November OXM Silent Hill V Review

Poor Alex ... his momma don't seem to like him much. We wonder why in here ...

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Terminus
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Post by Terminus »

KLGChaos wrote:The reason most people here don't have any problems with combat is because we're hardcore fans of the series. We've grown used to the crap controls and we're able to get past them due to the good stories and atmosphere the games provide.

But that's because we're hardcore fans. Casual fans of the genre probably won't get into it because of the lousy gameplay and new fans will be driven off. The hardcore community can only sustain a series for so long before it peters out due to stagnation.
This is true. I'm not bothered that this reviewer didn't like the combat and broken locks. I never played for the combat, I played for the fear, atmosphere, exploration, and story. I have seen nothing in any video, interview, or screenshot that suggests that Double Helix failed in any of these categories(And I have been keeping quite up to date).

What I am worried about though, is that if this game doesn't get the new crowd and better casual-gamer reviews that Konami was possibly hoping for, the series might get handed over to another new developer other than Double Helix or Climax. Then, we will have to deal with the fears and paranoia that the series will be ruined all over again.

And the worst could happen; it might get handed over to a team that doesn't respect Silent Hill the way Climax and Double Helix do, and the series may get revamped into a mindless action game like Resident Evil 4 and 5.
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Bishop Sasarai
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Post by Bishop Sasarai »

I don't know about you, but I'd rather it stay a niche series. Mainstream games, for the most part, are simplistic and don't have the depth in story or gameplay to keep me interested.
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Post by KLGChaos »

Tell that to Metal Gear Solid 4. :)

Never played it, but hear it's awesome beyond words. Or Mass Effect, another awesome, deep mainstream game.

They're out there, believe me. It just takes a special developer to do it.
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Post by Bishop Sasarai »

Yeah, I know there are exceptions. But there aren't too many of them. Final Fantasy is another one.
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Post by Skele »

I'm currently playing through MGS4 and i'm enjoying it a lot. i've had the game since release, but am just now getting around to playing it.

to be honest, this review makes me want the game even more. to see that she gave SH4 an 8 is pretty shocking. she rated that game higher than SH3, and IMO 3 is the much better game. the combat/gameplay (in the videos) looks great for homecoming. i'm not sure if the controls were too difficult for her, actually clunky, or if she just didn't like them? maybe she felt DH should've taken a more simplistic approach to combat/gameplay? from all of the other previews i've read, no one once complained about the combat. also, i wonder if the the difficulty of the monsters turned her off from fighting? she did mention that they can block and dodge attacks, and that there's very few items to be picked up early on in the game.

sounds to me like this game is good. her review should be looked at as any other review that comes out for this game, as opinion.
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Post by Bishop Sasarai »

It's no surprise, really, that previews are favorable and then the review is unfavorable. It happens all the time, unfortunately, and it creates unnecessary hype that leads to disappointment later on.

Movie-based games are notorious for having glowing previews and then mediocre reviews.
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Post by Skele »

True, but i read Frans preview of the demo today, and all she really had to say about combat back then was that it was "toughter." sounds to me, like she was getting her ass handed to her, and she marked down for that in her review. i remember the developers saying that combat would be tough this go aroudn, due to the enemies. they won't just stand there and let you hit them over and over like the monsters from previous games.


anyway, i'm thinking the game onaverage, will get 7-8 scores.
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Post by Mujina »

After reading through this thread, Im more certain than ever that alot of people are going to be dreadfully disappointed.

This happens with every niche-game out there, unfavorable reviews leads to dismissals of the reviews in general, and speculation on why the reviewer probably didnt find the game all that good. Now.. mind you; it can still go either way. We might end up with another classic on our hands, but pretty much every single piece of info that has been leaked about this has set my own personal expectations a little lower. The soldier angle really killed it for me the first go around, got smacked in the face with Jacobs Ladder all of a sudden. Then came the sexed up nurses + some rather blatant sexual content (far more blatant than ever before). Then came the peeling movie effect, which I could live with, but it doesnt bode well for the overall imagination put into the game in general. And last but not least .. the almighty big Pyramid Guy whom we all know and love. Fan service to the fullest, and I personally doubt he's in this game for any other purpose than generating some buzz from the crowd that wasnt in on the games before the movie was released.

So what we have on our hands, from my perspective (and I might be wrong) .. is a pretty creepy game in general, but with a lot of elements missing from the originals games, a more unimaginative storyline and some cool effects from the movie.
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Post by TheRedOne »

I got the impression that the reviewer enjoyed the storyline, but just didn't care for the cheap hits and respawning enemies.

Perhaps I'm setting my hopes a bit high, but I'm confident this game will be enjoyable to some extent. For me, the inclusion of the cult, the interesting characters, the troubled war vet, and the missing children all seem like they could make this game another good addition to the series.

Let's just allow the game to come out. I mean, obviously this reviewer doesn't care for Silent Hill as much as we do. Now, if I were to read more reviews in this vein then maybe I'd reconsider my opinion, but for now...
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Post by Georgeo-0 »

I never really counted on it to be good, but this news is still discouraging.
Also... I was not aware of respawning enemys, its just like such a bad idea.
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Post by Bishop Sasarai »

I don't mind respawning enemies, just as long as the weapons don't break like in Origins. If they do then that's just a potential for disaster - I know some of us enjoy killing the bastards instead of running. I certainly do.
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Post by Kenji »

What's the problem with respawning enemies? Silent Hill is full of them, though they're usually reserved for higher difficulties.

In SH1, enemies respawned in the town if you went to the next screen on Hard. In addition to that, in Hard, there were several "hot zones" where air screamers would spawn infinitely, and periodically produce one that was practically invincible.

In SH2 and 3, dead enemies would come back to life randomly on Normal and Hard.

Not so sure about SH4.

In Origins, especially the PSP version, enemies in the town respawn if you let the corpse slip out of your field of vision.

So, Homecoming having respawning enemies is really par for the course, the question is how they're respawned. Are they simply there when you come back, like the other games, or do they come through some kind of hole in the wall or magical portal?
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Post by Georgeo-0 »

Id only ever seen it in the town befor, i dident know the others just respawned enemys in tight quarters. In a game based around item management why would you want to waste ammo killing the same set of monsters over again.
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Post by Kenji »

Probably because wandering through empty hallways where you had earlier killed everything would be... well, boring and predictable. Since there was always that chance that SH2 and 3 would just revive one of the monsters, it always kept me a little on edge, which makes the atmosphere that much better.

In the case of SH1 and Origins, it might have something to do with the town never being completely loaded at any given time.

I'm just saying that something like that wouldn't be unique to Homecoming, and who knows, maybe the reviewer was actually referring to scripted monster reappearances in cleared hallways (which happens all the time in the other games)
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Post by KLGChaos »

I have no problems with occasionally respawning enemies in the game. Out in the town it's fine, in close corridors, it happened in the first game with the Mumblers at times. But if they keep coming back over and over and over, well, then it's more of an annoyance than anything.
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Post by Skele »

yeah the respawning enemies isn't a problem to me. it happened in the other games so it's fine for homecoming. i don't believe they're going with breakable weapons in this game either. that'd be flat out stupid. that's the one thing i really hated about origins.
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Post by sorata »

I love how the reviewer said that the first half of the game game is slow and is "a story that takes much to long to get off the ground", yet "the story's big end reveal in the first 30 minutes" was actually the surprise of the ending.

This basically translate to "I think the first part of the story is slow because I am not smart enough to pickup important pieces at the beginning."

I also have to agree with a few of you that what she think was bad was actually what I look forward to in a SH game. I like the fact that so many doors are locked, it scares the crap out of me whenever a door actually opens.
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Post by Bishop Sasarai »

Locked/broken doors shouldn't even be an issue. It's been in every SH game, and will be in every SH game for years to come.
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Post by Video Gamer »

Bishop Sasarai wrote:Locked/broken doors shouldn't even be an issue. It's been in every SH game, and will be in every SH game for years to come.
Unless this is the last one. <_<
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Post by emptimass »

>Unless this is the last one. <_<

This one will sell. I garauntee it. What happens when a game sells well? They make more games. Everybody said SH was doomed after SH 4 came out. Just watch.
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