Silent Hill: DownpourKonami Digital Entertainment
Rated M (Mature)
Released March 13, 2012 in North America
Overall Rating: 7.7 out of 10
Xbox 360/PS3 (I'm reviewing the former version)
(CAUTION: there may be some spoilers, intentional or not)
Silent Hill was doomed, on the fast track to Washed Out City, joining Resident Evil and Fatal Frame (still pissed that future titles will never be released in North America) along the shores, fishing away the twilight years. Homecoming, which was released in 2008, overwhelmingly disappointed most of its buyers, especially the hardcore fans. I know I all but declared the series gone by Shattered Memories (released in 2009), while others waited until longtime Team Silent veteran Akira Yamaoka (who wrote the music for all the games up to Downpour) to start planning the series's memorial service. Some turned to the graphic novels (which were seeing an upswing in quality) while others waited for the next title and the new film (due sometime this year).
After retreading a ton of history, here is the punchline: just like the Spanish Inquisition, Downpour was not expected. To be good, that is.
The story follows Murphy Pendleton, a man serving time in jail for an unexplained crime, being transferred to another prison. On the trip there, in a scene that recalls Harrison Ford's The Fugitive, the bus dodges a broken section of road and crashes in the woods. And so begins Murphy's nightmare as he tries to put distance between him and the crash scene, finding shelter and meeting new people along the way. But he can't run from the very thing that continues to haunt him: the reason he was in jail in the first place.
Downpour had a lot to answer for, yet it faced up to the challenges. It did things a bit differently: breakable weapons returned (from 0rigins), so did limited inventory (originated in Silent Hill 4: The Room), a wide-open, explorable Silent Hill; no major boss fights until a certain point, weather effects (hell yeah!), and side-quests. All of these things work. Yes, they do. Stop denying it. You squealed when you found out that you could explore Silent Hill more thoroughly. I did. Revel in the fangirl squeals.
The new concepts are much welcomed and work extremely well. I loved exploring the city, especially during the cycles of storms. It was fun to get rained on while looking for a random artifact. You got a chance to uncover more of the mysteries the city offered. I want this to be a permanent feature in all the games. The side-quests are also fun, more mystery-solving and nice breaks from the intensity of the main plot-line. All this, along with the weapons and inventory system, gives the game a sense of realism that was desperately needed. Anyone who ventures into Silent Hill wouldn't always be pursing the main goal, they would be hunting for shelter, food, or a working phone. May all this remain in future titles.
I can't say much to the controls, though the strange door-opening concept from Shattered Memories was scolded at enough and then refined to what Downpour has now: press A and then push the right analog stick. Much better than pressing the A button twice.
The graphics were pretty much to be expected: nice and clean, though choppy at times. I'm unsure who is to blame here, the game makers or the system itself. Either way, it does get bothersome as it causes some slowdowns during random times, though not severe enough to have me make fatal errors or anything.
The puzzles were a ton of fun. They were thematic and exciting, especially when you start including all the side-quests. You like random-ass puzzles, finding objects to fit onto other objects to get more objects? By Jove, you'll love this game! And for lulz, play it on the Hard setting.
The music is surprisingly underwhelming. My sister (who was watching me play, as per usual) noted times that the music was annoying, especially what she declared the "discovery music". While I didn't exactly agree with her, I could see how someone who was playing have the same opinion. The only music I remembered was two of the end credit songs, a country number and something by Louis Armstrong. I want to give the new guy (Daniel Licht) a fair shake. This is his first time and needs to do some homework for the future. He has promise.
As for characters, the only one with any sense of being was Murphy. He is probably one of my favorite Silent Hill protagonists, his multi-faceted personality being the main reason. I love it that he reacts to things (and sensibly at that), is kind of a jackass to people, loves his only child, has his own ideas of justice, and actually has tendency for compassion and honor. Everyone else leaves a ton of room to be desired. This is why upon hearing the game would only be about ten hours long, I knew character development would suffer the most. Everyone had promise of something great, like DJ Ricks and Anne Cunningham (though she had some more going than any of the minor cast). Lemme go ahead and say what hardly any fans have said so far: ye gads development team, be careful with Ricks and Howard Blackwood, y'all are getting dangerously close to a racist trope. And the funny thing is? More development would've fixed this.
The monsters? I didn't find them terribly unsettling, unless they effing jumped me while I was searching the city for a ladder hook. The designs were interesting and disturbing, though I don't understand most of their symbolism (the latter monsters did). Perhaps a second playthrough could answer this?
And finally, the story. It had tons of promise and delivered, mostly in whatever is lower than spades. I won't give anything away, but it was an intense, tragic story with shades of Silent Hill 1 and 2, but mostly about revenge. There were times that I wanted it to go longer, develop more of the characters and situations, but it was stuck on a time limit. Even though the endings gave you some answers, it didn't cover everything. And not in the vague "or do they?!" way, but in the "wait, you didn't tell us what happened to X or Y?" way.
Overall, Silent Hill: Downpour does have many more bumps and bugs to work on, but from the looks of it, the team is on the right path. By the next title, we can get something we can safely put up against Silent Hill 2 and call it awesome.
And Lord, if you grant wishes, may the future Silent Hill game feature a female protagonist and all the features that made Downpour most excellent. Amen.
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