Silent Hill 4: The Room

[dave heats]

I finished this the other day, and came away feeling pretty let down. The first half of the game is a joy to play, but the second half is truly appalling. That dumb munter EIleen and her constant refusal to keep up with you/not enter rooms drove me mad at times. Why oh why Konami, did she have to be injured, and hobble along 10 paces behind you? The spirits are also pathetic enemies, and are surely the most fustrating in any game ever.
Having health taken from you by just being in close proximity to a floating bastard?! Why not?!

Mind you, I think silent hill has been ****e since SH2 anyway, so if you enjoyed 3, then 4 is similarly ****/good depending on your viewpoint.
I found myself getting hugely fustrated, bored (yay, another pointless walk down a spiral, with surprise surprise, Eileen lagging 2 miles behind) and longed for the ending. Even the soundtrack is **** this time.

Boo!!!1!

[dataDave]

My mate got bored towards the end and never even bothered finishing it.

At the point I'm at now I can't really believe it can get all that bad all of a sudden, so far it's been absolute class. Oh well, wasting time will tell.

[Family Fry]

I have always been a fan of the Silent Hill series and always liked the darker/psychilogical atmosphere more than Resident Evil which i could never get on with at all!

I seriously couldnt wait for Silent Hill 4 i had been keeping an eye on this one since it was announced and once the images and trailers where launched i wasnt disappointed at all with them. So when i got the game i played it in my typical Silent Hill Atmosphere, After Dark 1am Lights Off Sound Up, like a good book i couldnt put it down and eventually finished it and was not left disappointed at all.
As for Eileen, ok she was bloody slow at times but her whole self harming and slow possession/insanity was a very cool element. To give her some credit though she can fight for herself, at one point she GOT IN THERE and belted some swines when i need her to which is damn sight better than "SAVE ME, SAVE ME ARGHHHH." Game Over because she died, try again now that would hav been fatal for this game. Only thing they could have implemented was NPC commands like Stay Here, Follow Me,Hurry Up, KILL!

I think it all just depends on what pre conceptions you have of the game as a fan of the series. I seriously couldnt wait for this one as it looked gritty from all the trailers i had seen with murders,ghosts and claustraphobia, must escape the room by any means looking lke the main part of the games story it sounded different from Silent Hill BUT to me still looked Silent Hill.

Think thats why a lot of fans are dissapointed in it because its not TYPICALLY Silent Hill which usually equals to "Lets take a little visit to that horrible place where no one returns from,oh look i have found a radio which makes static noise when bad guy appears, wander around LOADS of streets where all the roads are blocked off,doors are locked,do lots of taxing puzzles, have a few Boss battles, get to end and fight End Boss, THE END."
This is the 4th game in the series, so im glad Konami/Team Silent took the story away from Silent Hill and focused on something new whilst still using olde silent hill lore throughout the game.

Also i got this Soundtrack as i do with all the Silent Hill games i just cant resist, i still say Akira Yamaoka can do no wrong when it comes to soundtracks for this game, its more melodic and vocal sounding but it fits the game very nicely. Also Room of Angel for me is one of the best track in the Silent Hill series, the sonf thats used in the train station at the gory discovery in the ticket booth bit! What a song.

There is only one thing i will admit....the previous games all had character to them. Harry,James and Heather all had story/reasons behind the Silent Hill, Henry on the other hand doesnt really get too involved and to me he just seems to be a wrong place,wrong time man, ach.

[112]

I too really enjoyed this game, as im sure ive said many a times. The spirits gave it a nice slant to the game play. It jus got very frustrating when they would sap your energy or get in your ay in a tight corridor and force you to do battle wit them.

The game felt a bit short though, as just when you thought it was about to get even more interesting, the game finishes.

The 1st person idea is welcome, but it became a tedious bout of point/look and click in a way. Also the graphical nature of such levels in the game detracted from the third person view as i found it hard to be scared of pixelated tones.

What really sold the game was the little touches that were made available to the player. stuff like looking out the window or through holes, and using the telephone.

The change in the way you interacted with the inventory was a flawed improvment. I often fround myself back tracking. And even using up valuable healing items jus to pick up a event triggering item.

At times i did feel cheated when approaching enemies. As i felt that running away from them would not be optional (spirits partas mentioned earlier). Also going up and down the escalators in the subway level. its was a bit hit and miss because the enemywould always tax a lot health from you.

I must agree with the Henrys lack of belonging anywhere. there are some nice references to james sunderlands father the super intendent. And some more nice refferences to past games in the form Marcus's 'Wabbit.' In fact the sub characters like Eileen and Walter have more back ground than the main character Henry come to think about it!

Part of me feels that the game was rushed and in some degree half baked. But it does attempt some nice ideas, if a bit flawed and a bit technologically limited.

112

[Hodge]

Been playing the pal xbox version over the past couple of days and am not sure what to make of it really. I`m about a couple of hours in, just finished of the prision section and the game has a very start stop feel to it, going from one location to the next without much knowledge why. The story is starting to pick up abit now and hopefully explain inabit whats going on. While the combat system is improved and strives you more towards killing enemies i find it not to tough to take them out and if you do get hit you can just go back to your apartment to recharge. I thought the other versions worked better creating a sense of panic with the lack of ammo and health around, so you had to be choosy as to what you kill and don`t. With this you can hit everything with a pipe and recharge. The apartment angle is a very nice touch, looking out the window and through the peep hole in the door as to whats going on outside but it`s the pacing of the game which is my main gripe atm. It just doesn`t seem to flow as well as the other 3. I`ll reserve final judgement until the end though to see how it pans out.

[Judgement Boy]

Heh. Wait until the second half. I hope you haven't used any healing items yet.

[darkangel]

I'm stuck, im on the subway revisted, near the end, and I picked up that cursed doll, now I cant heal in the room anymore instead I die in it! And I also have no healing items what so ever + im one the one hit kill level of health

[Concept]

If you're only on Subway Revisited then you're not near the end. Stick with it, because as the game progresses in the second half you get access to a lot more nutrition drinks and medikits. Picking up the doll only makes the room more dangerous, it doesn't affect your health recuperation inside it. I believe you have to get through the hospital unscathed for that to happen.

If your room is too dangerous, approach the hauntings wearing a medallion or plant a candle you have nearby. The bedroom closet shadow and wall dolls are usually the trickiest elements to avoid.

[Judgement Boy]

You don't actually regain health at all in the second half.

[Concept]

That's not what it said in the official strategy guide when I flicked through it the other day in GAME.

[darkangel]

No you really dont regain health, I actually die in the room aswell!!!

Great, thats a game wasted...

[Judgement Boy]

Nah there is a fair amount of health drinks kicking about, just make sure you don't use too many first aid kits.

[darkangel]

Where?

[Concept]

Subway 2nd Time

5 nutrition drinks
1 Medikit

Forest 2nd Time

7 nutrition drinks

Water Prison 2nd Time

4 Nutrition drinks
1 medikit

Building World 2nd Time

5 nutrition drinks
2 medikits

Apartment World 2nd Time

8 nutrition drinks
2 medikits
1 ampoule

[darkangel]

Ok dude, I got you, but where in subway world 2nd time?