Silent Hill (Spoilers, All Series)

Anything from run & guns to modern RPGs, what else do you play?
User avatar
njiska
Posts: 2412
Joined: Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:36 am
Location: Waterloo, On, Canada

Re: Silent Hill

Post by njiska »

CMoon wrote:
circuitface wrote:
neorichieb1971 wrote:I don't know if its public knowledge but I believe Konami are on board to "ps3" the original games.
Yeah, I don't think it's official yet but most fans are clamoring for an HD collection of 1-4. If they do it I would pay full price.
Oh hell yeah.
Definitely up for this.
Look at our friendly members:
MX7 wrote:I'm not a fan of a racist, gun nut brony puking his odious and uninformed arguments over every thread that comes up.
Drum wrote:He's also a pederast. Presumably.
User avatar
CStarFlare
Posts: 2999
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 4:41 am

Re: Silent Hill

Post by CStarFlare »

But I don't want a reason to buy a PS3 :(
Restart Syndrome::
Shmup leaderboards and Video Index! | My score history on RS
User avatar
xris
Posts: 817
Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 12:27 am

Re: Silent Hill

Post by xris »

A new fan film, highlighting a monster design. Pretty good, a little gruesome, so I would have to put this on the NSFW side. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVRHkIZCdnI
Rumors on the movie suggest that the actress to play Heather in the upcoming film should be named soon. Hopefully this just means they can finally finish the pre production on this. But, that's all it's been for a couple years now, rumors. If I can at least see a promo pic I would be more optimistic about this being made. Projects that sit in limbo this long usually end up going straight to DVD.
Nothing really new about the game, Vatra seems to be communicating where they're at really well with sites like Hell Decent, and through their Facebrick account. So, that's kinda cool. I'm really liking the look of the game, and allot of claims are being made about having a larger open Silent Hill to explore. So, I'm remaining optimistic, and will be patient to see what happens.
Edit: They did announce the actress for Heather, it's Adeleade Clemens. (I might have misspelled the first name) Pics of her can be found pretty easily. Shooting of the movie official started this week in Toronto.
Image
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18989
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Silent Hill

Post by BIL »

I've not been following Downpour much, mostly to avoid inadvertently spoiling 95% of the game the way Homecoming's coverage did. But also, I'm pretty happy in my 1999-2004 SH world (plus lots of RE, Fatal Frame and Siren). SM was a nice surprise, but it's the exception for now.

I gave SH:H a chance pre-release out of goodwill more than anything else, but Downpour genuinely looks like it could be interesting. The environments shown in the E3 demo seem kind of... carnival funhouse-ish, and the town is looking more backwoods slum than quiet resort area, but my favourite conceptual aspect of SH's world has always been its changeability. As long as it all makes sense in the story's context, and the devs have made an honest effort to do something new, I'll be happy - even if it's more an interesting mess, ala SH4. What I don't want is a competent game that's 95% rearranged bits from past entries, ala Origins and Homecoming. Tomm Hulett at least has the principles of a good SH sequel down, ie, familiarity and intrigue don't mix.

David Hayter voicing Murphy is going to be weird, but at least they didn't hire Fred Durst.
Last edited by BIL on Fri Jul 01, 2011 3:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
ZOM
Posts: 2091
Joined: Thu Sep 18, 2008 1:21 pm
Location: ǝʇɐןoɔoɥɔ & ǝsǝǝɥɔ

Re: Silent Hill

Post by ZOM »

What's fucked up in downpour is the fact that they went with that shitty objectives-concept, showing a text caption with what to do and where to go next after every second step.
I don't want that in Silent Hill, it's a major turn-off.
.
Image
.
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18989
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Silent Hill

Post by BIL »

^Yeah! I knew I was forgetting something... that is pretty lame. Although Hulett talks a lot about minimising "the feeling you're playing a game," both Shattered Memories and now apparently DP put quite a bit of videogamey furniture onscreen. One thing I will always absolutely love about SH1-3 is the total and utter absence of anything on the screen besides the environment and characters. I can understand a popup item belt ala SH4, and some visual indicator of health (besides an obtrusive meter), since pausing for those purposes does mar the first three's flow slightly... but objectives are pushing it. I hope it'll at least be toggle-able, ala Metroid Prime's hint system.

Maybe gamers are too wimpy to even get lost and break out a map these days, let alone die horribly. :[

On a brighter note, I do like that Murphy can't carry around a full arsenal of weapons. I know it'll seem like a Halo concession, but I actually wanted it that way right from SH1. Just grabbing a screwdriver off a shelf and jamming it into an ambushing monster's eye, not reaching into a pocket dimension to whip out a chainsaw, is a lot more in line with the series' characteristic "DIY violence" ethic. And thank god it's not Origins and Travis's Magic Parka of 1,000 Filing Cabinets again.
User avatar
UnscathedFlyingObject
Posts: 3636
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 1:59 am
Location: Uncanny Valley
Contact:

Re: Silent Hill

Post by UnscathedFlyingObject »

Silent Hill is dead. DEAD.
"Sooo, what was it that you consider a 'good salary' for a man to make?"
"They should at least make 100K to have a good life"
...
User avatar
xris
Posts: 817
Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 12:27 am

Re: Silent Hill

Post by xris »

I've been fallowing the development of Downpour pretty closely. I'll agree that the demo did look rather 'funhouse', but if they can carry the sudden change ups, ie- when the hallway collapses into a slide, it could be neat. It's cool that they are trying to create moments where you are overwhelmed, and have to run. The town looks great! Although completely different. If they can keep that level of detail throught the game it would be amazing. Some of the little details are cool too, like when the world is flipped up side down, the chara is walking on the ceiling (now the floor), with water pooling above him (on the ceiling, seen as the original flooring). The side quests.. Could be good, allot more reason to have a look around. The devs seem to have their hearts in the right place for this, and they really understand the base principle of changing up the world to fit the character. I do expect the story to be a little thin, but hopefully they can resist the urge to force it into the main cannon. A true stand alone title is what is needed. Can't wait!
The movie has finished principal shooting, and has began post. There will prolly be a couple additional shots taken still. A few pics have leaked, but nothing too amazing yet. Carrie Anne Moss looks a little silly. Adelene Clemens looks great as Heather! More sexy nurses that look exactly the same... But, I guess they actually fit in a little better this time.
Edit: Yes, I don't really need to be told to press the button through a prompt, especially in a game like this. I'm pretty sure this will have an option to turn this off this time around. The demo prolly just had it to make it easier for dazed convention goers. The devs have shown that Murphy will automatically go under/over obstacles without a prompt, as well as drop down ledges, etc.. They have spoken about not wanting or needed a button prompt for actions like that. I hope this will translate over to smashing locks and what not.
Image
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18989
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Silent Hill

Post by BIL »

I actually really liked how the otherworld came crashing in out of nowhere in the bar, practically out of the ceiling - what a bizarre chain of events! I couldn't help laughing, but it was out of genuine surprise at how audacious it all was.

I don't think the series should absolutely have "otherworld transitions" per se - I prefer SH2's approach, where in addition to the big cataclysmic shifts, James could also end up in utterly bizarre circumstances having done nothing more than investigate a grimy hole in the historical society's wall, and then be dumped back into "normality" just as unceremoniously. Makes it impossible to gauge one's surroundings, very intense. So it's cool to see slightly madcap stuff done with the idea of a shifting reality in Downpour.

It was great to see fixed camera angles again, too. Some of my favourite moments in SH1-3 wouldn't have been possible without them, like the original game's lighthouse ascent.
Last edited by BIL on Fri Jul 01, 2011 4:45 pm, edited 3 times in total.
User avatar
xris
Posts: 817
Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 12:27 am

Re: Silent Hill

Post by xris »

Yeah, they have shown some really nice transitions so far. I really like the one in the room that becomes a hallway, with the furniture being sucked down it as it changes. They seem to really grasp the interminable concept rather well. Part of the magic for me is when the spatial map in my head starts overlapping, and I start seeing it in a four dimensional space! I am supposed to be traversing a hell maze after all.
Image
User avatar
psy
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2011 10:37 pm

Re: Silent Hill

Post by psy »

I'm in the process of playing the first one, and I can say it's pure brilliance at the moment (I'm up to where you enter the door in the school clock tower). I've never had a game put me on edge this much before, and the music really contributes so much to both the beauty and the horror of the atmosphere.

I played 2 about as far as where you catch Pyramid Head raping a mannequin, but then I had to stop playing because the PC port was so shoddy that it was ruining the game.
User avatar
xris
Posts: 817
Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 12:27 am

Re: Silent Hill

Post by xris »

^ If you're not used to the genre, getting through the apartment building in 2 can be a real bitch. You really have to be a fan of mazes to get through that game, it has allot of walking around looking for a key, trying to find the right door, etc.. Too bad the port put you off. The game doesn't really get going until after the apt. building, that part just feels like work.
Image
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18989
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Silent Hill

Post by BIL »

True, I'll often run across someone who disliked SH2, only to hear they didn't even get through the apartments (where the story really isn't progressing at all perceptibly - on repeat plays it's a different experience, of course). The game as a whole requires persistence, as it's one of those works that simply doesn't rush itself for anyone, but that's true of a lot of horror games. I'm glad it didn't compromise, even if it inevitably annoys some.
Last edited by BIL on Wed Sep 18, 2019 7:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
psy
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2011 10:37 pm

Re: Silent Hill

Post by psy »

xris wrote:^ If you're not used to the genre, getting through the apartment building in 2 can be a real bitch. You really have to be a fan of mazes to get through that game, it has allot of walking around looking for a key, trying to find the right door, etc.. Too bad the port put you off. The game doesn't really get going until after the apt. building, that part just feels like work.
To be honest, I didn't mind it. It didn't feel unnecessary to me, it just felt like getting lost in an apartment complex should feel :P

I'll probably give it a go on a PS2 emulator or see if a friend has a PS2 I can borrow or something. My one got smashed :/
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18989
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Silent Hill

Post by BIL »

psy wrote:it just felt like getting lost in an apartment complex should feel :P
GOOD MAN :mrgreen:
User avatar
CMoon
Posts: 6207
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:28 pm

Re: Silent Hill

Post by CMoon »

I keep holding off on SH1 hoping it will get some HD remake, but I should just screw all that and play it.

SH2 is just one of those great video game experiences. I've gone back and tried to play it without much luck. What I got from my first play through was something phenomenal though and I keep wishing it from another video game, but never felt those same feelings. Honestly the more the SH series tried to explain itself, the more it failed. Maybe it was because SH2 felt the most like Lost Highway/Inland Empire instead of really trying to feel like a horror game.
Randorama wrote:ban CMoon for being a closet Jerry Falwell cockmonster/Ann Coulter fan, Nijska a bronie (ack! The horror!), and Ed Oscuro being unable to post 100-word arguments without writing 3-pages posts.
Eugenics: you know it's right!
SHMUP sale page.
User avatar
Daigohji
Posts: 1292
Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2006 2:09 pm
Location: England

Re: Silent Hill

Post by Daigohji »

CMoon wrote:I keep holding off on SH1 hoping it will get some HD remake, but I should just screw all that and play it.
The original SH is one of those games where the lo-fi visuals work for the atmosphere, not against it. Don't deprive yourself of it any longer.
Image
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18989
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Silent Hill

Post by BIL »

+1; I'd just play the original, CMoon. It's a short game, even by the series' standards, and the graphics work more on the basis of what you can't quite make out in the dark or fog. The soundtrack is still as looming and intense as ever. I played it immediately after SH3, my first of the series, and it still felt superior with tenser pacing and a vaster realisation of the town. Parts of it feel like being lost in some nightmarish jungle, completely different tone compared to SH2's lonely wandering.
CMoon wrote:Honestly the more the SH series tried to explain itself, the more it failed.
This always should've been a dedicated anthology series. Trying to create an overarching plot was the surest way to ruin the mystique SH1 and SH2 revel in. I was okay with SH3 putting SH1 to rest as an epilogue, and SH4 being informed by the fallout. But then Origins and Homecoming, where "The Order" are more prominent than the town itself and have secret lairs with James Bond-esque knockout gas, kidnapping squads and security guards... yeah. It's taken half a decade, but hopefully Downpour kicks that bad habit at least.

edit: looks like the onscreen objectives are paraphrased from Murphy's personal notes, judging by this video. I hope that's all they are - not like the classic SHs' protagonists didn't opine on where to go next, with plenty of scope for things going awry thereafter. As long as it's not some omniscient hand-holding it should be fine.
User avatar
Obiwanshinobi
Posts: 7463
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:14 am

Re: Silent Hill

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

Daigohji wrote:The original SH is one of those games where the lo-fi visuals work for the atmosphere, not against it.
Aye, think Ico. That is, if you play it on a CRT in 240p or so (without the PS2 "texture smoothing" abomination). I checked it out emulated in 1280x1024 with AF&AA and am positive about it. It's got to look dirty and grainy, otherwise the charm is gone.
The rear gate is closed down
The way out is cut off

Image
User avatar
finisherr
Posts: 608
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2011 12:39 pm
Location: Seattle

Re: Silent Hill

Post by finisherr »

I love the eerie and surreal quality of these games. Something tells me that the developers were somewhat inspired by the early movie releases of the Hellraiser series?
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18989
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Silent Hill

Post by BIL »

It's very possible - Team Silent pretty much raided the fridge on Western horror literature and movies, and were fans themselves. :smile: The Flauros relic from SH1 certainly brings the Lament Configuration to mind.

There's a really good list of some of the earlier games' influences here.
User avatar
ZOM
Posts: 2091
Joined: Thu Sep 18, 2008 1:21 pm
Location: ǝʇɐןoɔoɥɔ & ǝsǝǝɥɔ

Re: Silent Hill

Post by ZOM »

Messed around a bit with the PC version of SH3 today... Who needs HD remastering anyway? :mrgreen:
.
Image
.
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18989
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Silent Hill

Post by BIL »

Indeed. I'd sooner buy an identical SH3 re-release with that outfit instead. :cool:
User avatar
xris
Posts: 817
Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 12:27 am

Re: Silent Hill

Post by xris »

That picture is really cool!
Image
User avatar
ryu
Posts: 1878
Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 6:43 pm
Contact:

Re: Silent Hill

Post by ryu »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX1GFlbICWw

some voice sample clips from the silent hill 2 hd release. they're all trying too hard and don't sound as natural as the ones from the original release.
blog - scores - collection
Don't worry about it. You can travel from the Milky Way to Andromeda and back 1500 times before the sun explodes.
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18989
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Silent Hill

Post by BIL »

Not surprised. This series has been in second-rate form for years, it makes sense an attempt to "improve" on its glory days would be clueless at best.
User avatar
CMoon
Posts: 6207
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:28 pm

Re: Silent Hill

Post by CMoon »

I know someone here will be mad at me (especially after pages arguing over Catherine dubbing), but honestly I don't think the voices in SH were ever particularly great; or rather, they were terribly awkward. I always took that as part of the intentions of the director, and these new voice overs feel about the same.

*shrugs*
Randorama wrote:ban CMoon for being a closet Jerry Falwell cockmonster/Ann Coulter fan, Nijska a bronie (ack! The horror!), and Ed Oscuro being unable to post 100-word arguments without writing 3-pages posts.
Eugenics: you know it's right!
SHMUP sale page.
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18989
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Silent Hill

Post by BIL »

I wouldn't say SH2-4 had great voice acting overall, but it was certainly effective given each game's tone. James Sunderland's VA in particular had a conflicted delivery perfect for a conflicted character. The voiceover linked above sounds like a generic action movie lead puzzling out a generic action movie conspiracy. It's as if whoever's in charge misconstrued the character sounding frustrated and unsure of himself in that scene as flaws to be ironed out of a protagonist.

Like how Christophe Gans decided Harry Mason's human vulnerability amidst a living nightmare was a "feminine" trait and replaced him with a woman for the movie. Or how Homecoming's developers xeroxed James' character arc via a generic rugged white guy who grabbed people by the lapels and screamed in their faces. Not hard to see the rot setting in with this series. :lol:

What SH2-4's voiceovers could use is tweaking - script edits and retakes. Konami are never going to apply that sort of care these days. If they're going to recycle past games, SH1 is a case for total voiceover replacement. Harry's VA smothers virtually every line with apathy. Of course Konami can't just wheel that game out for an "HD" cash in without considerably more work.
User avatar
ryu
Posts: 1878
Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 6:43 pm
Contact:

Re: Silent Hill

Post by ryu »

CMoon wrote:honestly I don't think the voices in SH were ever particularly great
i agree, but they still managed to make them worse.
blog - scores - collection
Don't worry about it. You can travel from the Milky Way to Andromeda and back 1500 times before the sun explodes.
User avatar
ZOM
Posts: 2091
Joined: Thu Sep 18, 2008 1:21 pm
Location: ǝʇɐןoɔoɥɔ & ǝsǝǝɥɔ

Re: Silent Hill

Post by ZOM »

ryu wrote:
CMoon wrote:honestly I don't think the voices in SH were ever particularly great
i agree, but they still managed to make them worse.
This. I don't mind Mary Elizbeth McGlynn voicing Mary, but they almost killed the James character: what sounded like a confused and insecure man now sounds like an overconfident FBI agent. Won't go very well with the type of story this game uses. Eddie's new voice is crap too.

EDIT: I should read all posts before typing; BIL already explained everything I was trying to say. hehe.
.
Image
.
Post Reply