Geeze guys... people offer their opinions of these games based on small trailers, or little bits of gameplay all the time.
Don't get me wrong, I think that sort of thing is absolutely ridiculous.
I'm mostly confused by your opinions of things you really could not have experienced, such as solving puzzles and engaging in combat. I tend to not find puzzles and combat very interesting when I'm watching someone else do it.
Even with my HD tv sometimes things are hard to find, there was one part where you pick up a wire and it took me a while to find it. I had the glow on for a bit but it really breaks immersion completely, way worse than seeing achievements pop up.
I actually did solve some of the puzzles myself by watching... I have a good eye for visual detail and found myself yelling at the player "No, look! Its right there!"
Needless to say this isn't something I recommend (especially for Silent Hill games), but I was more interested in the story and this was my only option.
The current progress of my Silent Hill pinball (video) game can be seen here:
Should I feel better that I'm not the only one with this problem?
Ah, well, we did technically ask for this. And it is technically immersive. But I am stuck in a kitchen with a frying pan and no idea if I'm supposed to use it for a puzzle ("Hard" puzzle for hubris) or what.
I have been so excited for Downpour, but I actually didn't expect it to be that scary.
But seriously, it's scary.
I just screamed so loudly... louder than any other SH game has made me.
I'm literally sweating. My heart is pounding. My hands are shaky.
No exaggeration...
I'm so happy about this terror I feel.
Also, I take back my impressions about the enemies not being amazing. Still don't think they're amazing - I just have a better impression of them now that I'm a little bit further in. Heck, the creatures are actually starting to scare me for the first time since SH3.
Music created by the fans, for the fans.. . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. 1 | Vol. 2 | Vol. 3
Not bad thus far. The visuals are nice and I like how there's no intrusive HUD to take you out of the experience (you have to look at Murphy to see if you've been damaged enough to warrant using a health kit). However, the pacing seems very slow, and with the amount of time I've spent playing it I've seen very few of the classic SH elements, so hopefully the game is just very long and I'm on my way to the good part.
About two hours in and I quite like it so far. I like how expressive Murphy is as a protagonist; he'll get frustrated when an obstacle is in the way, show fear when he sees a monster(hell, he was screaming his ass off in one part), and generally share his thoughts with the player when examining the environment, or interacting with the various characters he meets.
If you want a horror game with added emphasis to "survival", this is your game. The monsters are incredibly vicious, and fighting more than one is an extremely bad idea even with a good weapon. No Silent Hill has made the player want to haul ass like this since the third game. Thought Harry Mason was a bad shot? Think again. Even when packing heat, Murphy will have one hell of a time lining up his shots, and ammo is few and far between.
The atmosphere feels very oppressive, and you'll never feel too safe at any given time, since staying outside for awhile brings monsters to your general location.
My two grips:
1. Goddamn lag.
2. I'd like to be able to switch some of the should buttons. Hold L1 would be better for running, and R1 for looking behind.
Last edited by aj4x94 on 14 Mar 2012, edited 1 time in total.
You can take my heart
And hold it together as we fall apart
Maybe together we can make a mark in the stars we embark
And keep us together as the lights go dark
I might have to turn the brightness up, because I'm just too disoriented. Since I've stepped into this diner, I've felt nothing but the sense that I don't have a clue of what the game wants from me. No dread, no terror... just irritation.
The mannequin miners scared the shit out of me, not the strobe like part just normal miners because they would blend in so well then I would notice what I was looking at and was like "FFFFFFF- NOPE... oh their mannequins"
~The Bird of Hermes is My Name; Eating My Wings to Make Me Tame~
^ Those mannequins got me too. The whole sequence with the miners and those freaky, albino, blind beasts when you're on the ride literally had me crossing my feet under my ass (I had them dangling off the couch), making me feel totally like a scared five year old again. Thanks, Silent Hill!
Saving, I have no idea. I believe the game just automatically saves for you in several major portions of each stage, letting you load back so far in case you want to re-do something, say, to save first aid kits or whatever. I'll look at the manual, but I don't see any indication that you can voluntarily save. That's going on the WTF list along with the lagging.
The lagging I can get over...but the saving, it'll take a little extra to adapt to. I'm used to having the option to save in these kind of games, so it's a change a pace, that's for sure.
Music created by the fans, for the fans.. . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. 1 | Vol. 2 | Vol. 3
Yea you can't manually save, I actually haven't minded it much..the only real difference is you can't just inch along and kill an enemy or two and run back and save like the old games, which was sort of a crutch that I personally used too much anyway.
Alright, so after a week of stressing and debating and conceeding to myself that even if I wanted to wait, it's a thing of mine that I need to buy a Silent Hill game on release day. It's just one of those series' I will follow all the way to hell if need be.
I took a break, a little over an hour in (7% progress according to my stat screen) and so far I am relieved. For some reason I was bracing for this total shit storm, and so far the only gripe I have is that the game seems to chug in really weird areas. (On the PS3 version fyi). hurts the immersion a bit, but I've sort of gotten used to it by now. It's definitely worse early on.
Combat is a bit loose, but I feel like its something I'll get better on, my first encounter was pretty bad but the two following I did alright. I agree with the person who noted Homecoming's combat was a bit more intuitive and easy to approach.
I'm really digging the music arrangement so far too. Subtle yet satisfying, I'm definitely going to pick up the soundtrack when I get the opportunity.
To sum it all up, very relieved, anticipating where the story is going to go, and glad this isn't the total shitstorm that IGN was making it out to be. =D
[b][i]Out of my head and I don't know what I found.
Over and over I feel it break me down.
On the sidewalk of the city.
Are my screams just a whisper? [/b][/i]
Just finished. Started at 5:00 pm, ended at about 1 am, about eight hours with normal difficulty/puzzles and no side quests. No real story spoilers ahead:
What I liked:
-The first 3/4s of the game.
-Well written plot, although a bit vague and predictable at some points
-Good characterization of Murphy, Sewel, Coleridge and Anne
-Daniel Licht's score (Mood setting and better than most of Akira's later works)
-Looks great most of the time
-The most creative hell sequences I've seen in a SH game
-The dolls and the wheeping bats
-The final boss
What I didn't like:
-The final 1/4th of the game (Loses alot of creativity. Final level felt really lazy)
-The prison monsters (VERY overused near the end. Again, felt like a lazy design)
-The screamers (Overused, I actually like their design though)
-Howard Blackwood is barely in the game, despite being the most interesting character
-JP and Bobby having almost zero relevance to anything
-Lag, although it doesn't bug me too much. It's better than thousands of load times.
-The almost sci-fi look of the final level. I understand the plot relevance and symbolism, but I still felt it was... too different.
-The ending gameplay sequence after the final boss... just terrible... who thought it was a good idea? Again, I get the symbolism... but you could have portrayed the same thing in a cutscene and it would've felt less dumb.
Although I'm ragging on it a bit - the overall experience was a positive one. I would definitely give Vatra the SH series over Double Helix and Climax. (Although both teams did have their positives.) If I were to give it a score, I'd say:
8.5/10 - Would've been a 9 or a 10 if the final level wasn't so disappointing.
Holy crap is the combat abysmal, I mean absolute ass. I had barely had any problems with 4's, or Homecoming's, or Origins' (Heck, I even kinda liked it.) but this is downright pitiful. The motel and mines were great areas but now that I'm in Silent Hill the game has just taken a complete nosedive. Honestly its so bad that I seriously think this may be my last Silent Hill, its that bad.
Herr Shaun wrote:It was just easier when trying to get all the endings, is all. It looks like getting all 5 endings is going to require 5 playthroughs.
