Silent Hill 4 was the last Silent Hill game l had left to complete in the main series (Still need to play & complete Shattered Memories) and I wish I didn't put it off for so long. I think the main reason I neglected it was due to it being the last game Team Silent themselves made and it being the red-headed step child of the main series. However, I ended up really enjoying it! I know it's a dead horse by now and I agree that comparing games to Dark Souls is lazy as hell. HOWEVER. I do think that Silent Hill 4 is to Silent Hill as Dark Souls 2 is to Dark Souls IF YA GET WHAT I’M SAYING.
I am quick to respect a game that experiments and escapes from the normal and Silent Hill 4: The Room (SH4) does just that. It definitely follows a very similar structure its older siblings established, but it really explored the creative space that went hand-in-hand with the established idea of a Silent Hill game. Sure, they did make a few missteps, in my opinion, but I would rather developers take those risks than playing it safe. I did enjoy the perspective change going to 1st person when inside your apartment vs. out in the spooky world being exclusively in 3rd person. It gave the apartment a unique feel that hasn’t been captured in the series before. They also went to make this game more combat-centric whiiiiich is the weakest part of the game. Combat is slow, monotonous, unreliable, and not that fun or exciting. Every time you want to swing or shoot your weapon, you need to hold R2 and let an animation play out which is already wasting time into your intense combat encounter. Then, once you’re in the combat stance, movement is slowed a little too much. If the player was a little more agile, I think it would’ve improved the overall combat.
Puzzles in SH4 were solid and one of the better parts of the game. The puzzle involving the key that mentions "the holder will wander aimlessly" was a great idea that makes the player think outside of the box to use a tool at their disposal they may have not known they had. Utilizing the apartment/spooky world system was very clever when inter-winding that with the puzzles.
I also feel like this game resonated with me more compared to me playing it at a younger age. I probably put an hour into the game when I first played years ago but playing it now I found myself relating to the main character a little more. Mainly because he’s been locked inside his apartment for a week. Hearing commotion outside? Peek through a singular blind to see what's up. Henry, the protagonist, has an option to constantly either look out his windows to people watch or look out his front door peephole to see what's occurring in the hallway. Not to mention his peephole to his neighbor’s apartment, but I don't relate to that one 😅 Also I found understanding people and their tendencies make these characters you're encountering in this mysteriously dark world way creepier than I remember. Before, I thought of them as lackluster and lame. Now I think of them as just people struggling and being weird but seeing how their environment has changed them to become this. I feel like this point is difficult to explain…
I don’t want to dive too much into spoiler territory, but I really enjoyed the apartment being completely separate from the obscure world you explore via the hole in your apartment bathroom. The way the game plays with and changes that dynamic was really fun to experience.
Now, the second half of the game is where most, if not all, of my frustration stems from. Turning the game into an escort mission deducts several things from this game. The person you’re escorting doesn't always follow you through area transitions, even though it looks like they’re close enough to. I wish they would've added some sort of indicator to let you know they are not accompanying you so you're aware you need to go back and grab them. I'm also struggling to see how this constant escort adds anything positive to the game. Horror games are less scary with a party and lack that solitude and loneliness feeling. Plus, all my current frustrations on the game stem from the escort and this mechanic 😦
I do genuinely think Silent Hill 4: The Room gets a bad rap. Sure, it’s probably not as good as the ones that came before it, but it shows that experimentation is still something to investigate. I haven’t played a game that successfully blends two gameplay modes with two different perspectives as well as this game does. Plus, I’m leaving out really cool and interesting mechanics and features as I believe they’re in spoiler territory. I do think people that hold the same mindset about Silent Hill 4 that I did are missing out on a really interesting and intriguing experience that they should form their own opinion on.
I played this on PS2, but it is available on PC via GOG for $10 and it’s 100% worth that price!
I am quick to respect a game that experiments and escapes from the normal and Silent Hill 4: The Room (SH4) does just that. It definitely follows a very similar structure its older siblings established, but it really explored the creative space that went hand-in-hand with the established idea of a Silent Hill game. Sure, they did make a few missteps, in my opinion, but I would rather developers take those risks than playing it safe. I did enjoy the perspective change going to 1st person when inside your apartment vs. out in the spooky world being exclusively in 3rd person. It gave the apartment a unique feel that hasn’t been captured in the series before. They also went to make this game more combat-centric whiiiiich is the weakest part of the game. Combat is slow, monotonous, unreliable, and not that fun or exciting. Every time you want to swing or shoot your weapon, you need to hold R2 and let an animation play out which is already wasting time into your intense combat encounter. Then, once you’re in the combat stance, movement is slowed a little too much. If the player was a little more agile, I think it would’ve improved the overall combat.
Puzzles in SH4 were solid and one of the better parts of the game. The puzzle involving the key that mentions "the holder will wander aimlessly" was a great idea that makes the player think outside of the box to use a tool at their disposal they may have not known they had. Utilizing the apartment/spooky world system was very clever when inter-winding that with the puzzles.
I also feel like this game resonated with me more compared to me playing it at a younger age. I probably put an hour into the game when I first played years ago but playing it now I found myself relating to the main character a little more. Mainly because he’s been locked inside his apartment for a week. Hearing commotion outside? Peek through a singular blind to see what's up. Henry, the protagonist, has an option to constantly either look out his windows to people watch or look out his front door peephole to see what's occurring in the hallway. Not to mention his peephole to his neighbor’s apartment, but I don't relate to that one 😅 Also I found understanding people and their tendencies make these characters you're encountering in this mysteriously dark world way creepier than I remember. Before, I thought of them as lackluster and lame. Now I think of them as just people struggling and being weird but seeing how their environment has changed them to become this. I feel like this point is difficult to explain…
I don’t want to dive too much into spoiler territory, but I really enjoyed the apartment being completely separate from the obscure world you explore via the hole in your apartment bathroom. The way the game plays with and changes that dynamic was really fun to experience.
Now, the second half of the game is where most, if not all, of my frustration stems from. Turning the game into an escort mission deducts several things from this game. The person you’re escorting doesn't always follow you through area transitions, even though it looks like they’re close enough to. I wish they would've added some sort of indicator to let you know they are not accompanying you so you're aware you need to go back and grab them. I'm also struggling to see how this constant escort adds anything positive to the game. Horror games are less scary with a party and lack that solitude and loneliness feeling. Plus, all my current frustrations on the game stem from the escort and this mechanic 😦
I do genuinely think Silent Hill 4: The Room gets a bad rap. Sure, it’s probably not as good as the ones that came before it, but it shows that experimentation is still something to investigate. I haven’t played a game that successfully blends two gameplay modes with two different perspectives as well as this game does. Plus, I’m leaving out really cool and interesting mechanics and features as I believe they’re in spoiler territory. I do think people that hold the same mindset about Silent Hill 4 that I did are missing out on a really interesting and intriguing experience that they should form their own opinion on.
I played this on PS2, but it is available on PC via GOG for $10 and it’s 100% worth that price!