Silent Hill HD Collection
Reviewed By Tristan Tancredi
Horror Survival. One of the hardest genres to perfect. A combination of
stunning visuals, deep story and all the while scaring the crap out of
gamers.
Great
survival games are tricky to make despite the numerous enhancements to
video game technology. In fact, there really hasn't been a better
Survival Horror game since the early Silent Hill and Resident Evil
releases.
All the
whiz bang graphics and
technical enhancements have done little to improve the genre. Take a
look at NeverDead for instance, compared to Silent Hill 2 and, well,
it's incomparable.
So, the people at Konami have decided to
re-release the multi-universe of Silent Hill 2 & 3 in HD. Fans
of
the series rejoice for we all know these two games were and still are
the best games in the series.
They
tried with "The Room" and they did well with "Homecoming", yet
die hard fans of the series know that these games didn't compare with
the earlier releases. Especially Silent Hill 2.
Silent Hill 2: Konamis masterpiece, the epitome of Survival Horror.
Released in 2001, Silent Hill 2 is
psychologically deep, scary, crazy, weird and brilliant. It takes the
gamer on a journey so rich in detail, a storyline that is and should be
the cornerstone for any video game.
Taking control of James
Sunderland, a man sent to Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his
deceased wife, the gamer must uncover clues within Silent Hill to truly
uncover his past.
Voyaging through various dark locations,
including a mental wing of a
hospital, a lakeside hotel and an underground Labyrinth, Silent Hill 2
is superbly crafted to deliver ultimate chills.
The
Silent Hill world thrives on dark screens, misty
environments and twisted, evil scenery. Creating a scary, always on the
edge of your seat atmosphere, it truly is remarkable.
Every
character encountered is vital to the progression of the storyline and
often they are symbolic of issues within the mind of Sunderland. The
monsters encountered vary in size and difficulty (and take a few hits
to kill) oh, and Pyramid Head is still the greatest villain in video
game history (In Our Opinion).
The gameplay doesn't compare to
current video games as it features a typical early 2000's combat
system. It is slow, unresponsive and the camera angle gets lost and
confused, yes, even in the re-release. Hence, a flight-or-fight
mentality creeps into the tactics, it really does make combat easier
when you can bypass enemies.
Overall, despite the chunky mechanics, it is
still one of the best games you could ever play.
Silent
Hill 3 is another brilliantly written video game yet is not related to
the characters of Silent Hill 2 in any way.
Released
in 2003, this game is a sequel to the original Silent Hill (strange
order we know) and focuses on teenage girl Heather, a girl who
discovers secrets of her past which lead her to the town of Silent Hill.
A lot
of Silent Hill 3 is in fact, not even set inside the town of Silent
Hill. We begin in a shopping complex as strange things start happening
to Heather as she begins to learn about her past and herself.
Travelling
from the Subway, an abandoned Office complex, Heathers
apartment and then into the town of Silent Hill, gamers are taken along
a path of darkness, strewn with creepy monsters, bloodstained hallways
and freaky characters.
The
gameplay and combat is similar to that of Silent Hill 2, yet does
feel smoother. As with Silent Hill 2 rationing your ammo is vital to
progression as it becomes hard to find a decent supply of shotgun and
pistol ammunition.
The storyline once again is enthralling and
detailed with a heavy emphasis on character development. All of this
leads to a very special, very scary horror game.
Akima
Yamaoka composed the music for both Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3.
The music blends slow melodic beats that create an unsettling
atmosphere for the gamer. We have yet to discover a better soundtrack
for any video game. The HD
conversion for both games is
noticeable but not mind blowing. The edges are more rounded and overall
the game flows smoother then its originals. However, with HD, we
encountered massive frame rate drops frequently throughout the game
(especially with Silent Hill 3) that became quite a nuisance.
The
voice acting for Silent Hill 2 has undergone a complete overhaul with
new voice actors used for the entire game. This has improved the
quality of the video game, yet the option to continue with the original
voice actors is available.
Other changes for the HD release
include slight visual enhancements to footpaths and streets, musical
enhancements and a heap of other tiny details that only the hardcore
Silent Hill fans will even notice.
The HD
revamp doesn't offer great advantages to the series, However when you
have two of the greatest games of all time on one disk? You can't ask
for much more than that.
Rating:
95%
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Game: Silent Hill
HD Collection
System: PS3
Developer/Co-Developer: Team
Silent / Hijinx Studios
Publisher: Konami
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