Lots of gameplay (E3 footage)

[thy_butcher]

I'm so pumped for this game again!
Every doubt I had was crushed by the 8 minutes of gameplay.
It was a complete contrast of the E3 2011 trailer.
Everything looked phenomenal!!
Graphics, atmosphere, hybrid camera, flashlight! Seamless weapon transition. Good voice-acting. New color palette. More "cool" colors.
I'm not even too irked by the absence of the radio static. Hell, it might show up. I'll live if it doesn't though.

The Otherworld transition doesn't look like the film's or Homecoming's.
The game sure as hell doesn't resemble Alan Wake.
I hope the developers weren't/aren't too disheartened by everyone's negativity (mine included).
They seemed really irritated in the 8 minutes of gameplay when they pointed out how the Otherworld transition doesn't look like either the movie or Homecoming, as well as the Alan Wake comment.
Hopefully they understand the skepticism. And I hope they realize a lot of people are really excited for Downpour.
This game will be great, no doubts here.

[Skele]

^yeah, i noticed the comments about the film/homecoming and Wake as well. made me laugh.

the game's looking great IMO. im really excited and can't wait for it to get here. that otherworld transition was impressive.

[ashatteredmemory]

Otherworld transition looked phenomenal ; also liked the extending corridor in the chase sequence. IMO Chase Sequence in Downpour will be a major update of the chase sequences in SHSM, can't wait to play it (even possibly in 3D )

[leftshoe18]

The game looks frickin' fantastic. I can't wait to play those chase sequences.

[KiramidHead]

Am I the only one who thinks Murphy's what the fuck line is a jab at Henry?

[Hydra666]

Thanks Skele! The game looks fantastic!

[saevitia]

Am I the only one who thinks Murphy's what the fuck line is a jab at Henry?

I don't think it was necessarily a jab, more like a reference, along with a 'see, we have real swearing now'.

[KiramidHead]

At least it's not narm worthy like Alex's cursing was. David Hayter is one quality swear master.

[NanayaShiki]

Ah, this footage definitely restored me to full EXCITE mode. It looks great, definitely looking forward to this. A lot.

Also loved the commentary in the facebook video, and how they addressed the Homecoming/Movie/Alan Wake whatnot business.

[JamesisBetterThanHarry22]

Did the chase sequence remind anyone of the Burley Haunted Mansion from sh3? A combo of that and SM chases.

[leftshoe18]

Did the chase sequence remind anyone of the Burley Haunted Mansion from sh3? A combo of that and SM chases.

The Void monster definitely reminds me of that red fog.

[Tillerman]

Here's my comments on the video:

They talked about how having a million locked doors isn't realistic. But I wonder if realism is good in this case... I think that having a lot of locked doors was intentional on the part of the developers, having locked doors that the player can't open has a subtle psychological effect on the player, so it's not necessarily a bad thing.

They talked about "immersion," which of course is a fancy way of saying keep the game realistic and keep the interface of the screen so it doesn't feel like a video game. And at the same time, a popup message says "press X to break padlock" or some such thing. Talk about a contradiction.

They also say how one of the ways to make the game "immersive" is to have it so you just touch a ladder and start climbing... get rid of those "unimmersive" button presses. Yes, because having control over the game, that really takes me out of it. I would much rather accidentally climb a ladder when I don't want to.

They really throw around that meaningless buzzword "immersion" a lot. Every design choice is to make the game "immersive," whatever the fuck that means. It really drives me crazy.

Now for some positive things: I love that Murphy talks to himself as you play through the game. Although they say this is for "immersion," which is interesting because I think some people would say the opposite, letting the main character show his personality makes it feel less like it's actually you in the game, which is why games like Bioshock and Dead Space have a silent protagonist. However, since I don't care about immersion and want to feel like I'm "playing a story," I love that Murphy talks to himself, it's a fantastic idea and one that I wish I'd thought of.

I like the void chase sequences. I hated Shattered Memories' chase sequences, but this seems like a huge upgrade, for a couple of reasons: the environments are a lot more intense and interesting, and weird things happen to fuck with your head like gates suddenly slamming down and hallways extending. A "void" also seems like a lot more threatening thing to be chased by than those annoying SM monsters, and from a gameplay perspective it's better because you're not constantly being forced to run into them and struggling to shake them off. The only downside I see is if these void chase sequences are overused, they will get old pretty fast.

The environments look great, though I expected them to be. It seems like most of the time the camera follows Murphy's back, with only a few moments where you get a cinematic perspective. That is somewhat dissapointing, I was hoping for a lot more of the cinematic camera angles, with maybe an option to switch camera styles as the player feels necessary. But it doesn't seem like that's gonna be the case.

Combat looks fine, pretty standard for a Silent Hill game. Interesting choice to have the screen flash red every time you get hit.

Overall, my reaction to this game is still pretty mixed. I'm definitely gonna want to try it first before I buy it.

[Lostkitsune]

Well this pretty much destroyed any fears I had for Downpour. Also the jokes in the commentary were both hilarious and show that they are realllllyyyyy listening to the fans. Also:I really liked that otherworld sequence, the art direction is awesome

[simeonalo]

Some of the things I noticed on the 8 minute demo:

-The Shade/Black Fog Monster has been replaced with a glowing red entity that sucks in all objects close to it and causes chase scenes similar to Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
-Looking through a door from SHSM returns
-Murphy hears a disembodied voice
-Otherworld transition is fairly quick, objects are "pulled away" and burned away.
-MINDFUCK! The hallway part where Murphy is running and as he continues he is transported back to the beginning of the hallway seamlessly, like he's running towards the end then all of a sudden appears at the beginning again
-On screen button notifications return
-Screamer is aggressive! Seems like a player can easily die when dealing with a few Screamers judging from the fight we saw from only one screamer
-You can perform non-necessary actions, like stealing money from a cashier or using a toilet (This obviously has some effect on the story, I would say)
-Developers are REALLY listening to the fans.
-Developers should be LP'ers, very funny.
-Gates slamming down when trying to access an area look very tense
-Fixed camera angles are very nice!
-Looks incredibly atmospheric, 3D with this is sure going to look great IMO.

[Tillerman]

Looking through a door from SHSM returns.

Oh, I didn't notice that... that's really cool.

It was cute of them to mention how it doesn't look like Alan Wake. I also enjoyed the Goonies reference. =)

[thy_butcher]

I see what you're saying Tillerman & I agree.
I can't seem to find a way to phrase this properly...
Having all of the locked doors in the SH games was great. They definitely served a purpose in drawing me into the world even more. I have only played SH 0 1 & 2, but my point stands.
However, I'm not put off by this new concept they have concerning doors. Tom & Devin used the wrong word when they said "realistic." That word is perceptive. Murphy was being chased by the aggressive void/light thing. Most wouldn't consider that "realistic." But as I said, reality is based on perception. Everything is real & fake. That's how I look at the Silent Hill games.
About the other changes talked about in the video, including the new concept behind doors, I think they're evolving SH. In a good way too. Some evolutions could be seen as intrusive, such as the combat-system in Homecoming that many (not all) people found distasteful. And a personal one for me was the inclusion of a health bar in SH4.

[thy_butcher]

CONTINUED
I feel that the changes they are making for Downpour are a natural evolution. Combining both old & new ideas to form an innovative and fresh take on the series. They aren't pushing the boundries to uncomfortable limits, & they certainly aren't staying with SH's original formula. They are melding it all together into a delicious new flavor that we all can enjoy this Winter.
Hopefully...

[Lostkitsune]

^Shouldn't Double Post mate :3
After re-watching, I really, really like how fluid the combat went. Murphy just picked up the bottle and went to town.

[David01]

It looks absolutely incredible in my opinion. The only grip I had, was when he was fighting the screamer. It was way too dark, however it could just be my computer screen resolution too. I like the void chase sequence kinda scared me a bit there, and that is something I haven't been able to say about a Silent Hill game for a long time now.

I also like that Murphy talks to himself, I mean if something like this really happened to someone. I'm sure that they would be talking to themselves or thinking to themselves as well, like Murphy was.

I liked the tune that played in the diner, a tune from one of the old Silent Hill games, very nice touch guys.

I just hope that the rest of the game is this good, and they're not just showing us one great part of the game. While the rest of the game sucks and gets repetitive and boring after awhile, not saying that's the case. But I"m certainly hoping that the Devs are being honest with us, and not just sugar coating a demo to make us want the game more.

[five5sixers]

Ugggghghhhh this looks so amazing.
I'm really excited now.
I wish we had gotten to hear Murphy a bit more clearly, but I could definitely clearly detect Mr. Hayter in there, especially when he was coughing from the fire. Sounded dead on Snake. Here and there he sounds like Snake but most of the time he actually sounds different which is good. I mean, I'm probably going to be giggling like an idiot when he does sound like Snake while I'm playing but I don't even care )8 This looks great, I'm gonna shut up now.