Silent Hill as we knew it is dead. Plain as that. Good news is that what we have in SH Downpour is a new take that’s pretty damn good but is still only just coming of age. You’ll be pleased to know that it doesn’t settle into it’s new groove without a nod to it’s past with in game music from previous SH soundtrack and even a sly reference to that “Special place”.It’s got the creepy down too, but only at parts. It does play up the psychological angle, especially as seen in SH2, but it doesn’t quite make as deep an impact. To be sure, it does revert to the action oriented feel and cheap pop out scares as seen in homecoming but there does seem to be an attempt at balance.
There’s a whole lot of “it’s good... but” in this game. With it’s horrible combat system... I mean HORRIBLE (I have dropped a weapon so many times trying to ready it to hit something), and somewhat uninspired beginning at the Devil’s pit, It would be easy to see the scales tipped in the favor of this being another disappointing Silent Hill game... BUT, keep playing. I promise it gets better.
All in all. If you’re a SH fan and haven’t picked this up yet. do. It’s pretty damn good and gets me hoping that maybe the next installment will be this new generations Silent Hill 2.
- Josh