Silent Hill Downpour is the eighth core game in the Silent Hill series and it follows Murphy Pendleton as he tries to escape the horrors of the town after his prison-transfer bus crashes nearby. This is the second game released on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 systems and was promised to be a true return to the form and styles of the Team Silent era of games. I had very high hopes for the title after two hands on previews and I’m happy to report that despite some technical flaws the game has lived up to the hype and is one of the best post-Team Silent games to date!
Please note while I do not spoil the story there is a very minor gameplay spoiler for an optional sidequest!
I found the Silent Hill HD Collection to be a big disappointment. It is broken, lacks serious polish, and is not the upgrade we were promised. Instead Collection is a major downgrade.
Rely on Horror Facebook posted what seems to be the cover art for the PAL release of Book of Memories. It’s not up on Amazon.co.uk nor the Konami Europe website and it lacks any rating on it so I’m not sure how official this is.
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?
Daniel Licht’s Downpour soundtrack is a different beast from Akira Yamaoka’s previous Silent Hill scores. If you were hoping Licht would be Akira 2.0, blindly copying Yamaoka’s style and calling it a day you will be sorely disappointed. Instead, Licht an accomplished composer of his own right, blazes his own trail with Downpour’s soundtrack and the result is nothing like what we’ve heard before in a Silent Hill game. (more…)
In this very special fourth episode to gear up for the Month of Silent Hill I’m joined by fellow Silent Hill fan Cj Melendez from Rely on Horror and we interview Silent Hill producer Tomm Hulett!
During the interview we discuss Tomm’s start at Konami, including the what Silent Hill Homecoming could have been (oh God…), the upcoming Silent Hill releases this month and various other general Silent Hill topics.
I want to give a big thanks to Tomm Hulett for taking time out of his busy schedule to speak so candidly with us fans. It was a real treat and I hope you all enjoy 🙂
In celebration of the Silent Hill HD Collection (which was supposed to release later this month but has now been delayed) Playstation Home has a James and Heather outfit available for download. These costumes will go perfectly with the Nurse, Pyramid Head and Robbie costumes they released last year! Hey Konami where’s the Xbox love? I would pimp out my Xbox Live avatar with Silent Hill stuff if it was available!
