Got Downpour? Want to share impressions? Post them here!

[David01]

So far this game is incredible, it feels exactly like an old school silent hill game. I could give a damn what IGN says, because I believe that alot of the complaints are intentional on the part of the devs.

I love the weeping bats, and the screamer enemies are awesome too. The only thing I see, is that the texturing is a bit off on some of the creatures, but you mostly see them from far away anyway, so it isn't too much of an issue for me.

As for the combat, well it's typical old school Silent Hill, clunkiness n' all. I could care le\ss really, because I'm interested to see how the story turns out, and how things work out.

[The SH Champion]

i'm about 20% done and im not thrilled so far. It is still lacking that "Silent Hill" feeling that was so present in the first 4.

[wonder's boy]

So far, I'm very pleased with Downpour. In short, it's a huge relief after being sorta discouraged by some videos and reviews I came across before playing.

Exploration is there, the eeriness and visual aesthetics are there, the psychological aspects with their familiar Silent Hill "tinge" are there (yet not just regurgitated), puzzles that actually require your intelligence are there, and more. Controlling Murphy has not only become intuitive to me, but it's also fun! It really feels as if I'm playing as a human being and not a computer animated puppet.

While not entirely unlike the style of the past games, combat isn't necessarily a clunky chore, and it is challenging in exciting ways I haven't ever seen in Silent Hill. I actually feel involved in the combat.

The music and sound effects have been pretty awesome so far. The tracks work better in-game, I believe, and some sound effects have literally sent chills down my spine. But, like KH said above, the enemies so far aren't all that amazing, just decent. That's probably my biggest complaint about the game so far - the enemies. Other than all that, the pacing feels natural and the elements are flowing versus clashing. Scenarios aren't giving me the impression that they're coming out of Stencilville, or that they're going to burn out without leaving any kind of impression on me as a player. Good, good, good. I'm glad this has turned out this well so far.

[Below]

How are we doing as far as plot development?

[KiramidHead]

The plot ain't too shabby so far. I'm genuinely still in the dark as to how everything connects together, but I'm liking what I've seen.

[bloodydjehuty]

I forgot to mention I love the ending to the mines

PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:

"enjoy the ride murphy?" so now to just convince some amusement park to make the silent hill ride and I'll be set

I'm also loving the references to past games and comics

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most notably:
Murphy's Cell being 302
In Pearl Creek, Murphy can visit a replica of Room 302.
the mentioning of previous generations of the Gillespie family
the welcome to Shepherd's glen picture
and the dj playing the original silent hill theme when you meet him

[Skele]

Eh i played it for about 25 min or so. im not all that impressed, but im not disappointed either.

The controls are OK (i prefer Homecoming's over Downpour's), but i'd prefer actual options to choose from instead of this forced 2d scheme, and i don't like having to press LT in order to strafe, or to get Murphy to back up. Also, the combat/gameplay definitely took a step backwards. i found the combat enjoyable in Homecoming, but in Downpour i can easily skip it, as i don't care to engage in any combat.

Graphically, it's also just OK. Honestly, it may be slightly (and i stress slightly) better looking than Homecoming, but i wouldn't say it does everything better than SH:H. i think each game has their own strengths and weaknesses for sure.. also, i think i'd enjoy the look of the game more if there was some AA (aliasing) going on, and if there weren't any technical issues like screen tearing and framerate hiccups (even if they are minor). This makes me hope there's really a PC version announced so i can crank things up a bit.

I haven't gotten too far, but sound wise the game is OK. the only thing that kinda make me laugh was hearing Murphy's thoughts. i could easily do without those. anyway, im off to jump back into the game.

[thy_butcher]

The opening was really unexpected for me. I never would have thought... o_0
The graphics are very pleasing, as well as overall art direction.
I like what music I've heard, although I haven't heard much. It's very quiet during exploration with minimal music.

Honestly though, I find Murphy a bit difficult to control. Old SH right?

My complaints:
1. The camera feels unwieldy.
2. There isn't a transition in Murphy's movement speed. If you barely press the stick forward, or if the stick is at its limit, there isn't a difference. He can sit still, walk, & run.

I am truly enjoying it though. I'm making coffee now to play longer.

[John Akam]

I love it so far. The intro is very unsettling it makes my eyes tear. The otherworld isn't scary (yet) but the foggy world is - for me. However, I don't like the enemy design (at least the ones that I have seen).

[TerryRed]

Well, seeing as I won't ever get to play this on PC (unless that changes), and I don't have a 360 or PS3, I decided to watch a playthrough of it on Youtube. I have NEVER done this before for any game. I know the experience is not the same, but its my only option, and Silent Hill has always been about story for me... I'll probably have to do the same for Heavy Rain now...

I am a fan who has played ALL the previous games, and loved them all, but yes the original 4 are my favorites. That being said, this game will have lovers and haters!

The bad:

-monsters are not that good. For me they come off very generic, and not very disturbing/scary/twisted. The prisoners in particular... A couple of good ones in there though.

-music. Not that its "bad", but it just isn't Akira "Silent Hill". It's great in some spots, but very typical in others.

-story. Its a good enough story, but it won't "blow your mind" like say SH2 or Shattered Memories did for me. You do need to see multiple endings to get the whole story though.

-combat. Yah, its kind of old school style, but I can tell its not as slow or bad as say SH1.

-glitches. Nothing I havent seen on many other console games. Texture pop-in being the most noticable, but this is seen in most of the major blockbuster games out there too. It's very common in Unreal Engine games.

-too many lighted areas. There weren't that many DARK areas. They cold have made much better use of this. I had the same complaint in SH4.

The Good:

-graphics. Glitches aside, for the most part I was suprised. The details of the town and otherworld are excellent. Most of the textures are great as was the animation of the characters...they even had good looking hair! (I'm talking to you Homecoming!) Shame the game didn't run at 60fps all the time though.

-Otherworld. This suprised me. I like the balance between the "chase moments", and the grand large areas with lots of detail and gameplay. Nothing that made me say "WTF" though.

-Sidequests. Take em or leave em. Didn't hurt to have them and gives more gameplay.

-easter eggs. I have seen a big SH4 easter egg, a SH1 that you have to catch real quickly, and of course previous Silent Hill music being played on the radio.

-changing camera angles. This was suprising..I really liked this, I just wished they made better use of this more often as it can really be effective when used right (SH1 alley scene)

-puzzles. Much better than most of the previous games, but still not quite as good as the classics (1-3).

I will give the creators credit in that they didn't re-use ANYTHING from previous games in terms of monsters,etc... Something that even Team Silent was guilty of!

The experience seemed fresh enough, but could have been brilliant with Akira's music, better monsters, and some real optimising... They really did try to stay to the spirit of the series while adding in new stuff, but I just wasn't blown away by it.

I was however, "watching" the game which is not the same as playing it, so I didn't have the same emotion tied into it. I think many will be pleased while others won't settle for anything that isn't Team Silent.

[Progmetty]

Loving it so far but I'm still early in the game, I think I got some weird glitch; I have the game token and when I approach the ticket machine it prompts me to use something from my inventory, I chose the game token and nothing happen, never been stuck 5 minutes into a SH game before hehe

[soam108]

not a glitch, you have to explore

[Progmetty]

God damn I'm rusty, you're right heh

[alone in the town]

... you actually just reviewed a game you watched someone else play? The puzzles and controls and combat? How scary it was?

huh.

[alone in the town]

A note: This thread is for your impressions. If you're stuck in the game and need advice, that's what the Daddy...Help me! section is fore.

[TANK]

i am guessing i am about half way through. There is quite a bit of exploring to do to solve things, at least more exploring than other sh games. right at first i was excited with the gameplay and story, then i hit a 30 min. *meh* period, but it has since picked up.

the one part i HATE:

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THE FUCKING COP CARS RIGHT AS YOU GET TO SILENT HILL

But there is still ALOT of mystery to the story, the music is above average, voice acting is ok, evironments are great, puzzles are solid. Time to power down my ps3 and get back to it in the morning

[soam108]

I was however, "watching" the game which is not the same as playing it

understatement of the year right here.

[TerryRed]

Geeze guys... people offer their opinions of these games based on small trailers, or little bits of gameplay all the time. I think many people are capable of giving an opinion of a game based on watching the entire playthrough, while making it clear that they did not play it themselves. People also play these games in groups and give opinions. I gave this "review" because I haven't done this before, and wanted to offer my experience based on watching, that's all...

[bl00dmuffin]

It's been fun so far. I like that they're expanding on the town's history. It looks fantastic, too.

I have noticed that it plays quite a bit like Alan Wake. One might say that Alan Wake plays like SH, but I would disagree. Hopefully the further I get into it the more it'll start feeling like a SH game instead.

[Kenji]

Finally started it.

Thematically, we're at a good spot. In another forum, I indulged in a bit of "sequel theory," a lot of which revolved around taking established concepts from the previous work and finding some way to overturn or see it from a different angle. Not only does Murphy start out in prison, but the tutorial and others' reactions demonstrate that he did something heinous and violent.

Specifically regarding a Silent Hill sequel (as described in the "Point" thread)? Y'know, the establishment of a new unintelligible mishmash of horrible things? That, I'm not so sure about. As I said there, the Murphy question is a binary state, which is far from unintelligible. I would say the new mishmash must come from somewhere else, entirely... but, I'll see where this takes me. I wouldn't mind having to throw my theory out the window.

We'll see where this goes.

Good thing the journal has a zoom function, 'cuz I still don't have an HDTV. That said, stuff's hard to find. I might even have to turn the item glow on, if it starts getting in my way.