In short
If this were a brand new IP I would be pretty impressed despite the some poor element. But because this is from a franchise that was once on the top of the charts – I am a little disappointed. I think I enjoyed it more than most thanks to the great atmosphere created by the audio visual experience, and some of the gameplay features, but then other aspects in these areas do fall short detracting from the experience. While Silent Hill Downpour was a good gaming experience for me, it was also a mixture of highs and lows.
Developer: Varta Studios
Publisher: Konami
Distributor: SterKinekor Entertainment
For fans of: Survival horrors
Reviewed on: Playstation 3
Also available on: Xbox 360
If we had to give it a numerical score: 7.5/10
Overview
Murphy Pendleton is an inmate that gets stranded in Silent Hill following a bus accident transporting inmates. Murphy needs to survive the creepy mountainside town in this survival-horror filled with eerie creatures, and collect all you can which may help him solve puzzles along the way. Silent Hill Downpour features a bunch of side-quests alongside the main story.
Likes
- Ambience
- Scoring
- Voice acting
- Soundtrack
- Storyline
- Some great gameplay aspects
Not so much
- Clumsy blocking
- Archaic fighting mechanics
- Some poor gameplay aspects
Gameplay and Features
Downpour is mostly true to the survival-horror adventures before it in the series with some modern aspects. You can expect gameplay aspects common to this generation that were not available in the Silent Hill ‘hey-days’. It’s a story-driven psychological title that has you exploring every nook and cranny for items or clues to help you solve puzzles or unlock the storyline.
The control-mechanics work well for the most part but fall very short in the combat region. Murphy just swings his arms around like an uncoordinated drunk of some sort. That coupled with the fumbling camera movement, made for some very clumsy combating. For once I don’t need to blame my own clumsy touch on the control for getting mauled in combat – it was down to the combat design and mechanics. You need to be very precise in facing the enemy when either swinging your fist or the abundance of awesome weapons.
I say weapons, but Downpour lets you use almost anything to clobber your foe; from chairs to crowbars; you have an abundance of items you can attack with. The items also vary in effectiveness with different enemies. I would have loved to carry more weapons and items, but the fact that Murphy can only carry one weapon and one melee weapon just adds to the realistic ‘survival’ aspect. You are even forced to change weapons and items as they will gradually deteriorate.
I don’t believe (or remember) previous Silent Hill titles needing you to make decisions which I think affects how the game unfolds – I have only played through once, so I can’t say for sure. The decisions are usually moral based, a theme that is evident throughout the game.
‘Downpour’ might have given us a clue to the weather playing a key role in the game, which it does. The real-time weather system will guide or alert players of danger. Fog will suddenly blow in or it begins to rain, suggesting you need to keep your guard up.
The gameplay as a whole has flashes of genius which is occasionally let down by some poorly designed elements. The end result is that at times you will be engaged and satisfied, and then at other times frustrated and disappointed.
Audio and visuals
The presentation looks familiar, like many games before if, nothing fresh or spectacular. The in-game sub-menus are easy enough to navigate through in a ‘book’ form, but again, nothing special or even modern for that matter. The presentation as a whole goes nicely with the film or realistic look of the game. You even begin the game with all indicators of key objects off and will need to turn them on if you are not copping, otherwise you have no indication leading you to objects or clues.
To keep the cinematic ambiance of the game, you even need to go into your sub-menus to see what your health is sitting on. I didn’t mind this at all as it does keep you feeling immersed in the story and has that realistic feeling to it. Murphy will give you clear indication of his health level anyway – the more blood, the worse off he is. He will start to limp or hold his arm when he is really hurt, and his heart starts pounding so you know he is on his last legs.
The developers used the Unreal Engine so you can expect a decent visual experience for the most part. This is important with any horror and the developers did a wonderful job at creating that authentic and ambient ‘horror’ setting. The graphics are good in places; well textured characters’ and their animations; and then there is bland looking scenery and smudged looking objects – an overall mixed bag of quality here. There are some frame-rate issues here and there where the background suddenly lags.
The Silent Hill Downpour locales were extremely well designed and an absolute highlight for me. The locales made for a truly immersive, creepy atmosphere. Downpour is also a brilliant cinematic experience, carrying the story along nicely and introducing you to the brilliantly suitable characters. The characters you meet along the way are exactly like those out of a brilliant horror flick, and so they help elevate the strong storyline.
The sound quality is of an extremely high standard. From the eerie scoring to the brilliant voice acting – top notch and well suited to the horror theme. The scoring and the audio brilliantly recreate that constant sense of uneasiness we look for in horrors. Daniel Licht, best known for Dexter, composed the tense soundtrack and the chilling theme song was performed by Korn.
Closing comments
Silent Hill Downpour just makes into the ‘good game’ library for me. The aspects that make up the game vary in quality in almost all areas. The gameplay, the aspect of a game that makes or breaks it for me, is generally good, but then important aspects like the aged fighting mechanics and clumsy blocking could’ve and should’ve been better.
At the end of the day I can’t say the negatives were enough to spoil the excellent storyline and the tense or uneasy ambiance of Downpour. I enjoyed the experience despite of this and so if you can overlook the design blunders, Silent Hill Downpour provides an atmospheric survival-horror in a genre that is very much lacking for choice.
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