I haven't finished playing through SH4 yet, so I might be biased, but in imho I liked Downpour better. I played Downpour first (I've been to several play-throughs of SH4, but this is the first time I've actually played the game myself).

SH4 waves to Silent Hill proper from the opposite shore of Tolouca Lake. "Wish you were here..."

You know, it's always boggled my mind that people trash on Downpour for its combat system. I've yet to see a Silent Hill game with spectacular, intuitive combat. Maybe because the series has never been about the combat in the first place.

Except maybe for Homecoming, I guess, which also suffers from nightmarish controls.

I really like the way that the early Silent Hills handle combat. I like that it's slightly unintuitive and akward, because the whole idea is that you're not supposed to be a combat specialist, you're supposed to be a normal person who is not necessarily good at combat. At the same time, combat in Silent Hills has never been "bad," just simple. Combat in Silent Hill games has never been all that difficult. That simplicity is the right approach because you don't want people to dwell too much on the mechanics, that would turn it into more of an action game and distract from the atmosphere.

As a Silent Hill game: The Room obviously. Even with all the flaws combined (escort quest, inventory system, wanky controls, no radio or flashlight, no real darkness, all these things are done way better in Downpour) it was a more scary and had a more interesting story then Downpour had. When it comes down to it The Room is more recognizable as a SH game and scare factor and story telling are most essential.

As a game on it's own: Downpour, no discussion. The Room was goddamn awful to wade through. Tedious, boring, slow. Atleast Downpour didn't have a escort quest or forced you to play through everything for a 2nd time.

So besides everything that makes a good silent hill game or a decent horror game for that matter, everything else in Downpour is better? I have to agree. If you strip down everything that makes a car a car then a Lada is actually better then a BMW.

Well i mean,in a silent hill game, what else is there? Those are some of the most important things. I mean don't get me wrong, i agree. But what's left that downpour does better? Controls, graphics, less tedious?

I may try forcing myself to replay downpour sometime just to actually beat it(yeah i got to the last boss and didn't care enough to beat it, and traded back to gamestop for uncharted 3 because they were about to close and i didn't wanna be stuck with that shitty game), but it was so damn boring and annoying to me. SH4 was also really annoying to me at certain parts too, i definitely remember getting frustrated with it. But the difference is, it actually had some parts that were really creepy and had great atmosphere, while downpour was just bland to the point that i completely stopped caring, there wasn't much motivation for me because everything was so damn boring and weak. I was never really like "damn i wonder what the next area is gonna be like" or "what kind of creepy shit am i gonna see next" like i was with sh4.

Meh...Downpour wasn't a bad game, but SH4 was better in every category. The only thing Downpour really had going for it was strong atmosphere when the monsters wasn't around. SH4? strong art direction, story was great and the concept itself to this day still is unique among horror games today.

Being locked up in your apt dealing with the madness within yet the outside world which is only feet away is operating normally as you look out of the window? SH4 still has some disturbing looking creatures and you never felt safe...even in your apt and the atmosphere was strong from beginning to end.

Technically Downpour might be superior as it should be...SH4 was created on ps2 hardware so of course in that aspect it should be, but as a game overall SH4 is superior and just a better overall game in every category.

Circular Prison for Orphans, need I say more? I enjoy DP but I don't think anything in it can compare to that. May have been a tad tedious at times but it was inspired.

^I agree. SH4's concepts and story are quite original and great. It's not a top favorite SH game of mine but it's a pretty amazing game. And I don't find the gameplay as tedious as some people do.
Downpour's a decent game, in spite of me hating most of the monster design in it. But my vote's for SH4.

I have to go with what many people here are saying, too. Silent Hill 4 is a better SH game... the atmosphere and story are better. However, if you asked me which game I'd rather actually PLAY, definitely Downpour. I think Downpour is the best of the post-SH4 games. I don't even mind how much the story changes from playthrough to playthrough.