Hey guys! I have a very special treat for you all, it’s another Downpour gameplay video but this one is a kinda special as it’s by yours truly and Cj from over on Rely on Horror/Hell Descent!

We were both invited down to Konami HQ to check out the game (more about this in a future Vlog!) and I put my new video camera to use and recorded our play through. We are playing the Xbox 360 version and according to the Downpour Producers Devin Shatsky and Tomm Hulett it’s the newest build that’s never been shown before. I’m a little bummed we could only capture video of the playthrough with only my video camera, it really doesn’t do the game justice.

Now I must warn you the areas we played through are not completely polished and you will see that many environments sill needed lighting re touches (as noted by the developer notes on screen) and we ran into a variety of small bugs too (flashlight turning off, music continuing to play, etc) that of course would be fixed before the release. Even though the Downpour we played wasn’t completely polished it was still a thrill to experience and left us wanting to see more!

Our demo of the game started immediately after the prison transport bus crash, but we didn’t start recording until we met Howard outside the diner. There’s so rehash of area seen in previous gameplay videos but unlike the other demos our video will cover Murphy’s entire trek through the Devil’s Pitstop (“Best Price in the Area, Eat & Bed All in One) as he looks for a change of clothes and way out of town. Unfortunately for Murphy getting out of town is proving a lot harder then he thought…

Cj does all the actual playing during this video but I was able to try the game for myself for a bit once recording stopped. By the way If you can’t watch the video be sure to head over to read Cj’s amazing summary and review over on the Rely on Horror website as he gives a section by section review of pretty much everything we saw. Below I will only detail in general terms what I saw and experienced watching/playing and my thoughts on game in general after this playthrough.

The screenshots do not do this game justice

Seriously. I really wish we had this quality in the series first foray into next generation territory. The level of detail in the environments in just what little we played was just amazing and I can see myself spending hours just looking around at the environments in the game. The game in motion is spectacular and nothing compared to the screens we’ve seen to date. Not sure why there’s such a disconnect but Cj and I were wowed when we saw the game in person. I really can’t wait to see what the actual town of Silent Hill will look like, I bet it’s amazing!

Murphy…the devil really is in the details

Like the environments in Downpour, Murphy and the other characters we met were incredibly detailed as well. But the good looking graphics certainly isn’t the best part in my opinion. Really, for me it’s the physical changes Murphy’s character model undergoes depending on the game’s environment he’s in. When it starts to rain he’ll become drenched and when he’s attacked wounds will appear and blood will seep through his clothing he’ll even limp around in obvious pain.

Konami and Vatra certainly weren’t kidding when they promised the return of an ever day man fighting. Murphy is far from some action hero and will stumble on weird terrain and fumble when he fights and defends himself. I think what will set Murphy apart from previous protagonists is just how noticeably interactive he is in what he’s experiencing outside of cutscenes. I always loved Heather for her blunt honesty about how awful her situation is during Silent Hill 3 and how crazy the others were around her and it looks like Murphy will do much of the same.

Like Harry in Shattered Memories Murphy will often make comments and share thoughts on what he’s seeing however unlike Harry, Murphy’s vocal thoughts and observations are all automatic. For example, in the beginning of our playthrough video Murphy makes a colorful observation about all the roads being washed out, all we did is run over to check out the damage. I know it might bother some fans how often Murphy may talk to himself in game but I see it as a positive because it really helps us get inside Murphy’s head and makes him less of a stranger. I had a similar reaction to Special Agent Francis York Morgan, the protagonist of Deadly Premonition, who often voiced his thoughts and observations to the player. By the end I found I empathized much more with what York experienced in game because I got to know him through all the lovely conversations he had with his unseen friend Zach.

I’ve always felt a little disconnected with some of the previous Silent Hill protagonists in this regard because outside of cut scenes they were essentially just a player avatar with their fear or annoyance only shown when they had had either another character or a cutscene situation to interact with. So for me, I see getting to hear what Murphy is feeling or thinking moment by moment in real time is a real treat and I believe will do wonders in fleshing out his character. So far my favorite Murphy outburst would be when he shakily questioned his own sanity after his first trip through the Otherworld. I really felt bad for the guy!

Speaking of Murphy’s distress I also want to point out how we can see just how disturbed and scared Murphy is physically as he travels through areas by the subtle (and not so subtle) changes in his demeanor during gameplay. Murphy will move uncertainly and hesitant at times (there was one point he refused to run for me) and when he was surrounded by several Screamers we could see the actual terror on his face (above).

The Music and Sound

Music and sound have been two key elements in what makes Silent Hill… a Silent Hill game. So with Akira Yamaoka’s departure from Konami it worried me that Downpour’s sound design would pale in comparison with the previous titles. Turns out there was nothing to worry about in that department as Daniel Licht is a worthy successor. I know musical taste is subjective but to those still worried that Downpour’s soundtrack will somehow not measure up? Don’t be. Cj and I both loved what we heard of Downpour’s original score and the haunting vocals we heard on and off camera. It’s different but yet still retains that Silent Hill “sound” we’ve come to expect, including the ever favorite and nerve rattling bouts of complete silence. I really hope Konami will offer the soundtrack alongside with the game!

Now I know a lot of people are upset over Korn’s involvement in the game’s main theme song but they don’t seem to be the only artists being used in Downpour. In our own playthough we heard at least two other musical artists: Matt Monro is heard singing the Academy Award winning song, Born Free from a record player in the Devil’s Pitstop Otherworld. You can also hear Kris Kristofferson’s 1973 country/gospel hit, Why Me Lord, if Murphy turns on the radio in the office of the hotel and hears Sazh Katzroy-er I mean DJ Ricks personal shout out to him (Seriously how did he know we were here?!). Even though the songs are not original tracks they both fit the mood of the scenes.

Outside of the score the variety of sounds heard in any given area is amazing and really give the environments a true lived in and alive feeling. One example of a small sound making a big impact on my perception of an area is when heard the buzzing of flies around rotten food in both the hotel portion of Devil’s Pitstop and in some general areas the Otherworld. With how much rotting flesh and decay features in most of the other Silent Hill titles I was surprised this sound was never included before. It really gives you an idea of the stench of the area the protagonist must travel through. Yuck!

Additionally, the water sounds were also very well executed. Whether it’s a downpour of rain, a small drip or a large current it’s all very convincing. Considering we will see a lot of water through out the game it’s wonderful how many variations of water and other wet sounds there are such as the ping of rain on objects or just the difference of Murphy’s footfalls on a muddy ground or wet metal versus a dusty dry floor.

Fans should also be happy to know that Downpour utilizes some old school Silent Hill sound staples such as the original item pick up indicator and the rustle of pages when you look at a map/memo…heck even the original opening theme makes an appearance as a little Easter egg in the diner!

Menus, Maps and the Inventory System

I really liked the look of the Menu’s in Downpour unfortunately we were so focused on getting through the demo we didn’t spend too much time taking a close look at it. Generally whenever Murphy picks up a memo he will place it in a notebook. You can zoom in an read the text yourself which is really cool unfortunately there seems to be only two modes zoomed out or tightly zoomed in which forces you to pan to read often. Everything you would need can be found on marked tabs in the notebook: Your objectives, notes, tips, mysterious and maps.

Maps function like they do in the previous games with each searchable room ticked off in red. I love the design of the first map of The Devil’s Pit the creases, the grime and scotch tape really give it character.

As for item inventory it is accessible in real time during game play. You just press on the d-pad to select an item. You can quickly heal Murphy by just pressing right on the d-pad too which is very useful in combat. Speaking of health I was sad to see the Silent Hill health drink staple were gone and replaced by medpacks.

Enemies, Combat and the Shimmer effect

During the demo we only came across two enemy types Screamers and the Void. The Void, a red glowing vortex that sucked everything in it’s path, suddenly materializes chased Murphy twice during the Devil’s Pit Otherworld. It was and was definitely nerve inducing when it appear since getting caught meant instant death.

Screamers are female like creatures with scraggly hair and wrapped in bandages who once they spot you will attack really viciously. If one gets the jump on you and starts wailing away it’s very easy to find yourself overwhelmed. So if you are in a situation with more then one it’s probably best to try and high tail it out of there!

As you can see from the video there’s a bit of a learning curve with the combat. Murphy will use the weapons he picks up differently so it’s good to experiment and test out which works better. While Cj played he was pretty fond of the crowbar as it did some major damage to the Screamers we came across. Don’t forget to make use of the block feature as well. Finding the balance between when to hit and block against an enemy may take a little bit but I think in the end it would be worth the challenge.

I’m sure most of you guys have noticed the white shimmer effect in both this video and other gameplay videos around the net. To the observer these white flashes seem unnecessary but I got to admit when you are playing and desperate to find a weapon to use these little clues sure mean the world. It’s often hard to tell what sort of items you can use even when you aren’t fighting so I’m really glad the effect was put in.

Puzzles and Side quests

Unfortunately we didn’t come across too many puzzles in our playthrough. We solved a rotating environment puzzle after the waterslide during the Devil’s Pitstop Other World while later we played a water marble game called “Jail Break,” missing prize machine from the tram station, to win a ticket for the tram. Tomm said if you up the difficulty these puzzles do become more difficult, for example on a harder setting on Jail Break there are more balls and color holes to place them into. Neither puzzle was particularly difficult but I assume they were just the tip of the iceburg and as you continue with the game the puzzles will get harder.

Now we know there will be a bunch of optional sidequests in Downpour but when they occur is a bit hard to decipher. When we were done with our runthrough Tomm informed us we bypassed a sidequest related to a key Cj had picked up in hotel. Maybe if we explored more we would have found to door it lead to but it goes to show that you will not be alerted to these sidequests in anyway. It up to you the player to figure out the when and where which can be both a good an bad thing. Good because there’s less hand holding and forces you to aggressively explore and a bad things because it’s so very easy to overlook something that could be really cool.

Overall thoughts

Overall getting the chance to try Downpour has me even more excited for the game’s release. It was really hard for me and Cj to pull ourselves away as the plot sucked us in within minutes of starting, just like the Void did with Murphy in the Devil’s Pit Otherworld! It’s going to be hard to wait for the answers to all our questions: Who’s the mysterious voice Murphy hears? How did DJ Ricks know Murphy was in town? Who’s the hotel voyeur? Did any other inmates survive? Hopefully Konami won’t keep us hanging too long and nail down a firm down a release date real soon!

I just want to extend another thank you to Tomm Hulett, Devin Shatsky and the rest of Konami for giving me this great opportunity to check out the game! It really meant a lot and totally made my year. 🙂

New Screens

As a treat for fans who could not make it to E3 The Official Silent Hill Facebook page uploaded a roughly 8 minute 30 second walkthrough of select scenes from their Downpour with commentary from game producer, Devin Shatsky, and Senior Associate Producer, Tomm Hulett.

This video is really the first real taste of gameplay footage we’ve seen since the first trailer debuted at E3 2010. For me it was really nice see some of the scenes only mentioned in various game blogs/magazines in the flesh and it really highlights Downpour’s new and interesting gameplay and the imense details Vatra has put into making the various the settings unique.

I’m really liking the somewhat realistic approach this game is taking with the whole surving the horror. Murphy can only use what he’s carrying and boy does he make use of what he’s got. Rusty locked gate? Hey no problem he can just smash it open with a crowbar (or a rock apparently according to some other demo reports). This may seem like something small but it always bugged me somewhat that the Silent Hill protagonists wouldn’t always let you use handy weapons to progress through so called block paths due to level/gameplay limitations…I’m looking at you James “I can’t step over caution tape or use a long rusty pipe to knock a key out of reach closer” Sunderland.

Seriously, I think it’s just so cool that we can use weapons/items we find in ways we would use them in real life. Another cool little bit shows how Murphy can interact with things not necessarily needed to advance the plot and are “optional” events in the game. In the walkthrough we see Murphy steals change from a cash register in a diner and uses it to play a song on the jukebox…which is the opening theme from the original Silent Hill. Stuff like this will really extend the gameplay in my opinion. I know I will end up trying to interact with everything I see hoping for other cool Silent Hill Easter eggs.

The walkthrough also showcased one of the game’s Otherworld transitions. Murphy attempts to turn off a pipe leaking gas but unfortunately causes a spark and sets the place on fire. With quick thinking Murphy sets off the fire alarm to activate the sprinkler system but as the water snuffs out the fire it also acts a trigger for a trip into the Otherworld. As the water pures from the ceiling the walls and floors around Murphy disintegrates and the sounds from the real world are muffled if encased by water. It’s a nice change from the peeling transition used in the first movie and in Homecoming.

Tomm also memtions how the Otherworld trigger aren’t easy to spot and you will never truely know when you are “safe.” This was a major gripe with fans with the nightmare sequences in Shattered Memories and it’s nice to know that they are listening to what sort of scare fator we like in \Silent Hill.

Speaking of Shattered Memories we also see that like Harry there’s times when he can only run and has chase sequences are very similar (knocking things over and looking behind). So it looks like fans of no combat and high combat will both get a bit of what they liked in Downpour.

At the end of the video we see Murphy in a fight with a Screamer. Unlike previous games Murphy does not have an unlimited inventory so you won’t have gobs of weapons to choose from for fight to fight. Instead, Murphy can pick up items around him to hurt and hinder creatures. I really like the bit of him throwing large rocks at the Screamer’s head! I also can’t wait to go WWE and break chairs on some monsters 😀

So I saw a lot of good here in the walkthrough but there are still some things I’m iffy about. One is the on screen prompts, Devin mentioned how important imersion was in the game and I’m wondering if these prompts with fade away as you progress. I know they are useful to new players but really if players can’t remember how to open a door after an hour of gameplay they are doing something wrong. Also I’m not a fan of the screen going red when attacked but really I’m nitpicking at this point.

So what did you guys think?

Source (Silent Hill Facebook)

Wow I was able to get the PS2 for only $20 thanks to cash I had left over on an amazon gift certificate (thanks Alexis and Justin!) and oh boy am I glad I got the wii version! This version is definitely lacking a lot of graphical details I was shocked.

First the controls:

The wii version is definitely more immersive since I could move the flashlight freely but I think the actions of the PS2 Harry were still worked well. You can still zoom in and look at things and I got to say it was nice not having to twist my wrist every which was to try and get a can to turn over properly :).

The only big difference I’ve seen is the inability to shake and nod your head or turn things over, all of which have button prompts instead of movements. It wasn’t a bad thing to tell you the truth since the doc was quicker to get my yes and no responses.

Completing puzzles by grabbing things wasn’t that hard either, sure it was a little slower because my movement was restricted to the analog stick and I couldn’t just flick a wrist every which way but it still worked.

Oh and something weird happened when I left Theresa’s I’m sure you can see it on my video Harry hit an invisible wall at one point and I couldn’t walk through a large opening..not sure what that was about.

My coloring was also a whole lot nicer on my happy family picture since it was impossible to go outside the lines!

Sound/Music

Didn’t really notice that big of a difference

Graphics

Okay now we get to the not so great part. The graphics I’m sad to say weren’t anything special. If people thought the wii version looked “bad” they aren’t going to like the PS2 one. Here are things that really jumped out at me:

-The lack of shadow effects. When I was in Theresa’s I was surprised not to see a shadow appear behind the dress mannequin (you should be able to see in my quick playthrough video below). I thought I was standing at a bad angle at first but nope it never showed up.

– Characters have less detail in their textures. Harry and Cybil had less blemishes and marks.

– Echo photos should be a whole lot easier to spot since you have several white staticey lines that appear through echo subjects…even through Harry.

– Background details removed. For example in the first nightmare when you jump into the pool there’s a large frozen puddle to one side in the wii version…this wasn’t so in the PS2.

– In the nightmare level there seemed to be less ice but it could be that I’m tired but a lot of it wasn’t translucent like in the wii version. This was especially apparent at the part where Harry runs from a monster in the alley. It was pretty funny since you can’t actually SEE a monster behind the ice and you can barely see one above Harry so it looks like he’s running from nothing.

-While inside Cybil’s car it didn’t snow outside (it did in the wii version right?) and I could see things clearly out the window.

I also have the PSP version now thanks to my brother who pre ordered it for my birthday, I haven’t played that yet but I will tomorrow and write my thoughts.

Gameplay Video

(if anyone is curious I just answered yes to anything asked)

Some screens

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NOTE THIS HAS BIG SPOILERS

Do not read if you haven’t completed the game!!

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I’m also working on recording the variants of all the voicemails/text messages, location decors and screencaps of where you can find all the numbers 🙂

So lots of new content coming your way.

A quick post at the moment! X-play has an exclusive new look at a new Silent Hill Shattered Memories level and a new interview with Tomm Hulett. I haven’t seen it myself since I’m still at work (an hour to go!) but I figure I would at least post the link up. I’ll post more after I get home 🙂

EDIT: Woo finally watched it! I liked what I’ve seen so far. I amazed at how well the voice acting is it’s pretty realistic in my opinion. I also liked how they showed Harry sucessfully hiding and how he can briefly put gaps between him and his pursuers. From what I watched his escape didn’t seem that linear which I think is also really good. I can really see myself getting lost trying to escape. I know people are hammering away about how lame the monsters look at the moment but I think we will be pleasantly surprised when the game comes out. I firmly believe we keep seeing these fleshy ones in everything so the surprise won’t be ruined! After watching these videos I’m just more pumped for the game to come out!

Things learned:

– Bears are kinda creepy even if they don’t *do* anything
– Harry visits some cabins in Lake Toluca…looks like someone wasn’t having a very good vacation for a number of reasons.
– I wonder if Harry just stopped and gave those guys a hug they desperately seem to want they would leave him alone? 😉
– Harry receives clues on his cellphone and can interact with various supporting characters. Even though the phone seemed rather odd when I first heard about it I’m really warming up to it. Somehow I find hearing people’s voices from the past is a little more chilling than just reading a note. It would be really cool if the phone started to capture EVP quality voices! Overall I definitely felt more like an intruder to a private moment listening in than then I did reading reading notes!

X-Play: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Gameplay Exclusive

Apparently I missed out trying Silent Hill Shattered Memories while attending Comic Con because some cam videos from Comic Con were posted on Gametrailers. I wish I could have played the demo! The clerks at the Konami booth told me they didn’t bring any demos to the show 🙁 I wonder what booth these were from?

Echo Gameplay (Cam)

Nightmare Gameplay(Cam)

Puzzle Gameplay (Cam)

Psych Test Gameplay (Cam)

Shattered Memories PSP gameplay video from IGN.com. Looking good!