Deep Listens is a gaming podcast series I'm recording with a few of my friends. Every two weeks we pick and play a new game and then discuss it from a literary, philosophical, and game design perspective. Its kind of like a book club for video games. We try to dig as deep as we can on an individual game every episode so check it out!

In this week's episode we discuss the many triumphs and failings of Silent Hill 4: The Room. We start out by covering the various mechanical departures that help differentiate Silent Hill 4 from it's predecessors, including it's use of the first person perspective, a limited inventory, and a consistent "home base". We then venture into the game's story and discuss how the apartment factors into the game's aesthetic and narrative, much to the game's benefit. Unfortunately, we also discuss how the game's larger ties to the Silent Hill mythos serves to undermine some of it's otherwise great ideas.

Episode 31: Silent Hill 4, Claustrophobia, and Spooky Spaces