Silent Hill Downpour

Silent hill has been one of my favorite game titles since the release of the original. At first, i was resilient to Team Silent passing the torch to Vatra games, but after taking down the shield and playing Origins and Homecoming I have learned to enjoy the new style.

March is going to be an exciting month. We got The Silent Hill HD Collection launching the 4th and Downpour the 13th. I am stoked about the revamp to the series, with changes including: HD graphics and updated voice acting. Let it be known, I have no qualms with the original presentation of the series, but it will be nice to re-experience the story with a little more believable dialogue delivery. The only thing I found odd about the re-release of the series, was the exclusion of the most important title to the series; The Original! Why not bundle the game that started it all? Also, the story of the 3rd game (in my opinion) relies heavily on the events of the first title. My theory; PSN. I digress.

Downpour will be the latest installment to the Silent Hill story line. Murphy Pendleton, an escaped convict, finds himself stranded in the famous West Virginia town of Silent Hill (Some People debate it's Pennsylvania, which actually makes more sense) during one of its paranormal episodes. The enemies will continue in the traditional fashion of being manifestations of the protagonists fears and guilt's. So for Pendleton, these will most likely be past victims or traditional portrayals of grisly murders. My only real concern, as with all the newer installments to the series, is the change in personality of the protagonist. The appeal of the first three games (For me at least) was the Anti-Hero lead character: Harry Mason was a writer, James Sunderland was a "grieving" widower, and Heather Mason was a teenage girl. So why the recent change? We already have Leon Kennedy and Chris Redfield as our awesome "hero" types, and Jill Valentine and Claire Redfield as our heroines. There's no denying Travis Grady and Alex Shepard were great protagonists, both clad with compellingly twisted pasts, but I didn't possess that fear of being unable to defend myself. Oh well, moving on.

Weeping bats seem like some wily critters. I'm sure they will cause some moments of terror throughout the game. A lot of speculation to what they represent. I'm guessing it has to do with the towns past involving mining (Like the movie story line).

These things definitely will cause reason for panic. My only gripe is when something looks too detailed, it's weird to keep seeing them throughout the game as carbon copies of each other. Example: Nurses wear the same uniforms but since they have bubbled faces it doesn't bother me. They could all be technically different people. These look like copies of each other. Remember Half Life's Barney? He was every security guard in that game. Awesome game by the way.

One of the coolest additions in my opinion. One of the best parts of SH3 was when you leave the Fun House at the fair, you are pursed by a red light. Very reminiscent of the evil from Evil Dead.

Obvious reference to the past women who have been tortured or murdered; Either by Pendleton himself or stories heard from his inmates.

Sketchy dudes. Reminds me of the game The Suffering (Which is a good thing!). Also sporting sweet tat's. Possibly prison bar codes?

I personally think he is a manifestation of a Warden type. He has been dubbed the Aristocrat. We will see what develops closer to launch.

Pretty cool, bringing back a Butcher/Pyramid Head type stalker, kind of reminds me of the 1st boss from Clock tower 3. It'll be cool though having that Nemesis/Mr.X type eerie feeling. Very sketchy indeed.

I am excited for the release of Downpour. I have high hopes that this title may rekindle the amazingness of a great game series. The movie wasn't my favorite, but it did have some real cool ideas that I think Vatra is using to evolve the game. Ill let you know once it has been released.