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ローゼンメイデン 
September 28, 2004 | 
23 Comments
I just realised that I haven't written any entry on video games lately. It's kind of hard to do so when in reality I haven't had the time to play any kind of game. Last week, however, I managed to finally give Silent Hill 4: The Room a test drive. It looks to me that the game has changed a bit from the last instalment and unfortunately, some of the changes were quite poorly implemented. I understand that the creators want to change some parts of the game mechanics to prevent the series from staying in a rut. However, I feel that some of the changes that they placed within this game does not make the game any better. In some places, the changes actually make the game a bit annoying. Before I continue, please be aware that the paragraphs below are filled with spoilers so unless you've played the game or like to be spoiled, please don't read further.
One of the most annoying parts of the game for me is the room that Henry lives in. I hate the fact that the game switches into a first person mode while inside the room. I hate first person games with the fire of thousand suns because most of them are poorly implemented and are quite difficult to control. Silent Hill 4's first person section unfortunately also suffers from the same problem. I have difficulty navigating through the room because the controls are so stilted and awkward. The indicator that you use to check the surrounding items, for example, is not precise and sometimes needs to hover away from the item before the character you control can see the item. On top of this, I hate the fact that I have to go back and forth to the room to replenish my health. This is because health items are limited and need to be saved for later use.
The room also contains the only saving point in the game and the storage box that you must use to store your items. Admittedly, the inclusion of this new game mechanic makes the game more 'realistic' because in reality, no one can carry around the amount of items that previous Silent Hill characters carry with them. But seriously, who cares much about realism when the game's basic premise is about investigating paranormal occurrence and fighting a bunch of freaks of nature? The use of the storage box takes away the enjoyment of being able to carry as much items as I want. I am disappointed that Silent Hill team decides to take a flawed game mechanic from Resident Evil/Biohazard series and use it on their latest creation. This makes the game unbelievably hard during the final boss confrontation.
Anyway, even with all of those flaws, I can't deny that I still like the game a lot. The series has always been one of my favourites because of its ability to freak me out in ways that other survival horror series can't. The game's mood and style never fails to give me dread every time I'm about to venture into some unknown territory in the game. In addition to this, the series normally does a good job in developing its characters and stories. The fourth game, for example, begins with its main character, Henry, finding himself unable to get out of his apartment no matter what he tries to do. The mysterious nature of his situation made me interested in the game straight away even before I got to enter the different alternate worlds filled with the freakish abomination. Overall, this is a good but flawed sequel to the popular series.
Mmmm...Henry...
Er, sorry...where was I? Oh yes, SH4. I'm a huge fan of the series, but I admit this has some serious flaws. I don't know how many times I've accidentally read "Don't go out!! Walter" when I was really trying to look out my peephole. >__< Plus the storyline is confusing, but even a subpar SH game is better than 99% of the games out there.
And Henry...
::goes into full fangirl drool mode::
I can't even play Silent Hill 3 unless someone is in the room with me. I'm a sad, sad girl.
Although this is a spoiler it happens pretty much at da begginin. *spoiler starts* how many guys here wer devastated when da sexy Cynthia Velasquez died?! *spoiler ends* sure as hell din see that comin =( which is why silent hill is such a great game, keeps on suprisin you.
The fighting is wretched. I don't know how they could have released this. It's truly awful. Henry takes aaaaaaaages just to raise a weapon ready to attack, and he moves about as fast as an oap with a zimmerframe. This game is a disgrace to the series. i hate it
I thought silent hill 4 was a very good game, but i didn't like the endings, i found them quite hard to understand what was going on and thought they were too short, and i didn't like the fact you could peep through holes and windows and not much happened when u did.
I'm just glad they added the first person mode in the Room, an area where there's no combat anyway so it doesn't matter that much if it feels a little clumsy. it's not like it's a matter of life and death while you're in there.
I haven't played any of the other SH games.....but SH4 was pretty good. They could of made it a bit scarier though......never been chased by a giant, 2-headed baby before.
You're right; despite it's awkwardness the game still manages to draw one in. Though I must say, I don't care for the ghost concept too much... Especially since health drinks are such a bother to carry in your inventory. Hopefully the next game will be rid of these "improvements."
Henry is just some pretty boy-normal guy. hes not any baddass zombie killing military machine.. he gets tired and has to build up a lot of adrenaline in order to make a powerful strike like an average human. all in all the mechanics of his physical abilities are spot on with his apparent photographer-sissy lifestyle. its actually a wonder you can beat this game with this character at all. this game isnt about killing. killing is just an extra tension builder. having a difficult control system and awkward attacks is just another means of making the game more stressful. but that doesnt explain all the bugs with the first person view.
curse that first person view to hell thats probaly why i ended up hating this game slowly and surely i go out of my way to avoid games in first person i was scared when i found out it was first person mode in that room so very scared
when i was trying to get to that @#%$ box i got stuck behind something for like an hour and henry he gets stressed way to easily he flipped out when he saw that melting guy and went beserk for god sake man its just some bloodthirsty zombie trying to kill you take a chill pill dude (actually that might've been my dodgy controls)
well sh4 was the first sh game i ever played and i LOVED it, not to mention that the ghosts freaked me out EVERYtime (im such a wuss)...
from what ive noticed, most people like sh 2 and 4 the least, but those 2 are my favorites, dont know why...1 and 3 are cool too but i find the storyline kinda boring (that whole alessa/cheryl/heather/baby fetus god thing was confusing)
I liked SH4 because the characters and storyline was awsome! They kept the story and visuals disturbing, which was great.
But, they got rid of all the main trademarks of SILENT HILL!!
For example, where is the weird radio noise everytime a monster is nearby? You don't even get to really play in Sillent Hill, all you get to hear is constant referances about the city of Silent Hill...
But, the game was still great. Didn't get me as scared as SH1, but that didn't really take anything away from it. I loved the twisted freakyness to the game. Something worth playing again.
This game I liked a lot but what the heck is SH4 about?It doesn't have the Same basis of the original game,and it doesn't have any cops in it just weird weirdo's in the the intire game.SH ,and SH3 i liked the best ,and they should should of put more scary characters in it ,and they should of put a coustum character in any famous cartoon character like Bugs Bunny all bloodt like that "scary" rabbit in SH3.
I am a major fan of the SH series, starting from 1 and now of course ending (hopefully not though, Konami don't disapoint me now!) with 4. I own every game and after 2 became very scrutinous about my SH.
SH4 is the "worst" of the series (even though the game still rocks). I'm a fan of FPS games to begin with, the First person mode didn't bug me at all and having to use the box added a whole new sense of strategy (spoiler start)*especially when the apartment stops healing you*.(spoiler end)
What bugged me was the health bar for one. It takes away the feel and even lessens the impact of the horror. It reminds one every second of the game that it's just that, a game. Also the "worlds" seemed too much like levels to me. I grew out of levels durring the Super Nintendo era.
All in all though I liked it and what got me the most was the story. (Spoiler start)Walter Sullivan actually came from 2, as a little story in a magazine (and in a side game). The last thing I expected was the little magazine cut out to actually be the basis of another game.(Spoiler end) Rock on Konami.
Well, I'm really surprised that noone has brought this major factor of SH4 up before...
SH4 was not intended to be a silent hill game. Konami was going to release this game as a totally independant title, but at the last moment decided it was too much of a risk to put out a separate game, so they changed the title, added minimal storyline from SH2...and voila.
I'm sad that this caused a rather dark mark on a pristine series, altogether SH4 was a dissapointment when compared to the other games, but by itself might have been an enjoyment to play. Ah well, I still have fun playing it.
(plus the main character is a cutie. ^^ lol)
SH4 is my first SH game...I was excited to play it as so much people told me good things about the series...I guess they didn't play SH4 on a PC...because it's really a nightmare...in the ANNOYING sense of the word...SH4 has the crappiest controls I've ever seen in a game. I've played games before with different gameplay that I got used to after a time but SH4 controls & camera annoys me to a point that even after a period of adaptation, it seems it will still be a piece of crap. To have FUN in a game you MUST have freedom in controlling the character, it MUST be something simple and intuitive. Oh yeah, because of this stupidity of the game makers, I don't think I'll be able to check the very good story plot SH4 has...
eu amei silent hill, s㯠um dos meus jogos prediletos e muito criativo,pois temos que desvendar codigos e ser ageis.
claro que em primeiro fica,resident evil 1,2,3,4,.
mais esse jogo me chamou muito atenção,comecei a jogar silent hill, quando eu tinha 15 anos de idade..
espero que todos os jogos que vierem sejᠣriativo e bastante terror.
shit crap a fucking pile of shit !!!!! its alode of fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ars holes !!!!!!!!!
shit crap a fucking pile of shit !!!!! its alode of fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ars holes !!!!!!!!!
SH4 is my first SH game hey friend you are wrong because silent hill 4 the room was the game that changed the game into tow parts the original game story and thee other type of the story imagine if S.H.4 the room was another game named The Room And Another company produce that game do U believe that it would be more popular Than The Silent Hill`s games because the game has an amazing story its kind like true stories i hope ya all like SILENT HILL 4 THE ROOM.
Im a major fan of the SH seriers, and so far none have dissappointed me. SH4 was awesome, the difficulty of understanding the story made the plot worth unravelling (i cant stand games that are simple a to b equals the end), The use of different game play perspectives from 3rd to first combined with the tunnel sequences to take on a level-like feel made me feel on guard all the time which was good ( unlike games where you slowly bore of its straight forwardness). I enjoyed that the fear and anxiousness is found in the story itself and the interweaving connections not necessarily the ghosts and characters imagery (thoughthey were good)while the addition of 'the chest', unkillable victim-ghosts ( I hated them but it made me play harder),the peep holes, the clumsinss of first person mode, Henrys lacking in melee combat and the need to return to the apartment every now and then made it challenging (which is what players want) made it realistic ( which is why we play these games) and made the apartmen central to the game (its called the room). Not my favourite SH game but bloody awesome anyway. As Altana mentioned....it would have been awesome as a seperate title, but the connection with Silent Hill was good.....it maes you realise that you dont need to be in Silent hill town to be haunted by it.
me and my sister are from iran.we love this game exactly "dear henry"
I liked the game but it has a bug in the part where you insert the cleaned coin into vending machine. If you don't have any room in inventory to carry the key you won't get it and you can never try to use the coin again. So that ends the game right there. You can' t open the door to the murder scene and get the train control. Pretty sucky after spending that much time playing the game.
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