Silent Hill: Downpour (360/PS3)

[CoinReturn]

From the latest issue of Game Informer:

-demo takes place in the outskirts of SH
-the town is so large that you can use a subway system to travel between focal points
-sidequests
-avoid fights when possible, better to deliver incapacitating blows and run away (so good!)
-boss fights with quicktime events (not so good)
-water plays a huge part in the game, bizarre water effects like what looks like an upside down river flowing across a ceiling is described

http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/1969/12944430475221.jpg

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http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/531/12944431772401.jpg

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http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/6884/12944434837201.jpg

Haven't played any of the recent SH games, but this seems to be shaping up nicely.

[MikePizzoff]

I feel like a kid in a candy store with this news. I wonder if PJoseph is working on this one, too?

[Danny]

By all accounts it sounds like there trying to add a little alan wake and deadly premonition in this one. It's silent hill which still remains more true to what silent hill is than resident evil 4 so i'll buy it but after the fucking truly stellar shattered memories this is a tough act to follow.

[krisvds]

By all accounts it sounds like there trying to add a little alan wake and deadly premonition in this one. It's silent hill which still remains more true to what silent hill is than resident evil 4 so i'll buy it but after the fucking truly stellar shattered memories this is a tough act to follow.

Hmmm. Haven't played shattered memories. Partly because it got a kinda lukewarm reception in the gaming press. Tempted to give it a go though. Was a big fan of the psOne original.

[krisvds]

Damn. Despite everything I still had some hopes for a 'classic', true horror experiece this generation.
First reviews aren't very positive ...

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/122/1220529p1.html

:(

[Danny]

Yeah it looks like a graphically updated ps2 budget release horror. theres some nice set pieces, but on the whole its a pretty shallow damp squib of a sequel. like a straight to dvd 7th in a series horror sequel its unneeded and will pass unnoticed.

I dearly love the franchise, but like final fantasy its time to let it die.

[krisvds]

Read some of the impressions over at neogaf and giantbomb and they make it sound better than the actual IGN review.

Bottom line by most posting is that if you love old school survival horror and can overlook technical issues (screen tearing/framerate drops) and dodgy combat mechanics (nothing new there in SH, and easily overcome if you put the combat to easy and the puzzles to normal/hard) this is one of the best SH's since the first three ...

Will wait for a pricedrop prob.

[Danny]

i was in need of a new horror fix and figured i had £30 to spare so would wait and see how more critics liked this or raccoon city, this seemed to get more praise and the people i know who are really into survival horror as much as me- which aint many :lol: - all said its not amazing but its much better than homecoming, so i ordered it and it should arrive later today.

also watching the best friends play it helped :D

s5ofoIeb8wI

[krisvds]

Two weeks of easter holidays away from my teaching job and, yeah, I caved in and bought it ...

Having a great time with it. It's definitely old-school survival horror and everyone who likes that genre should definitely give it at least a rental IMO.
Sure, it's not as good as the first three but it IS well written, atmospheric at times oppressive even.
If you crave a good horror single player experience that doesn't include being an overpowered, well armed bodybuilder mowing down monsters this is definitely for you.

Most reviews don't do it justice, at all. It sure can be laggy/glitchy and the biggest gripe is lazy monster design but the feel of silent hill and the exploration/puzzling is very good.

Edit: agree with this guy though ...
http://www.destructoid.com/review-silent-hill-downpour-222794.phtml

[Danny]

still waiting on my copy in the mail but all the folks i know who played it said the same type of things, the monsters are lazy and there texture pops and framerate lag, aside from that its better than homecoming or the room just a little too alan wake derivative.

[krisvds]

still waiting on my copy in the mail but all the folks i know who played it said the same type of things, the monsters are lazy and there texture pops and framerate lag, aside from that its better than homecoming or the room just a little too alan wake derivative.

Yeah. Especially the first couple of hours ...
But once you reach the town proper and things open up it's a very fun ride. You know the drill; wait 'till night, put your wife and kids to sleep, lights out ...



Edit; finished it late last night. Me and my wife stayed up to see Murphy's story reach its conclusion. Or one of them at least. It was a great trip for us as we years ago we completed the first silent hill in one loooong sitting. Nostalgia ahoy. Though this one isn't nearly as good as that one it IS a very enjoyable throwback to classic survival horror gaming with a heavy emphasis in exploring/puzzling. Reviewers are way too harsh for this game. If you like the genre give it a rental and stick with it 'till you reach the town. Chances are you'll like it too.

[Danny]

1am, just beat it and im just gonna post some quick thoughts.
-its not scary, at all. disappointing, but not unexpected at this point.
-its story is pretty unique by silent hill standards, all in all its kind of a terrible plot, but it tries something different. You arent looking for someone, you are just trying to get out and, something i liked, demand to know what the fuck was wrong with this town.
-it hints at some greater plot and never delivers as well as dropping and forgetting characters by the end which has me thinking we are going to see a direct sequel of this version of the town from these devs if it makes enough bank to continue stuff on. like the fucking mailman on the cover who plays fucking coy when asked 'enough with the bullshit, youve seen shit, ive seen shit, what is this town?'
-gun ammo is the scarcest its been in a silent hill. theres a reason the gun kill achievement on 2/3 hd is 70 kills and this is 25. you get a lotta shotgun stuff at the end otherworld but aside from that you have maybe 6 clips for the pistol for the duration and no magnetic auto aim to missing is very easy.
-controls are kind of dogshit. b drops your weapon, RT throws it into the distance, usually over a ravine. there is literally no point where either of these are needed at all.
-graphics wise, unreal texture popping aside the town is something atmospheric, albiet it feels like a resident evil 4 level compared to the town from previous game sin the series. still its got oomph, the fog is thick and eerie and the town feels genuinely oppressive.
-all the touted water stuff comes off as an afterthought and is barely implemented.
-repeats the same puzzles many times over.
-interesting protagonist, not amazing, but will genuinely scream in complete terror at certain things instead of being a silent killing machine like previous characters, i liked that. it gave him a little more depth by intimating just how out of his he was.
-Soundtrack is 'adequate' but by the end completely and utterly forgettable like a made for sci-fi ghost story flick. it sets the town well enough but the lack of akira yamoaka makes it pale without him.
-its very different. but thats not bad. its western devs making a western silent hill. not western devs rehashing stuff from the movie like homecoming. its there spin and whilst it lacks the subtlety and nuance of the japanese games its not bad as its own thing.
-side quests were the only reason for the subway-aka a series of 5 corridors that take 15 seconds to traverse and most were repeated puzzles with the same or similar solutions.
-monster design is garbage, the worst in the series including origins. even homecoming had 2 stellar designs, this is all standard 'ogga booga we scuury!' affair that falls flat like so much week old cola.
-controls and tone wise its a blend of alan wake, silent hill shattered memories, resident evil 4 and a little bit of deadly premonition. In some cases just similar, in others definite homages, two in particular to max payne alone which makes me think the devs are clearly remedy fans and imitators.
-has quicktime events and moral choices to make it seem as though you shape the plot but really only the final choice does.
-at times obscene 4fps level framerate lag. at one point just froze and hard locked my xbox, running from instal not the disc!

I could ramble on for ages, and reading this back it seems kinda negative, but dont be put off. its awfully flawed, but they really tried hard with this one, it is NOT another trainwreck like homecoming. they took silent hill and tried to make it there own. in a way they did, but that was also part of the games failure. is it scary? no. does it have that atmosphere and soundtrack we know adn love? not at all. Did i have fun and not regret the purchase? yes i did.
Its a 6/10, middle of the road with bits of genius now and then. Not amazing, but worth playing if only because its the first survival horror in a console generation that not only diverts as far away from the A to B run and gun action horror of dead space or resident evil, but it rewards the player greatly for doing so. All in all its a commendable attempt even if the end result is something you will play only once.
its atmospheric, engrossing and a little slice of a genre thats been slowly absorbed by 3rd person shooters for a decade now and for that alone its worth checking out and with some time spent learning from this and with hopefully some better writing this teams next silent hill game has the potential to be truly worthy of standing with the earlier ones.

[krisvds]

middle of the road with bits of genius now and then. Not amazing, but worth playing if only because its the first survival horror in a console generation that not only diverts as far away from the A to B run and gun action horror of dead space or resident evil, but it rewards the player greatly for doing so

Completely agree with this statement. If you like survival horror you should give it a chance.
As for the game not being scary; that's true though at times it was quite opressive. Plus very little out there can scare me in this genre nowadays. Been there done that syndrome. But this game still offered some enjoyable set-ups that didn't scare me but did leave me with a smile. Horror clichés done right
Examples; the cinema/spliced reels-puzzle and the school play. Both very similar but kind of brilliant as well.
Give these guys a bigger budget and another go and they might come up with a true classic.

Big plus: exploration; the centenial building and the monastery were fantastic locations.

In short; not a triple A game, flawed but very very enjoyable to play through if you like the genre. That's probably most people on here I guess.

[MikePizzoff]

I've been playing this lately. I seem to be enjoying it a bit more than you guys and I do find it to be scary; I find myself walking slowly and my (real life) heart pounding while anticipating what's around the corner.

The frame rate drops can be quite annoying... especially when you're in a spot with multiple autosave points in one small area. Talk about frustrating.

I wasn't really into the mines/caves that you have to travel through, but before/after that area, I love the setting.

[Danny]

i loved the caves, the cart ride with the flashing strobe lights? genius.

[MikePizzoff]

The cart part was very awesome, but leading up to that I wasn't really feeling it... it was a bit too dark - I kept getting lost/turned around, but I suppose that was the point.