Silent Hill Downpour (Xbox 360)

Downpour is sort of a return to form for the Silent Hill Series and a very welcome one.
It takes and modernizes the formula of the first two Silent Hill titles in which the whole town is yours to explore.

The main story is fantastic, it's an original story that does not involve any of that memory loss nonsense that had become an overused cliche in the Newer Silent Hill titles. You play as Murphy Pendleton. A prisoner who is being transferred to another prison. There is a disruption on the bus which causes it to crash and Murphy winds up in Silent Hill where he will have to face his Demons (Literally!) in order to get out of town.
I'd go into the story more but it would be spoilers a plenty. Let's just say that he had his reasons for getting arrested in the first place and leave it at that because I really think this is the kind of game you need to go into without knowing the details.
In typical Silent Hill fashion, you'll encounter other people within the town and also in the traditional Silent Hill fashion these characters will be vital to the story but at the same time will not be there very often, you're generally left to your own devices.

A nice new Feature of the game is side-quests, and there are plenty of those scattered all over town. Combined, these take up more time than the main storyline itself but are essential if you want to get the full story on both Murphy and the town itself. You'll also notice nice little nods to previous games in the series, such as music from the original four games playing on the radio and on jukeboxes, photos and paintings of established Silent Hill locations and characters, memos that will seem very familiar and puzzles that pay tribute to the games in the right way.

Downpour has managed to do what Homecoming failed to do and that is to create an enjoyable and fresh Silent Hill experience, while it may suffer from a few framerate issues, these didn't affect my experience that much, they only ever happened occasionally while saving and in no way made the game unplayable. I think other reviewers have made a bit of a mountain out of a molehill here, it's really not as bad as they make it out to be.

The rumors about breakable weapons are indeed true, however these weapons will last you a bloody long time before breaking, particularly the metal ones. This is much less of a Hassle compared to Silent Hill 0rigins where a sturdy steel pipe could break in a matter of seconds. You are limited to one melee weapon at a time and have a holster for a pistol and other guns that you can carry on Murphy's person. The Melee weapons are pretty much whatever is laying around, I found myself using the Crowbar the most, however you will need certain weapons to overcome certain obstacles. Axes to chop down boarded up doors etc.

The Otherworld is much more surreal in Downpour than it has been in previous games, it almost feels like a Salvador Dali painting at times. You'll find there are many segments of otherworld where you will have to run away from a glowing bodiless entity in Shattered Memories style (Think the end of the haunted house ride from Silent Hill 3 but much more deadly) But along side that you'll find some rather interesting puzzles and some really creepy looking visuals while you're there.

There are no broken locks in Downpour - All inaccessible doors are only locked and you will find keys a plenty while looking around that foggy old town we all know and love, this may throw some people off a little because it is breaking tradition a little, as well as autosaving. There are no red glowing save points around town but there is an autosave feature which I've had no trouble with myself. Though admittedly I will miss having multiple save files on my Silent Hill games (Because I'm a filthy cheater that likes to see all the endings as fast as possible) As for the endings, they will all blow your mind! I've yet to find a UFO ending sadly but I'm still looking.

The soundtrack is one I know a lot of you have been skeptical about. Let me halt your skepticism right now by saying that Daniel Licht did an incredible job! Whiel we will all miss Akira Yamaoka and his chilling atmospheric noise, Licht has managed to pull off the same sounds but with his own spin on it. Yamaoka or not It fits the game perfectly and there's a lot more music this time round which is a nice change from just audio atmosphere.
Daniel Licht has composed a beautifully chilling score for the game that sent shivers down my spine and really strummed on my heartstrings.

All in all this game is fantastic. Definitely up there with the Silent Hill greats and it's about time too!
Don't let a few rumors stop you from experiences this masterpiece of Survival Horror. It's a Must Play for all gamers that like a good horror story with some real edge to it.

Silent Hill was a pinnacle in the survival horror genre, and, in my opinion, the gaming world. It showed that you could tell a fascinating and intriguing story in video games. Another great thing about Silent Hill was the characters. Unlike Resident Evil, you took control of normal, everyday people in horrific situations. But Silent Hill has never been about scares or making gamers jump; it's about the psychological aspect of it.

Developed by Vatra Games, the eighth installment in the series puts players in the shoes of Murphy Pendleton, a convict who, after his prison transport bus crashes, finds himself in Silent Hill. I'm not going to go into detail about the story as I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but that's the basic plot.

The game really nails the atmosphere. With creepy ambient music and a great soundtrack from Daniel Licht (new composer of the series). One of the dissapointments of the game, and I have to point it out, is the monster design. The monsters aren't really scary. Unlike the creepy nurses and Pyramid Head from previous games, the monsters in Downpour don't really give any sense of terror or anxiety. I do praise Vatra for not using Pyramid Head again like in Homecoming, and using completely new monsters, but the monsters aren't really scary at all.

The Otherworld in Downpour will raise anxiety while playing the game (accompanied with some great ambient music). Most time in the Otherworld you will spend being chased by some sort light that wants to suck Murphy in, which keeps your heart pounding as you try to escape from it.

Vatra Games have shown that they know the recipe for a great Silent Hill game. Downpour is a warm welcome back to the series and stays true to the series' previous entries. Hopefully Vatra will make the next Silent Hill game and with better monster design and another great story, a true classic.

I absolutely love this game!
If you take anything from this review then let it be this....... Turn your speakers up and the brightness down. Look EVERYWHERE, I actually ended up making it to Silent Hill without a map. I was wandering around for 30 minutes or so. I loaded it back to when I left Devil's Pit and realised I had missed a map and a flashlight. This game is not forgiving and will not let you know that you have missed something. (EDIT) Rule three, don't conserve ammo because at points in the game you'll lose all weapons, so just give the monsters a good fight.
The game is just simply, the best Silent Hill game I have played, period. Hands down beats all the other releases. It's very spooky, sometimes you just don't want to move because of what may be up the road. It makes me jump so much, at one point I shouted at the screen HOLY S*** PLEASE DON'T HURT ME. Things just come out of nowhere, enough to keep you on edge.
The game let's you basically free roam around SH. What I like is that there is usually no heads up on what to do. This will let you explore and searching every nook and cranny of the town.
The monsters, although to a limited number are still scary as hell. The screamers freak me out and when one of them suprisingly jumps on your back you will jump out of your chair. When it rains, they get very excited so take caution and find shelter.
The game is just how it used to be, welcoming good puzzles, radios that play SH classics, paintings of past SH characters, and a good return of many wheelchairs with spinning wheels around the town.
The story so far is great (I'm still near the beggining), new characters make it feel very fresh.
The music is great, spooky and very tense.
Also included is quite a few side missions. If there is one you NEED to complete is the one at the police station as this will stop the free roaming police cars that love spawning quite a few nasties at once.
A few minor problems, one is the frame rate can drop, but it's not that much so doesn't bother me and two, the loading screens can take a while so try and install it to your harddrive for better loading times.
All in all this game is great and a very good effort from the new makers. If I to give it a score out of ten then I would go for 9/10.