A good step in the right direction for the series despite the flaws
User Rating: 8 | Silent Hill: Downpour X360
Downpour is close to being a great survival horror game. I say close because there are some issues that really annoyed me throughout my playthrough. First off the game should have stayed in development until they ironed out the frame rate issues. This is the biggest problem in the game as i experienced numerous issues while roaming the streets of Silent Hill. This really takes away from the immersion into the game. There are also breakable weapons now which i didn't have a problem with. What i did take issue with is picking up new weapons compared to other items. Alot of the time i would pick up a brick thinking it was ammo. The game should say swap weapons or something so the player is not constantly picking something up they do not need. The combat while dull was not a major concern for me. But the lack of enemy variety is. You only fight about 7 different types of enemies throughout the game. This really cuts down on the overall scare factor as well. Besides these issues the game is quite fun if you are a Silent Hill fan.
My favorite part of the game is the addition of side missions. This really gives the player a reason to explore the town like never before. I do wish they would have played a larger role in the outcome or would have rewarded the player better. But they were fun to find and complete nonetheless. The story was also pretty good and the developers really tried to get the creepy vibe of the slient hill series. Some worked some didn't but the story and the creepiness kept me wanting to see what was going to happen next. They also got the movement speed correct where as homecoming the protaganist moved entirely to quickly.
Overall i enjoyed downpour and would purchase the next sh game made by vatra. The game is slighty better than homecoming which i thought was alright and worthy of the silent hill name. I feel now that the silent hill series has added an exploration factor that they should never shy away from this aspect and that in itself is a major accomplishment for downpour.
