Spills, thrills and spine rattling chills.

This is the fourth day after the official release of the game here in Hong Kong. I'll try to be non-specific in this review so you get maximum discovery value from your own game-play.

Straight up:
You play Henry Townsend who wakes up from a nightmare to find yourself captive for days in your very own apartment. Eventually you discover an escape route which leads you an 'alternate world', where insane horrors await you.


Story:
The mystery of the murders which take place in the game and what the 'alternate world' our protagonist faces is doesn't unfold till the very end; And when it does through its twisted and elaborate plot, you feel sadness for the characters, terror from the bloodshed and disgust from the utterly gruesome sights and sounds. The game itself is tale of fright beautifully told.

The story is actually the star of the game. What sets Silent Hill above other survivor horror games is it that it fully utilizes psychological horror (terror) in addition to physical horror (disgust); Terror through the game concepts and metaphors, disgust through visual and audio effects. If you are unwilling to think about the story and it's links with previous episodes, the game can only impress you in terms physical horror. Still, obviously, that is enough for most.

I feel that survivor horror games as such should allow for even more power for players to control the story, as opposed to forcing you to complete all things before being allowed to progress. This will enhance the reality of the game, as well as instill fear for every single move you make. Within the context of this game, the development is very, very restricted.


Characters:
The main characters' designs are predictable (i.e. Protagonist is rough and macho, woman is in miniskirt and ditzy and antagonist is in trench coat with sinister laugh). Opponents range from cleverly designed to boringly seen-them-done-that. Several opponent designs are clearly influence by Japanese pop-culture (which produces the most unsettling movies you can ever see ¡V in a good way).


Game-play:
There are several 'chapters to the story' if you will, and each chapter is one big puzzle. This fact does not dawn on you until you are in the middle of the game looking back. Again, some chapters pretty far-out, but frightening nonetheless. At some point chapter transitions become obvious because of a recurring location you must return to.

A big challenge of this game is the inventory. You are not allowed to put down things once you pick them up (unless you use them). And since you are given a fixed number of items you can bring along, be sure that returning to save points to exchange items will be annoyingly common. There is also no pause screen while you interchange between items, and boy does anxiety get you when you see a beast charging right at you.

One of the things SH4 experiments with is the new method of saving. You always return to your own apartment to save the game, and the warping tunnels to and from your apartment are agreeably spaced. You might think BORING at first, but as the game progresses you find that your apartment (the so-called real world) becomes more and more like the 'alternate world'. And that for me was one of the most bone chilling elements in the game - slowly losing your home and sanity to chaos.

Weapons provided are also very limited (some actually humourously pathetic) but enemies are pretty easy to figure out and handle. However, when you face more than two at a time, you are in major trouble, especially at the harder levels where you get (in-game) headaches which prevent you from retaliating. Oh, and I have mentioned that some of them never die? Eek.

Health measuring and recovery methods are pretty standard (one health meter & medical drinks). If you play at easy-mode, the health meter is pretty generous and you should get by okay. But the health thing is a minor attribute which doesn't really affect the overall value of the game.

It is no secret that there are multiple possible endings. All of which, I must say, are dissapointingly brief. It's not that there aren't enough details given (some endings actually complete the story), but provided that the whole game draws on elements of the unknown , even bigger questions should have been placed at the end.


Controls:
This is a significant problem with the game which must be addressed. Never had I expected SH4 to use the walk-according-to-screen-angle type of control. I was hoping it was a technical restraint, but obviously the developers did it for the cinematic effect. If the number and difficulty of enemies got any higher, this control method would be a detrimental trait. Being unable to see where your enemies are because of a close aerial view or frontal shot means bad news. The camera is only part of the game; it should not dictate how you play the game. Still, you learn to live with it.


Graphics & Sound:
If I sounded negative before, I was saying the truth. But another truth is the unparalleled atmosphere SH games have. SH4 is no different. From SH3, SH4 has brought along the grainy, coarse and off-kilter film effect to heighten the sense of discomfort in players. You can actually feel the humid oppressive atmosphere throughout the game

The scenery blows you away with its downright repulsiveness. Dirty places, rusting iron, smeared decaying bodies, blood and mucus everywhere are all depicted with utter realism. They have gone as far as to include things resembling pus seeping out of dead enemies.

There is almost no music in the game with the exception of cut-scenes. However, It can be taken that a couple minutes of merged effects can be considered a track. Japanese game-makers are well attuned to the fact that great atmosphere doesn't need in-your-face scary music. Indeed, sounds of dripping, sloshing, moaning, creaking and F/X make your every single hair stand.

Some sounds seemed slightly out of place and managed to make me laugh (case in point: a frightening enemy sounds like it's burping when you attack it). I must also say, they seemed to use only a handful of door effects for the whole game... what was that? Veteran Silent Hill players will also recognize familiar action sounds such as picking up items

Again, buying and playing the game just for the atmosphere and story is more than worth your money. Even if it's the fourth game in the series, SH4 is just as terrifyingly refreshing as the first, and it will go down in history right beside its predecessors as the most thrilling survivor horror game ever.


*Best played alone in a dark, silent environment after midnight.