To sum this game up in one word, it's a janksterpiece.
The game foregoes a lot of established series trends (the removal of the flashlight and radio, you never visit Silent Hill, ect) for better or worse, though I feel most of these changes breathe new life into the series. It allowed for a greater variety of locations and to not confine itself to dark narrow corridoors for a majority of the game.
The biggest issues I need to get out of the way is the combat and camera. To be blunt, they're bad. The combat is about as cack-handed as previous entries,. and the camera is about as handy as the ones in 90s 3D platformers, which they must have been aware of as they have a button dedicated to resetting it for the countless times it'll get stuck on the environment over the game.
The production value isn't up to snuff either, unfortunately. Textures are noticably lower quality over Silent Hill 2 and especially 3, models are worse, facial animations are more rigid, lighting is far poorer. I think some of this can be attributed to the larger environments that previous entries, but it is a shame to see this regardless.
That all being said, the game offers a richly disturbing atmosphere and complex story which more than makes up for its many, many faults.
The game wastes no time, establishing you're trapped in your appartment, locked from the inside and completely cut off from the world. Scream and bang on the door all you want, no-one will here you. They take their themes to their logical conclusions and leave a strong impression. Voyerism, abandonment, motherhood, isolation, all perfectly woven together to create an atmosphere of nightmarish hell, but also uneasy comfort.
Unfortunately the protagonist, Henry, has almost no personality and almost no dialogue. Though this is made up for by the game's antagonist, Walter Sulivan. Surprisingly, he is the main character of this game and he earns it, being an ever present force and a complex personality.
I can't say too much more about the story as people should experience it for themselves, but I will say there's a point roughly halfway into the game that completely changes the way you approach playing, and I'll never forget how helpless I felt in that moment. That moment alone was worth playing the game for.
If you can play past the glaring surface issues, I promise you there's an incredible experience waiting just underneath. Don't overlook this one.
The game foregoes a lot of established series trends (the removal of the flashlight and radio, you never visit Silent Hill, ect) for better or worse, though I feel most of these changes breathe new life into the series. It allowed for a greater variety of locations and to not confine itself to dark narrow corridoors for a majority of the game.
The biggest issues I need to get out of the way is the combat and camera. To be blunt, they're bad. The combat is about as cack-handed as previous entries,. and the camera is about as handy as the ones in 90s 3D platformers, which they must have been aware of as they have a button dedicated to resetting it for the countless times it'll get stuck on the environment over the game.
The production value isn't up to snuff either, unfortunately. Textures are noticably lower quality over Silent Hill 2 and especially 3, models are worse, facial animations are more rigid, lighting is far poorer. I think some of this can be attributed to the larger environments that previous entries, but it is a shame to see this regardless.
That all being said, the game offers a richly disturbing atmosphere and complex story which more than makes up for its many, many faults.
The game wastes no time, establishing you're trapped in your appartment, locked from the inside and completely cut off from the world. Scream and bang on the door all you want, no-one will here you. They take their themes to their logical conclusions and leave a strong impression. Voyerism, abandonment, motherhood, isolation, all perfectly woven together to create an atmosphere of nightmarish hell, but also uneasy comfort.
Unfortunately the protagonist, Henry, has almost no personality and almost no dialogue. Though this is made up for by the game's antagonist, Walter Sulivan. Surprisingly, he is the main character of this game and he earns it, being an ever present force and a complex personality.
I can't say too much more about the story as people should experience it for themselves, but I will say there's a point roughly halfway into the game that completely changes the way you approach playing, and I'll never forget how helpless I felt in that moment. That moment alone was worth playing the game for.
If you can play past the glaring surface issues, I promise you there's an incredible experience waiting just underneath. Don't overlook this one.