Silent Hill: The Room completed in 5 years

Post by **Dracula** » 25 Jun 2010

Hi Guys,

I am RELIEVED to say that I have finally finished this game! I bought it when it was a new release maybe 5 years ago and I shamefully admit that I was influenced by the poor reviews at the time and did not really give the game much of an effort. I played it for a short period and did not even get through the first Subway....

Fast forward 5 years and with a clear unbiased mind, I decided to give it another shot....

It took me around 3 weeks from start to finish to complete by playing short sessions a couple of nights a week. Here's my game ending stats:

Normal difficulty
9:16
54 saves
and a ranking of 59/100 (if I'm reading the stars correctly)

I finished with the "21 Sacraments" ending but then went back and killed Walter much quicker the second time and got the "Mother" ending. Obviously I did not do enough exorcising in 302!

Now that it's all over I have to say that I do not rate the game as very enjoyable. I found much of the game to be frustrating and a bit of a chore. The 2 most annoying aspects for me were how you had to revisit the same areas twice and also the F#@king ghosts were just a massive pain in the ass! In every other SH game, I really enjoyed the exploration of the town or any new areas but this just did not have much in that respect. There were some creepy bits and I had a few frights but not as many as other SH games.

I am happy to have played and completed it but mostly just happy that it is now done and I can now move on. The great news is that I just bought SH Shattered Memories on the Wii and Resident Evil 0 so I have more work to do now

Mark.

Post by **Diabolic Dreams** » 25 Jun 2010

Glad to hear you finished it. While true it is not the most upstanding of the series, I still found it enjoyable. I agree with you on having to revisit the same areas twice, a pain in the ass. Yet the ghost I actually enjoyed, whats more unnerving then an enemy that is unkillable, faster then you and strong, plust they were just creepy. The most annoying aspect in my opinion is having Eileen with you, that girl is as dumb as a bag of dog shet. I was constantly screaming obscenities at her for getting caught in a group of monsters or running into walls and then sitting down.
But the story made the game worth it, by far.

Post by **leftshoe18** » 25 Jun 2010

If it weren't for the amazing story that this game presented, I wouldn't have kept going past the Subway World. This game was a painful experience to play through. The controls were terrible and the ghosts, as the OP said, were very unpleasant enemies.

The game was too hard because of the controls and not because of game design and that really turned me off of it. But it is really worth it to soldier through because of the narrative. This would be my favorite Silent Hill if not for the gameplay.

Post by **MariaRising** » 25 Jun 2010

Congrats on finishing, I remember taking a huge sigh of relief when I finished it for the first time... It took me a long time for me to play it again lol. It was difficult for me for a few reasons, the controls were strange to me, it was a little more difficult than I like (I've adjusted to that now lol) and it's longer than the others by a landslide. The thing that pulls me back to it is the storyline and in some ways the music. It was also a little more creepy than the others (good and bad thing)... It's one of two in the series that freaked me out alot lol. Instead of a good or bad rating from me, it gets a ho-hum medium rating from me lol.

Post by **IncoherentMoron** » 26 Jun 2010

i think this game has by far the most interesting story of all the SH games, (SH2 comes close though) but at the same time is one of the least scary, at least less scary of the first 3 games. i actually enjoyed, i liked the ghosts, didnt really care to come back to past areas, but HAVING TO GO BACK TO THE APARTMENT AND THE FACT U CAN ONLY HAVE 10 ITEMS IN YOUR INVENTORY made the game lose many points.
plus, the areas were not scary, there were no real scares, no real puzzles, it wasnt dark enough.. but just having a character as walter sullivan in there made it worth it

Post by **Dale** » 26 Jun 2010

I really enjoyed this one it might be my favorite in the series if it weren't for the ghost enemies. I actual agree with Incoherent Moron that it wasn't nearly as scary as the first three. The haunting in the apartment where the scariest part of the game in some of those haunting were great moments. The story was very different then the others as your main character was pretty much as clean cut nice as they come. Eileen wasn't a significantly deep character but she served her purpose well. The real star of the show is obviously Walter as you really can't blame him for going insane and some of his victims are definitely bigger monsters then he is. It's because of his life story and how much sympathy you feel for him that you come to a weird gray area as you feel sympathy for some of his victims as well.

SH4 also got rid of the excessive broken lock door concept and has higher difficulty level then the first three(which I prefer) and actually tried a lot of new things with it's items and everything involving the apartment. It also has a better melee combat engine then the first three as timing, distance judgment and weapon choice play a bigger role then before. It also handled the escort mission concept quite elegantly, the only time it stopped being fun for me is when the ghosts arrived.

The graphics on the character models were great and the art style had it's moments. the overall sound design was a step down.

Dangit I wrote a whole review sorry.

Post by **butters** » 26 Jun 2010

Still haven't finished the game. Been about four years. I've tried several times to like it, but going through everything twice just pissed me off... The story was pretty original and creepy but I can't bring myself to finish it. I know I'm only about an hour away too...

Post by **Dracula** » 26 Jun 2010

Yeah I do agree the story was pretty cool and obviously a lot of thought went into it.

Maybe it's just me but it seemed Henry's fitness seemed to improve as the game progressed. Man, how unfit was the guy in the first stage?? He'd walk 20 paces and would be hunched over like a life-long smoker with emphysema! That really annoyed me at first. As the game progressed he didn't seem to be so bad though??

The forest stage was really the only stage I can say I enjoyed. I really liked the environment and some of the puzzles....shame about the ghosts there though lol

Post by **otto2302** » 26 Jun 2010

I loved the game.. I played it with my friends and we gathered to play together so.. the social bounds might had created an illusion that the game would have been more fun that it actually was...

Still I liked it. Played it on PC, loved the story. Subway world 2nd time was pain in the arse... I loved although visiting repeatively Room 302 and even after completing the game I have explored and investigated it over and over again..

Afterall it's really good game and I don't understand why people are nagging about it. The game system is different than in 3 previous but isn't that fresh? I mean, playing copy of 1-3 would have been more let-down than this game.

I was too influenced by the reviews of game and how "bad and terrible it was to play" when it came up, but when I got the game to my hands I was sad that I haven't played it before =/

Post by **LSSJGamer** » 26 Jun 2010

Congratz on finishing the game. What a ride huh? I thought the game was alright, nothing bothered me all that much except for a few select ghosts and the extreme feeling of claustrophobia. On my first playthough I got the Escape ending, forgot my original score and stuff though. I liked the story but the endings could have been done better. Mainly my complaint is with the Escape ending because I worked my ass off protecting Eileen and stuff and there isn't even a make out scene?! COME ON!! The 21 Sacraments ending was executed the best I say... although it sucks what happens to everyone. Overall I liked it.. sadly I'll have to get a new copy because a psycho scratched it up the most. (They scratched up all my SH games with scissors except 1, as well as some other games...)

Post by **PyrmidHeadPwner** » 07 Jul 2010

I share your opinion. I just bought the game yesterday (found it for $1.99 CA, lol) and I'm very disappointed with it so far, but hey, I'll wait and see what happens next.

Post by **otto2302** » 10 Jul 2010

LSSJGamer wrote:sadly I'll have to get a new copy because a psycho scratched it up the most. (They scratched up all my SH games with scissors except 1, as well as some other games...)

So... Walter Sullivan did find your SH games

Post by **Skele** » 14 Jul 2010

SH4's story is my favorite of the series. this is the one game where if i had my say, i'd say remake it and keep the story as is. it's really only a few things that hurt the game, but these few things are what can make, or break a game.

Post by **krakalackin** » 14 Jul 2010

I bought SH4 when it came out and didn't finish it till March of this year, so join the club!

The first person part killed it for me, the story seemed to have nothing to do with the three previous games, and the GHOSTS! AHH THE GHOSTS!!! I HATE THEM! I WANT THEM DEAD... BUT THEY'RE ALREADY DEAD! THEN YOU GET THIS AWESOME SWORD AND YOU JUST KNOW IT CAN KILL ALL THE F^#@*& GHOST, BUT NO! IT DOESN'T! IT CAN JUST PIN ONE GHOST AT A TIME TO THE GROUND! WHAT THE F$&%!!!(Controller flies across the room and the game goes back into its case and in a box for five and half years).....Then I found this forum and some people hated the game like me and some said it had the greatest story of the series. So I forced myself to play it and yes I used a walk-through to get through it. Now that I've finished/beat the game I like it. The story took me by complete surprise, not what I was expecting at all!

Post by **mimee** » 18 Jul 2010

I completely agree....

I just re-started the game and im now at the Subway 2nd visit - and i havent even started yet and I know its gonna be fill with TONS of ghosts..

the only downside of this games.. are those annoying ghosts.. I really wish they were removed or at least you were able to kill them.. NOT even the sword of obedience is that great, you have to try several times for it to pin the ghost down..

The whole GHOST enemy system is broken and the worst idea in a SH game.. out of all games this has been the worst experience when it comes to monsters, You cant even explore right, because they are all over you ... it makes the whole thing NOT enjoyable.

Post by **Apocali** » 19 Jul 2010

I bought it used a month ago, I had other games to play, but I did beat it today and got the best ending. It was okay, I found it to be weakest of the games so far. (Still have to play Origins and Homecoming) The backtracking filler is what killed it, plus the unforgiving lack of items, I can easily see someone getting screwed over late in the game. The ghosts could be pretty annoying but never totally frustrating, if anything that was "The One Truth" boss. Overall, I found it to be worth a playthrough, though I don't see myself replaying it anytime soon.

Post by **pufferrr17** » 21 Jul 2010

I liked the 4th as a game, but I don't think it really fit the "Silent Hill" category. Too many things were different, and the connections to the past games were pretty weak.

It took me a while to complete not cause of the difficulty (I found it easy), but because it was so annoying and boring. The story was pretty good, though.

Post by **HeresJohnny** » 22 Jul 2010

Good job...your review just about sums up the way i feel about SH4 lol...still a fun game tho 4 sure...I always appreciated the story/plot of SH4 more than the actual gameplay.

Post by **mimee** » 22 Jul 2010

I just got out of the Water Prison 2nd time - and right before you leave the entire area when you unlock the door taking it for the fat guy ghost... OMG.....

there were like 12 TWIN Victims lined up in military formation waitin on you to walk in - that was creepy as hell... ;p

Lynch · Post by **Lynch** » 24 Jul 2010

Well the most annoying part of SH4 to me was when walter sullivan kept coming out of knowhere and shooting me...i would just be walking when he would come out behind a fking bush and shoot me in the face...

Gratz to you, took me a few years to finally get the guts and beat sh1 after clearing my mind of the images lol, and being a bit older of course...but i got past my fears and beat the fuck out of dahlia...

Now i just make jokes about the game to make it less scary...it dont work