SILENT HILL 4: A GAME FOR RATS
this review was co-authored by cj
i don't find it too bold to say that silent hill 2 & 3 are the greatest horror stories this medium has seen so far. they are the stories against which every subsequent horror game is judged, as quintessential as resident evil 4's combat... and yet team silent's 4th and final entry is often relegated to nothing more than a footnote in konami's ps2 output. could it be an UNSUNG MASTERPIECE? a LOST CLASSIC befit for youtube retrospectivication?
no. it was baaaaaaaaaaad.
many have criticized about the changes sh4 made to the series' gameplay formula, but that is the least of my concerns. the new combat is fun. the directional controls are serviceable and give way to some very imposing camerawork-to-controls interactions when the angle does some freak shit like turn upside down in the middle of a room. the infamous backtracking escort mission has competent ai and gave me a reason to keep playing, so i'm convinced the people complaining hate pretty girls. nah, it's the story that blows.
our tale follows an emotionaless husk named henry, whose only qualification as protagonist is that he happens to witness some paranormal events. he has no stakes in the anyone or anything and no interesting traits except that he's retarded. did he have a lobotomy off-screen or something? why does he have no reaction to humans dying? the off-kilter nature of the previous silent hill protags made sense or at least worked tonally. here, it's jarring. that said, a good story doesn't NEED a good protag. look at harry! he's a nothingburger self-insert. i think henry's too stupid to be a self-insert, but my point stands. so, what about the most plot-crucial character, walter sullivan? yeah, that guy who was offhand mentioned in silent hill 2. and guess what! he's stupid too! while he's not quite mentally deficient in the same way henry is, his backstory is that he has a mommy complex for an inanimate object. it feels like a bit out of a matt berry comedy. walter's most often found spawning in the middle of a room you just walked into in a hysterically jank fashion and then point-blank john wooing henry in the face. i couldn't take this shit seriously if i wanted to. for pete's sake, there are enemies that BURP AT YOU WHEN THEY GET HURT. how is this supposed to be scary? and these line reads... jeez, man.
the one saving grace vibes-wise is that some - about 50% - of the environments are memorable. these include the water prison, forest, and apartment worlds. while i was exploring the forest and its decaying structures or avoiding the twin victim in the water prison, i started to have a good time! until i was whisked off to building world. i have to imagine the pitch for building world went something like this:
"alright, so we have a torture prison area, an otherworld apartment area, and a culty forest area. what should we add next?"
"how about building world?"
"what the hell do you mean by 'building world'??"
"well, there would be monkeys in the buildings that try and eat your face."
"wh-"
"i've also been working on a new enemy type for the hospital. it's a wheelchair that does sick drifts. should strike the fear of God into the player."
how did TEAM SILENT make THIS???????
unless... they didn't. think about it. the forest, the abandoned apartments, and the water prison are the most fleshed-out areas. almost like the devs are the most familiar with them. the writing is strikingly alien, like it wasn't written by a human. the main antagonist is a long-haired man with a big trenchcoat who follows henry around despite barely acknowledging him as a person and non-chalantly sprays you with bullets in order to exterminate you. and henry - the character whose shoes we're supposed to walk in - doesn't care about humans, lives in a dirty apartment, and has a small brain like a rat. because he IS a rat. because THE WHOLE GAME WAS MADE BY RATS!!!! IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW!
they needed more dev time, badly.
END GAME REVIEW