Silent Hill: Where Did It All Go Wrong?

We Fear Change...

So, It's already been established that as a franchise, Konami likes to gamble with each new Silent Hill. It struck gold with the second one, yet fell back into familiarity with the third game. Logic dictates that for the fourth entry, something different should be done.

The result, Silent Hill 4: The Room definitely falls under the "something different" category. Once again changing up the gameplay of a Silent Hill, The Room blended a curious mix of first person, confined space-dwelling shenanigans with "standard" third person action-horror elements for good measure, and fans didn't know what to make of it.

The plot was also one of mild confusion: for one, it wasn't set in Silent Hill, and two, was only connected through tenuous at best references made in previous games. If you hadn't spotted antagonist Walter Sullivan's name mentioned in SH2, or twigged it was the same Hope House mentioned in the third game, you'd hardly be chastised for it.

It was the first real decisive game for long-serving fans, as its polarising reception rocked the foundations of the once-stable franchise. Heck, they didn't even put an obligatory UFO ending in, for cryin' out loud. Though it must be noted this is beloved in some circles of SH fandom.

That's not to say it was a terrible game to play, far from it. But, from a franchise point of view, it opened the doors of doubt that perhaps ideas were starting to thin on where it could go from here. It certainly wasn't on the big screen, as 2006's film adaptation failed to hit the mark. Loosely based on the first game, it was middling at best (but much better than 2012's Revelation).