In reference to the Silent Hill History:

Leonard Wolfe was at one time Dahlia's closest ally. He was part of the opposet sect as Dahlia, however, they still remained friends. Leonard, Dahlia, Jimmy Stone, Kaufmann, and Christabella were all friends at one point or another. Yet, certain things led to all of them falling apart.

Christabella was recruited into The Order by Leonard. She became Dahlia's sister in the cult, much like Alessa and Claudia were, but not actually blood sisters. Christabella was once a Christian follower, but after her parents died, she became weak, and Leonard convinced her to leave Christianity because her god caused the death of her parents. She and Leonard later become romantically envolved .

Dahlia became obsessed with the thought of bringing god into this world. She was filled with greed and power and was willing to put to death any who got in her way. Michael Kaufmann also was greedy, stealing from The Order's funds and other things. Jimmy Stone almost disappeared from the occult alltogether, he too overcome with greed, and becomes a reclusive drinker shortly before his death.

Leonard and Christabella, during all of this madness, have a baby named Claudia (named after the drug). At the same time, Leonard is falling deeper into the addiction of White Claudia, a drug that has mind controlling abilities. He feels that Dahlia's goal of bringing god into this world is rediculous, and has some hard feelings for her. Christabella is sadened by the fact that her former friends have "betrayed" her, and also feels that The Order's god has too turned her back on Christabella. Leonard, high on White Claudia, instigates an argument with Dahlia about her goal, which causes Leonard to be almost shunned by the members of The Order. Christabella begins to comfort her lover by speaking bad things about Dahlia and Samael. The mind controlling abilities through White Claudia allows Christabella to use Leonard to gain members for her cult against The Order. Dahlia after learning this, has Claudia brought into The Order.

Christabella places Leonard into Brookhaven hospital so that he will recover from the madness that has came over him. Once he recovers, Claudia is over The Order, not Dahlia, and he instantly adopts the feelings he had for Dahlia and associates them for Claudia.


If that's confussing, I'm sorry. I'm half asleep and that's like at least five pages of my story shortened down into a few paragraphs. Is there anything wrong with what I have there?

On another note, here's what I've always thought since playing the first Silent Hill. After doing reading, a lot of people feel differently, but I just like disagreeing with people so that I can start some debating. Heh.

Samael is referred to as "the devil" in other religons. Some people believe that The Order's god is not Samael, but that Dahlia is using that name to trick Harry. Some people believe that Matatron might actually be this god, for the Seal of Metatron, not the Mark of Samael, is used by Alessa to keep Dahlia from getting too close to her. Yet, is Dahlia is a worshipper of The Order, then why would the symbol of one of The Order's gods be used AGAINST Dahlia?

In Silent Hill 3, the Seal of Metatron is again used to keep god being born. I always believed that Metatron could have been the god against The Order's.

On a further note, Metatron, or Metraton, is referred to as a form of "Jesus" in other religions. In the "Book of Lost Memories", Samael and Metatron are said to be "two beings sharing the same existance." Jesus and the devil are almost referred to this way in the Bible, Jesus being the first born son and Lucifer being the most beautiful of all the angels. Couldn't Metatron be in a sense a "good" god, and Samael be the "bad" god? That's how I always thought of it. Maybe I'm wrong. Lately I've learned that I've been confused on a lot of things in the Silent Hill universe.

That's an interesting way to look at it. In that scenario, the two gods essentially balance each other, which is why the Seal of Metatron is so potent. It's not all powerful, though. Alessa knew how to use it, but Heather and Vincent clearly did not, so the Seal did nothing for them in stopping The God's birth. It seems to me that just like the Order's God, Metatron needs someone strong to harness its power. So far, only Alessa has done anything tangible with it.

Some fans argue that Dahlia couldn't have used the name Samael to confuse Harry, because Harry's just a writer. But, I think they ignore one important question: what exactly did Harry write before SH1? Could it be that some of his novels required religious research, which is why Samael would sound familiar to him? Or, is Harry himself possibly a religious man? We'll probably never know (and that's fine by me), but I think there may be more to Mr. Mason than meets the eye.

It's interesting that once the pretense of trying to help is dropped, Dahlia refers to the being inside Alessa as God. So who knows? Maybe her use of the name Samael is nothing more than some private joke, or just another effect of her psychosis.

Incidentally, I assume the Book of Lost Memories is just a series of speculations with some additional information from the creators? The author does a lot of theorizing, but there aren't nearly as many comments by the actual creators. It seems to me the author did mostly what several other fans have done as well: tie everything into a largely cohesive timeline. Except in this case, he had the resources to make one heck of a great looking book.

There are a few points I don't agree with, such as theorizing that perhaps The God has always been a manifestation of someone's delusions, whether it be Dahlia's or Alessa's or whomever. They do have some influence, but I don't believe that's all there is to it. Something has to be fueling SH's power in order for it to remain active. Otherwise, the Otherworld would not be something that always shows up (even in SH4, in the case of the whole realm being Walter's Otherworld), and things like Walter Sullivan becoming a demigod wouldn't occur. You also have Valtiel, whom the creators identified right up front as a servant of The God.

If you've ever played the Legacy of Kain series, think of the Elder God. No one knows who or what it truly is (even Raziel, the main character who interacts with it often), until the very end of the fifth game. Raziel's description in the Soul Reaver 1 manual seems appropriate here: "Something primal. Something angry. Something righteous. Something ancient."

Except for the righteous part, that sounds like a great way describe SH's own God, don't you think?

Couple things i wanted to stick in here.



Firstly:








August 22nd.
Special features includes a 6-part featurette:
Path of Darkness: Six Silent Hill Theatrical Filming Production Diaries
Part One: Origins of Silent Hill
Part Two: Casting the film
Part Three: Building Silent Hill (the town)
Part Four: Stars and Stunts
Part Five: Creature Choreography
Part Six: Constructing the Creepy Creatures from the film

No word on any deleted scenes, extended stuff etc. Most likely there will be two DVD's, the first being this one, the cheap one.






Secondly, i stumbled on this, and my head exploded.
I'm a huge Akira Yamaoka fan, i'm sure most of us are. Watch him here playing 'Theme of Laura'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8lfUjEn7Yw...akira######yamaoka

That video isn't available on there anymore....or at least that's what it said.

The DVD cover is AWESOME though. I'll definately be getting the better one, if they do decide to release two of them. I hope they add more special features, though.

The cover art looks a bit messy to me, I think it would have been better with a long dark corridor leading in to the distance instead of the large Alessa.

I just watched that video 4 or 5 times over. It's awesome music, I can't get enough of it.

*bookmarks link*

EDIT: Shake, I think this is the link.

Weird Shake, i can access it just fine.

I agree with Rap, the cover at is a little messy, but it's got good composition and i like that all the monsters are on there. However, i hate that image of Alessa, it bugs me because it's poor.

I think it would have been a better cover simply with Rose walking in the fog with the signpost saying welcome to Silent Hill, or perhaps something like the NTSC SH3 cover, with Rose instead of Heather. *shrugs*
I imagine there will be a few months inbetween the versions, so i'll get both.



Yeah, i must have linked the Akira concert wrong. Oops.
Thanks mate.

Now that you mention it, the huge picture of Alessa on the cover is actually quite annoying, but I like every other part of it.

Raptor, thanks for posting the right link.
For some reason, the video is taking a VERY long time to load, so I'll watch the whole thing later, but what has loaded so far is really cool.

That's also a good idea, I would've liked to have that.

Here's another video I stumbled upon, Akira Yamaoka talking about the making of Silent Hill 3. It's quite short but worth a look. Link

Now I just need to find an Akira poster to pin up in my room.

For anyone who may be interested, I've posted the prologue to a story called Dark Descent on fanfiction.net.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3003827/1/

It's an alternate universe version of Silent Hill 3 starring Alessa. Unlike Mirror Image, this one is a horror story with plenty of monsters and Otherworld terrors.

Here's an excerpt:

It was barely seconds after Alessa crossed the threshold that she heard it – a disturbing cacophony of noise that told her she was not alone. The sound of heavy footsteps quickly reached her ears, and she moved out of the way just as an all-too-familiar giant emerged from the shadows. This monster seemed even more vicious than the last, and any remaining thoughts of this being only a dream vanished entirely from Alessa’s mind as a massive arm smashed the guardrail next to her. Alessa jumped back in fright, and she hurried to put some distance between herself and this fiend. So intent was she on retreating, she failed to notice another of the demons looming behind her. Before she knew what hit her, a foot-long blade sliced down on its target.

Alessa cried out as the creature’s blade raked across her back, rending clothing and flesh in a single merciless swipe. The young woman collapsed to her knees, whimpering in agony as the burning pain engulfed her entire body, akin to what she imagined being stabbed in the back by a machete must feel like. She reached back instinctively, trying to assess the damage, only to have a sickening sensation take a hold of her stomach when she saw the gore covering her hand. This was no simple cut or scrape; this was bad. She didn’t want to imagine how shredded her back was right now.

Towering above her, Alessa’s unfeeling assailant moved to inflict more anguish on its helpless victim. Alessa didn’t wait for it to attack again. The moment she heard its lumbering steps, she rose to her feet with all the willpower she could muster. The jolt that shot up her spine caused her to cry out once more, but she didn’t let it deter her. She had to get away before she ended up cut to ribbons at the hands of this beast.

She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, crossing into another segment of the amusement park-turned-hellish nightmare. The creature gave pursuit, though it was unable to breach the partitioning in the area; its oversized bladed limbs were not designed for the subtle motion of opening a gate. For a brief moment, Alessa allowed herself the tiniest of respites, before two noises that chilled her blood pierced the midnight air.

One was the ominous howl of some type of canine animal. Alessa shuddered. She had always been afraid of large dogs, and she was in no position to defend herself from one now. But it was the other noise that truly terrified her – a horrible grating echo that could only be the sound of some type of drill.

Alessa didn’t wait for whatever new horrors awaited her in this madhouse to reach her. She broke out into a run, desperate to find a way out of what was surely a death trap. As she sprinted across the rusted metal floor, she risked a glance behind her, catching a glimpse of a pack of four-legged creatures trailing her low to the ground. Dogs of some kind, she realized, given the unmistakable howling from earlier. But worse was the monster pursuing her in the air. Its features blended too much with the darkness to make out much detail, but she did see hints of some rapidly spinning blades.

Alessa’s felt her chest constrict as she thought of what those drills would do to her given the opportunity. It soon became painful as the combined stress of running without a breather and the cold fear of what awaited her if she stopped began to take their toll. She forced herself to keep moving in spite of the choking ache in her chest. She couldn’t stop. She would die if she did.

silent hills are the best horror games around
i was scared whn i was playing three
i can remember me and my sister playin the hospital part
and ill be like ok im to scared to open the door
so i closed my eyes and im like tell wuts in there k
shes like k
i open it shes screams
which scares the crap outa me and shes like SHOOT ****** SHOOT
i shoot and drop the controler and we both go running out of my room
screaming

Does anyone else feel Alessa's very underrated?

I admit I'm biased on the subject, since she is my favorite character. But it surprises me how some fans think she's "very boring and uninteresting" (as one guy at Silent Hill Heaven put it) when you have such human yawns as Henry Townshend in the series. Everybody's different, of course. It's just something I find a little odd, given the backstory and significance she has in the game.

Personally, I think she's the most sympathetic character in the series, with Lisa and James close behind. No one else can come close to matching the ordeal she goes through, and the world she creates is a frightening reflection of what the town and its God have done to her, in body and in mind.

^I think the main reason for the is people not understanding her story. It took me a while to fully learn everything, so at the time it was just easier to say that I didn't like her. But I agree with what you say.

I just did a random picture of Pyramid Head, I thought I'd show someone before I go and ruin it when I try and add colour. Click.

I've just started playing Silent hill 4:The room and I must say that its damn scary. Well not so much scary as tense(I like horror stuff).

But seeing as I only ever play it after 12 at night in the dark by myself( cause I'm also addicted to NFSU2) I think I can be forgiven for taking it in small doses.

Is way cool though. Especially the grainy graphics. creepy music. That damn noise the ghosts make(everytime I hear that, its bolt first, think later)

Its all good.
Although I wouldnt mind better camera control, maybe a swiviling camera. Theres nothing worse than being in a fight and you can see an inch in front of the character.

That's a cool Pyramid Head drawing, Raptor X7.

^Thanks.

I just started playing SH2 again for the first time in ages, I completely suck at it all over again. I can't figure out how to get the 4-digit code for the doorway on the hospital 3rd floor, I thought that you just get the 'letter' from the memo in the documentation room and draw it out on the keypad? I guess not. I feel so helpless.

I also noticed something quite strange on the main menu inactivity video, towards the end you see someone (looks like Angela) running through a house. Maybe I'm just going brandead, but I don't think you see this in the game? I tried to get a video of it, excuse the bad quality. Click. Just after Eddie, and before you see the close-up of Angela turning her head to the camera. Has anyone got any idea what that's from?

I see that too, good call. Definately not in the game from what i remember. There are lots of bits not in the game. Remember the opening to SH1? It has Lisa and Kaufman fighting, amung other things. Very cryptic backstory.
This was probably Angela running away after she killed her Dad.
But the shot of her looking at the camera is from the graveyard.



Anyway, 4-digit passcode... hrmm.. should be pretty easy if i remember right...


Oh yeah! Do you have the camera? No wait... i'm thinking of SH3.

Now i remember. It's found in the doctors lounge, 1st floor. Very easy on normal and hard, it's just a code that doesn't change written on the noteboard. It's a riddle on hard, and difficult to figure out.

Good point, I never noticed parts from that opening were missing aswell. She probably is running from her dad after killing him, like you said, or maybe just trying to escape from him if he's still alive. Interesting either way.



Thanks. I got it, took me a long time to get the right code though, I spent ages putting the numbers in the wrong order and then because that didn't work I racked my brain trying to think of a completely different way to solve it.

Have you ever seen the message in Neeley's Bar at the beginning, where James says something along the lines of, 'There used to be a hole here, it's gone now', what's up with that? I read a few things about it on other forums, most people said it's something to do with James, and that he used to be an alcoholic, weird.

I don't think that message has anything to do with James. There are other people in Silent Hill. Several dead bodies, and of course Angela and Eddie.

The dead people you come across, most notably the one you find the apartment key from, the one with the written messages about the monsters, and also one just at the bridge by the historical society, they are all on their own adventures.

The 'hole' is most likely what the person who wrote the message saw in one world, but didn't see in another form of Silent Hill. It could be, for example, a hole like those in SH4, the portals to other worlds. Or it could be symbolic to that person, such as the holes James dives through later in the game. He goes down about 15 large holes which represent 'diving further into his mind'.



Anyway, if you go back there after the hospital, there's a new message, and that one is definately for James..

Ok a quick question for SH4,

I am right by the end where you have to kill henry, what is a good tactic to use, he keeps getting me and its getting past frustrating now.

Where you have to Kill Henry?

You mean Walter? The very last boss?




To kill the last boss, it's actually very simple UNLESS you're trying to get the Good ending.

If you just wanna beat it and don't care for the ending, take at least two ampules and a medikit, pistol with silver bullet and extra silver bullets if you have them, revolver loaded with 6 revolver shots extra, and your favourite melee, like the hacket or shovel, whatever you're confortable with. You also need the Umbilical Cord.

Walter is invincible at first, so just stay away from him. You need to use the Umbilical Cord on the 'Mother' monster there, then take all 8 spears from the bodies around the arena and shove them into the monster. After that's done, Walter becomes mortal and you can kill him. It takes ALOT, so at first shoot him with all you've got keeping your distance. When he aims to shoot you, dodge left or right. Get in close and do a charged-attack with the melee, then dodge back. Keep at it, and eventually he's dead.

If you're trying to do it uber fast for a good ending, you need to have at least 3 open slots before you go to the fight, so you need:

Best melee, Umbilical Cord, Revolver, Ammo, Pistol + silver bullet and 2 medical. Then you can take 4 spears at a time, but the fight with Walter is gonna be harder.

Good luck.

LOL, yeah I meant walter, sorry.

Anyway, yeah, seems my problem was health, havent got anything left, gonna have to go back a bit and try and save some...
suppose I am gonna have to learn how to dodge too

anyway, shot, I'll give it a try one of these days, busy playing hitman:contracts and POP:warrior within, that takes more than enough of my time.

Burnsie has a very good memory, how do you do it? I play it one day and forget it the next day =/ It's been I don't know how long since I've played SH =P

I can remember every solution to every game i have ever played, even if i've only played them once or twice a long time ago.

I don't know how, it baffles me and sure as hell baffles my friends. It's weird, i don't have a FANTASTIC memory, if you were to display 20 items infront of me for 1 minute, and then make me recite all the items, i'll get about 10. But for games, movies and books etc, i have an insane memory. Comes in handy, i like it.

Is anyone else registered at Konami's Silent Hill website? They send email updates and other information to you when anything new comes out. www.konami.com/silenthill/

Absolutely !
Best !
Game !
Ever !
Period !

Which one?

I'm guessing Silent Hill or Silent Hill 2.

Finally got the Rebirth ending for the first time about a month ago.

I was.. underwhelmed.

I still haven't gotten the Dog ending or any of the UFO endings...

My SH2 doesn't include the UFO ending. Dog is probably one of my favourites lol.

Really? Which version does include the UFO ending then?

Same version that has the 'Born From a Wish' senario where you play as Maria, i believe. I never had that either.
It's not called anything different, just the earlier versions of SH2 didn't include UFO or BFAW.

Anyone hear if the DVD of the Silent Hill movie will have the deleted scenes? I don't think it will. I know it has a six part "Making Of" featurette, but that's it.

And I was looking forward to watching those deleted scenes, too.

No, it's practically bare-bones.
There will be a special edition DVD come along about 6 months after this current release with all the nifty stuff we want.

Well notout here in the UK always behind us brits lol

Any who Silent Hill classic game and is there a fifith comming out?

Yeah, the next one is called Origins i believe, it's going to be a PSP game with most likely a later port to PS2. New story, before the events of SH1. Apparently it's supposed to go into detail about the town itself rather than just the Order or a certain character etc.

I'm sorry to say, at the moment i'm finding difficulty in being interested or hyped for the title, mainly due to the absolute stupidity of putting it on PSP when so many hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people have been waiting for a new title and barely anyone has a bloody PSP. Not to mention the sacrifice to the graphics etc.

Bets bet was to put it on XBOX 360 and PS2 as it would sell lots more copies than the opsp, as no offence to psp users i've found of using my friends that they aren't that good....

They're alright. The technical aspects of them are quite amazing once you do some tinkering actually. A mate of mine bought his modded PSP over to my place and was able to do quite remarkable things with it, such as turn on all my electrical appliances like TV, DVD, VCR, PS2 and yes, even my microwave. He was able to use it as a wireless controller for all of the above things, even hack into my game and take control from me in fits of giggles and confusion. It also can store so much stuff, he's got 700 ROMS and counting on it.

As a game system though, yeah i've never really seen the point. Portable PS2 woo yay.. no thanks. Unless all games for PS2 and PSP were equally available on both. I HATE that the PSP gets it's own games that are not on PS2, it's mind-numbingly dumb from a sales perspective as well as a gamers.

Theres some great sounding RPG games on them but i don't feel the ened to pay out say 200 quid on a portable ps2, as look at the ds lite isn't that like 100 quid, sure a PSP costs more but it won't cost more than a 100 quid to make even at pricing it at 100 pounds i feel the psp would sell tons more.....

But anyway there amazing things but well over priced.

I agree fully.
So, to get back on topic, unless there's a port of SH: Origins to PS2 i doubt very highly i'll ever get the chance to play it.

Still no news of the much eagerly anticipated SH5 title, which has been rumoured for years. Since most of the rumours surrounding the project became true of SH: Origins, i don't even know if there is one in the deck or not. I'm sure there will be a SH5 title for the next gen systems, but i wish we could hear something about it.

The rumour mill has also been somewhat churning out the idea of a SH1 remake coming to life, with a female such as Rose as the main protagonist instead of Harry. *shrugs* Can't say much about it unfortunately.

I never would've thought you would have the original version.



The DVD has a 'Making Of' video and an audio commentary, but that's pretty much it.


My main problem with SH: Origins being on the PSP apart from the graphics which will suffer, will be the atmosphere. I think it'll be kind of difficult to become completely immersed in the game on such a tiny screen, I guess I'll wait and see.

Yeah, playing a SH game on the bus on the way to work doesn't particularly interest me. It's not a travelling game! It'sa sit down and become immersed in darkness and leap off the couch in a frenzy of radio static type of game.

I have always thought of Silent Hill as an atmospheric game, something that excells without a lot of action or even a lot of puzzles. I play Silent Hill just to become indulged in the environment, to explore the rooms of all the unique buildings, to gaze at the bizarre enemies, and to get immersed in the games enjoyable storylines.

I'm sure Silent Hill Origins will have good enemies, good environments, good characters, a good story line, and good places to explore, but it's hard to get immersed in the game when it's such a tiny screen and the details don't stand out so great. The game just won't be a realistic experience when the graphics, sound, and details are all taking a blow.

Here's an idea. Even the most loyal Silent Hill fans can admit that the combat as well as the exploring controlls are not the best in games. I think it might be fun to play a Silent Hill game in full first person. Games such as Call of Duty, King Kong, and Doom 3 can really draw a player into the game by putting it in a first person view. I think the combat and the control issues can all be fixed by doing this, as long as there are a lot more Melee weapons than guns. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion did the Melee combat in first person perfectly, and the same could be done for Silent Hill.

Another plus would be that sound effects could be made more realistically in this first person environment. Nothing would be scarier than walking down a pitch black hallway, the only light being a small beam directly ahead of you, and hearing the approuching growl of a monster from behind. You won't be able to see approuching enemies, or enemies around corners, unlike the earlier games. I can see several situations that would be made horrifying in first person, like a small enemy hiding in wait behind a small box or chair in a lonely room. You can hear the whimpering of the creature, its cries getting louder and more horrifying as you near, and the only way to progress is to examine it.

Have you guys seen Nintendo's Wii? It's motion sensing technology I think would be perfect for Silent Hill. Imagine sticking your hand into a hole in the wall like in Silent Hill 2, and having to actually perform that action instead of just hitting the action button by the hole. Check out games for Wii like "Sadness" to see exactly what I mean; this video explains exactly what I would like to see with Silent Hill:

http://media.wii.ign.com/media/816/816122/vids_1.html

Silent Hill I believe is all about putting the player in the mind and shoes of the character in the game. The Wii's unique control scheme forces the player to not just push a button to perform actions but to perform the actions themselves, and the first person look will only add to the experience. Tell me what you guys think. I like the Silent Hill games the way they are, but even Halo, Zelda and GTA could use improvement. The over the shoulder look to Silent Hill Origins could be good, too, but right now I can't see the use of melee weapons being used to their full potential in this view.

Maybe when I'm older I'll play some Silent Hill.... right now.... I don't have enough for a PS2/3, I don't really want one either. .and I have to say, I'd probably be too scared...

I love (and I am obsessed with) the ideas behind Silent Hill though... I am considering trying to make my own adaptation of the themes.
I obviously won't name it Silent Hill or anything though, as I wouldn't want to put such a great series to shame with a little fan game.

Hmmm, it's hard to redeem yourself after declaring that you're going to try to rip of Silent Hill with a pathetic little GBA-Style RPG...

Anyway... besides that...
I haven't ever played the games...
So is it okay if you guys could type up a few features of the games that I could try to emulate, such as sound, visual appearence... Fog ( )
You know... maybe I could learn a little more about atmosphere...

I wouldn't mind having full first person view in a future Silent Hill game, as long as it remains optional. I've never been a fan of full FPV like in shooters and Henry's apartment in SH4.

There's a big difference between switching to FPV to take a shot at an enemy like Resident Evil 4 or the Metal Gear Solid games, and actually experiencing an entire game that way. Sure, it may solve the issue of combat for both melee weapons and for guns, but I wouldn't want to go through the whole game like that. I like being able to see the character I'm controlling. It really gives me the feeling of guiding them through the story. If I only see a gun or an axe or some other weapon in front of me and nothing else, it really shouts at me that this is just a game. It's not Heather's story or James' story or whoever you're playing as, it's just the equivalent of playing an arcade-type game in your home.

That's one reason why I generally avoid the FPV shooter genre. I don't mind when action/adventure games have one or two segments like that, but for a game to be played that way entirely just really stops me from getting too deep into it. I remember when I played Resident Evil: Gun Survivor. At no point was I able to immerse myself in it like I did the other games in the series. I kept thinking how much better it would have been if they had just made it into a regular game. Nevermind the atrocious voice acting and the not-so-good graphics; you had over a dozen Mr. X units walking around, in addition to zombies, hunters, lickers, mutant plants, zombie dogs, giant alligators, etc; just a hell of a lot of monsters that would have made for a really interesting game had it been in third person. But because of the limited FPV and controls, I just couldn't get into it the way I usually did.

But, I know there are a lot of fans who would like to play SH game from that perspective. That's why I think it should be optional. Let the player choose how they want to experience the game. That way you don't alienate one group of fans in favor of another.

For me, the control issues could be fixed very easily if they just use the controls that games like MGS3 and Eternal Darkness have. You don't have to have a lot of action; just make the player character much easier to control. The 2D control scheme in SH3 was a good step towards this, but it wasn't perfect, and it seems they took a step backwards in SH4. I think Eternal Darkness is a great example of what Konami should aim for: whether you were fighting with a sword or a shotgun, walking at different speeds or flat out running, the characters just moved very smoothly.

Capcom should do the same thing with their RE series. Even though the over-the-shoulder camera worked for RE4, Leon was still a pain in the ass to control sometimes because the developers refuse to let go of their outdated control scheme.

Silent Hill on the Wii? You've got to be kidding me...

For anyone who might be interested, I've posted a new SH fic at fanfiction.net:

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3120307/1/

It's called "Requiem", and deals with the subject of what might have happened had Alessa survived SH1 and gone on to live with Harry. I must warn you: it's a very solemn story, and Harry is portrayed in a very negative light.

Sounds good. I'll give it a looksee when i'm finished here.


First, i want to talk. The topic? Silent Hill Origins.


Boys (and girl, or two) I am NOT happy. You know how Silent Hill is different from your basic monster-clobbering games, the monsters are different and all that stuff, because of the look and the feel and everything?

Not true of Origins. It looks like crap, to be quite honest. Like Evil Dead Regeneration or something (which was fun, but you don't want to see those types of colourful lame monsters in Silent Hill).

Allow me to demonstrate:



Notice the amount of space the arcady HUD is taking up? Jeebus, a life bar, power bar? Even what gun is equipped. Yeah, that doesn't take away from the game. It was bad enough in the Room with the tiny one.



God, just LOOK at that thing!!!! Does that SCARE anyone? Hell no! It';s pathetic and an embarrasment to be seen in a SH game, to be quite honest. I am NOT happy.



Graphics are DIRE. Also looks very linear and closed. Boring.
You can tell that, while they did the story, team Silent had nothing to do with this production.



http://silenthillorigins.com/silent-hill-o...screenshots.php

^ More screens, trailer etc.



This is kind of interesting:



I thought at first it was cool there was a portrait of Alessa. Maybe Hope House? (Wish House..)
But then, considering this next image, i think they may have just taken a random slew of images from previous games and stuck them in for no real reason, which i HATE. Like the wheelchairs in SH4. So significant in previous games, and just throwing them into the mix for no reason in SH4 ruined their symbolism.



Why on earth would there be a pic of Maria?
Argh.



NOT happy. Very much doubt i'll be giving this a second glance in the store. It reminds me of Resident Evil: Dead Aim or possibly Survivor. Taking an idea, making a sh**ty game to capitalize off it.

I agree completely with you Burnside. I thought the creatures looked kinda pathetic in the earlier screens, and this monster that you're showing now is a total turn-off. I also don't like the fog effects in one of the screens... you can see pretty far off. And the lighting effects are even worse than The Room.

I hate the HUD. Silent Hills 1-3 had no HUD whatsoever and delivered a very nice cinematic experience... The Room broke away from the Silent Hill series too much in gameplay, graphics, and presentation to really leave a lasting impression on me.

The story will probably be the best thing going for this game, much like The Room. I hate to say that that I have nearly no anticipation for this game on consoles, and for Silent Hill 5 if there is such a thing. Where it may be Silent Hill in story, the presentation and feel for this one is lacking.



I know what you're thinking, and you're probably right: Nintendo is a gaming machine that's focused on kids in the past years. But Nintendo has had some really great survival horror games in the past with the Resident Evil Series, Killer 7, and Eternal Darkness. I'm just saying that the Wiimote on the new Nintendo system might be fun for Silent Hill in the aspect of using your own hand and arm movements in the game. If you saw the video of Sadness that will be on the Wii, you will know what I'm talking about. And no, I am not pushing to move the Silent Hill series, I'm just saying that could be a way to improve it.

I also agree with the thought of using the control scheme from Metal Gear Solid and such for the Silent Hill series. The idea of a first person Silent Hill is just a thought, since Silent Hill 4 has already gone this route yet performed it poorly. A really good Silent Hill game could be put together in first person, if they don't go at it in a cheap way like Resident Evil Survivor or Dead Aim, or the way they did in The Room. Some people dislike First Person games, and some people love them. I'm a bit neutral, I'll play just about anything. But using the first person perspective could fix some control issues, keep the same feel of exploration over combat exciting, and allow the developers to use new mechanics to deliver the type of horror needed in a Silent Hill game. Remember, a game in first person doesn't need a lot of guns.

Have you thought of Silent Hill a bit like Splinter Cell? Splinter Cell's camera and controls make it easy for the character to interact with the environment and explore it at the same time. Also, I think the graphics and the lighting effects seem to be at home with the Silent Hill universe. If Konami wants to keep unbeatable enemies in play, as they did with the Victims in The Room, then how about having you hide behind things and sneak around intelligent monsters? Do it the way it was done in Siren, not Clock Tower 3, by having the enemies be able to even smell and hear you, rather than just see you. I can see a Silent Hill game being exciting when you are in a completely dark room, and having to shut off your flash light and duck behind a couch or crawl under a table to avoid the enemy getting ahold of you.

These are just suggestions to better the series. Personally, I think Silent Hill was great from the beginning, and Konami should have stayed on track that way. But even the greatest of things need innovation to stay alive. I fear that the series is falling well short of what it can achieve, and I want to offer any ideas I have and discuss them to see the games become even better than they are.