There's potential here, but the development team needs more time.
I'm worried about Silent Hill: Downpour. As a longterm fan of the series I was slightly concerned about Downpour when it was first announced that development duties on the survival horror sequel would be handled by the relatively unknown and unproven Czech studio Vatra Games, and since going hands on with a fifteen minute stretch of the game here at TGS my expectations have dipped even further.
Not to say that the game doesn't have any potential – it does – it's just that we're now a mere month away from the game's slated October release and it's in pretty rough shape at the moment. Almost everything in the demo had an air of clunkiness to it: the opening puzzle that involved clumsily turning cranks to shift the path of falling water into a paddle-wheel that was powering an elevator; the awkward way the third-person camera zoomed in tight over the main character's shoulder every time you pulled out your zippo lighter to light your surroundings and thus obscuring half the screen; the presence of invisible walls that made it difficult to tell which areas of the underground cavern setting you could walk into, and which you couldn't.
Perhaps the most damning component of the game I experienced was the combat against the enemies. On the one hand it was cool that there were so many elements in the environment to serve as makeshift weapons – screwdrivers, axes, rocks, wooden chairs – but on the other hand they all seemed to have an effect similar to swatting at your enemies with a wet newspaper. Some of the weapons – such as the fire axe – had a real heft to them, but there was just no feeling of impact when you connected with an enemy body part. Although I was definitely impressed with the pick-axe finishing move that had the main character jam its pointy end into an enemy's sternum before wrenching it back out with one boot on their throat.
A lot of it just felt really old school in its design – aside from the previously mentioned cumbersome crank wheel sequence, there was also a moment where you had to push a mine cart along for no particular reason, and also switching from a large axe to your cigarette lighter made the axe magically disappear into your pocket as though the main character has a hollowed out wooden leg.
Still, the level wasn't without its moments – I have to admit to jumping out of my skin when a corpse floating in a flooded passage suddenly came to life (they always do), and the last enemy in the demo looked suitably freakish with elongated limbs and tendency to leap up out of sight and land randomly behind you, which made for a more dynamic encounter than the lazy swatting of the previous enemies. There was also a nice use of claustrophobic spaces as you shuffled sideways through narrowing crevasses with no real idea of what's lurking in the shadows beyond.
I'm willing to give Vatra Games the benefit of the doubt that they can pull off a decent installment in Konami's long running horror series, but if this TGS demo is an indication of the quality of a game that's one month away from release I'm not holding my breath – and holding your breath is exactly what you want out of a Silent Hill game. Please, Konami – give this one a bit more time?
I've always taken these "negative" reviews with a grain of salt; but the voice of this writer sounds extremely truthful, and judging from everything so far, I can assume as well that Downpour does need more time and fixing before release.
And please, no car boss or monocle man unless it's pulled off well and disturbingly.
I don't know exactly how much they can improve the game till March but to me they made the right choice delaying it. I didn't like most of the things I've seen and I really want to love this game. Let's hope the best, again.
Edit: By the way, I assumed they postponed the release date seeing 2012 in the new trailer and on Amazon but I guess it's not official yet.
Isn't it pretty common for most demos to be made from fairly old material?
I'm not trying to excuse his points, but he doesn't even bring that up as a possibility. It's not like konami hasn't been inexplicably releasing confusing amounts of old footage and screens recently.
Oh IGN, never change.
That said, I have to agree, regardless. These ridiculously imposed "RELEASE THE GAME ON HALLOWEEN BECAUSE THAT'S THE ONLY TIME PEOPLE CAN BE SCARED OR INTERESTED" trend for horror stuff is getting old. Make the product you want to make and then release it. I understand, Konami, it costs money. However, if you keep forcing unpolished work out the door you're only going to be the ones suffering for it. We, unfortunately, live in a time where a lot of people make their decisions solely off of what reviewers, numbers, and star counts say. Don't mess this up, I really want this game to turn out well for you and for us.
I think it's kind of funny the guy mentioned the decisions being very old school in the design, because the first thing I thought of when he mentioned the crank puzzle was the puzzle for the boss at the school basement in SH1. My mind just jumped to that two valve turning door puzzle, and it made me smile a little.
There are things about it that do seem to need work.
My guess is the reasons for these 'negative' complaints about combat and stuff likely occurred because the team is so focused on the important parts of the game.
Like the story, atmosphere, characters, environments and such.
I could care less if the game gets delayed. Once it's out, it's out. Not much going back and fixing it. So may as well do the best they can and release it when it's ready.
well, maybe this is why they're delaying it until 2012? they probably aren't getting the kind of reaction they wanted from folks playing the demo, but this is a long delay. i mean... i thought they were pretty much done with the game, and now they're delaying it by at least 4 months?
oh well, with this delay this game better get no less than an 8.
Has it been delayed? Haven't heard anything about that. But it is pretty obvious that the game isn't finished. Because it looks like a bag of asshole to me.
If it is delayed until 2012, this can only be a good thing.
I don't know why they have delayed release, but whatever the reason, hopefully this will give Vatra a chance to really iron out any game-play creases, remove bugs and glitches and perhaps even give it a more competitive graphical polish to bring it up to the same aesthetic standards as Silent Hill 2 and 3.
Another 6 months waiting is nothing. Just ask The Last Guardian fans! 7 years waiting for that game, and counting....
the awkward way the third-person camera zoomed in tight over the main character's shoulder every time you pulled out your zippo lighter to light your surroundings and thus obscuring half the screen
Wouldn't this be by purposeful design though? To emphasize the fact that things are difficult to see with the little light a lighter would provide?
But I do agree that from everything we've been shown so far, there are lots of technical things that need to be more polished... Hopefully this build was old. And if they need to delay it, fine, they can probably release it around the same time as the new film...
SGTCOOL wrote:Has it been delayed? Haven't heard anything about that. But it is pretty obvious that the game isn't finished. Because it looks like a bag of asshole to me.
Obligatory new Silent Hill hater post.
Personally, I was hoping for an October release, but if they delay it to make it even better, I can deal with that.
Maybe this sounds silly, but all the stuff this reviewer is complaining about sounds like the fundamental flaws of survival horror to me... I mean, these are the shortcomings a lot of Silent Hill fans have been asking for the return of since more modern, nimble gameplay mechanics seem to have a numbing effect on the tense atmosphere as evidenced in Homecoming and Shattered Memories...
The delay to 2012 is probably a good thing (as much as my hype will be completely dead by then) if all this is true, but I know a lot of you on here would prefer a more traditional and 'clunky' (for lack of a better word) survival horror game.
Where we're from, the birds sing a pretty song, and there's always music in the air.
"The delay to 2012 is probably a good thing (as much as my hype will be completely dead by then) if all this is true, but I know a lot of you on here would prefer a more traditional and 'clunky' (for lack of a better word) survival horror game."
same.. any anticipation i had for the game is pretty much gone now, which is mainly due to the delay. i really hope we don't get a more tradional and "clunky" survivor horror experience.
Hello everyone. I just joined the forum. Glad to be able to discuss Silent Hill stuff here! As for Downpour, I didn't know it was pushed back to 2012. Personally, at first I wasn't interested in the game, but lately it has grown on me. In the end, I guess we'll appreciate the fact that it was delayed(atleast I hope so). I do recognize there are some stuff I would like to be tweaked, though.
I love that he complained about the inventory system. God forbid something isn't made realistic for the sake of a better game.
If you're looking for realism in Silent Hill your probably into the wrong series.
Anyway the TGS trailer looks great, aside from the poor quality, and while I'm going to really miss Silent Hill for halloween, I'll be patient and wait for it and enjoy it.
The game has not had a "slated release" other than Winter 2011; Shatsky said October once or twice, but the majority of the dates have said 2011, and didn't the TGS trailer say 2012? Something tells me the writer didn't quite do their research.
That being said, I'm not really sure of the problem with the "old-school" game design. What's wrong with it, precisely...? It's kind of the way the genre works.
Pretty much every video I've seen of the combat shows Murphy swinging a weapon weakly and making contact with an enemy maybe 30% of the time, whilst the monster screams (complete with a lame visual effect ) and immobilizes the protagonist at an annoying rate. That doesn't look very fun to me. Not to mention the general clunkiness that, though possibly a staple of survival horror circa 1999, doesn't necessarily mean it should be added intentionally (I doubt it was). A delay must happen if there is any hope of the game not being a complete embarrassment.