Silent Hill Downpour Monsters

Silent Hill: Downpour. Murphy Pendleton makes his way into the sleepy town of Silent Hill where mysterious locals welcome him into a slowly developing personal hell. For Silent Hill: Downpour on the PlayStation 3, a GameFAQs message board topic titled 'Guess the symbolism for each monster (MAJOR SPOILERS)'.

Silent Hill Downpour is a survival horror game which takes place in the infamous sea side town of Silent Hill _{(weird eh?)} for the Xbox 360 and, Playstation 3. Downpour is the eighth installment of the Silent Hill series and follows Murphy Pendleton who, while being relocated from one prison to another, is caught up by Silent Hill's dark influence via a bus crash. Madness and horror ensue if you're new to survival horror or are of a frail disposition but I'll get back to that later one. The main plot of the game is Murphy trying to get the Hell out of Silent Hill while simultaneously trying to avoid Officer Anne Cunningham who seems really pissed off at Murphy for some reason. Anyway, leaving Silent Hill for Murphy is like cleaning my room is for me personally: diving deep into a bad situation and everything seems to get irreversibly messed up long before a resolution is reached.

Like most other Silent Hill titles _{(or all other titles excluding the arcade one I assume)} Downpour is a third-person survival game with an action bent to it. There are a lot of random items littered about the town and, buildings you're allowed to explore so you'll never be wanting for a weapon unless you're a picky person like me who just wasn't satisfied with anything other than an ax. Exploring the town is a bit tricky due to the thick fog and it got a bit irksome checking the map to make sure that Murphy is on course. While most buildings and houses can't be entered there are certain homes that can be entered for side quests and of those some are only accessible using one of two items _{(an ax or, a sort of fireplace poker)}. I felt there was a logical misstep with this since most axes could have been used in the same way the fireplace poker is used, as could a spade or really any long tool with a bend to it like a shovel or rake.

When Murphy isn't being lavished by a tune from one of the many radios Silent Hill either has an ambient score or, no music at all which definitely helped bolster the creepy atmosphere. Spaceward ho for pc. When the score is being played though it's very simple but effective and a bit difficult for me to put into words. Furthermore, when it comes to combat, there is a definite weight to melee weapons that makes hitting an enemy, wooden boards and, locks extremely satisfying; the bang of metal on metal and the wet, crunchy, thump of crowbar-on-humanoid really makes the combat experience satisfying when you chose not to run away from the fights.

To continue on about atmosphere and setting, let me clarify by stating that this is my first true Silent Hill experience. I tried Silent Hill 2 when I was about 12 so the experience was lost on me and while I have been able to obtain Silent Hill 2 again and, 4 for the first time I haven't had adequate time to get acquainted with them quite yet for various unimportant reasons. Baring that in mind, my first playthrough of Silent Hill 7 _{(or 8 depending on whether you consider Origins to be 'zero' or not)} drew me in to the point that I did fall victim to several jump scares and was unnerved at certain bits of Murphy's adventure. I learned to dread the moments when my police radio began to pick up static and savor the moments when DJ Ricks plays one of my favorite songs on the radio. More importantly though was the dread I felt when Murphy would be thrown into Otherworld again and again, especially because of the tension brought about by the chase sequences which punctuated each visit to that grotesque, parallel plain of dementia.

That being said however, Downpour encourages multiple playthroughs for anyone who wants to see all six endings and once you've been on the ride once, you know where all of the twists and turns are. The streets of Silent Hill are still difficult to navigate if you miss a map during a second or third playthrough but there is a definite lack of venom in each of the bites Silent Hill delivers. Another detrimental aspect to Downpour's horror element would be the creatures Murphy faces: 3 flavors of human, one mannequin ghost thing, wall-hanging, blood sneezing torsos and, what looks like a miniature Cloverfield monster crossed with a featherless chicken _{(like what you would find at a super market)}. These creatures can startle and fighting is difficult enough to discourage direct engagement for the most part but there's nothing really horrid or, scary about them unless you just really dislike chicken, mannequins or, your fellow human beings. When thunder starts to crack and the rain starts to fall while Murphy is outside, enemies begin to spawn in more rapidly and, become far more aggressive. There are also police squad-cars patrolling the streets of Silent Hill but that threat can be taken care of permanently before it has a chance to properly loom. Of course if the enemies do overwhelm or frighten you the player, there is always the option to run the away from any threat. This is even a gameplay mechanic in the Otherworld, wherein Murphy is chased by a black hole made of red light.

When Murphy is presented with an enemy that can't be willed away via puzzle, the real fun begins. The combat in Downpour is melee focused and as I mentioned before there are all sorts of rocks, sticks and other detritus scattered around town which will help in the satisfying pursuit of bludgeoning, slashing and, smashing enemy threats. Guns and ammo are also available but in keeping with the survival horror aesthetic ammunition is very, very scarce. Furthermore there are only two-and-a-half flavors of gun _{(mainly because most people wouldn't consider a nailgun a proper firearm)}. The combat is sticky and a bit sluggish but it seems like the enemies you face are having just as much trouble as Murphy is when it comes to combat. World in conflict 2. Also in the proper mindset, the scenarios can be pretty hilarious and/or gruesome such as when a screamer does a Mortal Kombat style windmill punch landing a 4-hit combo against Pendleton only to then be bludgeoned to death by the man wielding a pipe-wrench himself. As for the shooting mechanics, aiming with a gun goes into an over-the-shoulder camera view and from there it's painfully obvious that Murphy isn't a solider as the cross-hair waivers and even at close range a hit isn't guaranteed. I feel it ups the stakes and doesn't do much to make you feel any more secure which bolsters the dread you may or may not feel during that first playthrough. As I eluded to before though, the only guns you can find in Silent Hill include a pistol, shotgun and, nailgun. On a final Murphy can only carry one gun and one melee weapon _{(or one of side arm and a shotgun)} which made me personally consider what exactly I wanted to carry with me into what could very well be a battle around every foggy corner.

This being a Silent Hill experience, there are quite a few puzzles to deal with between bus and redemption and completing each one adds a tick mark to Murphy's journal. What disappointed me however was how there didn't seem to be any more puzzles in the hard mode when compared to normal. What I did like however was how at the very beginning you the player not only chose the games difficulty but also the difficulty of the puzzles you come across on your mystical adventure. This really appealed to a Chucky like me who wanted easy combat but difficult puzzles though admittedly my first playthrough was on true normal. From what I did experience though there is a very clear difference between the three difficulty settings unlike other games that exist but I can't name at the moment where each difficulty feels the same or too easy, too difficult, etc.

I had a few minor grievances with Silent Hill Downpour, first and foremost is the inability to skip cutscenes. Luckily this didn't become much of an issue until my second playthrough. I also had a problem with the lack of boss fights and the general lack of monster-monsters. Most of the enemies are humanoid and even in Otherworld, the wall torsos are very humanoid and a bit disappointing. Of course considering Murphy has been in prison for however long it's understandable he would loath, disgust and, fear inmate-type people. A bigger issue I had came up maybe three times and those are QTE sections wherein you the player must alternate holding in either the triggers of the L/R2 buttons to slowly, painstakingly climb up broken bridges. I can kind of see the balance segments but the climbing sections just slowed things down for me personally and was irksome. Finally, since I was playing on the Xbox 360 and don't bother to load a disc onto my hard drive, my copy of Silent Hill crashed more than once _{(three times)} but all of those crashes happened during marathon sessions of gameplay so that was likely more my fault than the games.

Silent Hill Downpour's atmosphere and set pieces make it a great game to experience in this, the final week of October. There are more frightening games of course but if you've already survived other Silent Hill outings or other horror titles in general Downpour is definitely worth a look. It may not scare you but in the right mindset and with the right ambiance Downpour can draw you in if you allow it to. Depending on how much you want to explore, playing the game on normal could take anywhere between 15 and 30 hours _{(big margin, I know but there is a lot to see if you like to wander)}. That's on the first playthrough of course and personally I was able to do an easy speed-run of roughly 3 and a half hours so I'm guessing most people could beat that. Silent Hill Downpour is widely available at game stores, big box retailers, electronics shops and the online stores. The price ranges from $49.99 _{(which is the most common price honestly)} to as low as $15 (X360) $20 (PS3) on Amazon. These are U.S. prices by the way so forgive any bad information. As for whether or not Silent Hill Downpour is worth $50, I can say that I played this title three times in a row and plan on breaking it out again next October. I only managed to get through Alice whereas Silent Hill's difficulties made my experiences unique enough so that if I had paid $50 for my copy I would have felt the game was completely worth it. Since I got my copy from amazon though, for less than the price of a dinner date, I can say without the shadow of a doubt that Downpour is worth it. I really wish I had my copy of Silent Hill 2 or 4 but Downpour has really made me want to sink my teeth into those after having played it.