The March issue of Game Informer has a two page spread on Silent Hill Downpour. I haven’t been able to get my hands on a copy myself but one of my friends and fellow Silent Hill fan, Chad, was nice enough to take some pictures of the article for me! (He unfortunately doesn’t own a scanner)
In the article a little more information is given on the type of combat in Downpour and the spooky environment. I highly suggest giving the full article a read but here are some of my favorite quotes that has me eagerly awaiting March 13!
“One of the most reliable combat systems in the series so far without removing the element of fear and surprise”
This is really good to hear as I only really had a brief taste of combat in my own play throughs! We may finally have a Silent Hill game with balanced combat! Homecoming’s combat learning curve was way too high in my opinion but once you knew the enemy patterns it became way too easy. With the past games the clunky controls was your enemy…I really have high hopes that Downpour will get it right!
“Given that Murphy’s adversaries are haunted creeps, their movements are erratic and difficult to predict.”
Again this has me very pleased. As I mentioned before Homecoming’s enemies became way too predictable once you learned their fighting pattern. I’m excited that Downpour’s enemies will be unpredictable meaning we will be constantly on our toes and more often then not on edge on how to approach an enemy: flee? Or fight?
“Combat is consistently challenging without being too frustrating, unlike the clunky encounters of the original game.”
HELL YES! Frustrating controls and cheap enemy attacks really piss me off and I feel it is lazy game design to depend on such things to make a game challenging. It’s comforting to know that despite our fears Downpour will most likely not go down this route… at least according to this preview. We will certainly have a better idea in the coming weeks as the reviews roll in but right now I’m pretty confident the combat won’t disappoint!
“…roaming the streets in Silent Hill: Downpour presents plenty of subtle, unsettling moments…Without giving anything away, I’ll say that Vatra is not afraid to put you in dangerous, surreal situation that will leave you with sweaty palms.”
Silent Hill has always been about the atmosphere and reading a positive description like this about Downpour’s has me that much more eager to play!
So what do you guys think, does this preview have you more excited to play Downpour next month?
[Update]
Jon was super nice and emailed me some scans of the article! I’ve added them to the gallery 🙂
(Source: Game Informer) Thanks so much Chad McNeely and Jon!
