This game starts so amazingly. The Room is such an awesome concept, and seeing it change as you go is so cool. I love coming back to it and seeing how things changed. The main gameplay is pretty cool too as you explore the areas full of creepy characters as the great story unfolds.

But then the second half hits, and yeah, it’s a real slog. Backtracking through areas you’ve already been to, and the whole time you have to a slow escort mission. It’s a massive shame, because if the second half was as good as the first, I would LOVE this game - but it just drags it down significantly for me. I went from being excited at what’s coming next, to just wanting it to wrap up.

Creatively, Silent Hill 4 is a mixed bag. I really love Eileen and some of the other characters, but I don’t care at all for Henry. The lack of puzzles is really disappointing, but the few that are there that use the room are brilliantly clever. The character design is cool, but the enemy and sound design is a huge step down. The room is dripping in atmosphere, but the level gameplay wasn’t scary at all.

Silent Hill 4 has some of the most genius ideas I’ve seen in gaming, but unfortunately doesn’t execute them in as good as a game as those ideas deserve to be in.