Rating of
3/5
Downpour is All Wet
Chris Kavan - wrote on 07/02/12
A new developer, Vatra, takes control of what I consider one of the most effective horror franchises. Yet there's something in this new game and for once I'm glad I got this on a really good deal and didn't pay full price when it was announced. There are too many random side quests and just not enough meat to the story to merit this anything above an average horror game. For people who have stayed with Silent Hill this long, there are some nice touches, and the atmosphere is still there, but it's not enough to make up for a lackluster story and characters.
Presentation: The original game kind of got made fun of for the fog-shrouded murkingess, but it has since become a standard feature. Downpour is no exception and it even throws in another wrench - when the rain starts to pour, the enemies get stronger and more prevalent. The look is still there - creepy emptiness and the "Other world" still crops up, though not as often as I would have liked. There is an annoying Void that follows you most of the time - it can and will kill you if you don't stop running. There are some annoyances - the game will just up and stutter from time to time, like a record that skips and though loading time aren't that bad, they sometimes show up in weird locations.
The enemies are also a bit different this time around - they are much more aggressive - Screams will stun you and then won't hesitate to beat the ever-loving crap out of you... and that's just the first enemy. You get Weeping Bats (that jump down and deal crushing blows), Minions - with or without shanks and Dolls - Mannequins who summon shadows to fight for them. Your weapons also have finite use and will break over time. Ammo is scarce, so use guns wisely, as even low-level enemies tend to take 3-4 hand gun hits, or a couple of shotgun round to go down permanently. There are only two real boss battles, and they're pretty easy to handle (the final boss is more of a puzzle than a fight anyway). I did appreciate the "Surprise" fake ending (even Pyramid Head showed up to the party) - though, sadly, no aliens.
Graphics are adequate, though nothing to get too excited about. The sound is the best - music and extra-creepy voices/children laughing/random things falling - still very effective at both the "GOTCHA" type scares and overall creep factor. It's too bad the story and characters aren't as compelling...
Story: Speaking of which, as you start, you're in prison and a guard lets you in to wallop a pudgy white guy in the showers for reasons you will find out as the game goes on. As you stab and beat the guy, eventually the game leads you to being transferred from one prison to an even worse prison - but the bus is traveling right by Silent Hill, and crash, you're free. But you know this game - you're not truly free, you're a prisoner in your own world of guilt and fear. In order to truly escape, you must face your past, and your future. Locations run the gamut from scary outskirts of town to scary downtown district to scary port district. Notable locations include a Monastery, Centennial Building (featuring a library and radio station) and, of course, the actual prison. If you stick to the main story, you can have this done within a few hours, however, the game throws in many (maybe too many) side quests ranging from collecting art work to helping a homeless guy find food and clothes to give you shortcuts access through the subway system. Rewards can range from a unique weapon (that will still break eventually) to just a single freakin' Med Kit (of which the game throws at you in abundance). Oh, but you get trophies too, so it's all good. The game goes by a good/bad point system - two major decisions, and whether you kill enemies or just wound them (or run away from them) determine if you get the "good" or "bad" endings - and a separate quest to dig up random items from the past games gives you the "joke" ending. Difficulty can be scaled from easy to hard, as can the puzzles.
The best elements are the little references to previous games: a jukebox that plays the theme to the first game, a hidden room that is, well, The Room from Silent HIll 4, pictures and a familiar truck that hearken back to Silent Hill: Homecomings - nice little gems that are fun to find when roaming the street and buildings of Silent Hill.
Gameplay: While the controls have come a long way since the original Silent Hill, things aren't too different, really. Hit detection seems better, though it's annoyingly hard to hit enemies with a gun (even the shotgun) when they get up close and personal. Also an annoyance is the fact you can't hold more than two weapons - a gun and a melee weapon (or two if you want) at the same time. Yes, that does give it some much-needed realism, but man, does it get annoying when you need to chop down a barrier on a random door or hook onto a ladder with a specific weapon, causing you to potentially give up something amazing. As I said, enemies tend to be on the aggressive side and even when you don't want to fight, they will chase you down and inflict damage (it was really annoying on hard mode).
Overall: Fans of the series might be a bit disappointed by this one. Although I think the atmosphere is still there, the sub-par story and characters, not to mention the aggressive enemies and breakable weapons, make this more action-oriented with less emphasis on the horror. It's not a complete disaster, but I was hoping for much more.
Presentation: 3/5
Story: 3/5
Gameplay: 3/5
Overall (not an average): 3/5
