1. comfybluepants

   9

   Silent Hill has been one of my favorite game series since I was young, and I can honestly say that this is true to the games original routes. With the occasional fixed camera angles, the revealing yet un-revealing story and the characters are so original and great, just as the originals were. I love Murphy, as it is hard to tell if he is good or evil at this point, a neutral hero that you craft with the choices you make in the game. The graphics and color scheme, in my opinion, are also very good. Though it does not look as good as games like Dead Space, it is still a very high caliber game in the graphics department. The color scheme is also very dark and horrifying, I think that its easy on the eyes but not only that, the dark tones make moving into new areas a harrowing experience. When I move into a new area thats dark in tones I don't feel happy or energetic I know that its dark and it helps me to set my tone appropriately. The combat system is great in my opinion. It moves back to the old Silent Hill combat systems. Its wonky, but its survival horror so what do you expect? It's supposed to be difficult. The blocking and swinging and the breaking of weapons makes the combat feel frantic, hurried and horrified. I've also heard complaints that there isn't enough ammo for guns.... REALLY? In a survival horror game, not enough ammo?! OOHHHH **** PLEASE! Anyway, the game is great. There aren't many enemies but the current enemies are horrifying and scary looking, the originals didn't have much variety either, they usually reskinned enemies later with similar AI. All in all, besides some technical glitches and framerate issues, this is one of the best Silent Hill games i've played.… Expand

   • Helpful? 18 of 21 users said Yes.
2. TheDeviantPro

   8

   I'll been a fan of Silent Hill since the first game came out and I found this rather enjoyable. The game take the series back to the classic roots, creepy atmosphere, fixed camera angles and a trilling storyline. Although I did felt the there were some issues with bugs, dull animation and combat. I felt that Vatra Games should have improve these things in the final release of the game. I did like how Murphy will give hints by talking to himself, I felt that it was a good way to help people. I also liked the music by Daniel Licht, I think he does a great job after taking over from Akira Yamaoka. I wouldn't say this is the best Silent Hill ever yet a good one, I hope that the next Silent Hill will be an improvement from Downpour.… Expand

   • Helpful? 2 of 2 users said Yes.
3. EvillivE

   7

   WARNING: THIS REVIEW IS LONG. Silent Hill games are some of the best games in the industry, but they have struggled to make a name for themselves in this generation, like they did back in the PS2 era. People hated Origins, Homecoming, and Shattered Memories, and, as far as the mainstream gaming public is concerned, the franchise's hay-day is over. I'm going to be honest with you, this game makes me angry, not because of its quality, but because of the apathy that most sites seemed to have for this game. From IGN's 4.5/10 review, to the overall lack of coverage of the game before release, I am convinced that the industry has lost sight of what has made it so great in the first place: creativity. The game opens with the player learning the basic combat mechanics in the game by brutally killing a man. If that isn't a departure from norms than I don't know what is. The game's graphics and technicals are, as many reviewers have pointed out, very bad. The frame rate stutters like crazy, load times are long, and the character models leave a lot to be desired. Graphics to me are like icing on a cake, you don't need it, and the cake can taste good without it, but you still wish you weren't just eating glorified bread. That's what this game is, cake without frosting. As for the story, I will say that it is good, but could have been better. There are two characters that serve no purpose (Ricks and the Mailman) and are there to pad for time. The pacing is also off, considering that so much of the game is spent actually getting to Silent Hill. Other than that the story is this game's saving grace, right next to the side missions. Speaking of side missions, the random objectives that will start cluttering your journal are all sorts of fun, if a bit random. I only wish that they had found a way to integrate them with the story a bit more, as they don't hint at the main twist or connect with any of the main themes (as far as I could tell). And now we get to this games biggest issue, the gameplay. The combat is serviceable, I certainly had no issues with it until the last part of the game (which I will **** about later). The chase sequences are over used and boring. The red orb wasn't scary and having to time traps doesn't scare me, it makes me confused (Silent Hill + traps = fail). Also, the monsters are boring and simplistic. Now for the most frustrating aspect of this game, auto-saves. All other Silent Hill games have had save points were we can save our game and work perfectly well as checkpoints, so then why the **** did you think that replacing them with an auto-save function would be better. For the sake of clarification, I don't hate auto-saves (I think they work fine for fast paced games like Uncharted), but if you're going to do so then at least give us the option to save whenever we want. I said the combat was serviceable because, so long as you engage enemies one on one, you will be fine. But this game loves to throw two or three enemies at you at once leading to some frustrating moments with the finicky lock-on system (which locks-on to the enemy you're facing, not the closest). Again this isn't to bad since the auto-save saves before all of these fights, and they never get too incredibly hard. That is until the final level, with the prisoner juggernauts. I entered a room and had to fight (I couldn't run away, there was a puzzle in that room) a prisoner juggernaut and two minions. I had one first aid kit, ten rounds for my pistol and a pipe. Every time I locked-on to an enemy, another would steam roll me from off screen. I was, on multiple occasions, backed into a corner and forced to block the enemies as the take turns using there over long combos (why can they do combos?) until my pipe broke and I ran out of first aid kits. Then I beat them, and realized that the auto-save function fell asleep. And I got stuck on the aforementioned puzzle, while enemies would pop up from out of nowhere. I eventually died, and had to restart from the prisoner juggernaut and the two minions and started the whole process over again. Then there's the final boss, which was a mess to say the least. I don't take issue with the boss or the fight, but rather the developers for using a play mechanic that we only used once and didn't make a point to tell me that that was even a ****ing option. Maybe I just suck, but to run around the boss for fifteen minutes, not knowing how to kill it really pissed me off. Despite all of the graphical issues and the uninspired gameplay, I honestly could have given this game a 9/10. But that last level left a bad taste in my mouth and made me hate what I could have tolerated. This isn't the worst Silent Hill game ever. It isn't even a bad game, but it does make me sad. Silent Hill was once a proud franchise, unafraid of being creative and taking risks. This game is a step in the right direction, but there is still a lot to be done.… Expand

   • Helpful? 3 of 3 users said Yes.
4. bitterroot1995

   3

   An attempt at silent hill gone wrong... again! Im gonna keep it simple, and just point out the flaws without mumbojumbo. This title has massive framerate drops, lags, and total lockups. (it is NOT my system. This is the ONLY game that does it on there.). The games animations are very amateur. You try to hit an enemy, and the weapon wont usually touch them and the character walks off on his own while in combat. Next, the graphics. The graphics and models are pretty good, however visuals are sub par to a 2006 PS2 game. They were rushed. Monster design is horrible as well. The monsters are all similar looking to humans. Areas are very frustrating to navigate due to the choice of camera angle. The game is not at all scary, and its a very predictable game. I was very exited seeing Rely On Horrors downpour playthrough, and buying it i was happy. However only 5 mins into it after the starting scene, the game already started glitching out. I started having framerate drops and it even crashed on one of the roads for no reason. My friend on his system is having the very same issue. Im NOT saying this game is terrible, but it is not good either. Im mixed on the decision, so im giving it a 4/10. I will change my review IF they release a future patch to fix so many peoples issues. All the critics have rated it mixed or negative, and these fanboy silent hill downpour freaks keep rating the game all up. There insane. Read reviews from trusted critics like IGN, the games not terrible or good. A patch to fix the SEVERAL framerate drops, crashes, awkward pauses in voice overs, animation problems, etc... i will change my score. Until then, im taking it back to walmart, since walmart now refunds games in my state. Konami, do what others are saying and listen to us. Develop "in house" and stop getting these other amature developers to screw us over like usual. I have not seen a good silent hill at all since 3. 4 was ok, Origins was a massive low end graphics lagathon disaster, homecoming had a good premise but fell short of good, shattard memories was horrible,and this cuts the cake. Im worried now... im sure PSvitas SH BOM will not succeed as said before. Im still gonna try the demo on my vita... provided there is a demo. (if theres no demo, im not getting it). So guys, be warned when buying this game you will run into several issues. The story is very good though, and a true silent hill fan should totally check it out at least.… Expand

   • Helpful? 8 of 24 users said Yes.

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