Scary Game Review (Spectator's POV) with James Paradie: Silent Hill Downpour

 

What's the Game: 

 Staying true to the franchise's original roots, this eighth installment of the Silent Hill franchise returns with an all new thought-provoking horror storyline. Players will once again find themselves face to face with their deepest sins and fears in the strange world of Silent Hill.

The survival horror experience begins after a prison transport vehicle careens off the road, leaving lone inmate Murphy Pendleton stranded in Silent Hill. Gamers will encounter mind-bending puzzles, as well as horrific creatures and other world terrors using everyday objects from wooden chairs to glass bottles to fend off their enemies. The natural response, fight or flight is left to the player as they unravel a dark, thought-provoking storyline which will appeal to fans of the early, classic Silent Hill series, as well as anyone who enjoys a deep, psychological horror experience. In addition to the main storyline, players will also be presented with variable side quests along the way that can change depending on their play style, revealing unknown evils within the town. 

Review (From a Watcher's Perspective): 

Hey guys and gals, what's up? If you are not familiar with most of my reviews, I do it from a spectators point of view, rather than a player (unless I played the game.) Horror games I generally don't play, because I'd rather just watch. So, remember, this is from a spectators point of view and I'm only grading it on story. 

Silent Hill is one of my favorite franchises. I have yet to see all of them, but I've watched two, three, and Downpour. Downpour I actually watched probably last year sometime and I enjoyed it. You know a game does something to you when you don't feel good about yourself for watching some f'd up crap and Downpour had some of that. Although SH3 is my favorite, Downpour definitely has its story perks that kept me interested. Between the cops hatred for the protagonist and why. And where the main character is a prisoner, but seems like a decent guy. The thing about Silent Hill is it's all about foreshadowing and given you only tiny tidbits of just what in the hell is going on and why is this person, or sometimes persons, in Silent Hill.

The thing that I also like about Silent Hill is the fact that they don't really rely on jump scares. Jump scares, to me, are just cheap. Unless they make absolute sense, I don't see the point of them. Okay and I admit it, I also partly hate them, because nobody likes to pee a little in their pants when it happens. That's a given. But Silent Hill is more about messing with the player's mind and to expect the unexpected.

I've also found Silent Hill games to start slow and then gradually speed it up. It's a lot of exploring, solving problems, and defending yourself against monsters, with some story here and there. Now, where the earlier versions of SH are regarded as the best, the latter versions, such as Downpour, are plagued with bugs and freeze rate issues. Watching the walkthrough, you can see that, and some of it is pretty bad. That and if you're wanting some story in Downpour, but you're only watching it on Youtube, you'll find yourself bored with a lot of the player's exploring and just battling random enemies (even though Downpour doesn't have that many).

The plus side is that I think the graphics are really good and the cut scenes are that of movie quality, or so I think at least. My favorite part was at the beginning of the game when the player has to ride this mine cart ride at a place called Devil's Pit. They made it so it's like you're right there with him. I posted the video below of that. Don't worry, no real jump scares are in this.

I'm not going to give away too much more, but I think if you enjoy a good storyline, you'll really like watching this. You'll find yourself getting impatient, or maybe, I don't know, and skipping to later parts to see more of the storyline evolve and reveal more details of the plot.

SSS(Scared Sheetless Grade): Good. Worth the rewatch, I think, as I did rewatched it to be prepared for this review. There's some really cool things in this. I was going to say one of the reasons why it got a good rating, rather than a great, was because it dragged forever, but that's for the player. Which is fine, so I excused that. But I enjoyed it for it's ability to keep my attention.

Anyways, in closing, check out this video below, provided by theRadBrad.