Silent Hill (Spoilers, All Series)

[mouser]

I always preferred Team Silent era Silent Hill games VA's. Even if it was unintended, the awkwardness of some of the deliveries gave SH's a kind of David Lynch-ian kind of vibe.

Actually, so much in essentials has changed since the absence of Team Silent that I can't even stomach the newer games. I personally don't even regard them as canon. Better to just buy Akira Yamaoka's soundtracks and be done with it.

[CMoon]

Finally playing the original SH via PSN. Actually burning through it rather quickly (played 4 hours of it today), but it IS very similar to SH2, so there haven't been a ton of surprised yet, although I think it is a little harder than SH2 (perhaps because of the control scheme.)

This game reminds me about how much I enjoyed the PS1 and how imaginative they could be on such an old system (oh dear, what does that say about us...?)

[Neith]

I remember having a gaming magazine with a large article about the silent hill development team going to the USA to see small town america as research for the first game. They really went all out. I think the first is the best, the only downfall being its rather crude psx era 3D graphics.

These days I mainly play 2 and 3 on the PC, these versions have adjustable resolution and look great, espcecially 3.

There is an interesting plot guide for SH2 on gamefaqs by President Evil, this guy worked with Konami on the printed strategy guide and he has some interesting theories and interpretations regarding the game and the series.

[xris]

Over at Rely On Horror's site, they have been doing some great coverage of the up-coming games, and have a great interview up with one of the project heads for Downpour, which keeps sounding more and more promising. It is really impressive how well they have been working with the fans on this one, as well as trying to get an understanding of a universal feeling for horror. This has really turned out to be one to keep an eye on.

[ryu]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQxW6h920UY

looks like the hd collection is a complete piece of shit. what a shame.

[njiska]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQxW6h920UY

looks like the hd collection is a complete piece of shit. what a shame.

The actual gameplay segments don't look too bad, but the cutscenes were terrible. So blurry and blocky and it looks skewed as well. Major disappointment. Good thing I still have the originals.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQxW6h920UY

looks like the hd collection is a complete piece of shit. what a shame.

Hopefully the melee controls in SH2 are no longer based on the Playstation's crappy pressure sensitive buttons (SH3's was way better, based on how long you pressed the attack button, if you held forward, etc). Odd, I don't remember the original games being that dark, but they may have had crappy recordings. Everything looks like it had an ugly grey filter applied to it in the 'HD' version, much worse.

[ryu]

Everything looks like it had an ugly grey filter applied to it in the 'HD' version, much worse.

From all the footage I've seen so far, it seems like they:
- Stretched CG cutscenes into widescreen format
- Turned off all filters the originals had
- Added a grey filter
- REMOVED TEXTURE DETAIL (though it's possible that it only looks like that due to a terrible contrast and the grey filter)

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Technically you could remove the static filter from the additional options menu (same spot where the life bar option shows up), but yeah, definitely looks bad from an overall atmospheric/aesthetic view.

ALSO, WHAT THE FUCK DID THEY DO TO HEATHER'S VOICE

why does she sound like she's 30

why is her attacking voice so terrible

why Konami, what did we do to deserve this

[BIL]

This was never going to go well, with the original games' aesthetics being so elaborately designed not only around the PS2's strengths but also weaknesses... I'd only trust the original developers to not screw something up, outside of a straight porting job.

Fog remains prevalent but has been pushed back to reveal more of the scenery. The lighting effects have also been improved. Previously, darkness was darkness: black, oppressive, and nearly impossible to see through without the intense beam of your flashlight.

Yeah, that blasted oppressive visibility that was a pillar of the games' style. I wonder what an SH1 attempt would've turned out like. I was thinking of picking up this set depending on how limited the inevitable damages were, will definitely wait and see now.

[njiska]

Fog remains prevalent but has been pushed back to reveal more of the scenery. The lighting effects have also been improved. Previously, darkness was darkness: black, oppressive, and nearly impossible to see through without the intense beam of your flashlight.

i.e. They completely missed the point.

Where is that quote from?

[BIL]

^



It's from the Gamespot review, PS3 version.

[njiska]

Opening of review:

The Silent Hill series has a way of getting under your skin. It shuns the easy scares seen in its contemporaries and instead creates an oppressive, unrelenting sense of dread.

Talking about lighting:

The lighting effects have also been improved. Previously, darkness was darkness: black, oppressive, and nearly impossible to see through without the intense beam of your flashlight. Now the darkness isn't as thick, and the light sources have been softened to make everything easier on the eyes.

Contradiction in review. I love it. Worse still they really do see the change as a positive. Clearly written by someone who doesn't understand the way emotion is constructed.

[maxlords]

Stop creating great sadness for my hopes for the HD versions dammit! I really wanted these to be straight ports with graphical updates

[twalden]

Stop creating great sadness for my hopes for the HD versions dammit! I really wanted these to be straight ports with graphical updates

The PC versions of 2, 3, and 4 are really good. 3 has the options for custom texture sizes, so it looks great at higher resolutions. You can save anywhere in all 3 games and they work great with a PS2 to USB adapter.

[Leader Bee]

However a PS3 pad already has a USB

[njiska]

However a PS3 pad already has a USB

Isn't it a bitch to get the PS3 controller to work over USB?

[ryu]

people who got the collection early are reporting it to look the same way the originals did.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/27/imagelmh.jpg/

[Battlesmurf]

people who got the collection early are reporting it to look the same way the originals did.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/27/imagelmh.jpg/

Now I am curious. I've seen a *ton* of things pointing to muted, grey, stretched CG, ickyness- and now this that says otherwise.

I don't have my hopes up though.

[Daigohji]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012- ... re-release

A key member of the original Silent Hill trilogy development team has expressed his disappointment at the state of the impending HD re-release of SH2 and 3.

As reported by Destructoid, Masahiro Ito, who served as art director on the first three Silent Hill games, was asked to comment via Twitter on comparison shots of the PS2 original next to the new HD version. In the images, missing fog textures have exposed unfinished sections of the environment.

"Left side is HD, isn't it? It's poor," he wrote. "It's really a released version? Really?"

When the follower who originally posed the questioned confirmed that the image was indeed from the retail disc, Ito simply replied "OMG!"

He later added that Konami should "release a patch for HD collection, I think," before speculating that the problem might be caused by PlayStation 3 tech.

"I guess that it was a problem of PS3. PS3 has a weak point for using 'translucent texture'," he wrote.

"But PS2 has no such a weak point, and original SH2/SH3 use so many 'translucent texture'. Example, for fog/mist."

Take a look at the screenshots in question below.

The Silent Hill HD Collection launched in the US earlier this month and follows in Europe on 29th March.

Interesting to see a developer saying that the PS3 hardware is less adept at some things than PS2!

[ryu]

those who're still interested in buying this should go and read amazon reviews first. people are reporting a lot of problems with the games (including crashes).

[Obiwanshinobi]

Interesting to see a developer saying that the PS3 hardware is less adept at some things than PS2!

Interesting to read that MGS3 on MGS HD Collection (PS3) does NOT run at 60 fps all the time. Reportedly the Jak & Daxter trilogy is sub-HD and devoid of anti-aliasing. SotC in 3D viev can't muster 30 fps.
I thought PORTING (not emulating, for crying out loud) PS2 games to the PS3 shouldn't be QUITE as lousy.

[replayme]

Never really played any of the Silent Hill games, apart from the 1st one, but I've always been curious about the series.

What do you guys think of the new Silent Hill Downpour game and the reviews it has garnered thus far...

[cj iwakura]

I've heard it's decent. Not bad, not great. Better use of money than the garbage HD collection, but $60? No chance in Hill.

[Estebang]

Never really played any of the Silent Hill games, apart from the 1st one, but I've always been curious about the series.

Play 2-4 (on their original PS2 versions) as soon as possible. You can safely ignore the outsourced Western games.

[cj iwakura]

Well, skip 4.

[Estebang]

Well, skip 4.

I wish to violently disagree with this. 4 is the pinnacle of the series and the only truly frightening video game I've ever played (well, except for maybe the Souls series).

[Obiwanshinobi]

Go play Thief 1&2 with headphones on, in a dark room.
SH 2-4 are best off played on a PC as well. Especially if you don't own a CRT anymore.

[njiska]

Well, skip 4.

I wish to violently disagree with this. 4 is the pinnacle of the series and the only truly frightening video game I've ever played (well, except for maybe the Souls series).

I'll challenge that. Silent Hill 2 was way more frightening to me than SH4 because it got under my skin. I really sympathized with Sunderland and that made the reality of the experience all the more terrifying. The Room was just surface scares. Good surface scares mind you, but not deep rooted ones. Still very much a game that is worth playing.

All this talk is making me think I really need to finish SH3.

Go play Thief 1&2 with headphones on, in a dark room.
SH 2-4 are best off played on a PC as well. Especially if you don't own a CRT anymore.

Fortunately games like this are why I insist on keeping my CRTs. All 1000 lbs. of them.

[CStarFlare]

4 is good for precisely one playthrough. It's interesting how the three bedroom apartment is the game's most compelling environment; I would always run back to see if anything awesome had happened - and it usually had.

Still, the game's entire second half was pretty irritating. And I liked the premise, but I'm about 97% sure the story would have been better if it had no connection to Silent Hill at all. Worth a play for sure but be thankful you're not paying full price for it.

Estebang: Souls series?