Silent Hill: Where Did It All Go Wrong?

Regaining That Vision

Things were looking better when Silent Hill: Shattered Memories was announced (despite only being a Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable title). Promising a return to the horror roots of the series, Shattered Memories was a reimagining of the first game, told through a past/present perspective.

It was fairly well received, despite being seen as a step back by not being released on other mainstream consoles. However, it was seen over time as more of a companion piece, a "what if?" instead of a canon piece to the franchise. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 would be getting a different series entry in the guise of Vatra Games' Silent Hill: Downpour.

Again, coming three years after 2009's Shattered Memories, Downpour promised another return to what made Silent Hill great to play: the foreboding horror. And in a way, it did deliver.

Murphy Pendleton isn't a soldier, but an escaped convict. He's not proficient with firearms and all manner of weapon training, and as such, the combat isn't a first resort this time. Which is great, this is what we wanted, as was the return to a slightly more "open world" view of Silent Hill, bringing back that lateral thinking and map reading over checkpoint-led horror moments that the others were falling victim to. All it needed to be a proper return to form was to tell a dark and sinister story...

Ah. It was going so well, too.

You see, what made the story behind Silent Hill 2 (and to an extent, Homecoming) so oppressive is that the nature of the protagonist's "bad thing" is clear cut, all you have to deal with is the outcome. Giving Murphy multiple choices cheapens any real payoff if it's one of several choices. The impact just wasn't the same, and as such, Downpour failed to hit that high note.

Well, neither did Korn, who were drafted in by new composer Daniel Licht which just about removed any semblance of Yamoaka's signature work in favour of the nu-metal stalwarts. It's like Downpour was trying to be "down with the kids" and missed the mark completely.