Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Opinions on The Room (obvious big spoilers for those who haven't played it)

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Opinions on The Room (obvious big spoilers for those who haven't played it)

    I see a split camp regarding this game, whether it's the gameplay changes or the revelation that the Silent Hill title was slapped on the game. Even Akira Yamaoka said he thought the characters were a little weak. Wow.

    I appreciate the game, because I think the story, most of the characters (both main and supporting), and the atmosphere are all well done. Now there's no mistaking how clunky the gameplay can feel in comparison to the first three. One save point, limited inventory, ghosts, repeating worlds...While these features were a hindrance in the immersion at first, I soon got used to them. The hauntings in your apartment later in the game are cool, I especially like the one where you look into your peephole and Walter Sullivan shows up to stare you down for whatever reason.

    The whole idea of the apartment as a womb of sorts that gets invaded by a freakish and disturbing life is effective (I like the scenes of Henry going into Subway and Forest World for the first time in the fetal position, good indicators). Walter Sullivan is a menacing character through and through, he reminds me of Bob from Twin Peaks. It's especially shocking after seeing his omnipresence while within his worlds that he's actually a decaying, crucified body behind an apartment wall. I think he's a fine antagonist, and his build up is enticing. When you realize how much influence he has, Joseph Schrieber and Henry Townshend seem like pawns, it's frightening.

    The supporting cast is hit and miss, but things such as seeing/hearing about Frank Sunderland is fun. What I don't like is that the only victim that's given much of a stage is Cynthia (Eileen doesn't count). The rest have death scenes, but they're a little one-dimensional. I enjoyed contemplating about Cynthia's place and I thought she had the most personality.

    The stages, although you have to visit some of the same ones, have that Silent Hill touch, and at this point I don't think it's old. I enjoyed exploring them both times.

  • #2
    Haven't finished it, but as far as I've come to know it, it looks really good, has a creapy atmosphere and all, and the characters are... ok, generally speaking.
    And withought taking in acount the fact that the game was ment to be another game, it turned out to be a great silent hill game, regardless of all its flaws

    Comment


    • #3
      I liked it, I agree with a lot of your points. One thing people seem to forget is clues indicate that Henry was once joyful and full of life. The room itself seemed to suck the life from him for the two years he was in it. He became withdrawn, introverted, and had little to no connection with people. That's what made him so interesting to me, how you had to see facial expressions or ticks to see his emotion, and seeing what the room actually DID to him. He is sort of flat, but I suspect depth to him we're really never shown on the surface.

      I LOVED the haunting system. I just absolutely loved seeing a new creepy thing in your house every so often, and first person view nonetheless. My favorite was looking out the peephole to see HENRY as a ghost victim.

      Something in me finds Eileen okay, but most of me just finds her downright annoying. That annoying girl that over sympathizes with the wrong people. As much as I like Lisa in SH1, when she felt sorry for Travis' mom in Origins, I just facepalmed. I don't care how unfortunate someone's past is, if they are trying to sacrifice me, it's gonna be hard to get any shred of kindness from me. >< So WTF Eileen. She also seemed...kind of pushy at times, bitchy. Almost like Maria was to James.

      I found Cynthia kind of refreshing. I mean if I were in that kind of situation, not knowing where I was...I'd try to play it cool and stay calm too. Panicking will get you nowhere. ><

      Room of Angel is one of my favorite songs off of ANY video game soundtrack, so that made me like the game as well. xD

      Comment


      • #4
        There were a bunch of great hauntings I missed (such as "I'm always watching you...I'm...always...watching you," Henry's bloody corpse, and kid Walter's silhouette) as I did not expect them (I took a little break from the game as the first used copy I picked up didn't work after a certain point).

        People seem to have a heart for "misunderstood" folks, even ones as extreme as killers (people such as Ted Bundy got love letters and visitation lines at some point I've heard). You have to understand that Eileen's first encounter with Sullivan is with the scared, alone child. Not only that, but apparently the same child starts to possess her and influence her actions ("I'm scawed!). She's also supposed to represent "mother," so I suppose her nurturing opinion of Sullivan could even be more from that influence than feeling sorry for a boy led astray.

        Comment


        • #5
          The Room scares me, ghosts, can't stand ghosts, I can't play it very far for long, it's just, too scary.
          And when I read soon in ghosts can actually invade your safe room, I was like "fuck this " and stopped playing forever.
          I am a little disappointed that I haven't finished this one yet, being the only one, but those ghosts...

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by GuardhouseMusic View Post
            There were a bunch of great hauntings I missed (such as "I'm always watching you...I'm...always...watching you," Henry's bloody corpse, and kid Walter's silhouette) as I did not expect them (I took a little break from the game as the first used copy I picked up didn't work after a certain point).

            People seem to have a heart for "misunderstood" folks, even ones as extreme as killers (people such as Ted Bundy got love letters and visitation lines at some point I've heard). You have to understand that Eileen's first encounter with Sullivan is with the scared, alone child. Not only that, but apparently the same child starts to possess her and influence her actions ("I'm scawed!). She's also supposed to represent "mother," so I suppose her nurturing opinion of Sullivan could even be more from that influence than feeling sorry for a boy led astray.
            It's funny because in that quiet, misunderstood nature, Henry and Walter are similar. Walter never interested me though. All I saw was, "Abandoned, raised by a cult, misread this ritual, plans to bring out the devil even though he doesn't know it, sad story, moving on." I just didn't find him deeply interesting at all. Maybe I was hoping someone as complex as James or Angela, which, none of the SH games could deliver after 2. SH2 was its prime.

            I thought her first encounter was with adult Walter, when he slashed the hell out of her, then the kid just showed up. I guess influence could be a good reason, I just didn't like that side of her at all. ><

            Oh god, those hauntings you just mentioned. xD The shadow and phone ones actually kind of freak me out a little. I'm not to fond of shadows or the sound of crying babies/kids, and who wouldn't be weirded out by, "I'm always watching you..."
            Henry's ghost looks like his eyes have been taken out, and all around his eyes are bloody. It's like he has some kind of blindfold on, and I always wondered if that made any sense to his 'Reciever of Wisedom' position. What exactly makes him the reciever of wisedom, is it because he kept getting Joseph's notes and infomation under his door?

            Comment


            • #7
              Hated it, to me it pretty much took what made Silent Hill good and turned it into a joke. The plot wasn't steeped in any kind of subconscious torment, there wasn't anything going on except rescuing Eileen then playing through everything you just did again, whilst protecting her, all to stop some guy from performing a ritual. It's low budget horror movie stuff, not anywhere near as complex as a Silent Hill plot line should be. The enemies were just ridiculous this time around, and they were more annoying than scary. Having to play back through the areas you just went through was seriously tedious and just showed how little imagination and thought went into the game. Protecting Eileen was annoying, if theres one thing i hate in games its having to constantly protect some pain in the ass character who wont even defend themselves. I think thats enough of my opinions.

              Comment


              • #8
                Well, to defend Eileen, she can brandish a few weapons, one of which is an unlockable submachine gun. Plus she can't die, it's just the more she gets hit the faster she walks during the final boss fight.

                I might actually be wrong, Inferno. I thought Eileen's first encounter with Sullivan had her saving the child. So would that actually mean she encountered both at the same time >.<?

                Comment


                • #9
                  Yeah I'll agree with the protecting. In terms of gameplay she never helped me out. She had the option to attack but it was useless as all she did attack was ghosts when I was trying to run from them. From the beginning she's clearly set as this weak damsel in distress, and boy does it show. Not to mention waiting for somebody to catch up is always a pain.

                  I think she encountered them at the same time, but why would she protect the young Walter, the adult wouldn't try to kill himself. She would've had no need to protect. And the kid must've been there for awhile as she asked him, "Did you find your mommy yet?" He must've talked to her. So this kid just stands around watching her in pain, and this lady just lays around not trying to pick herself up, instead pitying some kid. Wow. Call me selfish but...

                  At least Maria died after awhile so you didn't have to protect her all the time. Thank god Heather never had to carry anybody's weight, that would've made SH3 all too worse. (There, I said it, I don't like SH3 XD Best one in terms of scary, but to me, the worst. It's just a repeat of SH1.)
                  Last edited by Inferno04; 08-23-2009, 02:25 PM.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Maria was never a problem to me, she stayed back out the way most of the time, like Sherry in RE2. Having to protect someone though who actually tries to attack but really shouldn't is what ruins it, i mean who's great idea was it to give a woman in plaster casts a weapon and make her fight? It's part of what ruined RE5 too, having to constantly babysit this moron who practically runs into the enemies when any sensible person would be stepping back.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by rewak View Post
                      Having to protect someone though who actually tries to attack but really shouldn't is what ruins it
                      I haven't played The Room in a long time, but from what I remember you could always unequipped Eileen's weapon - therefore she would stop attacking enemies (obviously) and only follow Henry. Giving Eileen a weapon was useful when there were monsters that were killable (that is: not ghosts or possessed wheelchairs) and you had to kill them.
                      Last edited by Mr_Zombie; 08-23-2009, 06:28 PM.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        But she never did really, she'd always kinda go towards the enemies even if she was unequipped instead of going somewhere out the way. What would have fixed the whole thing is if they gave the option to tell her to stay put, then you could have gone ahead and cleared the way.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I've grown to love this game and with the 'new' garbage on the way I appreciate this game even more now. It's really kinda enjoyable

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            I haven't finished 'The Room' yet, but from what I've played, its been very enjoyable - and pretty scary - the ghosts bring a great amount of atmosphere to the game. I'm looking forward to working my way through it.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I have mixed feelings when it comes to this game. I really like the Walter/ apartment story. Story-wise, I like how you re-enter the worlds through the back doors, going deeper and deeper down, and finally ending up in the apartment, but it's a bit boring, considering the gameplay. SH has always had you play through certain areas twice, but they've always done something special to it the second time. This time they are completely identical. I think the characters are mostly good, except Henry which just "is there".

                              My main problem with SH4 is the level design. Pretty boring.

                              Subway - worst place in any SH game, completely generic and boring.
                              Forest - ok, nice to see Toluca lake and the Wish House.
                              Tower - highlight of the game, that place is just so fucked up. I love how you re-enter it coming down that elevator.
                              "Mall" - zzzzzzzz
                              Hospital - worst hospital in the SH series, offers nothing.
                              Apts - good enough, looks SHish for once.
                              lostreleases // demopals

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X