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Silent Hill 4: The Room
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Graphics & Sound:
Well, what can I say? Once again, we are thrust back into the sleepy, creepy world of Silent Hill. Or are we? Actually, this time, it takes place in a town near Silent Hill called Ashfield, but trust me, it's still the same type thing you know and love. If you haven't played any of the previous Silent Hill games, don't worry. It isn't necessary, but if you have, you'll recognize certain areas such as Lake Toluca and names such as Alessa.
The graphics are utterly eerie, once again filled to the brim with macabre and twisted imagery. You'll encounter two-headed babies, freakish dogs (yes, nastier than the ones in Silent Hill 3 and awful ghosts that can't be killed, among many other things. Bloody floors, blood-covered trees, etc. It's disturbing, just as the Silent Hill series always has been, but there's really nothing ground-breaking as far as the graphics go. What has changed is the fact that while you are in your apartment, everything is in first person view. This is quite a switch from the standard Silent Hill fare. Although I didn't really like it at all at first, once I had played the game for a while, I got used to it. Once you find the portal in your bathroom and crawl through it, you'll be playing third person, just as it has always been.
As far as sound and music go, Silent Hill 4: The Room takes the cake in this department. Music is unnerving and plays at the appropriate times. Sounds are used to great effect here and it's not unusual to hear screams and moans on a regular basis as you progress through the game. I did find that the volume seemed to drop when I would meet up with people throughout the game. For instance, instead of having to do an "action" when you meet someone, they just start talking, but usually it's quieter than the rest of the game has been, so I'd have to grab the remote and turn things up to catch what they were saying. Maybe it was just my TV, but have the remote handy for these occasions, just in case. |
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Gameplay:
So you begin the game as an average guy named Henry Townshend. For some odd reason, you are locked in your apartment. Locked from the inside, no less! You wander about, trying to escape this horrific place, as it certainly doesn't look like it did when you went to bed. Is this a dream or is it really happening? Well, it's up to you to find out.
Silent Hill 4: The Room tried something a little bit different this go round. Besides the first person view while in the apartment, the game tries to keep you guessing as to what is real and what is a dream by sometimes having you wake from an experience to find yourself once again in your bed. Ok, so the creators of this series have always messed with your head, but anyway. The way it is accomplished is that you leave your apartment through a portal in your bathroom. This takes you to the various locations throughout the game. The portals you come across in the "other" worlds always take you back to your apartment and when they do, you get healed and can access a storage bin where you can keep extra stuff. This is handy since you can only carry 10 items at once, but I never found it to be a problem.
It seemed there were many portals and very little health, but as the game progressed, they seemed appropriately placed. Each time you return to your apartment, you'll explore it as some things may have changed. You can check out your windows and watch your neighbors, spy through a peephole on the cute young thing that lives in the next apartment, watch the weirdness in the hallway - there's a few interesting things to do in the old apartment.
Once you step through the portal, you'll encounter puzzles and combat as are typical with Silent Hill games. They are entertaining, although the story is very weird and convoluted and its not necessarily the easiest storyline to follow.
As far as weapons go, you'll start off with a wine bottle (if you grab it) and a sewer pipe and add a gun and some golf clubs, among other things. A new element added was the fact that you can destroy weapons such as the wine bottle and golf clubs as you continue to use them. It added a management twist to things, although your handy-dandy sewer pipe was always ready to go. Bullets for the gun aren't very plentiful, so learn to swing that pipe. |
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Difficulty:
I played the game on Normal and it was pretty standard stuff. Enemies weren't incredibly hard, but were a challenge. Those damn ghosts that can't be killed are a pain though! On Easy, the enemies are easier and on Hard, both the enemies and puzzles are more difficult. The endings are the same no matter which difficulty level you select, however.
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Game Mechanics:
While in first person view in the apartment, as you scan the room, an eye will appear in the top left corner to indicate that you should investigate this further. It was a little annoying at times as sometimes, several "eyes" would appear on one thing, such as the front door. Yes, I want to look out the peephole. No, I don't want to look at the chains there or see the note I've accidentally read a thousand times. Ugh.
The third person camera view was pretty good this time, however. Normally, I am a little annoyed at times by it and yes, there were certain times when I couldn't get it to look the way I wanted, but it was never overly frustrating.
As far as control goes, we are talking about standard survival horror controls while in the other worlds of Silent Hill 4: The Room. If you like survival horror, there's no problem. If you don't, stay in the apartment forever. ;)
Overall, Silent Hill 4 is just more of the same, with a few new twists. I must admit, when I tried this game at E3, I didn't like it one bit, regardless of my love for the series. However, I have been won over by the finished product. If you like this sort of game and enjoyed the previous Silent Hill games and also the Resident Evil series, you would do well to pick it up. And play it in the dark, of course! |
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-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications AKA Ashley Perkins |
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