Downpour Spoiler Thread

[Wrathborne]

Well watched the full game on Youtube and overall thought the game was hit and miss.

HITS:

1:Good story.Much better than Homecoming and Shattered Memories and it had a nice twist at the end.

2: The Atmosphere was pretty damn thick in this game,even watching it over youtube you can feel some of the old Silent Hill atmosphere in segments of the game.

3:The backgrounds for the game were pretty damn good, while I didnt quite care for the blade infested vortexing other world, it was pretty well constructed and had some pretty clever moments.

I liked the weather effects and use of water.

4:The games ending were all really well done and had good variety this time.

5: The use of a police radio and hearing police talking over it when a monster was near instead of regular static was pretty clever.

MISSES:

1:Lag, lots of it.

2: Auto save, Its nice to have an all, but it really makes you feel like you have less control over the game.

3:The combat system really hurt to watch. the ability to block is cool and all, but watching this through out the game really made attacking and guarding so damn awkward. I hate to say this, but they should just go back to the original games simplistic combat system, the blocking ability just kills it as does melee weapons stopping in mid attack next to a wall.

The limitation of only being able to hold 1 firearm and 1 melee weapon felt really...off.

4:A few characters pop up briefly and are never seen again, DJ ricks, the nun, the mailman pop up a little in the beginning and middle, but there's no resolution or development in them and it just leaves you with questions.

The Mailman had a little more to him than DJ Ricks did, but Ricks alluded to there being more stuff going on in town before he just disappears.

And the Nun? WTF?

5:The games monster designs and monsters themselves, were pretty bad. This is what, a 9-11 hr game? You face 7 monsters total over 11 hours. And to be honest most of the monster designs were flat, generic, and humanoid. I thought that this was the weakest part of the game and only the final boss really showed something unique.

If they mixed in variations of each monster (fat, skinny, different clothing) that would have added a little variety to what they had, but really it just got boring to watch the same 5 monsters pop up repeatedly. I really missed the weirdness of the older monsters in the series like the schism, worm head, murmur etc.

The Boogieman monster was pretty cool, and worked as a tormentor...but they introduced him too late and got rid of him too fast.

They really needed to have weird, distorted, and malformed monsters mixed in here. Would have made a real difference.

6: The graphics of the characters shifted from good, to bad. Hair effects and facial animation were inconsistent, especially towards the end of the game.

7just a personal gripe) I wanted to see the cult of Silent Hill return finally in some form dammit, they didnt...again.You see references of them throughout the game which is cool and all, but I really miss them as they were prominent in games 1 and 3.

8: Action buttons, fucking tired of them want them gone.

9:The music. Danial Licht does a pretty good job with his own stuff...but there isn't as much variety to his music as there was Akira Yamaoka's, and that really felt like a limitation.Also..I really, really fucking hated the depressing country music they used. While it did fit the game...It felt overused and was just annoying to listen too, but this is my opinion really.

10:The storys pacing felt really off, like in the middle of the game it never really picked up.

I'd say overall this was a 7.5/10.

Huge step in the right direction, but I think that part of the games levels needed to be shrunken down, a simplistic combat system would be easier to deal with, more monsters and varied monster designs and at the very least some music that matched the older SH games and this could have been a much stronger game.

[Smiley]

The nun from my point of view stands opposite the bogeyman as a manifestation of mercy and forgiveness. The nun's bio seemingly gives mention that Murphy was raised by sisters of an orphanage.

There's enough here to imply some of these characters are being punished or doomed to forever be a part of the town in some way which actually works into one of the endings regarding Murphy's fate. There's a lot explained, but just enough left open to connect to each ending. But not all of it ties directly to Murphy either.

Action buttons are optional for 95% of the game. You can turn them off and only apply them to specific scenes which progress the player but not beat them over the head.

The story's pacing depending on your youtube experience also depends on the player. Combat as well. I timed my blocks just right so they never looked or played awkwardly. You have limitations, and the combat is not as refined as Homecoming. This was to encourage more fight or flight encounters. Sure you have one melee weapon, but the environment can in itself be a weapons layout depending on what you use next. Or you can run which is the preferred option when dealing with a horror game like this. On my first ending I killed about 97 enemies and had full health. But now I'm going for less combat. Regarding pace, I looked for more side quests to do in the town and that requires more time and exploration away from the plot. But that being said I never finished all of them.

I'd suggest playing the game before watching youtube videos unless you were interested in story only. You might find more things about the game that your play through didn't fully explore.

EDIT: Yahtzee's review is up. Not a complete rant as one would expect. I actually agree with about 90% of it.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/vide...-Hill-Downpour

[Canas Renvall]

While I do agree with that mostly, I still think they really nailed the horror design, even if it was brighter than other games.

Also, I really like how the endings affect what Murphy did as well. He can be whoever you want him to be.

[Smiley]

That's an aspect I liked as well. It's more than just the options. How you handle the monsters in the game plays heavily on his character. It makes sense for him to transcend into his fate knowing how you the player treats him with others.

I wouldn't have called the locations bright. To me bright is the setting of RE5 which Downpour is not. The environments are murky and wet and once it downpours the areas grow darker.

His opinion that James remains the same and the endings factor into his redemption. Well that's not entirely true because aside from just the endings who you fight in the final boss encounter if you come to that point depends on how you shape him. Whether it's Maria or Mary.

[Canas Renvall]

Which is why I said "brighter than the other games", which are more than half the time in complete darkness. It's certainly much darker than many other games in general, but here there's a good amount of darkness to deal with. Especially in the theater. (By far my favorite part of the game @_@)

[Kaine]

Yahtzee got it mostly right. I've stopped watching him on a regular basis, since I find his routine old and stale by now, but I respect his opinion on the Silent Hill games. I share his opinion that Downpour is the best SH game developed outside of Japan so far. I don't know how sales are for the game, but if this is the last proper console Silent Hill released for awhile, they're going out on a high note.

[Smiley]

They're not that high. The series hasn't been making any big numbers for a while now. The only reason they seem to continue is to appeal to the fan base which a lot of them have abandoned.

[Inferno04]

It's sad really. Just when the series might be saved, it's too late, most of the fanbase has jumped ship.

[Kaine]

Hmm, sorry to hear that. Well, I'll support the series to its end (whenever that is).

By the way, I hear that the PAL release of the game fixes a number of bugs and glitches, can anyone confirm or deny this? Sorry if it's already been discussed. I noticed that Yahtzee didn't complain about any framerate issues, so maybe I've answered my own question, as he's in a PAL territory.

[Wrathborne]

Yahtzee is also as much of a video game reviewer, as Kim Khardashian is a celebrity.

[Kaine]

Yahtzee is also as much of a video game reviewer, as Kim Khardashian is a celebrity.

Agreed. Additionally, the whole snarky/angry reviewer thing is pretty lame IMO, but it was kind of a fun novelty for awhile.

[rewak]

Pretty dumb comparison seeing as Yahtzees actually been involved with the gaming industry for quite some time now and for some time before Zero Punctuation came about, whereas those Kardashian things just popped up and multiplied all over the media like some celebutard bubonic plague.

Kaine i played the PAL version and i didn't notice any framerate issues in Downpour. Now if you're talking HD Collection then nothing in the world can save that thing, kill it with fire then play the PC versions in HD instead.

Oh and Wrathbone, you mentioned slightly redundant characters, namely the postman. Yeah i agree on that, apparently he'll be explained more in Book Of Memories, something i kind of loathe in a way. It's kind of like when you have to buy DLC to get a bit of backstory, only in this instance you have to buy a Vita and another game that probably isn't gonna be good.

[Kaine]

Kaine i played the PAL version and i didn't notice any framerate issues in Downpour. Now if you're talking HD Collection then nothing in the world can save that thing, kill it with fire then play the PC versions in HD instead.

Ah, thank you for the quick reply. Interesting! It appears that the PAL release could be an updated/fixed version then. Downpour is a game that deserves the best presentation possible, glad to see it's been improved.

[Wrathborne]

Pretty dumb comparison seeing as Yahtzees actually been involved with the gaming industry for quite some time now and for some time before Zero Punctuation came about, whereas those Kardashian things just popped up and multiplied all over the media like some celebutard bubonic plague.

Yahtzee is a poor reviewer dude. I wish he still had the video up that I could show you but the best example is his review of New Super Mario bros for the DS, and then his review of New Super Mario Bros for the Wii.

He ends up bitching about a lot of the stuff on the Wii, that he was praising in the DS version.

Now both games are different in level design, gameplay and difficulty but at their core they're still the same game.

Then theres his review of FPS's, he doesn't like FPS's and isn't good at them.If you aren't good at a genre of game, don't review it. Even if they're paying you money, dont review it. You have no credibility here, Would you hire a childrens movie critic to review 'Basic Instinct'? Nay.

Then there is the fact that even on the games he likes, he bitches the shit out of them. I know its supposed to be entertaining to his audience, but for fucks sake its damn near completely counter productive.

Then there's him finding one or two little things to completely bitch about in a game that he keeps coming back too during the entire review which makes you wonder if he even played the game for more than 30 minutes.

That's why I don't consider his reviews to be anything.

[Dracarys]

Completed the game earlier, funny it been pouring down all week while playing.

Getting the bugs out the way, the occasional stutter when entering new areas, heavier when the game autosaves and the game will just freeze for a few moments whenever you earn a trophy since it autosaves at the same time.

Had an issue where a underground shortcut door would randomy switch between working and not, another 2 sets of shortcuts never worked ever, a door would stay locked on one end. Found it rather annoying when attempting to backtrack large distances.

Aside from those I don't think any bugs, the framerate stutter doesn't heavily detract from playing and you can sort of get used to it.

The puzzles are really good but the game does pull some bollocks sometimes in regards to visibility. I was running about a movie theatre for about 30 minutes looking for something and it turned out to be in a place I searched multiple times it was just that it was so dark and the torch is pretty crap for anything not waist to head hight and directly in front of you. I had puzzles set on hard so there is no shine from puzzle related items, I get the feeling the developers expect you to do this on easy first so you know where things are for hard which defeats the point.

Another issue I had with some puzzles were the enemies interfering, I would knock down an enemy trying not to kill many and just leave them laying down, as I'm solving a puzzle in the area I get interupted and need knock it down again, and again. Very annoying.

Overall the puzzles are a huge step up from the last few SH games, but these small things made some of them annoying at times. I still do not think they reach SH3 level of challenge either, even on hardest.

Combat I find steps backwards from Homecoming, I never really felt threatened, I played on normal enemy difficulty, maybe hard is totally different case. I never died to an enemy the entire game either way, even when some got the jump on me after I left them laying on the floor 'for dead'. Enemies are too slow and you can easily run in many cases, not that you need to, just block attacks and a few swings to do one in. Alternatively run in a circle and watch them struggle to target you, constantly missing and opening themselves for attack. The fights are just too controlable. I much prefer Homecoming where different weapons suit different enemies, you needed move about dodging and blocking attacks looking for openings, after combat like that or games like Alan Wake I find Downpour rather archaic in a sense. No enemy damage either, you slashed an enemy in Homecoming you'd see a slash wound where you slashed, nothing in Downpour.

Story was a weak point, I guessed the 'secret' very early, but then the game goes off like it is a different story altogether and I though I must be wrong, only it leads nowhere and later resumes the original idea I had. Not sure what was going on with the writing, some info in the 'extras' menu gives it an excuse to be there but still no real reason, Extras unlock as you play and who would read that before finishing the game? The imagery used isn't up to par with other SH games. I'm not really sure the reasoning behind most monsters visuals. Several characters have no conclusion also.

Side missions are hit and miss, I often found the reward was not worth the effort and you really need get lucky with finding the items for some of these, I searched areas rather thoroughly as I progressed in the game but some things are still hard to find due to visibility issues alone.

I never really thought it was scary, the set piece scares are weak and the game failed to induce real a panic except for one area and that was mostly due to blindness from lack of light. It does have a horror decent atmosphere though, could have done with raining more, especially heavy rain.

It definitely feels a lot like older SH games in several areas, I just do not think they is entirely a good thing. Aside from the puzzles and exploration in Downpour I think Homecoming did the rest better.

Overall it is definitely an enjoyable game despite my criticisms, I like it enough I'll probably play through another time or two and try get all the trophies/endings. However not worth full price, rent it or wait for price drop.

[Pikminister]

Man, it seems that Silent Hill is definitely going through a low point these days.

I just replayed Shattered Memories and the gameplay is still -meh!- but the story still captivates me. So many cryptic stuff there to keep you awake at night wondering what the fudge it all means.

I wonder if the fanbase is being too hard on the recent games. Or if they just plain suck.

50/50?

[Dracarys]

They are being too easy on the older games. That have some massive flaws, even for back when they released.

[Pikminister]

Maybe so... but then most see the things that they grew up with, with rose colored glasses.

[Smiley]

I wouldn't say that. The HD Collection by itself is proof that the classics were not all that bad and given the state of the HD port they could have very well been developed much worse.

[News Bot]

They are being too easy on the older games. That have some massive flaws, even for back when they released.

Like?

The older games focused more on atmosphere, art direction and general horror.

The newer games focus more on action and "forced" horror implemented by copying elements from the previous games and making them worse.