January 09, 2004 - Konami Digital Entertainment today officially announced the North American release of the fourth in the Silent Hill series, Silent Hill The Room, due for a simultaneous release on PlayStation 2 and Xbox in fall 2004.
Apropos for the surreal survival-horror series, Silent Hill 4 The Room stars new lead character Henry Townshend, and features an all new storyline based around the disturbing alternate reality of Silent Hill. Starting the game in a different way, Konami traps Townshend inside his own apartment, and in this way the team means to create the unnerving feeling of solitary confinement. The video we saw showed what looked like the door to his apartment chained closed from the inside, using dozens of padlocks and what seemed like 10 or so chains, rendering the door useless. After an entire week of being trapped, Townshend finds strange portals have appeared in his bathroom and desides there is no other way out, so... These portals? They lead to to alternate worlds in one way or another related to Silent Hill, and only after entering them does our new character learn just what kind of trouble he's truly in.
Adding new wrinkles to the venerable franchise, Konami will show psychologically troubling changes in the environment as the game progresses in various kinds of levels, which include a forest, prison and a hotel. The game's famous character models, gritty textures, and disturbing visuals are heightened once again in this new title with improved character facial textures, enemies that peel off the walls and float through the air, and hellish morphing creatures. And for the first time in the series, the game will enable players to play from a first-person and a third-person perspective.
At Gamers' Day, Konami's lead music composer Akira Yamaoka, who has composed the music for each game in the series thus far, spoke to the crowd of journalists gathered at Action Theater at the Metreon in San Francisco, Ca. He explained that when Townshend is in his room, the camera will remain in first-person perspective. But when he moves into different environments outside the apartment room, the camera will return to the traditional moveable third-person perspective.
As is Konami's style in the series, the developers at Konami TYO are creating entirely new monsters and creepy, mysterious secondary characters to complete the all new story. Several of the spirit monsters pour through walls to attack. One of the more distinct creatures is a thick, furry double-headed torso featuring baby heads, that walks like an ape on two long hands. Other creatures looked more like grim reapers -- hooded men with dark faces that lunge after you. These enemies relfect the team's desire to create a different kind of fear in the player, that of constantly being stalked and chased.
The team has once again upped the ante in the art department, with even more realistic looking characters and more disturbing looking creatures, as well all new freak show style scenarios and settings to chill you to the bone. Get ready for an all new soundtrack and disturbing sound effects in the entirely new nightmare of a game.
At Gamers' Day Konami revealed Silent Hill 4 The Room will feature more weapons and more enemies than in any previous game in the series. The focus on action is a main goal for the team, Yamaoka explained. The controls will therefore be more responsive (and we believe, quicker), and in a huge turn for the series, players can switch weapons in realtime (i.e., without using the menu system).
Konami revealed that since the story is entirely new, it will not star any of the characters from previous games nor have any connections to them. Yamaoka also said the development team will continue its excellent set of intelligent puzzles (some of the best in the survival-horror genre), horrific bosses, and blurring between reality and nightmare.
We suspect, however, some similar tools will return, including the standard radio, flashlight and some very cool weapons, such as the katana and shotgun. From the video clips we saw, the lead character used a handgun and a stick or club of some kind, probably similar to the 2X4 from Silent Hill 2. Also, it's interesting to note that at least one class of monsters can hover or fly, as indicated in the screenshots. Very nice indeed.
In short, the future is bright, I guess, wonderfully dark for Silent Hill 4 The Room. With several concerns being addressed, an all-new story and set of characters, this looks like it could potentially be the best game in the series. We'll have more on Silent Hill The Room in the near future.
-- Douglass C. Perry
Sweet deal. Oh I cannot wait to play it, to me the Silent Hill series is the most terrifying horror franchise out there. There is no comparision and this one looks even more vulgar. I don't think it has any relations to previous Silent Hill games...but the fact that it is called "The Room" has perked my curiosity even more.
I've only played the first two, to be honest I wasn't that inspired to play the third. Though I will thank you for the information as I'm tempted to at least try the new one when it comes out.
Ive seen write ups in variuos gaming magaiznes and they seem to be hailing it as the best SH yet, so until theres a demo released ill reserve judgement, but i think we can expect even more psychological weird stuff x100...
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