The best Silent Hill ever!!! (my opinion)

Henry's locked in his apartment and can't get out. Bless.

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in zero
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Post by in zero »

I absolutely hated the gameplay in SH4, and about halfway through it I simply didn't care anymore, I just wanted to get it over with, as if it was some awful chore. I used a FAQ at one point when I was stuck, something I never, ever do - I just didn't care.

However, I loved the concept behind the game. Step 1: Wake up in room, find yourself locked in, can't get out. Step 2: ???? (game begins).

I would absolutely love a remake of this game with totally redesigned gameplay, it would do the story justice. Never gonna happen though :|
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Post by Sclera »

It doesn't annoy me because it's different, it annoys me because it has annoying things in it. It's that simple.
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Post by The Adversary »

>I just wanted to get it over with, as if it was some awful chore
There it is.

Silent Hill 4: The Room has an amazing story, but it's a terrible game. I may have thought it was a good game if I never had to actually play it. I did, though, and I hope to never have to again. The terrible gameplay is the entire reason I began writing D R E A M S, but not mine.
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. . . AND THAT'S THAT.
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Post by MooseFlanagan »

4's my personal favourite Silent Hill. The story is the best and most gripping in the franchise once you figure out that Henry's basically a blit player and this is Walter's game, and the gameplay, if slightly wonky, is no worse than that of SH2 and 3. Plus it has to commended for trying to dispose of every almost "classic" SH element at once and still managing to be quite scary at times.
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Post by Herr Shaun »

You need to get that hosted again, MMY.
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Post by The Adversary »

Oh, right. I think alone in the town salvaged it before Geocities bailed—'cuz I certainly didn't. I have the original hard copy and scans, and a .doc file, but not the .html formatted version. I'll find it this weekend.
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Post by Lifetolifeless »

The trailer for Silent Hill 4: The Room was a fantastic game.


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Post by TravisGrady »

Well, I liked it better than 3, and on par with origins.
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Post by Sclera »

Lifetolifeless wrote:The trailer for Silent Hill 4: The Room was a fantastic game.
I uh,

what.
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Post by Kaisura »

Silent Hill 4 had the potential to be one of the best ever made. The narrative, plot, and the artistic style of it are 'almost' second to none. It's aspects of the gameplay that defeated it.

Invincible enemies? This may be Silent Hill, where a certain amount of enemies are better avoided by nature, but making them invincible is almost assanine. I doubt many people would easily admit to it but I'm sure plenty of people spent a fair while trying to kill those first two ghosts, wondering just why the hell they wouldn't stay down. And then being only further confused when the dogs, a little bit later, COULD be killed anyway.

The second half of the game is one long escourt quest ... because, you know, leading some moronic AI around by the hand is TOTALLY my idea of the best way to traverse a nightmarish dreamworld. And you know what? As I started nearing the end of the game, the first time through, I'd grown such a resentment for Eileen I was actually -disappointed- Walter didn't finish her off.

There are...two guns, in the entire game. Now, I actually like the fact that Silent Hill doesn't do the Resident Evil "ridiculous arsenal is ridicuous" thing. But TWO firearms? Like hell one of the owners of one of them stores didn't have a shotgun under the counter somewhere, after Wally came through and shot the shit out of the pet store.

No, I loved Silent Hill 4's narrative and plot, I adored the artistic style, and just how screwed up (atmospherically) it was. But the gameplay was just ... assanine.


-edit-
And now that I think of it, the endings were even worse. Rushed endings my ass. I hope someone got tarred, feathered, fired, and neutered for that.
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Post by Mis Krist. »

Silent Hill 3's endings were even worse than Silent Hill 4's. At least with 4's you received instant closure and understanding. 3's were total fucking bullshit--to put it lightly.
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Post by Kaisura »

AMEN. >_>
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Post by Kenji »

Lifetolifeless wrote:The trailer for Silent Hill 4: The Room was a fantastic game.
I feel the same way. Those were easily the best trailers of the series.

SH4, from initial trailers to the actual game, was the most betrayed I've ever felt by any installment in this series, perhaps of any game ever. The trailers just exuded all of this promise, giving the hope of a new revamp of the gameplay (since SH3 was the pinnacle of the SH1 style of gameplay) and experience.

I was expecting any number of things, from enemies that could chase from room to room, a first-person view, a possible lack of weapons, unpredictable and dangerous things happening in the apartment. Some of these things may seem familiar, and yes, Shattered Memories is something I do want to be a redemption of all these things that SH4 didn't deliver on, like the development of the series has essentially been frozen since 2004.
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Post by Kaisura »

It's not so much frozen as splintered.

Konami own in-house development group (the ever changing entity typically referred to as Team Silent), in essence, ended their efforts with Silent Hill 4. Origins, Homecoming, and Shattered Memories all come from seperate development groups (with Akira Y. following the series around like a lost puppy).

Even if "Team Silent" were to make a new Silent Hill, it wouldn't be the same people who did Silent Hill 1, or 2, or 3, or even 4. It would be yet another new collaboration of individuals under Konami's employ, who wouldn't necessarily share the same views that went into the creation of the first four titles, and could easily have just as little understanding of Silent Hill as the people from Climax and Double Helix.

The idea that Silent Hill will ever return to the narrative or gameplay stylings of the first four is, unfortunately, a romantic fantasy. That style of game in and of itself is considered obsolete, and overused.

Homecoming, for however flawed it may be, demonstrates the closest semblence to the original gameplay model we're ever likely to see again. That is, if they do make a new Silent Hill, irregardless of who makes it, Homecoming's gameplay will be the model they use (shoulder aiming, free camera, realtime events, shooter-style controls)

That is assuming we ever see another Silent Hill of that style. Shattered Memories is essentially an overblown experiment into the idea of a Silent Hill with no combat. Depending how well recieved it is, and how well it does, it may well be the new standard gameplay model for the series. It may also be a one-shot style that never sees the light of day again.

And that's why, for whatever flaws it may have, I insist Silent Hill 4 deserves a certain level of respect. It was different, but it was also much closer to the original 3 than Homecoming. Something of an end of an era game.


NB: I'm not saying Silent Hill is over. I'm pointing out that it will never be the -same- again.
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Post by Ratiocinator »

Lifetolifeless wrote:The trailer for Silent Hill 4: The Room was a fantastic game.
I have to agree. When I first saw the SH4 trailer, before the game was actually released, they used some of the best cuts, music, sound effects and scenes in it. I was super-pumped to play it. The game, while I still enjoy it, wasn't as thrilling as the trailer was to me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATpxzgZlOCE
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Post by Doo-glas »

Lifetolifeless wrote:The trailer for Silent Hill 4: The Room was a fantastic game.
yeah the trailer for Silent Hill 4 was one of the best video game trailers I've ever seen
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Post by Lemex »

Over the years my opinion of 4 has steadily declined.
It's still a good game to play, and the idea of it is OK, I just don't like some of the things in it.
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Post by Nillin »

I'm the same way. I still appreciate it, but the controls are terrible on anything but easy. I still can only barely beat the game on medium.

The story and environments are top notch, but then you have to play it.
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Post by Axel_98 »

Personally I really like SH4, though the monsters get a tad annoying but I guess the ghosts are getting u prepared for SH:SM (cant really fight back). IDK why a lot of people dislike it.

A buddy of mine hates it, hes a pretty big SH fan but he couldn't even finish it stating that it's missing its SH symbolism and fog/radio/flashlight. :S kinda close minded IMO i guess thats what all the people that really dislike SH4 are tho.
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Post by Zrash »

I've played parts of SH 2 and 3, but The Room is the only Silent Hill game I've ever beat or owned. Konami wanted to do something different and they did. Some people hate this game because of it, but it's the reason why it stands out the most to me. The controls are kind of shitty, but I grew up with really shitty games with shitty controls and shitty storylines, so when I first played this game I felt like I found a gem. And I did.

The Room is the only game I've ever played that actually makes you feel like your "safehouse" has turned completely upside down. Now that's original.
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