Gamespot: HD Collection Review and Videos

Posted By: Whitney   March 7th, 2012 | 9:35 pm

Gamespot gives the Silent Hill HD Collection a “Good” rating of 7/10.

http://www.gamespot.com/silent-hill-hd-collection/reviews/silent-hill-hd-collection-review-6364629/

The Good
HD visuals reveal extra detail
New, well-done voice acting for Silent Hill 2
Both games are as freaky as ever.

The Bad
Performance dips in crowded environments.

Both games look great. The high-definition visuals let you pick up on small details, such as shop signs and the deformities of a monster’s face, that were easy to miss in the original games. Fog remains prevalent but has been pushed back to reveal more of the scenery. The lighting effects have also been improved. Previously, darkness was darkness: black, oppressive, and nearly impossible to see through without the intense beam of your flashlight. Now the darkness isn’t as thick, and the light sources have been softened to make everything easier on the eyes.
Silent Hill 3 doesn’t include any audio annoyances, but what it does have is frame-rate lag. This typically occurs in large, open areas with lots of enemies. Everything eases into slow motion until you either kill the monsters or duck into a new area. This problem isn’t exclusive to Silent Hill 3, but since Silent Hill 2 has more claustrophobic environments with fewer enemies, it doesn’t occur as often in James’ neck of the woods. By no measure do these performance dips render either game unplayable, but they are noticeable.

I’m worried about Silent Hill 3’s frame rate lag mentioned in the review…also regarding the comparison video uh… WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THE FOG AND THE FILTER LIGHTING IN SILENT HILL 3?!

Seriously…I don’t remember it looking that different back in September. Sure Cj and I ran through earlier builds but man, neither game looked that washed out! Yikes! What happen between now and then Konami?!

Well I’m getting the game regardless, I holding on to hope that the strange missing fog and lighting won’t be so bad when I play it in person on the 20th. 🙁

They also have a video of Douglas and Heather’s meeting at the mall:

I think the voices are fine but from the comments it looks like a lot of fans aren’t happy. What do you guys think?

Source (Gamespot) Thanks Danyel and Jason!


Posted in News, Silent Hill HD Collection   Tags: ,

7 responses to “Gamespot: HD Collection Review and Videos”

  1. Ross Ingram says:
    March 7, 2012 at 10:16 pm

    I like Douglas’ voice it still sounds like him to me. Heather’s is perfectly fine, but the original still has the edge in my opinion.

  2. Brad says:
    March 8, 2012 at 4:39 am

    “Seriously…I don’t remember it looking that different back in September. Sure Cj and I ran through earlier builds but man, neither game looked that washed out! Yikes! What happen between now and then Konami?!”

    The filter lighting I can ignore but the fog is completely gone in that video. With the fog it makes the environment look empty and static. I wonder why the hell they had decided to remove the fog and I hope its only in these areas and not the entire game.

  3. merzitar says:
    March 8, 2012 at 5:32 am

    I don’t think they’ll look that washed out when you play them, I think it’s Gamespot’s recording device. I noticed lag in the Bakery gameplay video, as well as the Lakeside Amusement video. It’s a shame, but it’s not the end of the world really. Personally, I prefer the new voice acting for SH3.

  4. jumiofdiamonds says:
    March 8, 2012 at 7:13 am

    I don’t really see the fog issue. I see that they’ve lessened it in some of those areas, if we’re talking SH2. But, I still see it rippling around in the background. It’s not absent. I do see a few areas that look a bit grey and washed out though. Also, I didn’t mind the new voices when I first heard them. But, this… I don’t like them at all. Not even Douglas. :/

  5. Benjamin May says:
    March 11, 2012 at 7:34 pm

    I didn’t even notice the fog thing! Oops! I like the new voices for Heather and Douglas. The only ‘HD Collection’ voice I haven’t liked so far as the new Mary. The new Maria was OK, though.

  6. David says:
    March 20, 2012 at 10:45 pm

    i watched my bro play PS3 versions and the lag was annoying…Does the 360 version have this issue!? Please can anyone let me know? I bought the PS3 version but haven’t opened it because of that, i’ll return it for 360 is frame rate is smooth. The voice acting changes aren’t that bad, it’s not AKIRA re-dub bad. Nothing is as bad as that! Detective in 3 sounds really different but i think he’s the voice of the psychiatrist in Shattered Memories….so i’ll be a little less harsh cuz of that.

  7. scary games says:
    June 18, 2012 at 3:18 am

    Useful information. Fortunate me I found your website unintentionally, and I’m stunned why this twist of fate didn’t came about earlier! I bookmarked it.