Silent Hill 4 is here

[DeathsHand]

So I picked up my copy of Silent Hill 4 yesterday (no soundtrack... Supposed to come with a soundtrack as a pre-order bonus, but apparently more than just a few stores didn't even get any in!)...

Anybody else have their's? I know bluefire won't until like tomorrow... Are we the only two here getting it? -.-

Initially the game dissapointed me, just because it was so different and didn't even feel like Silent Hill... However once the story got rolling, I became much more interested...

The new controls are a mixed bag, some things work nicely, others don't (like having to select in the options wether you want to walk or run... Walking is too slow, but running is a bit more sluggish)

I'm making myself play the game only at night with headphones... If I wasn't I probably would have beaten it by now...

yeeeeaaahhh........

[Crono]

I'll rent it some weekend and hopefully beat it.

[DarkMaster]

I'll rent it this weekend, and no doubt beat it. Sucks you didn't get the soundtrack, suppose to be the best SH soundtrack.

[BlueFire]

I got it today. Finished the subway. Very different Silent Hill. Spirits are insane :P They are fun. I welcomed the change though. We can't have another RE on our hands.

[DarkMaster]

Very different, but I like it. God damn ghosts piss me off.

[DeathsHand]

I got it today. Finished the subway. Very different Silent Hill. Spirits are insane :P They are fun. I welcomed the change though. We can't have another RE on our hands.

Did you pre-order the game? if so did you get the soundtrack?

Change is good... The ghosts however eeehhhhh I dunno, I don't like the fact that they hurt you just by being near you (albeit a very small amount of damage)... It makes me feel like I should just rush and get the fark away, which means makes me feel... well... rushed... Although I guess that's what they were trying to do with them... I do like the effect they have though, with Henry holding his head and it getting all fuzzy... And the noise...

I tried to pin one down with the sword (2 or 3 times I tried) and it kept getting back up before I could do it (like right after they get knocked down, they get back up)... So how the hell do you use it? Maybe I'm just using it wrong?

Some guy on the Silent Hill LJ community said that this is the most puzzling SH story in a mystery kind of way (adding that SH1 was so mysterious because it was very vague)...

And so far I agree...

[DarkMaster]

I find that if you hit the ghosts while they're down, they stay down a little longer. One time I spent 2 minutes continually kicking the sh*t out of a ghost on the ground, and it never got back up when I finally stopped o.O

Ghosts are pretty neat though, feels like you're being stalked. sometimes it sounds like they're coming up behind you, and really they aren't there at all. and yeah they're mainly there to make you feel rushed and disoriented, like you have to figure out what you have to do and where you have to go, and do it quick.

also take notice of the gradually multiplying bloody hand prints on the wall outside the door peep hole.

[BlueFire]

the bloody hands represents each person that dies.

[DarkMaster]

yeah, thats why I said to take notice.

edit: just noticed something else. examine the picture above Henry's couch across from the TV.

[DeathsHand]

edit: just noticed something else. examine the picture above Henry's couch across from the TV.

The one that says it was given to him by the landlord, Sunderland? Were you speaking of the fact that the landlord's name is Sunderland, or is there something in the picture itself? o.O

The guy's name was mentioned in various previews for the game, apparently it's James' dad... it doesn't seem to have anything relevant in the story though... I'm now liiiiike 7 hours and 20 minutes into the game...

I don't enjoy spending time in my apartment anymore...

Used to be a relief to get back, relax, examine things, restore health...

Now it's get in, get out, get on with your life....

[DarkMaster]

I just realized something...the official SH4 english site blows, big time. Especially when compared to the japanese one...

yeah.

[DeathsHand]

I just realized something...the official SH4 english site blows, big time. Especially when compared to the japanese one...

yeah.

Yeah Bluefire showed me the Japanese site awhile back... It was crazy nifty... But ran like ass on my old computer...

But I remember I didn't know how to get anywhere on the site because I didn't know the bathroom acted as a portal...

Guess what, I got my soundtrack... Damn straight, biatch!

[DarkMaster]

You guys remember Walter from SH2, right?

[DeathsHand]

You guys remember Walter from SH2, right?

Yeah... When I heard the name I was like "... Walter Sullivan... Sounds familar o.O" then I heard about him killing himself with a spoon (come on... a spoon? I definately took note of that during SH2), I was like "Hah oh thaaaat guuuuy"...

I found it a really interesting thing to build a new story around for a new game...

I beat the game last night... 9 hours 29 minutes... I'd say definately better than 3... With a very intriguing story...

I think it was a great idea to make the game based on a document from a past game... It gave the story a familiar kind of nostalgic feel while at the same time allowing for something completely new...

I wonder where the series will go next... Will they keep this gameplay style? Will the next game have a "central hub" with a storage room etc, and those mario style controls?

And more importantly, I wonder what the story will be... A whole new entry to the series (as 2 was)? A direct tie-in to another story (3)... Or perhaps another off-shoot of sorts, based on a document from a past game (as was this game)... *strokes beard*

[BlueFire]

I've already read many rumors about SH5.. heh. Konami says it will be the last on PS2 and probably won't be released for a while..

BTW I love the ghost designs. SH4 takes the cake for unique monsters/enemies.

[DarkMaster]

There's lots of interesting comparisons between this game and SH2 I find. Like the holes, and going deeper into someone's mind sorta thing. Henry seems to be losing his mind more and more as you go on, or maybe that's just me. I remember an interview with the developers about SH4 said something about insanity effects, like the longer you stay around ghosts and other crap, the more strange things will get (like, weird noises you hear in the distances and stuff). Don't know if anyone else noticed this, but yeah it's a pretty cool feature, something to toy around with maybe.

edit: about that stupid ass doll, the one walter puts on the stairs. Apparently you aren't suppose to take it, and of course I took it, just like pretty well everyone else did. I'm hearing it affects the ending, but people at gamefaqs don't know how to write in english, so I don't know wtf is going on. I do know, however, that it does make a pack of screaming babies appear over your chest if you leave it in there. Interesting stuff...

[DeathsHand]

To me Henry seemed to be like the most calm kind of character in a Silent Hill game....... Maybe just because he didn't talk as much as past characters...

There are no sanity effect type things, it's just as time goes on the spirits start to invade your apartment... And it didn't seem like we were delving deeper into his mind to me... Infact to me for awhile I thought maybe he wasn't in his own mind or body or something (in the beginning of the game if you look at the TV he's like "Wait... didn't I have a record player here?" and other weird stuff as the game progresses... I had so many theories running through my head as the game went on it was great...

As for the doll, I took it to... what it does is if you stick it in your chest at home, it creates a few different kind of spirits that invade your house... apparently...

You say everyone took it, but BLueFire didn't... he's the smart one here... :p

And I second that most unique monsters/enemies comment...

[DarkMaster]

Someone pointed this out to me on another forum, I'm not sure if he's right or not, cause I don't remember it. Anyway, in SH2, that graveyard you visit at the end of the prison and fight with Eddy, it has Walter's grave there. Kind of sounds familiar, I remember it had James' grave, and I was like "whoo, crazy". Just an interesting fact anyway...even though the location for his grave in SH4 is different...sorta, still near the lake though.

I keep thinking about that phrase in SH2 written on the wall in some abandoned store "There was a hole here, now it's gone". I dunno, this thing always puzzled me, but playing SH4 reminded me of it for some reason... It just kind of seems like (and maybe I heard this somewhere else and forgot about it), that a very large number of people, for god knows how long, have been trapped in or have experienced the town of Silent Hill, in some way. Like, all the writings on the walls and stuff in each game (especially in SH4), you know that someone, at some time in the past, has experienced the exact same thing, for whatever reason. And there's other evidence of this in each game, like the fact that the places you visit and explore (hospital, subway, etc), feel like they have been previously explored by someone else, at some time. And those journals and diarys all over the place talking about strange crazy crap that people have gone through, and in some ways in connects to your current situation.

Yeah... And Walter is a god damn asshead.

[DeathsHand]

Someone pointed this out to me on another forum, I'm not sure if he's right or not, cause I don't remember it. Anyway, in SH2, that graveyard you visit at the end of the prison and fight with Eddy, it has Walter's grave there. Kind of sounds familiar, I remember it had James' grave, and I was like "whoo, crazy". Just an interesting fact anyway...even though the location for his grave in SH4 is different...sorta, still near the lake though.

I keep thinking about that phrase in SH2 written on the wall in some abandoned store "There was a hole here, now it's gone". I dunno, this thing always puzzled me, but playing SH4 reminded me of it for some reason... It just kind of seems like (and maybe I heard this somewhere else and forgot about it), that a very large number of people, for god knows how long, have been trapped in or have experienced the town of Silent Hill, in some way. Like, all the writings on the walls and stuff in each game (especially in SH4), you know that someone, at some time in the past, has experienced the exact same thing, for whatever reason. And there's other evidence of this in each game, like the fact that the places you visit and explore (hospital, subway, etc), feel like they have been previously explored by someone else, at some time. And those journals and diarys all over the place talking about strange crazy crap that people have gone through, and in some ways in connects to your current situation.

Yeah... And Walter is a god damn asshead.

I don't think the cemetery in Silent hill 2 was the actual cemetery where Walter was buried... It was just kind of like a place... I mean James wasn't really buried there... Neither were Eddie and Angela...

Another thing I don't get is in the document talking about Walter in Silent Hill 2, it says this:

"But I do remember that just
before they arrested him he
was blurting out all sorts of
strange stuff like 'He's trying
to kill me. He's trying to
punish me. The monster... the
red devil. Forgive me. I did it,
but it wasn't me!'.""

Which... Really doesn't seem like the Walter in Silent Hill 4... But I dunno...

Also there are a couple other things... in Silent Hill 3 (I think it was 3) they mentioned a "Hope House" which sounded a lot like "Wish House"... And it's basically like they changed the name for some odd reason... Even though it's the same thing...

Also in SH2, Laura mentions something about "Nurse Rachel".... and in Silent Hill 4 there is the deal about "Rachael", a nurse who lives in Henry's apartment... Could be another connection that for some reason is switched around (added the a to her name)... I dunno...

[DarkMaster]

There's also that radio show in the hospital elevator, talks about how two children were brutally murdered by Walter (I'm pretty sure they said it was him, cause he was like this famous cerial killer, and that particular case was most disturbing).

Yeah, but anyway, that whole thing about the "red devil" and "it wasn't me!" that was pretty well to give Eddy more development, cause you can see a little more clearly what's going on with him, and that there are other people who have experienced the same thing. But...Walter in SH4, looks like he was doing all that crap by his own free will...so maybe they forgot about that note from SH2 :/

And that Hope House from SH3, wasn't that where Claudia and some other people (forget exactly who they were) lived? But yeah, two Nurse Rachel's doesnt seem like a coincidence.

Also, something that's kind of interesting. In SH2, James is grouped with Walter (along with Eddy and Angela) as being these pretty sadistic killers, like being all in the same graveyard and stuff. And, James' dad knew Walter somewhat as a kid, not to mention he kept his freakin embelical (wrong spelling I'm sure, meh) cord. Just kind of interesting.

[DarkMaster]

Ok well I beat the game, sh*ttiest ending, yay.

Anywho, there was just one thing on my mind that I was hoping to see in the game, but it didn't happen, for some reason. In one of the trailers, it shows Henry looking through his peep hole, and outside you see a long hallway. Then, this weird thing, like a ghost sort of, only its walking, comes walking out, turns around and faces down to henry's apartment, and starts walking down towards it. all the while henry gets more and more scared, until it gets right up to the door, and then the trailer cut to a different scene. The creature I'm talking about is the very vague, very blurred guy that you see on the load screens.

I just thought that was really cool. Maybe its in the game somewhere and I didnt see it...


EDIT: ok i got a quite a bit of things to say, so rather than making a triple post...I'll just edit.

btw HUGE SPOILERNESS*******...yeah

Ok, back to the topic of the article about Walter in SH2 "the red devil, he made me do it" etc.

Guess who Walter's first victim was?

http://translatedmemories.com/v1p1.jpg

Interesting? Well it doesn't end there, pay close attention to this other pic.

http://translatedmemories.com/v1p2.jpg

More interesting info about Walter, clears some confusing things up.

""Descent of the Holy Mother
--The 21 Sacraments"

The First Sign
And God said,
At the time of fullness, cleanse the world with my rage.
Gather forth the White Oil, the Black Cup and the Blood of the Ten
Sinners.
Prepare for the Ritual of the Holy Assumption.

-Walter is killing the 10 sinners to get and offer their blood in order to complete the ritual of the "Holy Assumption".


The Second Sign
And God said,
Offer the Blood of the Ten Sinners and the White Oil.

- Walter commenced with the ritual of the Holy Assumption, which is a part of the 21 sacraments.

Be then released from the bonds of the flesh, and gain the Power of
Heaven.

- His spirit separated from his physical body, thus rendering him dead to the real world and gaining power in the other world. That is why we see his body in Room 302-- He did the ritual in that room (302) with the blood of the 10 sinners.

From the Darkness and Void, bring forth Gloom,
and gird thyself with Despair for the Giver of Wisdom.

- He then commenced in killing the remaining victims:
Darkness, Gloom, Despair, and Giver of Wisdom.


The Third Sign
And God said,
Return to the Source through sin's Temptation.
Under the Watchful eye of the demon, wander alone in the formless Chaos.
Only then will the Four Atonements be in alignment.

- Walter needs to get the 4 placards and he used Henry to do his work but Walter is the one who killed the reamining victims: Cynthia-to- whoever...


The Last Sign
And God said, separate from the flash too, she who is the Mother Reborn
and he who is the Receiver of Wisdom.
If this be done, by the Mystery of the 21 Sacraments, the Mother shall be
reborn and the Nation of Sin shall be redeemed."

- To complete the ritual, Walter needs to kill Eileen (Mother Reborn) and Henry (Receiver of Wisdom)


Another thing, about Jasper (guy who dies by fire). He rambles on about a lot of crap. Noteworthy, he says something about "its happening again, 3rd time" or something like that. In his profile, it says he's friends with 2 other kids who were murdered by Walter. So...Jasper is the 3rd, obviously, he meets the devil, and becomes an annoying prick of a ghost.

Another interesting fact, those monsters with the two baby heads, those are suppose to represent the boy and girl who were burtally murdered with an axe by Walter.

Also, read some stuff on this forum http://www.silenthillheaven.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7049

ok....if I find out more crap, I'll let you know...

[DeathsHand]

That scene you mentioned (with henry in the peephole) was apparently still in the Japanese version of the game... Either that or the guy just had Japanese subtitles on, because there's a website (I don't have the link) where a guy took a bunch of screen captures from the (I'm assuming) Japanese PC version of the game... And one picture shows a bloody looking henry looking back at you through the peep hole...

And those two pictures... Holy ****e! Pyramid Head! That's reaaaaally friggin interesting...... I never thought there'd be this kind of connection to SH2... *strokes beard*

And what did you think of the scene you saw once you knocked down the wall? I thought it was really friggin awesome... And just the fact like... "Wow...... And to imagine Henry was living right next to that the whole time"...

First time I beat it I got the Good ending... Not good+ though, didn't do a good enough job of exorcising my apartment...

[DarkMaster]

Well, the scene with a bloody Henry looking back at you through the peep hole, thats not what I was talking about, I actually saw that scene when playing the game (the door has an evil spirit in it, and you look through the peep hole for an interesting surprise). If you watch this trailer, you'll see the part I'm talking about near the end. http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_silenthill4_5.html

Yeah, that discovery behind the wall, really cool. So friggin evil.

Endings Spoilers, if you care ****STAR***

I got the ending where Eileen dies...yeah, thats the whole ending, it blows. The best ending, I hear, is the Escape one (you and Eileen leave the apartment, etc). There's another one similar to that, where just Henry leaves, and Eileen goes back to live in her apartment, only to find that it's infested with evilness. Then there's the 21 Sacraments ending...this the second ending I got, this is sort of an "in between" type ending, like the Rebirth one from SH2 (strangely...the same type of people die in it too...you'll see what I mean if you examine the two). The weirdest thing about this ending (besides the fact that Henry dies a horrible death, owned), is the radio broadcast you hear after it. It's the same thing you'll hear from all the endings (5 people found dead around Silent Hill, etc), but, then they get a "late breaking news report" and they say something about finding 5 police officers and Frank Sunderland dead in the apartment. Also the other residents of the apartment were rushed to the hospital complaining of severe chest pain. This is very confusing...I'm sure there's a few good theories out there though.

[DeathsHand]

So thaaaat's why it was freaking out whenever I got near the door..... I dunno, anytime my screen started going red in my apartment, I'd back up and light a candle so as not to be hurt... Well no actually I got curious once and opened the fridge...

I need to get the other 3 endings now... I got the one where Henry leaves and the apartment (it's actually Henry's and not Eileen's... At least that's the only one it shows) is all screwed (it basically looks like it does in the beginning scene where the walls are all bloody lookin')... Now I'm about to begin the second visit to the forest in my second playthrough of the game...

One bit of news that dissapoints me, there seems to be no goofy secret ending to look forward to in this entry of the series... At least if there is, nobody's found it yet...

[tarakan69]

I didn't like Silent Hill 4.

Did anybody find those immortal enemies just too much hassle?

[DeathsHand]

I didn't like Silent Hill 4.

Did anybody find those immortal enemies just too much hassle?

Not too much... Really you're fine if you just run away from them, if you want to you can smack them with the pipe once to delay them (or a few more times to knock them down), the only reaaaaally annoying ones worth pinning down (or that you have to pin down) were Cynthia in the subway, and the fat guy in the water tower (because he has a key)... Use the two silver bullets on them and it's a piece of cake...

Although at first I didn't like them...

[Jonbo298]

I have the PC version. I'll start messing with it sometime soon to see how it is.

[tarakan69]

Not too much... Really you're fine if you just run away from them, if you want to you can smack them with the pipe once to delay them (or a few more times to knock them down), the only reaaaaally annoying ones worth pinning down (or that you have to pin down) were Cynthia in the subway, and the fat guy in the water tower (because he has a key)... Use the two silver bullets on them and it's a piece of cake...

Although at first I didn't like them...

OMFG!! Cynthia nearly made me through the disc away.

God dammit! She was WAY to annoying. As a matter of fact very enemy was annoying. I couldn't peacefully solve the puzzles.

[DarkMaster]

Cynthia is by far the worst, pin her down the first chance you get, she follows you through the whole rest of the game. Guy on fire isnt too bad, neither is fat guy cause he doesn't really stalk you much. I found richard to be an annoying ghost, but he's easy to run from.

But the worst of them all is Walter, he's a prick. Wish you could pin his ass down.

[BlueFire]

Tee Hee. I've been playing slowly (damn school) i'm in the water level for second time.

Cynthia was quite annoying. I love it when Walter appeared out of nowhere and attacks you in the forest. Jasper's ghost was a joke. I pinned him down when i first met him.

[DeathsHand]

I love it when Walter appeared out of nowhere and attacks you in the forest.

Me too... It was such a shocking moment... You're just like "Ok yeah, that'd be Walter..." and you have no idea how strong he's gonna be or if you can kill him or what...

That fat guy's ghost wasn't very hard, he just wouldn't stay down long enough for me to pin him without a silver bullet...

As for richard, he barely hurt me, I knocked him down two or three times, then had him pinned... Like the very first time I ran into him right at the beginning of the level... No silver bullet or anything, he seemed to be the easiest of the four to knock down...

[BlueFire]

Yey.. I beat it.

I got Eileen's Death..
bout 10 hours or something

I HAVE TO SAVE HER SOMEHOW..

she makes a funny noise when she dies
:P

[DarkMaster]

If you let her take a serious amount of damage throughout the time she was with you (like me), she walks faster towards her death. So, if she's insanely bloody to all hell, that'll let you know if you took good enough care of her. Apparently you can heal her with a candle, but some people say that's bullcrap. Also have at least 4 spots open in your inventory for spears.

[BlueFire]

If you let her take a serious amount of damage throughout the time she was with you (like me), she walks faster towards her death. So, if she's insanely bloody to all hell, that'll let you know if you took good enough care of her. Apparently you can heal her with a candle, but some people say that's bullcrap. Also have at least 4 spots open in your inventory for spears.
No, the candle healing is not bullcrap. I just tried it. She was cleansed, and she looks just like when you get her (without the moving bloody blobs). Also, the scene where you get the umbilical cord is different depending on her level of infection

EDIT: I just got the Escape ending. Not bad.

[Neo]

I'm just now starting to play it. I got the Xbox version. I'm not sure how I feel about the 1st-person perspective yet. At least it seems to be limited to the apartment. It does make you feel closer to the action but it doesn't seem very SH-like. So far I think it's scarier than the other three mainly because you can't keep those ghosts down for the count. Though I may be confusing "scary" with "annoying." I guess everyone noticed that pink rabbit from SH3 in whats-her-face's bedroom.

[Neo]

I beat the game last night... 9 hours 29 minutes... I'd say definately better than 3... With a very intriguing story...


I beat it in 9 hours 23 minutes....HAHAHAHaaa.....ha.....eh...

/me remembers he got the "bad" ending...

/me also remembers the game was released 5 months ago.

[BlueFire]

This game is my my 2nd favorite in the series, right below 2.

[MuGen]

you guys talking about Silent Hill 4 the Room or did I miss the release of Silent Hill 4... the game?

[BlueFire]

you guys talking about Silent Hill 4 the Room or did I miss the release of Silent Hill 4... the game?
The Room. :P Its the only Silent Hill 4 game.