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[SlasherJPC]

So you could hear EVERYTHING that doctor was saying during that session? Before you had to choose four classes? >_>

Yeah same here, no problems. Could be the disc or might try reloading and seeing it it happens again.

 

[brandonh83]

God, could your impressions of the game have been more inconsistent? I don't know if it's humanly possible.

They're not. I said some stuff, which was mostly initial reaction sort of stuff, but as with a lot of things about the game, once the sort of novelty wore off I was left feeling disappointed. But pretty much the whole time I have said the following things:

-not scary
-bad chasing
-not enough story, despite the great twist/ending

I have been impressed with some things, with some sequences, and I was mindblown by the twist at the end. I made some posts like WOW THAT WAS AMAZING, and whatever I was talking about was indeed amazing to me, but the things that were great-- which are very few and far between, don't really make up for the game being an overall incredible disappointment to me.

 

[SlasherJPC]

They're not. I said some stuff, which was mostly initial reaction sort of stuff, but as with a lot of things about the game, once the sort of novelty wore off I was left feeling disappointed. But pretty much the whole time I have said the following things:

-not scary
-bad chasing
-not enough story, despite the great twist/ending

I have been impressed with some things, with some sequences, and I was mindblown by the twist at the end. I made some posts like WOW THAT WAS AMAZING, and whatever I was talking about was indeed amazing to me, but the things that were great-- which are very few and far between, don't really make up for the game being an overall incredible disappointment to me.

Everytime I read your posts, I just veer slightly to the left and see your avatar... and bust up laughing! :lol But there... you heard it from the man yourself. Brandon was dissapointed! Let no one question his thoughts on the game again.

 

[brandonh83]

Eh, people have it in their heads that I wanted to dislike the game because it's not like the other Silent Hill titles, but I dislike the game because I just don't think it's a good game so it doesn't really matter how I try to explain myself in the long run.

What I think confuses many is the fact that I can respond so strongly to some things in the game, and then turn around and call it a failure. That's what they call really liking some aspects, but not liking the product overall. The things I loved about the game were completely inconsequential to my general opinion.

 

[gamergirly]

Coming from a die hard fan of Silent Hill since the very first game (which I bought a week after it came out from EB, only to find it had been USED and reshrinkwrapped and the disc had gunk all over it -- HOW DO YOU DO THAT TO A WEEK OLD DISC, REALLY?!), I thought it was common knowledge to NEVER EVER EVER listen to what a Silent Hill fan thinks about a new Silent Hill game.

I mean come on, to be honest, most of us are entirely stuck in the past and will NEVER get over it. So ignore what we say for the most part, and just go for it.

:lol

 

[Deleted member 47027]

Played a good two hours last night. Got to the school. Man, those chase scenes are fucking irritating and horrible. Anyone know how many more they stuffed into this game before I can be done with the chase scenes? I think the main problem with the chase scenes is the control, I can't move too precisely. However, that might have been the plan all along. ARGH! I just don't like the chase scenes.

I will watch out for that bug in the school that'll screw your game up, though. Thanks for the heads-up, guys.

Oh, and the graphics are surprisingly nice. Imagine my shock to see what appears to be 60fps!

I wonder if it means anything when I repeatedly zoom in on my psychiatrist's crotch...:lol

 

[brandonh83]

Played a good two hours last night. Got to the school. Man, those chase scenes are fucking irritating and horrible. Anyone know how many more they stuffed into this game before I can be done with the chase scenes? I think the main problem with the chase scenes is the control, I can't move too precisely. However, that might have been the plan all along. ARGH! I just don't like the chase scenes.

You'll be runnin' up until just a few minutes before the credits roll, and IMO they just get worse because

Spoiler

they start giving you stuff to do, puzzle wise, DURING the chases, but it only happens once or twice-- but it sucks bad, both times

 

[Deleted member 47027]

You'll be runnin' up until just a few minutes before the credits roll, and IMO they just get worse because

Spoiler

they start giving you stuff to do, puzzle wise, DURING the chases, but it only happens once or twice-- but it sucks bad, both times

That's the last thing I wanted to hear, but it's good to know. I'll soldier on. I want to see this much-ballyhooed twist, as well.

 

[brandonh83]

That's the last thing I wanted to hear, but it's good to know. I'll soldier on. I want to see this much-ballyhooed twist, as well.

Well, they're really short and there's ONE CHASE, the very last one, that I think is easier to handle and thus a bit more enjoyable.

 

[plagiarize]

Oh, and the graphics are surprisingly nice. Imagine my shock to see what appears to be 60fps!

not to go all Dark10x on your asses, but it's very very rarely 60 fps. in the doctor's office, yes. with the flash light off indoors? yes.

but that flashlight generally brings it down to 30 and occasionally it goes even lower.

still an achievement though, i just hate when a game cock teases me with 60fps and then, lol, flashlight 30.

i was expecting it though. Origins was the same, at least on PSP, never played the PS2 version.

 

[brandonh83]

Honestly the flashlight didn't really slow things down on my end; or maybe I was too busy looking for freaky shit to notice it :lol

 

[plagiarize]

why i like the chases:

there are going to be things i list here that other people definately take as negatives, like how easy it is to get disoriented during them, and to get all turned around.

it's counter intuitive, but the bits that aren't the chase sequences seem more linear than the bits that are. i like that a lot. in snowy silent hill it's pretty easy to find your way around. as soon as it goes dark, and everything turns to ice, it's so easy to get lost.

pulling up your map, which you only really have time to quickly glance at when you're able to get far enough ahead of your pursuers... god, when i've gone the complete wrong way? so scary.

i love the over the shoulder cam for being useful and scary. 'oh shit they're right behind me!' moments aplenty.

i disagree that they ruin the tension in the game, because the tension comes from not knowing when one is going to begin. yes, when it freezes you run until it isn't, but you don't know when it's next going to freeze. then when it does, you don't know how the hell to get out, even if you get a waypoint on your map, you still don't know when it's going to end, and how to get there.

i love catching glimpses of things distorted beneath feet of ice that you can't quite make out and don't have time to stop and look at because fucked up monsters are coming after you.

personally, by the second chase sequences my monsters had morphed into something that was definately much more disturbing. i don't know if that's true for everyone. mine were things with weird cross shaped heads with holes in the middle instead of faces.

 

[dark10x]

not to go all Dark10x on your asses, but it's very very rarely 60 fps. in the doctor's office, yes. with the flash light off indoors? yes.

but that flashlight generally brings it down to 30 and occasionally it goes even lower.

still an achievement though, i just hate when a game cock teases me with 60fps and then, lol, flashlight 30.

i was expecting it though. Origins was the same, at least on PSP, never played the PS2 version.

They did that again!??! Really? I hated that about Origins as it was like this constant tease.

 

[brandonh83]

i love catching glimpses of things distorted beneath feet of ice that you can't quite make out and don't have time to stop and look at because fucked up monsters are coming after you.

The problem I have there, though, is that I have stopped to look at the things behind the ice and it never goes beyond just... things you already saw in the same environment, only sort of twisted around. Which is cool, but there's literally nothing else, when they could have really put some crazy fuckupery there.

i love the over the shoulder cam for being useful and scary. 'oh shit they're right behind me!' moments aplenty.

Yeah but you see that pretty much every time you press the OTS cam button, and besides you can hear them chasing you anyway so you know that when you look you'll see them behind you and it's none too surprising :lol

But hey I'm glad you're liking it, really.

 

[Deleted member 47027]

personally, by the second chase sequences my monsters had morphed into something that was definately much more disturbing. i don't know if that's true for everyone. mine were things with weird cross shaped heads with holes in the middle instead of faces.

Wow! I only wish mine looked like that! Skinless midgets

 

[brandonh83]

Wow! I only wish mine looked like that! Skinless midgets

Mine looked like that on my first playthrough. It's a relatively neat design.

What I want, more than anything, are more impressions to come through that are drastically different experiences than my first 2 playthroughs. I want people to uncover awesome things that I may have missed, or easter eggs, or hell, anything.

I want something like... "OMG I just found out if you go in this room and stare at the ice in the back right corner for a few seconds you can see [whatever]" or you know, just cool stuff that I may have overlooked. But I don't know. I was pretty observant my second time through as that time was dedicated to exploring the environments.

 

[scitek]

They did that again!??! Really? I hated that about Origins as it was like this constant tease.

Yeah, it happens constantly. I don't know why they didn't just limit the framerate to 30 and be done with it.

They're not. I said some stuff, which was mostly initial reaction sort of stuff, but as with a lot of things about the game, once the sort of novelty wore off I was left feeling disappointed.

Your comments about the gameplay itself haven't been inconsistent, but your opinion of the overall product have been. You said it was a good horror game, but not Silent Hill, then you played it again and said you were liking it more, then you flat-out said you dislike it in the post I quoted above. Either you like it or you don't. That's all I meant.

EDIT: I wanted to add that I fucking hate the chase sequences not really having any consequence for dying. They're set up like 3D Sonic levels essentially, just trial and error. Yeah, you look at the map, but there are usually several doors leading toward that direction you can take, and you almost HAVE to "die" several times in order to find the right path. As such, I think the game would be fuck-awesome to watch someone who knows exactly where they're going play, but playing itself becomes tiresome.

 

[hellclerk]

So you could hear EVERYTHING that doctor was saying during that session? Before you had to choose four classes? >_>

Game might just be screwing with ya...

 

[Ridley327]

Yeah, it happens constantly. I don't know why they didn't just limit the framerate to 30 and be done with it.

It hits 60 more than you're giving it credit for, even with the flashlight on. It does seem to drop to 30 in weird places, though, like

Spoiler

the drive in Cybill's car

and the chases seem to get really erratic at times. I only got up to the school before the game killed my TV, so maybe it stops hitting 60 consistently after that. I do agree that I, too, would have preferred them locking it down if it wasn't going to be smooth all the way.

Was I crazy for remembering that Origins ran at 60 fps all the time on the PSP if you forced 333MHz?

 

[brandonh83]

Your comments about the gameplay itself haven't been inconsistent, but your opinion of the overall product have been. You said it was a good horror game, but not Silent Hill, then you played it again and said you were liking it more, then you flat-out said you dislike it in the post I quoted above. Either you like it or you don't. That's all I meant.

I don't like it. I would say that it's better than most horror games that aren't Silent Hill games but I find a lot of horror games to be very shitty. So I guess I just mean that, compared to most others, it's pretty good. It's not scary at all but I think the atmosphere is solid for the most part and that's more than I can say about other games. I appreciate that about it. The isolation is nice. But, because I don't find it too creepy and because I don't think the story is worth a damn until the end, I'm overall disappointed. I have good things to say about the game but yes, in a nutshell I just couldn't get into it.

 

[SlasherJPC]

EDIT: I wanted to add that I fucking hate the chase sequences not really having any consequence for dying. They're set up like 3D Sonic levels essentially, just trial and error. Yeah, you look at the map, but there are usually several doors leading toward that direction you can take, and you almost HAVE to "die" several times in order to find the right path. As such, I think the game would be fuck-awesome to watch someone who knows exactly where they're going play, but playing itself becomes tiresome.

My question to you is this then. How do you make a game, with these sorta sequences, and make a consequence for the player that doesn't just straight up piss people off that keep dying, but still gives people the feeling of making progress and NOT just being trial and error? And saying not to make the chase seqeunces doesn't count. This way of trial and error sequences in games with no penalty is happening alot lately (Bioshock, Prince of Persia, etc) but to each their own I suppose.

Also like the view on SH games, the chase sequence some love, others hate. I happened to really like them. Never felt frustrated or irked by them either. They were tense, I always wanted to escape them asap, and generally loved the feeling of trying to escape something quickly. People complaining about getting frustrated and having major issues with them, I'm not doubting your experience or thoughts, but I personally didn't have any prboblems with these sequences other then thinking the hiding spots were pointless and not needed.

 

[brandonh83]

I think the chases were almost good. Honestly I think the level design is what hurt them the most; if I had more places to legitimately hide in without the game telling me whether or not I could hide there, I think it would be more intense. I just think the level design is so bad and not varied enough, and the blue outlining of the obstacles you can pass over/through really just makes things feel way more artificial and more game-like, while I think it could have seriously benefit more from better design. I should be exploring this dark, lonely, chilling icy hell while hearing weird sounds every now and then, and be totally freaked out by the atmosphere before the game launches me into a chase sequence. From then it could be like, okay, I hear stuff coming but I can't see it because it's so dark, but I know I need to find somewhere to hide-- and instead of being able to know where the creatures are, and what they look like, how many of them there are, etc., I could find a place to hide not knowing what's after me, or what it looks like, find somewhere to hide, and then when I'm hiding with a limited POV I see some kind of horribly odd grotesquery pass by. This game sort of does that when you're hiding, but it's not scary because you know what's after you at all times.

I just believe that if they kept shaking things up it would have been a lot better, but it's like, when you're done with the first chase, you know what to expect for the rest of the game and you get exactly that. Change up the level design, add more variety, don't tell me where I can hide or what I can climb over, give me more ways to slow down my pursuers, make it scarier by limiting the perspective; instead of the huge open environments make it more claustrophobic. There's just a multitude of ways this could have been handled better. I like the prospect of the chasing. I think it could be done very well.

 

[SlasherJPC]

I think the chases were almost good. Honestly I think the level design is what hurt them the most; if I had more places to legitimately hide in without the game telling me whether or not I could hide there, I think it would be more intense. I just think the level design is so bad and not varied enough, and the blue outlining of the obstacles you can pass over/through really just makes things feel way more artificial and more game-like, while I think it could have seriously benefit more from better design. I should be exploring this dark, lonely, chilling icy hell while hearing weird sounds every now and then, and be totally freaked out by the atmosphere before the game launches me into a chase sequence. From then it could be like, okay, I hear stuff coming but I can't see it because it's so dark, but I know I need to find somewhere to hide-- and instead of being able to know where the creatures are, and what they look like, how many of them there are, etc., I could find a place to hide not knowing what's after me, or what it looks like, find somewhere to hide, and then when I'm hiding with a limited POV I see some kind of horribly odd grotesquery pass by. This game sort of does that when you're hiding, but it's not scary because you know what's after you at all times.

I just believe that if they kept shaking things up it would have been a lot better, but it's like, when you're done with the first chase, you know what to expect for the rest of the game and you get exactly that. Change up the level design, add more variety, don't tell me where I can hide or what I can climb over, give me more ways to slow down my pursuers, make it scarier by limiting the perspective; instead of the huge open environments make it more claustrophobic. There's just a multitude of ways this could have been handled better. I like the prospect of the chasing. I think it could be done very well.

Well the bottom line is the chase sequences need to be more spred out and the nightmare segments should have consisted of exploring a bit and then in say ohhhh 3 outta 7 nightmare sequences should have had a chase seen thrown in. I'd actually like to see other games have chase sequences. Dead Space did this in the very begining and it was very effective way of introducing the threat. Wish it had happened more. So devs... in horror games, throw in some chase moments. They can be exciting and tense moreso when used sparingly.

 

[brandonh83]

Well the bottom line is the chase sequences need to be more spred out and the nightmare segments should have consisted of exploring a bit and then in say ohhhh 3 outta 7 nightmare sequences should have had a chase seen thrown in. I'd actually like to see other games have chase sequences. Dead Space did this in the very begining and it was very effective way of introducing the threat. Wish it had happened more. So devs... in horror games, throw in some chase moments. They can be exciting and tense moreso when used sparingly.

I don't think I would mind the chasing in all of the dark world sequences. I just think they need to be more natural. You have a starting line and a finish line, and that just sucks to begin with. Chasing is fine, just wait until I stumble upon something and disturb it, like a wild animal, and then it chases at me and I have to think quickly and find somewhere to flee, somewhere to hide, and just hide inside or under or behind various objects.

Also the flares you get-- you don't really ever have any room to check your map for the direction you're supposed to be going in, so why on earth can I not check the map while I have a flare ignited? The one sort of save haven they provide and you can't even check to see where you are. I just didn't really think any of it was well planned or conceived.

 

[plagiarize]

Was I crazy for remembering that Origins ran at 60 fps all the time on the PSP if you forced 333MHz?

i think... i stress the word 'think' that yes, you're wrong on that. i'm pretty sure i ripped my copy and played it off the mem stick with the PSP running at 333MHz and got 30 with the flashlight on, 60 with it off... but twas a long time ago.

Yeah, you look at the map, but there are usually several doors leading toward that direction you can take, and you almost HAVE to "die" several times in order to find the right path.

well I'd only done the first two myself, but I hadn't died once at the point I ended up glitched out and forced to start over again (which I haven't done yet).

but, then i have to stress again, i loved the chase sequences in Call of Cthulhu which were much more unforgiving and linear than these are. i tend to be fairly good at these kind of things. the taxi chase in Alone in the Dark is another example. i think i beat that second try?

if they get harder and if they were of the sort of trial and error thing you are describing, i'd probably still like them, if a bit less, but as i hadn't died yet, and definately went in completely the wrong direction at least once on each chase, from what i've seen so far, i think saying you have to die several times to find the right path isn't something that everyone is going to find to be true.

 

[SlasherJPC]

Also the flares you get-- you don't really ever have any room to check your map for the direction you're supposed to be going in, so why on earth can I not check the map while I have a flare ignited? The one sort of save haven they provide and you can't even check to see where you are. I just didn't really think any of it was well planned or conceived.

Brandon... just drop the flare with the + button and then check your map!

if they get harder and if they were of the sort of trial and error thing you are describing, i'd probably still like them, if a bit less, but as i hadn't died yet, and definately went in completely the wrong direction at least once on each chase, from what i've seen so far, i think saying you have to die several times to find the right path isn't something that everyone is going to find to be true.

This is true. I died only a handful of times, and really always had fun in these segments. This opinion will obviously vary from person to person but not everyone will find these segments bad or frustrating.

 

[silenttwn]

I'm at the

Spoiler

Nightmare School

right now. As a long time fan of the series, I have mixed feelings. The Nightmare is just... it doesn't hold up to the first game, at all. The chase sequences are really lame. I love the idea of taking the series in a Clock Tower direction with having the hero weaponless and having to constantly flee, except... well, maybe it should play a bit more like Clock Tower.

It's still interesting, though, so far. I would love Climax to build upon what they're doing here. I feel like if they made the monsters more like the first two games, and made the atmosphere much more thicker, we'd have something better on our hands.

Also, I think it's time for them to switch music composers on this series. I'm a huge fan of the first two game's soundtracks but everything post-SH3 has just been lame. I think part of the boring-ness attributed to the newer games can be partly pinned on the musical scores just being boring outside of a song here and there.

 

[Ridley327]

Well, you'll definitely get your wish on the composer front.

Speaking of, has that interview with Yamaoka gone up yet? I'm curious to see if he parted amicably with Konami or not.

 

[brandonh83]

Brandon... just drop the flare with the + button and then check your map!

Won't I get ganged up on though, or does the flare stay on?

 

[plagiarize]

Won't I get ganged up on though, or does the flare stay on?

i don't think the flare goes out any sooner when you drop it.

 

[brandonh83]

i don't think the flare goes out any sooner when you drop it.

That's cool, then. The map is still largely pointless though, I think it's sort of blind luck to wind up at the waypoint but I guess you can at least see where you're at.

 

[plagiarize]

That's cool, then. The map is still largely pointless though, I think it's sort of blind luck to wind up at the waypoint but I guess you can at least see where you're at.

i try to guess what the routes might be, and then scribble arrows on my map, so that at the very least when i get lost i should be able to see which rough direction i should be heading by just quickly pulling up my gps.

 

[theJwac]

GAF I can either play this game or the original Silent Hill which I've never played before. Which one do I play?

 

[plagiarize]

GAF I can either play this game or the original Silent Hill which I've never played before. Which one do I play?

i don't think the order will matter. both are very different games with similar settings and a similar setup for the story, but wholly unique stories.

i played the original first and am enjoying this one too... but you definately don't NEED to have played the original to enjoy this one, and playing this one won't spoil the original should you want to go back and play it later.

 

[brandonh83]

GAF I can either play this game or the original Silent Hill which I've never played before. Which one do I play?

The original. Better story, better art direction, better atmosphere, better music, one of the creepiest games ever made. This one has better controls and is more user-friendly but the original is an easy game as well. I just think you'll get more out of it, but I would say that about every SH game compared to this one.

However, play both if you can.

 

[Deleted member 47027]

It's good to see that I'm not the only person who found the hiding spots useless. Now, let's see how bad I really am. I shoved down some 'statues' looking type things in one of the chase scenes...in front of me. It didn't seem to do much good since I didn't like...tip it over and run immediately.

Am I missing the versatility of tipping?

 

[plagiarize]

It's good to see that I'm not the only person who found the hiding spots useless. Now, let's see how bad I really am. I shoved down some 'statues' looking type things in one of the chase scenes...in front of me. It didn't seem to do much good since I didn't like...tip it over and run immediately.

Am I missing the versatility of tipping?

i tipped stuff over as i ran past it, not before i got to it. it slows down the chasing enemies and if you time it right, it doesn't slow you down much.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

GAF I can either play this game or the original Silent Hill which I've never played before. Which one do I play?

Silent Hill 1 is a game where a dopey guy named Harry Mason runs through a gray fog town and eventually a red rust town and looks for his daughter while people make poorly voice acted comments about drug rings and gyromancy. He fights dogs and zombie nurses and pterodactyls and giant monster bugs with sledgehammers and guns, solves puzzles involving riddles and keys and drains (there's always drains) and generally spends his time going "Huh. This is a... room? What's with this... room? ...I don't understand. Hey, room. Have you seen a little girl around here?"

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a game where a kinda douchey-looking guy named Harry Mason runs through a snowy gray town and eventually a blue ice town and looks for his daughter while people who look kinda different each time you play call him crazy. He runs away from little gray monster children things through a bunch of rooms, finds keys right next to locked doors by moving stuff around with waggle, and generally spends his time looking at his phone and shouting "CHERYYYYYYL" constantly.

 

[Deleted member 47027]

i tipped stuff over as i ran past it, not before i got to it. it slows down the chasing enemies and if you time it right, it doesn't slow you down much.

I'll work on my Tipping Timing then :lol

I did find the keys-next-to-doors a little ridiculous. :lol :lol :lol

 

[brandonh83]

Silent Hill 1 is a game where a dopey guy named Harry Mason runs through a gray fog town and eventually a red rust town and looks for his daughter while people make poorly voice acted comments about drug rings and gyromancy. He fights dogs and zombie nurses and pterodactyls and giant monster bugs with sledgehammers and guns, solves puzzles involving riddles and keys and drains (there's always drains) and generally spends his time going "Huh. This is a... room? What's with this... room? ...I don't understand. Hey, room. Have you seen a little girl around here?"

At least it's creepy as all hell though :lol

 

[Ridley327]

Silent Hill 1 is a game where a dopey guy named Harry Mason runs through a gray fog town and eventually a red rust town and looks for his daughter while people make poorly voice acted comments about drug rings and gyromancy. He fights dogs and zombie nurses and pterodactyls and giant monster bugs with sledgehammers and guns, solves puzzles involving riddles and keys and drains (there's always drains) and generally spends his time going "Huh. This is a... room? What's with this... room? ...I don't understand. Hey, room. Have you seen a little girl around here?"

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a game where a kinda douchey-looking guy named Harry Mason runs through a snowy gray town and eventually a blue ice town and looks for his daughter while people who look kinda different each time you play call him crazy. He runs away from little gray monster children things through a bunch of rooms, finds keys right next to locked doors by moving stuff around with waggle, and generally spends his time looking at his phone and shouting "CHERYYYYYYL" constantly.

citizenkaneclap.gif

The key thing is an awesome observation. :lol

 

[plagiarize]

Silent Hill 1 is a game where a dopey guy named Harry Mason runs through a gray fog town and eventually a red rust town and looks for his daughter while people make poorly voice acted comments about drug rings and gyromancy. He fights dogs and zombie nurses and pterodactyls and giant monster bugs with sledgehammers and guns, solves puzzles involving riddles and keys and drains (there's always drains) and generally spends his time going "Huh. This is a... room? What's with this... room? ...I don't understand. Hey, room. Have you seen a little girl around here?"

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a game where a kinda douchey-looking guy named Harry Mason runs through a snowy gray town and eventually a blue ice town and looks for his daughter while people who look kinda different each time you play call him crazy. He runs away from little gray monster children things through a bunch of rooms, finds keys right next to locked doors by moving stuff around with waggle, and generally spends his time looking at his phone and shouting "CHERYYYYYYL" constantly.

I LOVED the 'Cheryl' button in the first segment of the game. I pressed it a LOT.

also, Silent Hill 1 was a snowy town too. don't forget.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

At least it's creepy as all hell though :lol

I never really thought it was that creepy, actually. Like, some moments yeah it's creepy, but for a lot of the "creepy" moments there's that weird PSX-era goofiness to its animation and graphics and sound that mess it up. Like you're all walking down a dark tunnel and it's all spooky and then Harry falls over like he slipped on a banana peel because some big red claw animal thing waddled up and jumped on you while making a gurgle screech.

Oddly enough, the atmosphere was actually kinda helped by some of the hardware limitations. I dunno know what it exactly it is, but the grainy image quality, jittery textures, and muffled sound made certain PS1 games (like Silent Hill and MGS1) seem a lot more dark, gritty, and atmospheric than their "cleaner" PS2 sequels.

 

[Ridley327]

I've always felt that both MGS1 and SH1 were shining examples of using hardware limitations to your advantage for that very reason. There are not a lot of games from that generation that can make that same claim, either.

 

[Snapshot King]

Wow, so I'm the only one who liked the chase sequences eh? Must be cuz I never had any trouble with them and never died and always ended up having a decent enough general sense of direction that I rarely got lost. The school one for example, I was able to complete in two...uh....circuits? I guess. One for the run and one for the puzzle.

 

[brandonh83]

I never really thought it was that creepy, actually. Like, some moments yeah it's creepy, but for a lot of the "creepy" moments there's that weird PSX-era goofiness to its animation and graphics and sound that mess it up. Like you're all walking down a dark tunnel and it's all spooky and then Harry falls over like he slipped on a banana peel because some big red claw animal thing waddled up and jumped on you while making a gurgle screech.

Oddly enough, the atmosphere was actually kinda helped by some of the hardware limitations. I dunno know what it exactly it is, but the grainy image quality, jittery textures, and muffled sound made certain PS1 games (like Silent Hill and MGS1) seem a lot more dark, gritty, and atmospheric than their "cleaner" PS2 sequels.

eh then we just don't see eye to eye on it, I appreciate the subtleties and suggestions and art direction and sound/music while some people just can't seem to get into it. I'm not calling you or anyone else who disagrees ignorant or anything, I'm just not in the same boat at all.

 

[PolishQ]

also, Silent Hill 1 was a snowy town too. don't forget.

Wasn't it ash? Or was that retconned by the movie?

 

[plagiarize]

Wasn't it ash? Or was that retconned by the movie?

that was retconning by the movie. a touch i liked actually.

it's just regular old snow in the first Silent Hill game which was until now the only game in the series that had snow rather than just fog. 0rigins has a nice touch with alluding to smoke, similar to the movie alluding to ash.

 

[brandonh83]

Think I'm going to play 0rigins. There's not much I remember about it. I remember the theater being really creepy. Proves Climax DOES understand how to make something creepy, but for some reason they just chose not to with this game.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

Can someone who's not a Silent Hill or Wii fanboy give me an honest review of this? I don't give two shits about Silent Hill lore or being true to the series, I just want a fun scary game.