PixlBit

On the subject of spooky games I've got my Gamecube all hooked up and ready to play more of Resident Evil 1 remake. The Secret World MMO seems appropriate for halloween time as well. But I really want to discuss those other Silent Hill games I never played.

I've played Silent Hill 1, 2, 3, 0 (Origins), Shattered Memories and Book of Memories.
I have not played 4, 5 or 6. I might purchase these games some day, but one of the things that I enjoy about the series is the communities devoted to the games, youtube playthrough videos and wiki pages explaining all the details. I didn't particularly enjoy the lack of evolution in control or combat mechanics either but I still enjoy the narrative and atmosphere.

A while back ago I dismissed the idea of setting Silent Hill games out side of Silent Hill itself. I felt that the first few games covered enough origin material and answered enough questions that all there was really left to do was end the series or try a different game style/genre. We sort of already have a neat spinoff with Shattered Memories and it's running/catch me if you can simulator, then there is the multiplayer handheld called Book of Shadows that resemebles Diablo. Resident Evil has multiplayer shooter spin-offs as well as on-rail adventure shooters. 

So I watched the movie versions of Homecoming and Downpour. They each ran about 1hr 30min and I have to say they were pretty enjoyable to watch as a movie. I've never been one to get into video streams or whatever, but this actually worked. I love playing challenging survival horror games, but with Silent Hill, I would love for the games to have a "theatre mode" where you can just rewatch the story. This would probably prevent players from replays, but sometimes I just want the narrative and I think something like the TellTale games would also work for Silent Hill.

Anyhow, of the two games stories I really enjoyed Homecoming better. It was a lot closer to the original series and basically retold the story of Silent Hill 1,2 & 3 but with a new character and town. So I was proven wrong. Setting the game outside of Silent Hill actually works pretty well. Eventually there is a return to Silent Hill for further answers, and this goes for Downpour as well, but that's okay. I like how everything slowly bungies back to that original town.  I don't think that Silent Hill 4:The Room revisits old Silent Hill, but I only read the synopsis for that game so I might be wrong on that. If you want to know Homecoming is the one about the soldier who returns home to look for his brother in a town outside of Silent Hill, with obvious connections. Downpour is the one about the dude that breaks out of  prison and his prison bus rolls over on the highway and he eventually ends up in Silent Hill. The Room is about a dude locked in his room with chains. 

I'm going to dig up some comics and try to find some more material about these games. I want to eventually play through these last games in a proper order, but not for now.


What do you all think about the last SH games that released? I really liked the stories.