Silent Hill HD - Collection (Xbox 360)

So after some considerable faffing about regarding delays and whatnot Silent Hill HD Collection has landed in the UK.

For those looking to comparisons to the original, I can offer a comparison on Silent Hill 2 as I owned it on the Xbox, but this is my first time playing Silent Hill 3.

Graphics

So this being an HD re-release I'm sure the first thing you will be wondering about is graphically how it compares to the original. Silent Hill 2 as far I can tell looks much the same as the original, some textures have been cleaned up but others however have suffered, in one scene looking over the lake the water just appears to stop after a few hundred yards as if it suddenly dropped off a cliff. Also the thick fog has been scaled back somewhat to allow you a less restrictive version than before, however it still inhibits your field of view as originally intended.

Character models are nicely detailed, but look aged, which is understandable given that SH2 is ten years old, SH3 is a noticeably improvement in graphical quality everything is much sharper. Environments I'm pleased to say still stack up well, the whole town is very atmospheric and in some later areas of the game, you will be hesitant around narrow paths and blind corners as you hear enemies lurking in the distance. One thing I found slightly jarring in SH2 was that some cutscenes are rendered as FMV's part way through and then the game will go back to in game engine cutscenes. Some players have reported texture bugs, the PS3 version coming off worst due to a technical issue. I have to say this factored into my decision to get the Xbox 360 version.

Also SH2 has a very grainy look which is amplified to some degree by HD resolutions, I think this is an artistic choice on the developer's part rather than a design flaw, but it can be distracting at times.

Sound

Now onto another bug bear, Konami have re-recorded the voice work for both games. Thankfully for those of you wishing to preserve your nostalgic memories in SH2 the original voicework is included for you to listen to you if you choose. However for Silent Hill newbies, I would advise going with the new voices as they seem to fit better, the old voices have a so this-is-so-bad-it's-good quality that reminded me a lot of the older Resident Evil games (another favourite of mine, known for cheesy voice acting). However with regards to Silent Hill 3, I looked up some youtube footage and compared, the original voicework was better, the character of Heather seemed much more genuinely like a frightened teenager. Unfortunately in SH3 there is no option to use the original audio, so we're stuck with it. Thankfully it's not all bad, just not as good as before. Some players have also noted how the lips don't quite sync correctly with the voices duriung cutscenes, thankfully though is only minor.

The music fits nicely with the surroundings, with some sombre tunes evoking real moments of sadness and freakier pieces which play when enemies are near. The tracks all fit well with their surroundings. However Konami are also clever enough to realise that in some situations the scariest tool in the box is complete silence, they use this method nicely to build suspense at key moments.

The monsters themselves all have a variety of freaky sounds when they move or attack. This coupled in with ambient effects, including something which sounds like an animal being tortured in one key location, were definitely enough to get under my skin and make me wander the dark surroundings to find the source of it.

Some sounds have been absent from the mix, but it seems as though a patch is being prepared to remedy these issues soon.

Gameplay

Now I'm going to take a guess here and say that some of the people buying this game will have never played Silent Hill before, so let us quickly run through the basics for those unfamiliar with this series.

Controls are broken down into to 2D and 3D type, 3D type is best compared to the tank style controls employed by Resident Evil, forwards is always forwards on the analog stick, left is always left etc, this is based where your character is currently facing. 2D type is different, in 2D type, left moves you to left of the screen, right to the right, down to the bottom etc. My personal preference is 3D I tried both options early and could only go in circles using 2D type and got frustrated, I switched to 3D and it was much better, I was able to orientate myself and move round the world with ease. For those of you familiar with tank style controls, you will probably prefer them like myself, but for players new to third person survival horror, you may prefer 2D. Here's a tip try it on the opening part of Silent Hill 2 as you will not encounter any enemies for about 5 minutes, this will give you a good chance to try both.

Combat in Silent Hill 2 follows the genre tend, you ready your weapon with an aiming function (mapped to the right trigger in the defaults controls) then press A to attack, in Silent Hill melee weapons will make up the bulk of your arsenal, while guns are available for you to use, their ammo is limited and you'll need to hang on to them for tough boss battles later. So get yourself into hoarding mode and save every last bullet you find. You can also press the X button while standing still, this allows you to block some attacks and if you do it right, you may come out unharmed, however bear in mind some attacks are unblockable. I personally chose to avoid battle where I could in the name of saving ammo, in the streets of town this was easy as the area is wide and allows a lot of room to outrun the monsters roaming around town.

Also you will need to have your thinking cap on for this game and keep a pen and paper handy to write down solutions to puzzles, some of these range from a simple code to riddles which you must interpret correctly to proceed. Also many of the codes are randomly generated each time, so bear this in mind on repeat attempts to solve some tougher puzzles.

Also keep your eyes pealed for first aid kits, health drinks and ampoules which are used to restore your health after battle. Finally we have the menu inventory screen, this shows everything you are carrying and your health, which is represented by a picture in picture in the top left, it's it's colour indicates your current health, green means you are unhurt, normal colour means you are hurt but not badly, finally we have red which indicates your character is near death.

Overall

I would rank this game as 8/10 - it is a highly enjoyable experience, however small bugs and glitches detract from the overall experience. If you can look past these faults and put aside your desire for astonishing graphics, you will have a blast. So go back to that special place in Silent Hill and experience it once more.

Being a huge Silent Hill fan, ive been really looking forward to the release of this game. I was however slightly disappionted with this release

Firstly, this is a HD collection so it should look much better than the original to such an extent that I wont ever go back the originals. Its not the case though, yes this collection is decent enough but there are plenty of problems.

Graphically its not incredible (The PC versions look much better)

There is the odd minor framerate problem (in certain cutscenes and when acheivements pop up)

No original voices in SH3

Combat feels different somehow, it feels much harder and slower

Brightness problems (Much too dark even with the brightness up full in the game settings)

Sound Looping issues

Overall this collection is playable and enjoyable but to anyone who really wants to give these games a good go, i would recommend the originals on PS2 or PC. These games are just superb in pretty much every way and are the best survival horror games that have ever existed

Personally I have played all Silent Hill titles. The only one I missed out on was SH 3 due to the fact I had swapped over to Xbox. (EDIT: Completed SH3 on this collection and actually enjoyed it more than SH2, maybe it's just me and I know ppl won't agree with it but I found it more interesting and challenging.)
I couldn't remember much about SH 2 as I was pretty young, but as playing it and events were happening, it brought it all back to me.
First I started with SH2, with the original voices. It started me off and at first I thought, can I actually get back into these games due to the controls and other issues.......... After a few hours......... I realised the twisted story that is Silent Hill 2. I played a straight 10 hours from receiving the game!
All is good concerning issues that mostly effect the PS3 version. All sounds are great, fog is still thick, voice syncing is fine and textures look much better. It has a few issues with frame rate once in a while but it is really minor and doesn't effect the game play.
Playing through, I saw a lot of things that I missed as a youngster, for example, the Pyramid head raping a doll, then a little later doing something weird with a monster. Twisted.
This time around I didn't feel as scared, but I was contantly on edge. At one point in the hotel you can see Pyramid head through some bars, staring at you. Scary, but wait he can't get me through these bars.......... Only to find out I have to go through a hole in a wall and I will end up right in his position.
Pyramid head really does it for me, he is freaky. I think it's the mystery about him, no backround to what or who is is. You can't see his face. He just freaks me out when I see him.
The great thing about these games is that you actually DON'T want to play them as you are scared of what's coming next, you'd rather watch a friend play it.
I'm still on SH2, getting close to the finish. Can't wait for SH3 as I haven't really played it and heard it was good.
One more problem is that the achievements are pretty random and not many are story or progression based.
All in all a great remake.