Silent Hill: Downpour
The sixth and most recent addition to the Silent Hill series, Downpour is once again developed by another non-Japanese studio. This time it's not Climax or Double Helix, but instead Vatra Games from the Czech Republic. I'm not sure why Konami opted for a new developer this time around, perhaps they weren't happy with what the last two developers produced, or perhaps those studios were both already busy with another contract. The other oddball thing about Downpour was the seeming lack of involvement by Konami or Team Silent. This included a lack the integral Akira Yamaoka who had kept the series in-line during the previous three games developed in the US.
Silent Hill: Downpour really does seem to try to push the game back towards it's original pedigree. The focus seems to be very much on the town and it's obscure vacancy. The writing and the puzzles may not be truly the same, but certainly give me the same feel I remember getting from some of the early games in the series. But what Vatra really does best in this game was create a fantastic new world. Each time Silent Hill is recreated, they've done a great job of not just returning to the same part of the town. Vatra used a bunch of local Czech locations as inspiration for parts of the town found in Downpour including the Devil's Pit park which had you moving from the daylight of a gorge to the darkness of caves creating fantastic bouts of fear.
Downpour also really shows off the graphical power of the 7th generation systems it's run on. Released late in the life of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Vatra was able to create some pretty stunning visuals. This really was the high point of the game in my opinion. More than anything Downpour showed me how fantastic the series works when dropped into a visually advanced platform. 'Downpour' of course is full of rainy, wet surfaces and foggy, volumetric lighting. The town looks fantastic and the levels are designed, as per usual, like you are truly searching your way through an abandoned town. Crossing alleys behind houses with short fences into a new street on a new block reminds me of making my way through suburban landscapes alone growing up. All the time imagining what horrible things could be lurking late at night or during foggy early mornings.
Although I'd agree with most that the Silent Hill series has started to fall off since Konami decided to farm it out, I still find the series quite enjoyable. There's only a handful of games in the series I haven't tried yet. Silent Hill: The Arcade, only available in Japan and Europe, Silent Hill: The Escape for iPhone and Silent Hill: Book of Memories, available only on the PS Vita handheld; which I have yet to purchase. (And may never.) Downpour did what it's supposed to and that is scare me downright good. Like the titles previous, I found myself at nerves' end late and night as some monster inevitably leaps down from the ceiling at me. I'd love to see Konami keep with this series because while lately it's having a bit of a lull, it's strong enough that I'll stick by it in the hopes that someone will bring it back to the perfection of the first few games. Who knows, maybe Team Silent has been working on it the whole while since Silent Hill 4.
The sixth and most recent addition to the Silent Hill series, Downpour is once again developed by another non-Japanese studio. This time it's not Climax or Double Helix, but instead Vatra Games from the Czech Republic. I'm not sure why Konami opted for a new developer this time around, perhaps they weren't happy with what the last two developers produced, or perhaps those studios were both already busy with another contract. The other oddball thing about Downpour was the seeming lack of involvement by Konami or Team Silent. This included a lack the integral Akira Yamaoka who had kept the series in-line during the previous three games developed in the US. Silent Hill: Downpour really does seem to try to push the game back towards it's original pedigree. The focus seems to be very much on the town and it's obscure vacancy. The writing and the puzzles may not be truly the same, but certainly give me the same feel I remember getting from some of the early games in the series. But what Vatra really does best in this game was create a fantastic new world. Each time Silent Hill is recreated, they've done a great job of not just returning to the same part of the town. Vatra used a bunch of local Czech locations as inspiration for parts of the town found in Downpour including the Devil's Pit park which had you moving from the daylight of a gorge to the darkness of caves creating fantastic bouts of fear. Downpour also really shows off the graphical power of the 7th generation systems it's run on. Released late in the life of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Vatra was able to create some pretty stunning visuals. This really was the high point of the game in my opinion. More than anything Downpour showed me how fantastic the series works when dropped into a visually advanced platform. 'Downpour' of course is full of rainy, wet surfaces and foggy, volumetric lighting. The town looks fantastic and the levels are designed, as per usual, like you are truly searching your way through an abandoned town. Crossing alleys behind houses with short fences into a new street on a new block reminds me of making my way through suburban landscapes alone growing up. All the time imagining what horrible things could be lurking late at night or during foggy early mornings. Although I'd agree with most that the Silent Hill series has started to fall off since Konami decided to farm it out, I still find the series quite enjoyable. There's only a handful of games in the series I haven't tried yet. Silent Hill: The Arcade, only available in Japan and Europe, Silent Hill: The Escape for iPhone and Silent Hill: Book of Memories, available only on the PS Vita handheld; which I have yet to purchase. (And may never.) Downpour did what it's supposed to and that is scare me downright good. Like the titles previous, I found myself at nerves' end late and night as some monster inevitably leaps down from the ceiling at me. I'd love to see Konami keep with this series because while lately it's having a bit of a lull, it's strong enough that I'll stick by it in the hopes that someone will bring it back to the perfection of the first few games. Who knows, maybe Team Silent has been working on it the whole while since Silent Hill 4. 
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