First off, I was REALLY excited about this game, since I've been a long time fan of the Silent Hill games since the first entry. Now, the first three games were basic protocol, and not much changed between them. In SH4, however, Konami decided to take the game in a different direction. In fact, with some of the things that go on, it isn't necessarily a Silent Hill game after all...
GRAPHICS: Not very much improved since SH3, but that's a good thing. The graphics are still excellent and the amount of detail is stunning. Lighting effects haven't been much improved either, but how can you improve on something that needs no improvement?
SOUND: People say the score is a lot better than SH3's, but I don't see how, seeing as how the games bear no real music. At least not SH4. I didn't really like the final boss music, come to think of it. I liked the final boss tunes from SH1, SH2, and SH3 better. SH4's final boss song had almost no real taste in it. Sound is very realistic in some areas, such as rushing water and howling wind. The sound does glitch, though...highly unlikely in an SH game. For instance, in the Prison World, the sound from the pipe water sometimes cuts off, so you'll be watching water spill onto a concrete floor in complete silence.
GAMEPLAY: Though I let the scheme change slide, I still had a small problem with the controls. The controls in the first 3 games were consistent, changing their scheme only a bit between them. In SH4, the control scheme has COMPLETELY been switched around. You are always in 2D control mode, and you must use the analog stick to move the character. You run with the circle button (PS2) and watch the character flail a bit while he's running (not a huge problem, but in the previous installments, the characters ran realistically), and the game HEAVILY influences using melee attacks more than guns. Yes, in the earlier SHs, using guns were your best bet. Here, using guns is typically a waste. You only have 10 inventory slots in your inventory this time, and that inventory is accessed as a real-time window instead of an inventory screen. When you get ammo for your gun, prepare to be throwing your gun off to the side every now and then to use a melee weapon in its place. Every ammo pack takes up one space of your inventory, and the guns aren't even that useful. You only get two guns...a handgun and a Revolver. You'll have a hard time managing your guns and ammo while maintaining inventory, so like I said, prepare to be dropping your guns off to the side to use a melee weapon in its place. The Revolver is even more useless than the handgun...it's more powerful, but you'll only come across 3 or 4 ammo packs through the whole game. Also, your health will be displayed on screen, next to a "Power" bar. When using a melee weapon, you can adjust the strength of your swing to deliver serious damage to enemies. In this game, you only get one save point and one item box...your apartment.
Spread throughout the stages are holes marked by red markings. Step through these holes to reappear in your apartment and do whatever you have to do before you continue your quest. The Room is viewed in First-Person View, allowing you to carefully examine every specific location of your apartment. And don't worry about riddles much...the only real riddle I've seen is matching up the water pipes in the Prison World on Hard Mode. Enemies are almost unrelenting...especially ghost creatures. There's a certain way you must defeat them, but since they're ghosts, they can't be killed. The game has a creepy atmosphere to it, too...strange things can happen, such as your apartment being possessed after a few level completions, and strange images...one of those images being an enormous head of one of the main characters staring at you with googly-eyes.
STORY: Henry Townshend moves into Room #302 to have a life in happiness in solitude. Apparently, the room ain't too happy about him, so he starts having nightmares. Once they start, he finds himself locked in his apartment with his door bolted shut from the INSIDE. He tries to call for help every now and then, but he can see and hear outside his door. No one can see or hear inside. Even when he goes through all this craziness with monsters and ghosts, when he looks out his windows, he finds that the world is still passing before him like normal. He finds a hole in his bathroom. Trusting this could be his only way out, he proceeds through the hole and embarks on his adventure. The problem here is that even though this game specifically says it's a "Silent Hill" game, it really isn't. They refer back to Silent Hill every now and then, but that's all that's said. What keeps the game Silent Hill-based are these references, plus the game puts more light on who Walter Sullivan is (you know, the nutbag who wasn't really that much news in SH2...and probably SH3, but I don't remember).
BOTTOM LINE: Though the game is pretty decent, I'd recommend the first Silent Hill entry for beginning fans, and SH2 for those who want a story that doesn't do with any of the others. It wouldn't hurt to try this one, though. 8.25/10.
GRAPHICS: Not very much improved since SH3, but that's a good thing. The graphics are still excellent and the amount of detail is stunning. Lighting effects haven't been much improved either, but how can you improve on something that needs no improvement?
SOUND: People say the score is a lot better than SH3's, but I don't see how, seeing as how the games bear no real music. At least not SH4. I didn't really like the final boss music, come to think of it. I liked the final boss tunes from SH1, SH2, and SH3 better. SH4's final boss song had almost no real taste in it. Sound is very realistic in some areas, such as rushing water and howling wind. The sound does glitch, though...highly unlikely in an SH game. For instance, in the Prison World, the sound from the pipe water sometimes cuts off, so you'll be watching water spill onto a concrete floor in complete silence.
GAMEPLAY: Though I let the scheme change slide, I still had a small problem with the controls. The controls in the first 3 games were consistent, changing their scheme only a bit between them. In SH4, the control scheme has COMPLETELY been switched around. You are always in 2D control mode, and you must use the analog stick to move the character. You run with the circle button (PS2) and watch the character flail a bit while he's running (not a huge problem, but in the previous installments, the characters ran realistically), and the game HEAVILY influences using melee attacks more than guns. Yes, in the earlier SHs, using guns were your best bet. Here, using guns is typically a waste. You only have 10 inventory slots in your inventory this time, and that inventory is accessed as a real-time window instead of an inventory screen. When you get ammo for your gun, prepare to be throwing your gun off to the side every now and then to use a melee weapon in its place. Every ammo pack takes up one space of your inventory, and the guns aren't even that useful. You only get two guns...a handgun and a Revolver. You'll have a hard time managing your guns and ammo while maintaining inventory, so like I said, prepare to be dropping your guns off to the side to use a melee weapon in its place. The Revolver is even more useless than the handgun...it's more powerful, but you'll only come across 3 or 4 ammo packs through the whole game. Also, your health will be displayed on screen, next to a "Power" bar. When using a melee weapon, you can adjust the strength of your swing to deliver serious damage to enemies. In this game, you only get one save point and one item box...your apartment.
Spread throughout the stages are holes marked by red markings. Step through these holes to reappear in your apartment and do whatever you have to do before you continue your quest. The Room is viewed in First-Person View, allowing you to carefully examine every specific location of your apartment. And don't worry about riddles much...the only real riddle I've seen is matching up the water pipes in the Prison World on Hard Mode. Enemies are almost unrelenting...especially ghost creatures. There's a certain way you must defeat them, but since they're ghosts, they can't be killed. The game has a creepy atmosphere to it, too...strange things can happen, such as your apartment being possessed after a few level completions, and strange images...one of those images being an enormous head of one of the main characters staring at you with googly-eyes.
STORY: Henry Townshend moves into Room #302 to have a life in happiness in solitude. Apparently, the room ain't too happy about him, so he starts having nightmares. Once they start, he finds himself locked in his apartment with his door bolted shut from the INSIDE. He tries to call for help every now and then, but he can see and hear outside his door. No one can see or hear inside. Even when he goes through all this craziness with monsters and ghosts, when he looks out his windows, he finds that the world is still passing before him like normal. He finds a hole in his bathroom. Trusting this could be his only way out, he proceeds through the hole and embarks on his adventure. The problem here is that even though this game specifically says it's a "Silent Hill" game, it really isn't. They refer back to Silent Hill every now and then, but that's all that's said. What keeps the game Silent Hill-based are these references, plus the game puts more light on who Walter Sullivan is (you know, the nutbag who wasn't really that much news in SH2...and probably SH3, but I don't remember).
BOTTOM LINE: Though the game is pretty decent, I'd recommend the first Silent Hill entry for beginning fans, and SH2 for those who want a story that doesn't do with any of the others. It wouldn't hurt to try this one, though. 8.25/10.