Best Silent Hill to date! Don't you believe me?!
It is and I'll tell you why.
The story is on par with the best games in the franchise with gruesome and emotional twists. Although to be fair it isn't as shocking or strong as Silent Hill 2 or 4. The characters while believable, have that vague design to them typical of Silent Hill games. There is a cool boss fight also, as well as some interesting and meaningful set-pieces.
The graphics are the best to date on a Silent Hill game, with effects like rain and thunderstorms, well detailed characters, believable object placement and locations, fog, and interesting enemies. The monsters aren't as weird as in Silent Hill 2 or as scary as in Silent Hill 4, but they are distinct as they tend to be in each Silent Hill game. They might not be the most interesting in term of design, but they aren't also without charm, giving this version of Silent Hill it's own distinct feel. On the downside, there are some occasions where the frame rate drops, of the game freezes for a few seconds, especially while saving or loading a new location.
The gameplay follows the standard for the series, as a survival horror game. The fighting system is akin to the one displayed in Silent Hill: Homecoming, with the ability of parrying an attack and striking with melee weapons, and entering in a third person shooter mode for the handgun and shotgun. My grip with the gameplay was the fact that the animation of parrying was rigid and unrealistic, with the foot of the main character sliding in the ground as he changed his position to face his attacker. The The weapons are also breakable, after a few hits.
The time on Silent Hill is divided in two parts. For the most part the character explores the town and surroundings of Silent Hill, without many enemy encounters, and even less that can't be avoided. The other part of the time is spent in the Otherworld, through mostly escape sequences, similar in style Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, although there are some puzzles to be solved, and exploration to be done there.The player has also the ability to explore Silent Hill to a degree like never before. Visiting the main locations for the plot, but also random houses, the subway station, cinema, stores, etc., unlike in any prior Silent Hill game. In these locations as well as in the main ones there are also side-quests to complete. These quests don't add up anything to the main plot, but help to illustrate better the town of Silent Hill, providing some memorable moments, as well as some secret weapons. There are also easter eggs concerning past entries of Silent Hill throughout the game.
The sound department was never expected to be up to Akira's Yamaoka's (prior Silent Hill games' music composer and sound director) legacy, and it isn't. The voiced tracks are painfully absent in this iteration of the franchise, but the overall sound design by David Licht is great, and surprising similar in style to Yamaoka's instrumental songs. The song "Silent Hill" by Jonathan Davies (Korn's singer) is also only present in the opening.
The main game lasts about 10 to 22 hours, depending of wether or not you do the side quests and how much meandering you do in Silent Hill game. There is no new game +, nor much in the way of extras, appart from hidden collectibles, featuring nods to the past entries in the Silent Hill franchise.
In the end, the game stays true to the best part of the legacy of the franchise, while evolving in its battle system, and giving access to the most accessible encarnation of the town of Silent Hill.
I as a fan couldn't ask more from a Silent Hill game, and Vatra Games, which unfortunately closed down. So I don't think I'm crazy. Do you think I'm crazy?
