Mindblown (Kindergarten Cop Takes Place in Silent Hill)

Centralia, Pennsylvania (The Real Silent Hill): The Burning Town by Chris Chaos

Centralia, Pennsylvania: The Burning Town
by Chris Chaos

Centralia: The Pennsylvania abandoned town that has been burning for over 50 years. On May 27th, 1962 a fire started and has been raging ever since. Exact details are sketchy about how the fire actually started, but according to historical documents, it states that burning trash from the landfill set an exposed coal vein in an abandoned strip mine on fire.

Ghost Adventures Humor: Co-Starring Pyramid Head!

Centraliaby Sephie-monster

Scary Game Review: Silent Hill 4: The Room

What is the Game About: 

You play as Henry Townshend, who lives in South Ashfield (yes, this game, for the most part, doesn't take place in Silent Hill! I know, weird!) He moved to South Ashfiled, is happy, loving life, but something really weird is going on. His apartment, room 302, holds some strange secrets. He can't escape his room. His front door chained shut and he's having these weird and nightmarish dreams. He tries every little thing to get peoples attention to try and escape from room 302. He'll look in the door's peephole, see various people, and pound on the door, but nothing works. He can look in other peepholes in the walls (peeping Henry should be his nickname), but nobody knows what the hell happened to the guy. His only escape? Going through these big tunnels into the Otherworld (every Silent Hill game has this scary, freaky bizarro like world). Once escaping from various worlds, a new tunnel will be created that leads to a new Otherworld. 

Henry is also hearing a lot about these murders carried out by a supposed copy cat who is carrying out the same motives as notorious murderer, Walter Sullivan. Walter died by committing suicide in his prison cell ... or did he? Poor Henry meets these people before they become victims and are murdered. 

My Spectator's Review: 

I'm trying something new with my reviews, I got the idea from Youtube star Andre, better known as the guy behind Black Nerd Comedy (really funny stuff. Check it out). I'm going to give you the Good, the Bad, and the Cool or Scary (not sure which). Break it down a little bit. 

The Good: 

I loved the movie 1408 with John Cusack. It's basically one of the very few horror movies I've watched and loved. This reminded me of it, but in 1408, John couldn't escape. I mean, imagine a game where you stay in the same room for the entire duration (unless it's "Hello? Hell...o?" I totally need to do a review on that game). You'll get bored, surely, but that's not the case. I like unique ideas or ideas that goes a different direction than previous installments of a series. 

Silent Hill is of course, either the town is calling them (like SH2), or someone needs some answers, so they go to Silent Hill (like SH3), or some little twerp runs out in front of someone and when they chase said little twerp down it leads them to Silent Hill (SH: Origins). This game doesn't go that route. Instead, it's telling a story of events that happened in Silent Hill, a serial killer is on the loose! And upon going to these strange Otherworlds, you put the pieces together. 

Also, the serial killer's old apartment when he was a kid was ... 1408. No. It was 302, Henry's current apartment. 

You also bump into some interesting characters. 

This is Cynthia. She's having the same dilemma as Henry, stuck in these weird dreams. Though it's never said that she is stuck in her room. She's convinced that this is just a dream and that Henry is a part of it. She also tells Henry if he can do something for her, she will give him a "special" favor. What is this special favor she speaks of? Sadly, we never get to know. I know your sad, so here's something that will cheer you up. Thank goodness for Rule 34! 

You're welcome. 

Cynthia's future doesn't look too bright. Her fate is revealed in the "Bad" section. 

This is Frank Sunderland, Henry's superintendent, who drops in quite a bit during the game. Though most of the time you see him through the peephole of your apartment door, he seems like he knows more than he's putting on. During one peephole conversation, Frank tells Eileen, Henry's neighbor, that he remembers something like this happening to the guy who lived in Room 302 before Henry. The guy apparently went crazy and then Frank mentioned an umbilical chord he has saved ... what?! 

Doesn't his last name seem familiar? It should. Frank is Silent Hill 2 protagonist, James Sunderland's, father. 

And just so you know, Rule 34 does not apply for Mr. Sunderland. I ... uh ... don't swing that way, you know. 

Eileen Galvin is Henry's neighbor. She is one of the main stars of the game. She seems like a nice person who shows genuine concern over Henry's disappearance. There is a peephole that goes to her apartment where you can spy on her ... errr, get intel. Actually, there is no intel, it's totally spying. 

She is also sucked into Walter Sullivan's screwed up Otherworlds. She is found in Apartment World on the ground, bleeding. She claims that a little boy saved her from a man in a trench coat. Little boy's name? Walter Sullivan! Odd. We'll find out why there's a little Walter and a big, scary Walter later (or will we? Check out the Bad section for further details). Eileen is found in a hospital bed in Hospital World and joins you on your quest to escape from this horrid nightmare. As you will see in the Bad section of this review, Eileen does follow you, but it doesn't go without benefits. She can defend herself with weapons you find throughout the game that ares specifically for her. She can either use a purse, a chain, or a nightstick. Though she can defend herself, she can't join you in certain areas, because of her injured arm. So, if you go down a ladder, shes stays, and you have to come back and get her (hoping she didn't die while you were out.) Although this may seem like a bad thing, I didn't think so. I think it made the game more challenging that you had to risk leaving her behind to achieve other goals to move on. That's my opinion. 

Also, she can wear this in the game ... (Rule 34 does apply to Eileen, but not with this outfit. Konami, the makers of the Silent Hill games, made this themselves. Those perverted bastards! Much love to them! :D) 

The Bad:

Ugh. Much like other games, this game does have some bad going for it. Here's a list:

1.

I don't know if she's okay, Henry. Let's see what she looked like when you asked her that in the game. 

Does she look OKAY, Henry?! 

1A. Also, the game didn't really give us enough time to invest interest in Cynthia. She only joined us for a short time. Maybe it's better that way, but I couldn't really get into her death, because she wasn't around for only a few minutes it seemed. 

2. 

Henry's over use of the simple question, "What the hell?" I don't know how many times he said it, but it was too much and it really got annoying. 

3. Henry has to be the most boring protagonist in a game EVER. His voice is always bored and shows no enthusiasm whatsoever. Either the voice actor was phoning it in (actor's fault) or that's the direction he was given (director's fault). Even when he made an effort to sound surprised, it sounded lame. Then again, Silent Hill is a hit and miss with voice acting. 

4. Some of the stock sounds are cheesy. There's one common enemy called the Sniffer Dog. They look like zombified dogs, which is scary, indeed. But when Henry kills them, by stomping on their necks, they make this ridiculous Jaguar growl sound. Sure, it may sound intimidating, but trust me, it's not. 

5. Remember all those worlds you had to go through before? Do it again! But this time it is a lot harder than before: more enemies, including ghost enemies, which are practically invincible unless you have a sword (which you can only use once and then it's gone. Unless you find another.) Also, even though Eileen goes with you to all these worlds, her AI isn't the best. She is really good at helping you against the monsters, but when you're booking it, she'll just stand there.

I just found this repeat of the worlds to be extremely boring. Granted, there were a few gems in this, such as Walter (adult version) chasing you through the worlds with various weapons, which made it scary. There was also some new areas that I thought they did a great job in (such as the last bit in Building World). But other than that, this part was boring and I felt that the team behind The Room ran out of ideas and just said, let's do all the worlds over again! Yeah, sorry guys. Snake eyes on that idea.  

6. I felt the final boss fight was anticlimactic. Considering the game is over 10 years old now, I think I can talk about it, but if you want it to be a secret, then skip to the Scary section. 

Anyway, before the end of the game, Eileen says she wants to help little Walter. She feels horrible for him and feels that her and Henry are the only ones that can stop killer Walter. Henry enters a portal like thing in a secret room in apartment 302 and inside you find this large humanoid creature. Now, a teleporting Walter that you can't even touch, along with a possessed Eileen heading for a pool of blood that's going to kill her seems intimidating, but it's too easy. It's a very simple boss fight for the final boss. 

All you do is set the umbilical chord by the creature and you grab these spear like things that are on the walls of this new world. You then stick them in the creature, said creature dies once you kill it, and Walter becomes mortal. Walter seems hard to kill, but eventually he does die. That's it. Also, the good ending, leaves nothing for you to go by. It just shows Eileen in a hospital and shes says she has to move. That's the whole jist of it. Not great. 

7. No boss fights, except for the finale of the game. I guess it isn't horrible that they only had one boss fight, but still, it's Silent Hill. They should have had more. 

8. Why was Little Walter there? Was HE a ghost too? To me, this wasn't explained, unless HarshlyCritical missed it his walkthrough I watched. But ... it wasn't explained as to why he was there. 

The Scary: 

If there's one thing about this game I can't knock, it's the fact that it had some pretty freaky enemies. Silent Hill games usually do a really good job with creating some twisted foes for the player to either fight or flee. The Room is no exception. Check some of these out: 

Twin Victims. Found in the Water Prison level. They whisper stuff at you ... as they try to kill you. Creepy! 

Yes, this is a female enemy. It is known simply as Patient. They're tall, disfigured, and are pretty ... pretty scary that is! 

Ghosts are a common enemy in The Room. They will appear as floating enemies, who can stick their hands into you and kill you on the inside. But also, as you progress in the game, your apartment (your only sanctuary) can have hauntings. You must put down a Holy Candle to be rid of these evil specters. 

Closing: 

Do I think this game is worth a watch? Yes, if you're a fan of the Silent Hill games. Worth a rewatch? No. I think there were some good moments in it, but for the most part I would have to say (for right now) this is my least favorite Silent Hill. It's far from terrible, but far from being a great game. It did have some good ideas, but the problems with it outweighed the good of the game. That and I felt it was TOO long. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's just my opinion. 

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Future reviews on the way:

Alien: Isolation 

The Evil Within 

Ghostbusters: The Video Game 

Bioshock Infinite's DLC - Burial at Sea Episodes 1 and 2 

The Walking Dead by Telltale Games Seasons 1 and 2 

And some Amnesia custom stories 

All these are on their way! If you enjoy my reviews, do let me know in the comments section below of some games you would like me to review. Thanks for reading and take care!

Scary Game Review: Silent Hill Zero - Origins

"What do you think? Too much blood? Not enough?" 

What's up, guys? Welcome to another Scary Game Review (you'd figure after so long I would come up with a better name). Silent Hill makes another appearance on here and this time it is Silent Hill Zero: Origins. 

My Review (From a Watchers Perspective):

As always, I would like to point out I'm reviewing a game from a spectator's point of view and not from a gamer (though sometimes it can be a combination of the two.) 

Origins is one of those titles I didn't think I would have any interest in watching and thought it was just a throw away title. You know franchises and how they like to bleed out as much as they can for a quick paycheck. I do got to say that I was wrong about Origins. 

It will probably be worthwhile that I watch Origins first before I watch the first Silent Hill (which I plan on doing very soon). The reason for that is because Origins takes place seven years before the events of the first official game. The game was released in 2007 for the PSP and later a port was made for PlayStation 2. 

I've watched this game on two separate channels. There is Aesthetic Gamer (which was earlier this year) and Harshly Critical (recently). I like to re watch some games again simply for the purpose of these reviews. 

Review: 

Although it doesn't have the best graphics (and can sometimes really show its age), Origins strong point is its story. Don't get me wrong, the story isn't groundbreaking. You play as Travis, a truck driver, who almost hits a little girl in the middle of a road. Once trying to find the girl, you stumble upon a burning house. You go inside, find the burnt body of said little girl, and you pass out. You awake in the fog and GASP! you realize you're in Silent Hill. You proceed to go to the hospital to find out what happened to the girl and if she survived. You're also met by a few familiar faces who make cameos throughout the game. 

As always, I do not like to give away too much of the plot, but there are a few things that I think are fine to talk about. One is the Butcher, who is a Pyramid Head type enemy who you eventually fight later in the game. His first appearance even mirrors Silent Hill 2's first appearance of Pyramid Head, where our triangle head friend is getting jiggy with two Mannequins and proceeds to kill them. Same thing with the Butcher, but he's not looking for a piece of ass, he just kills a nurse (yes, the infamous hospital nurses are an enemy in Origins).

"What kind of cut do you want?" 

But the more you play, the more you find out about Travis' messed up relationship with his parents. This echoes pretty much all the Silent Hill games where piece by piece you find out more. Travis is no different and has to face up to his demons. Which, compared to other SH characters, makes him look like a saint. I mean, seriously, there's really nothing wrong with the guy. His parents were douches. That's about it. 

I also liked some of the enemy designs and thought they were pretty creepy. Aside from the Butcher, there is also Remnant, which is a shadow creature that can only be seen by your flashlight. Good thing is they don't move very fast. Another cool feature is once you defeat a boss, they're seen practically everywhere on the streets of Silent Hill and remain an enemy throughout the entire game. There are some pretty messed up ones too that you'll just want to veer away from and not face them again.

They don't look like much, but the sound they make is creepy. 

But what are the down falls of this game? I'm not real picky about how a game looks as long as it has a good story and isn't too glictchy. But that also doesn't mean that I don't look at games and go, "oooo preeeeety." Cause I absolutely do. The voice acting is okay. But come on, Travis, couldn't you put some enthusiasm in your voice every now and then? Not everyone likes the cookie cutter tough guy gimmick. But like I said, the voice acting isn't terrible, but it's not the best either. Then again, as much as I love the Silent Hill series, they don't have Troy Baker skills. 

Also, watching and playing a game are different. You already know this, but when watching an entire game, it can become rather boring. This isn't the makers fault or the guy you're watching's fault. But then again, it can become rather boring to watch someone battle baddies and of course there's a lot of walking around and looking for puzzle pieces in Silent Hill games. I had the same problem with Silent Hill: Downpour, which became irritatingly boring sometimes. The thing I do is work on something while listening to the audio and once something happens, I check it out.

For a game like this, I don't think I'm going to give it a rating. I think the story is good enough for Silent Hill, but definitely not my favorite of the series. Which I believe is still Downpour. I'm looking forward to Silent Hills and yes, I have watched P.T. and was pissing myself the entire time.

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Future Video Game Reviews:

Haunting Ground will be the next review I post. It's probably my longest review, but also my most perverted. You will think you're reading a review for Leisure Suit Larry instead of a horror game. You'll understand once you read the review.

Claire is another. It's another pixelated, side scrolling game. Interesting story. Won't come for a little while cause I MAY have to watch it again to remember some things about this game.

Walking Dead by Telltale Games: Season 1. LOVED this game, so you can definitely expect a review coming after Haunting Ground.

As said in another post, I will be posting more Amnesia custom stories reviews. Some great ones, good ones, but no bad ones thankfully. I'm also watching another game, or about to, called Singularity. It's a rather unknown game for the XBox 360 and people who played it said it's great and reminds them of the Bioshock games. That will be coming within the next few months.

As always, thanks for reading these reviews. Hope you enjoyed them. If you have any game suggestions you want me to review, reply to this post. Take care. 

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.

Haunted House Playlist: Clockwork Little Happiness by Akira Yamaoka

Fans of the popular horror game franchise, Silent Hill, may remember this original from the 3rd installment. This is the game where you play as Heather Mason, the adoptive daughter of the first game's protagonist, Harry Mason. Probably my favorite Silent Hill game to watch, right next to Downpour (yes, I know, it didn't get that great of reviews, but remember I watch games for storyline, not for gameplay.)

Anyways, add this strange tune to your haunted house list. Again, please send me a shout out on here if you used any of these and maybe I'll keep going.