This latest addition to the now venerable Silent Hill franchise maintains a number of the trappings of previous installments, discards a few, and still brings an overwhelmingly creepy atmosphere into your living room via disturbed characters and disturbing locales. The game opens with its hero, Henry Townsend, trapped in his apartment with no means of escape, until he discovers a large hole in his bathroom that transports him to eventually 6 different locations, only one of which is actually in the title town, including one of the biggest staples of this franchise, an abandoned hospital. Players of previous Silent Hill titles will immediately notice there is no pocket flashlight, and hence no need for the pocket radio, also gone. Environments are no longer pitch black for long stretches, but the scares are still there. They just milk what you can see and hear for fright value rather than what you can't. Also changed is the inventory system: you can now only carry 10 items, similar items don't stack, and you can't drop items. This makes inventory management a big issue, which is handled via a Resident Evil-style chest back in your apartment, accessable by several portals as you progress through levels. The jump in your seat scares are reduced, but the overall sense of dread remains, and helps make those few moments truly effective. Your apartment, in the neighboring town of South Ashfield, brings a new twist: first-person view. This is a "safe" area for the first part of the game, but becomes potentially dangerous to visit in latter stages as demons and apparitions try to invade, though for inventory management, clue gathering, or to save your game you will be forced to. The story is as convoluted and eerie as always, centering around a mysterious and dangerous Walter Sullivan, who you learn has very poor knowledge of human biology, and his quest to perform an unholy ritual called the "21 Sacraments". Combat is simple and you won't encounter much that can't be dispatched fairly easily if you're smart about your approach, though some ghosts now can't ever be killed, but can be pinned down with a special sword. A few times the enemies will be large in number, but you can still survive, even if barely and there is sufficient healing in the game. Weapon selection is limited, especially the ranged weapons, but there is some variety of melee weapons. The auto-map function is perfect, and you'll never get lost using it. The graphics are roughly the same as in the previous PS2 Silent Hill game and the sound quality about what you would expect. All areas usually have an unsettling constant sound of wailing or creatures walking about. The game can be finished in 10-12 hours, depending on how much of an investigator you are. Like other games of this genre, it can be replayed with new costumes and weapons in further run-throughs. All in all a solid fourth episode that will leave you hoping for a fifth.
Waking up inside your bedroom, you've just witnessed hell unfold in your own apartment. Confused and dazzled, you make your way to the front door and find its chained up with a message that reads "Don't Go out Walter!". ... Read Full Review
This is actually quite hard game for me to review as it is quite an odd chapter in the Silent Hill series in that while staying true to the series in some respects, it is quite a departure in others, which upon initial r... Read Full Review
