“It was two years ago that Henry Townshend moved into room 302 of South Ashfield Heights, an apartment building in the medium-sized city of Ashfield. Henry was happy and enjoying his new life. But five days ago something strange happened. He began to have a recurring dream each night. One other thing…. he can’t leave.”

Konami’s Silent Hill series is renowned for its disturbing visuals and the ability to shock. Silent Hill 4 carries this warning on the packaging: “This game contains scenes of graphic violence and should not be played by people of a nervous disposition.” Like a moth to a flame…

Gameplay

The game opens with our mild-mannered hero, Henry Townshend, waking up in his apartment after a bad dream… or was it a dream? From a first person point of view, you then explore your apartment for clues that may give an indication of how to leave this room that has sealed windows and a door that is chained up from the inside…

At this point things felt a little odd, and I’m not talking about the mysteries that lay ahead. The controls have no sensitivity settings, so orienting yourself can be strange at first especially with the black and white buttons acting as the ‘strafe’ function.

Once the adventure begins and you find an unusual way to leave the apartment, the perspective switches to third person and you start to explore the eerie locations and attempt to survive attacks by hideously mutated creatures and ghosts. The combat system is simple but requires good timing. Hold down the right trigger to adopt the ready stance and hit the A button to lash out with a melee weapon or unload a round of bullets. While this method is somewhat crude it gets the job done, although moving around in the fighting stance is ponderously slow, making it difficult to fight off the more nimble enemies.

At times, there seems to be too much running around without being able find a purpose or a way to progress. Occasionally you need to make your way along a lengthy corridor, up a flight of stairs, collect an item and then go back again. Being killed at stages like this can be extremely frustrating as there is nothing worse than repeating the same section. Although the only save point is in your apartment, there are tunnels in the ‘other world’ that lead back, so use these as often as necessary.

The loading times as you move through gates, doorways and tunnels are impressively fast, taking mere seconds to display the next section. These are sometimes accompanied by disturbing cut-scenes.

Controls

  • Left trigger: Rear view camera
  • Right trigger: Ready weapon
  • Left thumbstick: Move
  • Right thumbstick: Move camera
  • A: Enter/Examine/Attack
  • B: Cancel/Run/Avoid attack
  • X: Use/Equip item
  • Y: Check map/scrapbook
  • Back: Item explanation
  • D-Pad: Move item cursor
  • White button: Strafe left (in 1st person view)
  • Black button: Strafe right (in 1st person view)
  • Holding down the Back and Start buttons for 2 seconds or more will conveniently reset the game to the title screen.

While in the combat stance (weapon ready), pressing the B button will make Henry perform a dodge. This takes practice and I suggest getting to know your enemies in order to succeed at combat.

The weapons at your disposal also have their own characteristics, and the power of the weapon is inversely proportional to its speed, therefore I recommend you find and experiment with all of them to find a weapon of choice.

Graphics

The frequent animated cut-scenes that follow Henry Townshend’s progress are not only graphically superior to most games but also extremely well directed. Occasionally, the camera angles used for these scenes (and during the game itself) look up or down at the hero, giving the impression that he is not alone…

Even the most ardent horror/suspense movie fan will be impressed with this. When blood is shed, the effect is shocking rather than gratuitous, and this maintains the pitch that Silent Hill 4 isn’t just a brain-dead gore-fest.

I was most impressed with the lighting effects as I was expecting a near pitch-black presentation similar to Splinter Cell. However, the lighting levels are just right; not so dark that nothing can be seen and not too bright to ruin the overall effect of the game. The misty, grainy appearance with thin vertical lines flitting across the screen makes you feel as if you’re watching an old Hammer film. Of course, things are even better with the lights off!!

Silent Hill 4: The Room Screenshot

Silent Hill 4: The Room Screenshot
View all Silent Hill 4: The Room Screenshots in our Gallery

Audio

In game Dolby® Digital puts you right in the middle of the nightmare as startling sound effects often give the impression that something unpleasant really is just over your shoulder. Along with the agonising groans of creatures from the ‘other world’, ambient sound effects like footsteps, creaking doors, crickets and even sirens outside your apartment further enhance the superbly atmospheric playing environment.

Generally speaking, the music only really kicks in during the cut-scenes, so don’t expect an orchestral masterpiece. Pound for pound though, the music does complement the cut-scenes very well. I have read there is even a Silent Hill 4 soundtrack available, but only in the US.

Replay Value

With three difficulty levels and four endings, hardcore fans will no doubt want to play through this again. To trigger the different endings, certain actions/criteria need to be met during the game and in the finale; however, it is not necessary to reply the entire game in order to trigger a certain ending. You can keep a number of save files that meet the criteria just before the end of the game in order to see them.

Other than the different endings and the way the difficulty levels affect the puzzles and combat, the only difference on a reply are the addition of some hidden items. You may need a strategy guide to locate these items, and there are plenty available on the Internet all ready.

Overall Score

Overall Score: 8.0/10 [not an average]

Additional Comments

Having never played a Silent Hill game before, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I’m not a squeamish person and the only horror related media to leave me feeling unsettled have been Nightmare On Elm Street (well, I was only 13), Ring and Clive Barker’s ‘Books of Blood’. I’m pleased to say that Silent Hill 4 has a rightful place on that list.

There are some excellent touches that seem to pay tribute to great horror movies such as a character that looks an awful lot like Sadako (Ring), the layout of the apartment block opposite (Rear Window) and the ‘other world’ (Hellraiser).

As a ‘game’ Silent Hill 4 is good but not great. It can be finished in less than 10 hours and there is nothing groundbreaking in the gameplay itself. It is in the mysterious and atmospheric story that Silent Hill 4 succeeds as an ‘experience’, especially if you follow my example and play each level at night with dimmed lights and open curtains.

Dare you enter the room?!

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