@Brodehouse:
Played a bit of it, wasn't impressed with what I played at all. I wasn't expecting much, but my expectations are never so strong that they will stop me from then enjoying a game if it proves me wrong. Downpour simply didn't prove me wrong.
@Kandycane2029:
Nice, now play the first 3 in the series and prepare to lose your shit! The first does indeed look very dated by today's graphical standards, but I would argue that the graphics do a lot for the feeling of the game. Makes everything seem distinctly more "alien" and... Wrong, I guess. SH2 and 3 are both absolutely gorgeous.
@Creamypies:
Sure, thematically Silent Hill goes far deeper than I Am Alive does, but I think the mood, gameplay and pacing all do what SH used to do so well, to a much larger extent than any of the more recent entries into the series. I was way too high to expand on why I feel this way last night, as I posted this topic nigh-on immediately after finishing the game, and then went to bed, but I'll go into more detail here.
I game mostly for the immersion factor. My ability to suspend my disbelief knows no bounds, so long as a game has a powerful and gripping atmosphere and mood. When it comes to horror, I like to be made to feel unempowered, vulnerable, lost and isolated. Now, while I Am Alive may not actually be billed as a horror game, I feel that it achieves that vulnerability and isolation that I feel is so important to get right. The section of the game just after you get the gas mask, and it shifts to night time, and you're wandering the very lowest level of the city is the best example of this IMO. No enemies, no puzzles, just an all-consuming cloud of dust, zero visability and sustained chords of ominous doom! Beautiful. And so immersed was I at this point in the game, that my heartrate was through the roof, I was shaking slightly and I could do nothing but continue through the fog to my destination. So while the plot and subtext remained paper-thin and despite the game becoming relatively more combat heavy as it went on (cool combat mechanics though, dig the ideas at work here, threatening dudes with an empty pistol is a stroke of genius,) it didn't taint my overall experience with the game, which was frankly pretty fucking terrifying, and this is why I feel it to be a better SH game than Downpour; it didn't need gruesome, otherworldly enemies or well drawn characters to draw me in, just some thick fog and some good drones.
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