a hole in his bathroom and finds that the hole is actually a portal to another world.
Like I said before, the game begins with Henry Townshend locked in his own apartment with no means of getting help since the phone's dead and none of his neighbours can hear Henry crying for help. And the horrible nightmares that Henry has, where he sees his apartment in a grimy, run-down version and where a ghost comes out of the wall, don't help him to figure a way out of that situation. Some days after all these mysterious events started happening Henry finds a hole in his bathroom and finds that the hole is actually a portal to another world.
It's with these portals that Henry will be able to travel between his apartment and the various worlds that Silent Hill 4 has to offers us and, it will be trough these constant travels between worlds and apartment that Henry will find out the reason the strange happenings in his apartment.
The story itself has everything one can expect from a Silent Hill game and the way that it unfolds is, in my point of view, something unique to this game also.
It's through Henry's experiences and discoveries in each of the worlds that, in our constant returns to the apartment, we will find that our previous actions could've triggered a change in the apartment itself. A crack on wall, a piece of furniture out of place and, most commonly, notes under the door are some of the the changes that the apartment will suffer throughout the game.
It's all these things that, together, will ultimately allow Henry to find the reason behind the strange occurrences in his apartment. And as one would expect, although the actions happens mainly in South Ashfield, the story itself is intimately connected to the city of Silent Hill and its cult. Though, sometimes, the story, or the way it's shown to the player as he progresses, is rather confusing but, fortunately, in the end, everything will be "thoroughly" explained.
As the story unfolds and Henry travels through the different worlds, he'll meet several characters with more or less importance in the story, but there are some that are a constant presence throughout the game like Henrys next-door neighbour, the creepy kid who insists on running around the various worlds and the weird man dressed in a raincoat.
About the dialogs between the characters and Henry all I can say is that they're your typical Silent Hill dialogs, and with this I mean...unemotional, strange and creepy. Anyone who's played a Silent Hill should have a general idea of what they can expect.
The story itself has everything one can expect from a Silent Hill game and the way that it unfolds is, in my point of view, something unique to this game also.
It's through Henry's experiences and discoveries in each of the worlds that, in our constant returns to the apartment, we will find that our previous actions could've triggered a change in the apartment itself. A crack on wall, a piece of furniture out of place and, most commonly, notes under the door are some of the the changes that the apartment will suffer throughout the game.
It's all these things that, together, will ultimately allow Henry to find the reason behind the strange occurrences in his apartment. And as one would expect, although the actions happens mainly in South Ashfield, the story itself is intimately connected to the city of Silent Hill and its cult. Though, sometimes, the story, or the way it's shown to the player as he progresses, is rather confusing but, fortunately, in the end, everything will be "thoroughly" explained.
As the story unfolds and Henry travels through the different worlds, he'll meet several characters with more or less importance in the story, but there are some that are a constant presence throughout the game like Henrys next-door neighbour, the creepy kid who insists on running around the various worlds and the weird man dressed in a raincoat.
About the dialogs between the characters and Henry all I can say is that they're your typical Silent Hill dialogs, and with this I mean...unemotional, strange and creepy. Anyone who's played a Silent Hill should have a general idea of what they can expect.
So, in general, the story doesn't stray too far from the other Silent Hill games, which doesn't mean that it's not good or original, quite the contrary actually. The fact that the main action in the game changed from Silent Hill to South Ashfield shows exactly that. It shows that it's possible to create a story with all the traditional Silent Hill quality and elements without it happening specifically in Silent Hill.
In my point of view it was a bold move but a necessary move to make in order to bring a breath of fresh air to the Silent Hill series.
In my point of view it was a bold move but a necessary move to make in order to bring a breath of fresh air to the Silent Hill series.
- Graphics -
Like I said in the beginning of the post, this review has the PC version of the game as its basis, which means that in this Graphics category, unlike the other categories, it can't be applicable to the PS2 or XBOX versions or, at least, not fully applicable.
So, even not playing with the graphics at "full blast" (since I didn't play at the highest resolution but had most graphical options on or at their maximum setting) all I can say is that the graphics in Silent Hill 4 are great, nothing groundbreaking but, in my opinion, graphics don't need to groundbreaking to be great.
Actually the graphics were something that I knew, even before I played the game, that were going to be good. I knew that because in all previous Silent Hill titles, even with all technological limitations of their time by todays standards, the graphics were good. It's something the Konami team behind Silent Hill has always been able to deliver flawlessly.
And the graphics are something extremely in the "Silent Hill experience". How so? Well, for me, Silent Hill is great for one reason, it's the best and first real horror game. Silent Hill is so great just because it delivers the player true horror and suspense, and graphics have a big part in that.
From the strategically placed camera, to the grimy, bloody look of everything in the Silent Hill world and not forgetting the extremely detailed and creepy-looking monsters, all this helps to create a true horror experience so typical of Silent Hill.
It's good to see that the graphics in Silent Hill 4, a game with almost 3 years, don't look outdated at all, in fact, they look like they could go against the graphics of some of todays games.
So, even not playing with the graphics at "full blast" (since I didn't play at the highest resolution but had most graphical options on or at their maximum setting) all I can say is that the graphics in Silent Hill 4 are great, nothing groundbreaking but, in my opinion, graphics don't need to groundbreaking to be great.
Actually the graphics were something that I knew, even before I played the game, that were going to be good. I knew that because in all previous Silent Hill titles, even with all technological limitations of their time by todays standards, the graphics were good. It's something the Konami team behind Silent Hill has always been able to deliver flawlessly.
And the graphics are something extremely in the "Silent Hill experience". How so? Well, for me, Silent Hill is great for one reason, it's the best and first real horror game. Silent Hill is so great just because it delivers the player true horror and suspense, and graphics have a big part in that.
From the strategically placed camera, to the grimy, bloody look of everything in the Silent Hill world and not forgetting the extremely detailed and creepy-looking monsters, all this helps to create a true horror experience so typical of Silent Hill.
It's good to see that the graphics in Silent Hill 4, a game with almost 3 years, don't look outdated at all, in fact, they look like they could go against the graphics of some of todays games.
- Music/Sound Effects -
If graphics take a big part in creating the typical horror experience of Silent Hill, music and sounds effects take an equally big part in creating that terrifying ambiance.
In any game, music has an extremely import role in creating an ambiance suitable for the game, in horror games this is even truer. And in this field, as in many others, the Konami team is superb.
And all starts with the main theme, a eerie tune called "Room of Angel" with some suggestive lyrics. Even the music in the start menu is a proud representative of what a musical score for a horror game should be. It's incredible how with just these two tunes it's possible to embed in the player some inexplicable uneasiness, a great starting point for every horror fan out there. The good thing is that from "starting point to finish line" the music does its job. And what a job!
Like I said music and sounds effects have an extremely important role in the ambiance of a game. And regarding sound effects in particular, they also do their job perfectly. The sounds made by the monsters are great and really boost the tension felt by the player while playing, especially in those situations when you can hear the monster but you can't really see him and that's something that's bound to happen often.
Another great example of Silent Hill 4's superbly used sounds effects, is the portal in Henrys bathroom. Whenever you're near the portal (specially when you're look right into it) you'll be able to hear creepy things like women or children crying. In my opinion these "little things", sometimes, make all the difference int the world.
All in all, the music and sound effects do their job flawlessly and provide an ambiance that all Silent Hill fans should know very well and that every horror fan that's new to Silent Hill series will be sure to love.
In any game, music has an extremely import role in creating an ambiance suitable for the game, in horror games this is even truer. And in this field, as in many others, the Konami team is superb.
And all starts with the main theme, a eerie tune called "Room of Angel" with some suggestive lyrics. Even the music in the start menu is a proud representative of what a musical score for a horror game should be. It's incredible how with just these two tunes it's possible to embed in the player some inexplicable uneasiness, a great starting point for every horror fan out there. The good thing is that from "starting point to finish line" the music does its job. And what a job!
Like I said music and sounds effects have an extremely important role in the ambiance of a game. And regarding sound effects in particular, they also do their job perfectly. The sounds made by the monsters are great and really boost the tension felt by the player while playing, especially in those situations when you can hear the monster but you can't really see him and that's something that's bound to happen often.
Another great example of Silent Hill 4's superbly used sounds effects, is the portal in Henrys bathroom. Whenever you're near the portal (specially when you're look right into it) you'll be able to hear creepy things like women or children crying. In my opinion these "little things", sometimes, make all the difference int the world.
All in all, the music and sound effects do their job flawlessly and provide an ambiance that all Silent Hill fans should know very well and that every horror fan that's new to Silent Hill series will be sure to love.
- Overview -
First aspect I'd like to mention is the absence of the flashlight and radio in this game. Well, for me, the lack of the radio didn't make any real difference or I didn't think the game was more difficult just because I didn't have the static noise of the radio warning me of nearby monsters. I thought that the noise made by the monsters in the distance were enough to, not only warn me, but also to make me jumpy whenever I heard them.
Now regarding the flashlight, well, the difference isn't less important like the radio was. And this is because if there's no need of a flashlight then it can only mean one thing, there's enough light in the game and this is, to me, something makes a lot of difference. The fact that some of the parts in the previous games were spent in complete darkness and the flashlight was almost like a life buoy for us and, at the same time, it helped greatly to immerse the player in a state of constant tension and fear.
With this I don't mean that Silent Hill 4 doesn't do that, actually the game itself goes on always in a lot of obscure and shadowy places, but I think it could've done much more if it went on in utterly dark places with only a small flashlight lighting the way. Obscure and shadowy places aren't exactly the same thing as a pitch black surrounding.
Well, before I make the overview of the game there's still some aspects of the game that I didn't mention before and, that I believe, made some difference in the overall gaming experience.
First aspect I'd like to mention is the absence of the flashlight and radio in this game. Well, for me, the lack of the radio didn't make any real difference or I didn't think the game was more difficult just because I didn't have the static noise of the radio warning me of nearby monsters. I thought that the noise made by the monsters in the distance were enough to, not only warn me, but also to make me jumpy whenever I heard them.
Now regarding the flashlight, well, the difference isn't less important like the radio was. And this is because if there's no need of a flashlight then it can only mean one thing, there's enough light in the game and this is, to me, something makes a lot of difference. The fact that some of the parts in the previous games were spent in complete darkness and the flashlight was almost like a life buoy for us and, at the same time, it helped greatly to immerse the player in a state of constant tension and fear.
With this I don't mean that Silent Hill 4 doesn't do that, actually the game itself goes on always in a lot of obscure and shadowy places, but I think it could've done much more if it went on in utterly dark places with only a small flashlight lighting the way. Obscure and shadowy places aren't exactly the same thing as a pitch black surrounding.
The second, and final, aspect I found to be influent in the gaming experience is the item system in Silent Hill 4. In this game, unlike the previous ones, our hero can only carry a limited number of items at a time and uses a inventory system where it's possible to store an unlimited number of items in the apartment. It's easy to guess that this isn't a very good system and it's also easy to see why. During the game I often found myself eagerly looking for a portal back to the apartment so I could pick up a necessary item to solve a puzzle, something I had to leave in the apartment due to lack of space to carry it with me. This is...well, annoying just because it directly influences the flow of the game. And, unfortunately, it's not uncommon to leave important items, like ammo or medkits, behind just because there's not enough room to carry them and you're too far away from any portal to drop something off at the apartment. This is particularly bad and frustrating when your life bar is almost empty and you can't pick a nutrition drink that can save your life.
Regarding weaponry, Silent Hill 4, follows in the footsteps of the series and doesn't have a lot of firearms available, even though there's seem to be quite a few ammo pickups along the game. Aside from firearms there's a lot to be found from innumerate golf clubs, to a steel pipe, baseball bat, knife, shuffle not to mention the ridiculously powerful Pickaxe of Despair and many other things. As expected each weapon has it's advantages and disadvantages regarding power and speed.
And to say the truth I found myself using a lot less weapons that I thought I'd use initially, alternating between two or three personal favorites and only using firearms when I was low on energy or when the situation required one (which doesn't happen often). Actually in this game, it's possible to complete it without using a firearm once...not even in the battle with the final boss of the game, which is a stupidly easy battle once you figure out what to do.
Just to finish I'd like to speak a little about the puzzles the game has to offer us. In general all of them are pretty basic and just require the player to run around and look for a certain key item or solving some weird riddle, but, of course, there are exceptions. They're nothing out of the ordinary in the Silent Hill series and anybody who's played a Silent Hill game, or any survival horror game for that matter, should know what to expect.
A quick word about the controls which I found pretty easy to use since I was using a gamepad, if I used the keyboard I'd doubt it would be that easy or intuitive but like everything in life..sometimes it just takes a little practice and a little getting used to. I assume that in the PS2 and XBOX versions the controls are just as simple.
And to say the truth I found myself using a lot less weapons that I thought I'd use initially, alternating between two or three personal favorites and only using firearms when I was low on energy or when the situation required one (which doesn't happen often). Actually in this game, it's possible to complete it without using a firearm once...not even in the battle with the final boss of the game, which is a stupidly easy battle once you figure out what to do.
Just to finish I'd like to speak a little about the puzzles the game has to offer us. In general all of them are pretty basic and just require the player to run around and look for a certain key item or solving some weird riddle, but, of course, there are exceptions. They're nothing out of the ordinary in the Silent Hill series and anybody who's played a Silent Hill game, or any survival horror game for that matter, should know what to expect.
A quick word about the controls which I found pretty easy to use since I was using a gamepad, if I used the keyboard I'd doubt it would be that easy or intuitive but like everything in life..sometimes it just takes a little practice and a little getting used to. I assume that in the PS2 and XBOX versions the controls are just as simple.
So, in conclusion, Silent Hill 4 has everything you could expect from a Silent Hill game, the horror, the tension, the great story and it delivers all this in a "new package". With this I mean the fact that it changed it main action from Silent Hill along with some other changes like the absence of the flashlight and radio and the frustrating inventory system.
Basically, it's a Silent Hill game and that's saying it all. If you're a fan, like me, you won't be disappointed, even though there are some things that, in my opinion, should have been done differently or not done at all actually.
Those who've never played have, in Silent Hill 4, a good way to be introduced to this particular universe of horror games, but I think starting from the first game is better, that is, if you can overcome the fact that the original Silent Hill game is quite old, but still very worthy of playing.
Summing it all up I think "Silent Hill 4: The Room" is, overall, a great game suffering from some minor setbacks, maybe due to the weight brought on by the fact that this is the fourth of a line of greatly successful games.
Basically, it's a Silent Hill game and that's saying it all. If you're a fan, like me, you won't be disappointed, even though there are some things that, in my opinion, should have been done differently or not done at all actually.
Those who've never played have, in Silent Hill 4, a good way to be introduced to this particular universe of horror games, but I think starting from the first game is better, that is, if you can overcome the fact that the original Silent Hill game is quite old, but still very worthy of playing.
Summing it all up I think "Silent Hill 4: The Room" is, overall, a great game suffering from some minor setbacks, maybe due to the weight brought on by the fact that this is the fourth of a line of greatly successful games.
- Rating -
So, after all I've said I can't ignore that, although this is a great game, it's not greater than any of the previous games but, regarding the fact the pros are far superior of the cons of this game, I give it a solid 8.
So, finally, this has been my very first review. First I must apologize for the poor/below average quality of the review, but, remember this is my first review so, hopefully, I'll get better along the way. Another thing I'd like to say is that as soon as possible I'll try to find something nice for my ratings(like animated gifs or something like that), but until now I've come up with nothing (if any you out there want to help me out on this one you're more than welcome).
One last thing I'd like to remember you all is that all suggestions and comments are most welcome(and before I go I'll leave you two pictures of one of the most charismatic monsters in the Silent Hill series).
See ya.
Event in Japan to promote the new Silent Hill title, Silent Hill Complete Set, a compilation of all the Silent Hill titles in one box set.
Picture from the nurses in the Silent Hill movie.
So, finally, this has been my very first review. First I must apologize for the poor/below average quality of the review, but, remember this is my first review so, hopefully, I'll get better along the way. Another thing I'd like to say is that as soon as possible I'll try to find something nice for my ratings(like animated gifs or something like that), but until now I've come up with nothing (if any you out there want to help me out on this one you're more than welcome).
One last thing I'd like to remember you all is that all suggestions and comments are most welcome(and before I go I'll leave you two pictures of one of the most charismatic monsters in the Silent Hill series).
See ya.
Event in Japan to promote the new Silent Hill title, Silent Hill Complete Set, a compilation of all the Silent Hill titles in one box set.
Picture from the nurses in the Silent Hill movie.
2 comments:
Nice review! Really makes me want to go out and buy the game(If I wasn't such a wimp. I can't play Luigi's Mansion at night...).
I also run a video game blog which has just started. It's a little different than yours (less reviews and more general video game articles). I was thinking we could do a link exchange. Contact me at thecdsanta@gmail.com if you're interested. My blog is http://blogvsspaceblog.blogspot.com
I would also be up to doing some reviews for your(as you mentioned in a previous post).
Thanks for the comment.
Your blog looks really cool, you got yourself a costumer.
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