Silent Hill: Downpour

In the most recent issue of Game Informer, notably actually having something worth reading in it, I discovered an in-depth article of the new upcoming Silent Hill game. Here's the rundown of what is being done differently and what's being maintained from past titles.

First, the project is in the hands of the Czech Studio, Vatra Games, who have gone on record to speak their mind on the series. To paraphrase the interview they say that "Silent Hill itself should be the enemy, an omnipotent malevolent force that should oppress and pressure the player at all times." In short, they're bringing back the atmosphere of Silent Hill 2... good luck. Also, the studio is bringing back some old staples of the franchise, namely fixed camera angles to perform certain moments of tension, jury's still out as to how, and the puzzle system. For those not aware, in the first Silent Hills, there were some braintwisting puzzles (using a six pack of orange juice to fix a jammed garbage chute comes to mind) and the player had the option to set the difficulty of the puzzles separately from the combat. Also, the story will be separate from past Silent Hills in just about every sense. No connection to the Silent Hill cult, no connection to the Masons or the Sunderlands, and no Pyramid Head.

Also, the monsters and town design will be radically different from past titles as well. To go back to Vatra Games intention for the series, The town of Silent Hill is supposed to take the most basic fears of the poor individual inside it and uses them to manifest in flesh. In that mindset, it makes no sense that monsters have been rehashed to death after Silent Hill 2, which have now been degraded into basic flesh in a plastic bag looks. The monsters will have a distinct appearance to them that will coincide with the new atmosphere Vatra will create for the town. An atmosphere that was inspired from the more recent Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, a title which I personally prefer to be canon over Silent Hill 1. Past Silent Hills have used fog to a great degree, Shattered Memories used snow and ice, the new title will use rain and water. Thankfully, past levels will not be re-used this time around. The reasoning behind this is that for those Silent Hill fans out there, the entire south-eastern part of the town always seems to go without discovery or any examination, until this title that is. As for the appearance of this new area, it's supposed to remind everyone that Silent Hill was a vacation spot as well as a coal mining town before crap started to happen.

The story this time around, will involve a man called Murphy Pendleton, who is on a prisoner bus making a transfer when a crash happens. The guy wakes up and attempts to escape the police, leading him unknowingly into Silent Hill. As for the combat, it seems to be a mix between Shattered Memories' approach to avoid conflict all together, and street fighting if all else fails, using improvised weapons like glass bottles and chairs. In other words, your first reaction when you see a monster isn't to shoot, but to run while shooting then run some more.

Unfortunately, Silent Hill's signature Composer, Akira Yamoaka won't be around this time. However, the new composer, whose past credability is on the tv show, Dexter, seems to be handling himself pretty well.

So take this thread to discuss your impressions of what is being done. If you can't really visualize what this new title is trying to do, here's the debut trailer.