Masters's Silent Hill: Downpour review

Hmm... good review. It got me thinking about Silent Hill storylines. Silent Hill 1 and 2 did have the best so far, I'd guess, though Shattered Memories is also worth a go for a fantastic ending. Silent Hill 1 was the only one I found genuinely frightening, though I haven't played a fair number of the games. I hear The Room is pretty frightening, though it often gets labeled a terrible game in the mix.

So was this Silent Hill scary at all or psychologically twisted? I'd guess from your review that the answer is no, but I'd be curious to hear more if you have more to say.

Thanks, Zipp. It's not scary, no, apart from some moments when an enemy popped out of nowhere when I was playing without the sound on.

The saddest fact is that I know I'll pick the game up as soon as I see it cheap. I can't help myself. But at least it'll give us something else to bitch about.

Good work -- and look at you putting in your own screens! I'll be obsolete soon.

As much as I'd like to take credit (with my usual tech savvy assistant going missing when I needed him), it was actually Jason who put the screens up. ;)

Mixed emotions with this review. Happiness on one hand because it was a good review that I enjoyed reading. Sadness on the other because...damn it! Why can't we get a good NEW Silent Hill game for once. After reading your words about why should we care about our protagonist in this game, I read the Wikipedia synopsis of the plot and came away basically feeling like I'd have been totally ripped off if I'd spent full price for this game to wind up with that sort of finale.

Rob: thanks. I felt that way too. I was like, "okay, so that's what's going on. I see." It had none of the gravitas of the SH2 big reveal.

Excellent review, Marc. I have yet to play Downpour, but it sounds like it's precisely what I feared it would be. Honestly, it feels like the downward spiral started with SH3 and continued from there. It's like anyone who has touched it since hasn't realized what made the first two games great.

Had Murphy been given some all-consuming task that resonated with the player, we might be more inclined to see him through his seemingly random and aimless movements.

To me, this isn't only an important part of a good Silent Hill game, it's an important part of a great horror story. It's not just the monsters, the death scenes, the visual shocks, the psychological scares, and the metaphors, but whether or not writers/developers/directors can make those things resonate with readers/players/viewers. Resonance is an important element for me in great horror works, and I'm really glad you touched on that.

Pretty good review. I watched a stream of the game being played the week it came out and the first few hours looked boring, and the main character was pretty much a jerk. Reading your review, it sounds like the game doesn't change much later on, unfortunately.

Thanks. Joe: I had a lot more to say on similar matters, but I didn't want to necessarily wear out my welcome on my soapbox; it's a review, not a blog entry, after all.

I've never played a Silent Hill game, but I always enjoy reading a Masters Silent Hill review. Good stuff.

I agree. A very good review that also made me moderately depressed.

I enjoyed Downpour for the first few hours, but toward the end it did get a little boring. I think the biggest problem for me was that combat was a bit too in your face at times with this one, and what held it back even more were the highly unimaginative enemy designs. All in all I'd say that Downpour is not as good as SH 1-3, but better than SH4, Origins, Homecoming and Shattered Memories.

I've got it SH 1>2>Origins>3>>Homecoming>Downpour>4>Shattered Dreams.

Edit: thanks to Janus and Bloomer.

Hah, "Shattered Dreams." Was that a Freudian slip?

Ha, no. That game is so lame.

Marc, I still come back occasionally to see what's up on this site.

Good to see you're still writing. Keep up the good work.