Screenshots :.
Silent Hill 4: The Room
Xbox
Matt
11-05-2007
"Hmm, Fido doesn't look so good..."
"Amazing how they always know what they're looking at?"
"Just like in horror movies, jump into the big dark hole...?"
When a series is as fervently followed and chronicled by fans as the Silent Hill series is, extra expectation inevitably weighs down on games developers’ shoulders and leaves them with the age-old conundrum: evolution, or revolution? Nintendo, for example, constantly try new things with their Mario games, whilst Square-Enix seems happy to tinker quite extensively with each episode of Final Fantasy. Konami, meanwhile, seem to have become a little apprehensive of straying too far from the beaten path with its popular psychological horror series, a fact which ultimately proves Silent Hill 4’s major downfall.
The story continues the trend of normal people being thrown into abnormal situations, this time focusing on young Henry Townshend, who awakes one day to discover that he has been locked in his apartment and can’t escape or be heard. A few days after being imprisoned, Henry comes across a bizarre gaping hole in his bathroom wall. Upon entering it he is transferred to the nightmarish world of Silent Hill, from where the story proceeds to wind its way in typically deep fashion.
Taken at basic level, The Room is almost exactly identical to previous games in the series. Viewed in the third-person, you guide Henry through a catalogue of disturbing locations solving puzzles and fighting twisted, nightmarish monsters. Progression is usually achieved by locating keys or similar items to unlock previously locked areas, and quite a large portion of the game is spent on the relatively simple task of exploring the locations to find items to help you unlock the next area. Whilst entertaining enough in context of the unfolding story, the game certainly lacks the broadness that something such as Project Zero 2 offers and as such feels quite restricted.
Whilst the game’s main play mechanic is fairly simple, the enemies dotted around the world to stop you fetching that next key or reaching that new room are brutal and will give you plenty of headaches. Previous incarnations of Silent Hill prided themselves on throwing grotesquely deformed beings at whomever you were controlling and The Room is no different; being chased down a dark corridor by an ostrich body with two baby human faces is an experience that will leave you feeling a little shaky. Elsewhere, bent and broken human forms drag and float themselves towards you from all directions. It certainly feels as if Konami have ramped the combat action up a little bit when compared to previous versions of Silent Hill, which when added to the game’s relatively simple puzzling makes the game feel more of an action game than its predecessors.
When it comes to visuals, The Room maintains the grainy, dulled look that has made the series one of the most unique in graphical terms. Likewise, environments seep with rust and dirt and certainly bear strong resemblances with locations that you will have visited during your time with previous titles. Following on from the dingy atmosphere, the game throws all manner of horrific sounds your way to unnerve you at the worst possible moments. The increase in static from Henry’s portable radio becomes a portent of impending conflict, and hearing the gentle flickering grow louder will tighten your grip on the controller and focus your gaze. Monsters themselves screech and groan, most making horrid gurgles when attacked. It all makes you feel pretty edgy and unsettled.
Which leaves one in a quandary when it comes to settling an opinion of The Room. On one hand, the game feels decidedly average. The quest sees you having to perform mostly simple key hunting tasks with a few trickier puzzles scattered around. The game certainly feels a lot less intelligent than previous instalments and seems to lean more heavily on the combat and action sections, which will alienate a good portion of the fans of the series.
On the other hand, the game weaves another complicated, interesting story. There’s plenty to delve into for those who enjoy immersing themselves in the Silent Hill chronicle. Similarly, the atmosphere provided both visually and audibly helps paint as vivid a picture of the nightmarish world of Silent Hill as has been managed to date. Up until now the main strength of the series has been that the storytelling has been backed up by an interesting, taxing game each time. For the first time, The Room sees the storyline holding the game’s head above water, which is no doubt a trend that fans will be desperately hoping is remedied when the series makes its bow on the next generation of consoles.
The story continues the trend of normal people being thrown into abnormal situations, this time focusing on young Henry Townshend, who awakes one day to discover that he has been locked in his apartment and can’t escape or be heard. A few days after being imprisoned, Henry comes across a bizarre gaping hole in his bathroom wall. Upon entering it he is transferred to the nightmarish world of Silent Hill, from where the story proceeds to wind its way in typically deep fashion.
Taken at basic level, The Room is almost exactly identical to previous games in the series. Viewed in the third-person, you guide Henry through a catalogue of disturbing locations solving puzzles and fighting twisted, nightmarish monsters. Progression is usually achieved by locating keys or similar items to unlock previously locked areas, and quite a large portion of the game is spent on the relatively simple task of exploring the locations to find items to help you unlock the next area. Whilst entertaining enough in context of the unfolding story, the game certainly lacks the broadness that something such as Project Zero 2 offers and as such feels quite restricted.
Whilst the game’s main play mechanic is fairly simple, the enemies dotted around the world to stop you fetching that next key or reaching that new room are brutal and will give you plenty of headaches. Previous incarnations of Silent Hill prided themselves on throwing grotesquely deformed beings at whomever you were controlling and The Room is no different; being chased down a dark corridor by an ostrich body with two baby human faces is an experience that will leave you feeling a little shaky. Elsewhere, bent and broken human forms drag and float themselves towards you from all directions. It certainly feels as if Konami have ramped the combat action up a little bit when compared to previous versions of Silent Hill, which when added to the game’s relatively simple puzzling makes the game feel more of an action game than its predecessors.
When it comes to visuals, The Room maintains the grainy, dulled look that has made the series one of the most unique in graphical terms. Likewise, environments seep with rust and dirt and certainly bear strong resemblances with locations that you will have visited during your time with previous titles. Following on from the dingy atmosphere, the game throws all manner of horrific sounds your way to unnerve you at the worst possible moments. The increase in static from Henry’s portable radio becomes a portent of impending conflict, and hearing the gentle flickering grow louder will tighten your grip on the controller and focus your gaze. Monsters themselves screech and groan, most making horrid gurgles when attacked. It all makes you feel pretty edgy and unsettled.
Which leaves one in a quandary when it comes to settling an opinion of The Room. On one hand, the game feels decidedly average. The quest sees you having to perform mostly simple key hunting tasks with a few trickier puzzles scattered around. The game certainly feels a lot less intelligent than previous instalments and seems to lean more heavily on the combat and action sections, which will alienate a good portion of the fans of the series.
On the other hand, the game weaves another complicated, interesting story. There’s plenty to delve into for those who enjoy immersing themselves in the Silent Hill chronicle. Similarly, the atmosphere provided both visually and audibly helps paint as vivid a picture of the nightmarish world of Silent Hill as has been managed to date. Up until now the main strength of the series has been that the storytelling has been backed up by an interesting, taxing game each time. For the first time, The Room sees the storyline holding the game’s head above water, which is no doubt a trend that fans will be desperately hoping is remedied when the series makes its bow on the next generation of consoles.
7/10
