• 28Aug 08

  The Bad About The New Silent Hill

  This is what I think of the new Silent Hill and i'm sure that you agree with me if you are a full fan of the series...

  I fully agree with all the negative comments about this next installment of the series.

  I feel, what i've seen with what they have given us in trailers and screens and previews, is that;

  -They have NOT put alot of thought behind the story and used the sick/twisted/genius minds behind the other games, it just seems so simple and so americanized, designed to entertain any dimwitted shooter idiot and not the clever behind the picture of meanings thinker.

  -They have NOT put enough detail in the idea behind silent hill how the town is the evil itself (not a living being),

  -They have NOT shown any respect in NOT reusing old material (Pyramid Head is what made SH2 brilliant, it was its main scare most of the time, what pushed you forwards in the game and pressed you deeper into the nightmare, its not something you can use again),

  -They have NOT payed enough attention to character design, the characters in my opinion are too 'clean', they don't have the blurry/unclear/disturbing feel to them, i've read that ''its what you cannot understand that scares you'', these creatures you can see clearly and you see what they are, they should be covered in blood or dirt or rust... but they seem more like cheap movie monsters rather than the darkest fears within you! plus the whole design of them are too basic, i don't see any of them have a resemblance to represent any of the main characters darkest fears like the creature in the other SH do. i also will use the example for the quote above, in SH2 when you first see the armless creatures, you see it scuttle away in the mist and there is a trail of blood following it, you follow it and see it keeps going (this was good, it arose curiosity and it gave you a chill because you couldn't see what it was) and then when you pick up the radio and the creature slowly arises and stands there, that was terrifying! first encounter, masterfully presented.

  -They HAVE seen the success of the first 4 games and see it as a great way to earn Money from fans!

  -They have NOT realized that the main character in SH isn't meant to be somebody, its meant to be anybody, a nobody! you play as a normal person (no experience in gun/combat training, no training in fear control, no expertise in anything) in this one you are a soldier (fair enough) but you can still perform combat moves and you probably have good skills with guns then which makes it boring to play, ITS A SURVIVAL HORROR, your meant to survive the horror not fight it off like in an ACTION HORROR! ruins the whole scare of not getting killed when trying to swing the pipe you are holding but shaking from fear. i remember watching a preview with some of the team behind the project and they said that ''the combat in the older SH have always been bad and dodgy'', case and point they are making it more action based and the thrill of fighting the monsters in a primitive way has died.

  -They have NOT paid attention into character voices, the child sounds like a douche, not to mention like a grown up 20 year old putting on a child voice like douche, they should have gotten a normal child, with a high voice and some innocence behind it, its that what scares you, when it is something that surrounds you everyday and is so warming to hear, but in this case it is something that is the voice of pure evil and darkness. i almost laughed at how the kid sounds, it sounded like a mentally deranged child that you would kick to get out of your way, there was no fear in it, but i didn't laugh as a part of my anticipation for this game was dying throughout the trailer. What i remember, the main character, Alex, had a normal guys voice, i really am proud of the game team to do that, well done, you have done one thing correctly.

  -They have NOT cared to name the game in chronological order, aka this one is the 5th game in the series but with no number in the title it might as well be the first game of the whole series. (NOTE: i could be wrong, there could be a chance that this story will preceed all the other stories but it would be more conveiniant if it was numbered like how MGS was numbered (MGS 3 wasoriginallythe start of thestory line in that series))

  -They have NOT given attention to the way silent hill presents itself, its not any ol' horror game, its a psychological horror, made to disturb you in a mental way, this one seems to only contain the cheap scare of sudden movement and jumps, there doesn't seem to be any true creativity in the way the horror is presented.

  -The transformation between the normal world and the otherworld can be seen visually, it wasn't until the movie (which was terrible) when you can see the transformation between the worlds happen, it was only for the movie public and not for the uniqueness of the idea. in the games the transformation happens suddenly, you would walk through a door or a dark corridor and BANG your in a place you can safely consider hell (SH; you walk down the dark ally, SH2; you go into a house and come out and its changed, SH3; you go out of the toilet and in again to find its changed, SH4; the tunnels take you to the places so no change), but in SH5 it looks like they have just copied and pasted from the film.

  +They HAVE a reasonable name for the game, 'Homecoming', i think it is pretty good, its basic, it tells you that the character is from SH and that he has a strong tie to the town, BUT it could be a fluke as the rest of the game design is looking cheap and unimaginative, so could the title.

  +/-They are using HD to its potential... i don't know if this is good or bad, its good as the environments can be very well made and painted, but yet again it can be bad as they will be too good and clean, the old ones was blurry in the detailing and that scared me as you couldn't see what was really there, and if it was the background or a creature (mainly SH and SH2). i know that the discs are much larger then regular dvd's and then they can make the game bigger and longer, but then they can also make the graphics so high that the game will be shorter and crapper, and end up a brief moment in my gaming time.

  As always i am not going to think that the game is complete rubbish until its release, but i will however see it as bad from the start, then if it is good i will feel satisfied and pleased with myself and if it is terrible i wont have too bad of a depression (although i will know that the series has for sure gone to the grave), but deep down inside i will give it a chance, the creator may have noticed the negativity going around and have released previews of a fake game which shows all of the above and then the real game is the perfected version with all the good of the old ones that make them unique and brilliant. but my anticipation for it is very low and doubtful!

  i think i have stated all my points, i may have more actually, but i will add them later if i think of them

  • Posted Aug 28, 2008 2:29 pm GMT
  • Category: Games
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