Silent Hill: Downpour First Details — Fixed Cameras, Sidequests, Fog

Silent Hill has always been one of those series that simultaneously requires, yet rarely accepts, change. Titles such as Homecoming or The Room have tried out various approaches over the years to equally various degrees of success, hitting and missing in the monster-filled, fog-covered streets of Silent Hill. Today we bring you the first details on Silent Hill: Downpour.

Thanks to MTV’s Multiplayer Blog, the title is taking a careful step back from one of the major overhauls in Homecoming by eliminating the player-controlled camera. Clearly an example of Vatra Games’ unified “If It Ain’t Broke” philosophy, fixed camera angles have always made the Silent Hill games feel like a more crafted, claustrophobic experience – a successor, if you will, to the OG survival horror titles like Alone in the Dark.

Giving readers a peek into the more in-depth coverage in February’s issue of Game Informer, the piece quotes Design Director Brian Gomez, saying, “Silent Hill the town is the star of the show…So we see Silent Hill as the only consistent character across the whole series. It’s really about who you plug into it.” That character is Murphy Pendelton, and while it’s needless to say that he’ll be getting rained on quite a bit during his visit to Silent Hill, what is worth mentioning is that this trip will contain sidequests.

Yes, folks. Sidequests. Let that sink in for a moment.

The inclusion of substantive sidequests is certainly a meaty one and could potentially indicate a larger, explorable and more carefully nuanced gameworld. It’d certainly allow Vatra Games to create a much broader set of optional scares and guided experiences. Additionally, it would appear that player choice factors in this time around, but specifics on both of those features will have to wait until Game Informer hits stands.

via: G4

Silent Hill: Downpour First Details -- Fixed Cameras, Sidequests, Fog, 10.0 out of 10 based on 4 ratings