Anyone who knows me will know what a huge Silent Hill nut I am. Also, anyone who knows me will know how upset I am at the series’ decline after Silent Hill 3. Well, I didn’t mind Silent Hill 4: The Room too much – but I only finished it once. It didn’t have anything like the hook the first three entries did.
The worst entry so far? Homecoming. I only got to the sewers after the police station and completely lost interest. How could such an excellent title and franchise be treated so shabbily after such a strong early reception? Konami dropped the ball and outsourced it to the west, that’s how. So now comes another entry in Downpour, but I’ve been burned before. I can’t commit to it and generate excitement. I won’t buy it until it’s price is below the £20 mark. Unless Vatra Games can guarantee the following five things…
Jib multiple choice
Easily one of the most boring, pointless things in Homecoming was the ability to hold a conversation and choose your responses, Mass Effect-style. Why on earth would you want to do that in Silent Hill?? Part of what made the atmosphere so scary in Silent Hill 2, for instance, were cutscenes with Eddie losing his mind. We’re lost in Silent Hill and haven’t got a clue what’s going on. We want YOU to tell US a story that will scare us out of our skin, not make us feel and fumble around uninspired characters for answers.
Sick level design
Borely Haunted Mansion in Silent Hill 3 is one of the cleverest mind-fucks in horror gaming. Found at the amusement park, a crazy narrator spins murderous story after story to you over the PA – like any normal house of horror would, of course. But this is Silent Hill and anything can happen. You’re waiting for that inevitable shock moment to come – the walls are peeling and the metal’s rusty, are we in the alternate Silent Hill? Have a look at the last minute of the below video. Couldn’t sleep for months afterwards…
More things that go bump
We’re in a prison corridor in Silent Hill 2 and we can hear manic grunts and something large clambering about. It’s only in this part of the game too. Thing is though, we can’t see it – but something’s definitely there… Should we explore? If we do we might not like what we find. If we don’t though then it could jump out and kill us – we’d better get out of here. Next, we solve the hangman’s puzzle outside and there’s a blood-curdling scream. Where the hell did it come from?? These mysteries are what made Silent Hill stand out from the rest.
Decrepit lead character
Silent Hill: Origins and Homecoming both had leads in Travis and Alex respectively who could handle themselves. Tosh, we don’t want any of that. We want a normal guy like the series’ first protagonist Harry Mason. A guy who’s hurtled into a situation he has no control over whatsoever and will scrabble towards anything solid and swing it in the darkness for protection. The guy’s never handled a gun and it shows, especially when he’s under pressure. We don’t want competence in Silent Hill, we want to feel lost and helpless. Army veterans indeed…
De-sexify the damn nurses
Seriously, the nurses shouldn’t ever be sexy. Hang your heads in shame, Double Helix…
