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Post by Aunt Alison on Oct 4, 2021 13:53:34 GMT
Silent Hill is one of those games that really shit me up when I was younger. I remember getting on with it just fine up until I hit the school location and then the grimy, oppressive, nightmarish atmosphere really hit me. That bloody static on the radio and the sounds of babies crying made me want to crawl into a corner. I borrowed a magazine from a school mate with a complete guide to the game and grudgingly powered through it over a single weekend. I was relieved when it was all over and vowed to never to play it again, that's how much of an effect it had on me. To this day I haven't played it again and actually didn't (foolishly) play any other Silent Hill games either. I know I would enjoy them now! Pyramid Head was my bollocks to this point in Silent Hill 2. I got someone else to play it instead later on, same with System Shock 2. I tried playing SS2 again myself and got to the second floor but lost my save. Having to go through the cargo bay again where all the droids start popping out of their boxes just put me off. STRESS |
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Cappy
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Post by Cappy on Oct 4, 2021 13:55:42 GMT
I completed Silent Hill with ease on hard difficulty around 2000, but that was during a period when I was playing games with tank controls. When was the last time? Resident Evil Zero in 2003?
Practically everybody is out of practice with this control scheme, that's where it gets tricky.
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Post by Aunt Alison on Oct 4, 2021 13:58:41 GMT
I completed Silent Hill with ease on hard difficulty around 2000, but that was during a period when I was playing games with tank controls. When was the last time? Resident Evil Zero in 2003? Practically everybody is out of practice with this control scheme, that's where it gets tricky. Definitely the tank controls for me. And that I was really scared |
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Post by quadfather on Oct 4, 2021 14:08:55 GMT
Is it silent hill 2 that has the hospital? Or is there also a hospital in the first one as well?
Anyway, when I got to the hospital, I fucking shat myself first time round. Like, I wouldn't move very far as was terrified of what was going to happen. Brilliant!
As for System Shock 2 Robot's - they only take 1 AP bullet and they explode. Though the cargo bays are quite a creepy environment admittedly.
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Post by Aunt Alison on Oct 4, 2021 14:12:53 GMT
Is it silent hill 2 that has the hospital? Or is there also a hospital in the first one as well? Anyway, when I got to the hospital, I fucking shat myself first time round. Like, I wouldn't move very far as was terrified of what was going to happen. Brilliant! As for System Shock 2 Robot's - they only take 1 AP bullet and they explode. Though the cargo bays are quite a creepy environment admittedly. Don't they also explode in your face? |
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Post by quadfather on Oct 4, 2021 14:15:10 GMT
Yes, if you're too close  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2021 14:15:11 GMT
I stopped playing SS2 last year with those fucking robots. It's them you hear or the midwives and you just shit yourself.
SH2 had the hospital but think there's one in SH1, but to my shame I never got past the school as I gave up. Never played it first time and I can cope with how darted SH2 & 3 are, but not SH1.
Those fucking nurses in SH2 though...
As an aside, I played Homecoming for the first time ever last year and I really rather liked it. That and Downpour are, whislt not holding a candle to SH2&3, still pretty damn good games in their own right.
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Post by quadfather on Oct 4, 2021 14:16:48 GMT
Yeah, I quite liked homecoming and downpour too. Haven't finished them, but I was kinda liking them. Also shattered memories, though it's a bit gimmicky.
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Post by Aunt Alison on Oct 4, 2021 14:22:30 GMT
I stopped playing SS2 last year with those fucking robots. It's them you hear or the midwives and you just shit yourself. SH2 had the hospital but think there's one in SH1, but to my shame I never got past the school as I gave up. Never played it first time and I can cope with how darted SH2 & 3 are, but not SH1. Those fucking nurses in SH2 though... As an aside, I played Homecoming for the first time ever last year and I really rather liked it. That and Downpour are, whislt not holding a candle to SH2&3, still pretty damn good games in their own right. It's also that really long corridor with all the doors on the way to the cargo bay when you can hear another droid coming before the doors open and they're right in your face. I hate respawning enemies as well
I think all Silent Hill games have a hospital. The first 4 do anyway. Silent Hill has a lot of hospitals/asylums for a resort town
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Cappy
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Post by Cappy on Oct 4, 2021 14:22:46 GMT
Is it silent hill 2 that has the hospital? Or is there also a hospital in the first one as well? Silent Hill Downpour is the only game without a hospital, every single Silent Hill game besides that uses a hospital of some sort as a recurring motif.
The original Silent Hill nurses are different to the Silent Hill 2 version that became the template though.
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Post by quadfather on Oct 4, 2021 14:39:41 GMT
Nice one. It's got to be SH2 then, as it's those bloody nurses that freak me.
It's the ones that STAND STILL that freak me out the most!
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Rodderz
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Post by Rodderz on Oct 4, 2021 16:15:10 GMT
There's definitely something oppressive about the first Silent Hill, each of the earlier games builds it's own atmosphere. There's something rather harsh and abrasive about the original. Under the original director, Yamoaka's soundscape is much more restrained, a lot of the time it's silence punctuated by unsettling drones leaving the environmental sounds at the forefront. Enemies are a real handful, often because of the controls, unless you devote a lot of time to 90s games you'll be totally out of practice with tank controls. They can be a real challenge in Silent Hill which has lots of wide open spaces with an extremely mobile enemy type who can attack from any side, I wish I'd started on normal difficulty. I've heard survival horror purists maintain that Silent Hill games should only have tank controls. I'd say it's the opposite the game only has a fixed camera for a fraction of the time, it's too unlike Resident Evil for it to work comfortably, Resident Evil is all tight environments with limited pathways and slow enemies so even today, playing something like RE Remake isn't too much trouble for the average person. About an hour in you're reaching the school, there have been no jump scares and little in the way of gore set-pieces but the atmosphere just starts getting to you, this is a place you don't want to be. The enemies may be crude masses of polygons but you don't want to be anywhere near them, the radio static and drone start to drive you to paranoia. You can barely see but now you've got to turn off the flashlight too, it's drawing them in. Near blind in the dark with static telling you you're not alone you pray the door ahead isn't locked whilst also dreading what may be on the other side. Even after all these years it still works. That's a great analysis there Cappy, perfectly encapsulating many of the reasons for the discomfort I felt playing Silent Hill. |
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Duffman5
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Post by Duffman5 on Oct 6, 2021 4:28:39 GMT
chuffed to bits we are getting Visage on Xbox GP tomorrow, I was going to buy it! lovely, no idea when I will get to play though.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2021 8:53:20 GMT
I need to get back to Visage but in all honesty the first chapter took me so long and was so obscure at times I just don't think I've got it in me to continue. The jankiness starts to get a bit annoying after a while as well.
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Duffman5
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Post by Duffman5 on Oct 6, 2021 15:06:09 GMT
That's not great to read. I thought it reviewed really well.
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malek86
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Post by malek86 on Oct 7, 2021 9:08:03 GMT
I wonder why it took so long for developers to figure out that horror games are scarier in first person. I mean, it sounds so obvious when you think about it, yet they insisted on using RE-type cameras. Even before the success of Amnesia and PT, the few first-person horror games out there were already considered more effective in their scariness than third person ones.
On the other hand, while Visage looks way too scary for me to keep playing, it's also an annoying kind of scary. "Yeah, you must go in complete darkness, and oh sorry, did you know that monsters come out of nowhere?". That's a very cheap way of doing things. Of course I'm going to get scared if something suddenly jumps at me .
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Post by snackplissken on Oct 7, 2021 10:04:04 GMT
Is that cheap? Horror is most scary to me when you're not seeing the monster/killer. Silent Hill 2 is perfect in that regard because you feel somewhat disorientated with the camera and controls.. alongside the noises of what is down the corridor etc.
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Post by Aunt Alison on Oct 7, 2021 11:51:00 GMT
I wonder why it took so long for developers to figure out that horror games are scarier in first person. I mean, it sounds so obvious when you think about it, yet they insisted on using RE-type cameras. Even before the success of Amnesia and PT, the few first-person horror games out there were already considered more effective in their scariness than third person ones. On the other hand, while Visage looks way too scary for me to keep playing, it's also an annoying kind of scary. "Yeah, you must go in complete darkness, and oh sorry, did you know that monsters come out of nowhere?". That's a very cheap way of doing things. Of course I'm going to get scared if something suddenly jumps at me . I find third person more immersive. I like seeing my character in the world and interacting with it. In first person I'm always aware I'm just a camera floating around a 3d space. They can both be scary, but I prefer third person
And first person non-combat horror is so overdone now. It's hard to care about a new one
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2021 11:56:57 GMT
On the other hand, while Visage looks way too scary for me to keep playing, it's also an annoying kind of scary. "Yeah, you must go in complete darkness, and oh sorry, did you know that monsters come out of nowhere?". That's a very cheap way of doing things. Of course I'm going to get scared if something suddenly jumps at me . It was the constant darkness that put me off playing Visage. I just couldn't be arsed with aimlessly wandering around in the dark looking for the next obscure thing I should be doing. Plus the ghosts look so janky it's hard to actually be scared of them. PT it ain't. |
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Post by Cappy on Oct 7, 2021 12:19:33 GMT
I wonder why it took so long for developers to figure out that horror games are scarier in first person. I mean, it sounds so obvious when you think about it, yet they insisted on using RE-type cameras. Even before the success of Amnesia and PT, the few first-person horror games out there were already considered more effective in their scariness than third person ones. On the other hand, while Visage looks way too scary for me to keep playing, it's also an annoying kind of scary. "Yeah, you must go in complete darkness, and oh sorry, did you know that monsters come out of nowhere?". That's a very cheap way of doing things. Of course I'm going to get scared if something suddenly jumps at me . I find third person more immersive. I like seeing my character in the world and interacting with it. In first person I'm always aware I'm just a camera floating around a 3d space. They can both be scary, but I prefer third person
And first person non-combat horror is so overdone now. It's hard to care about a new one
I have to agree. I find it hard to care about the safety or fate of a camera.
It would be incredibly boring if everything went first person, a lot of the time you can barely tell one contemporary first person horror game from another.
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Post by marcp on Oct 7, 2021 12:26:24 GMT
I stopped playing SS2 last year with those fucking robots. It's them you hear or the midwives and you just shit yourself. SH2 had the hospital but think there's one in SH1, but to my shame I never got past the school as I gave up. Never played it first time and I can cope with how darted SH2 & 3 are, but not SH1. Those fucking nurses in SH2 though... As an aside, I played Homecoming for the first time ever last year and I really rather liked it. That and Downpour are, whislt not holding a candle to SH2&3, still pretty damn good games in their own right. I was quite enjoying Downpour, but in the end the fucking awful combat turned me off it. Still never gotten around to Homecoming. Come to think of it, I've only ever played the first hour of 3. Unfortunately, the only feasible way for me to play that now is on the HD collection.... |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2021 13:13:22 GMT
I started Downpour around November last year to go through it again but stopped when my lovely shiny PS5 got delivered. I plopped the combat down to easy though, which I reckon is the only way to play it. I did normal first time and it was horrendous. Apart from that, the game is pretty decent. Some of the little side quests are excellent in fact.
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marcp
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Post by marcp on Oct 7, 2021 14:20:33 GMT
I started Downpour around November last year to go through it again but stopped when my lovely shiny PS5 got delivered. I plopped the combat down to easy though, which I reckon is the only way to play it. I did normal first time and it was horrendous. Apart from that, the game is pretty decent. Some of the little side quests are excellent in fact. Ah, I forgot you could do that. Possibly one to revisit then. |
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Post by Dgzter on Oct 7, 2021 21:18:58 GMT
Just finished up Tormented Souls, clocking in at a little over 11 hours. Thanks to Cappy for the recommend/suggestion, as I hadn't heard of it. Yeah ... you all need to go out and buy this right fucking now! For fans of older survival horror games it is easily a 10/10. It's not perfect by any means, but I've not played anything that so closely resembles the hay day of late 90s/early-00s tank-control, third-person survival horror. Pros
- Environment and general aesthetic is great; rooms/corridors are well designed, as are short cuts and unlocks that slowly make the map more navigable; pacing of the exploration is exactly as you would want, with relevant keys/puzzles/doors/required item unlocks all occurring with a satisfying frequency
- Strong emphasis on puzzle-solving, which in this instance comes with a zoomed in view of the relevant puzzle, where objects can be manipulated (turning handles on a clock, for example) or items used from the inventory (bolt cutter to snap a chain etc.)
- Resource management is definitely a thing, with ammo conservation a key concern. This persisted right up to the final boss for me, where I was left sweating on the penultimate section to see if I had enough to get through the final few normal mobs.
- An appropriate amount of backtracking is employed throughout, much like the early Resident Evil games. I guess this is subjective, but for me it always hammered home a good familiarity with the level design and general setting of the game
- Ambient music is solid (Save Room music, rejoice!)
- A few (admittedly limited) alternative endings with relevant achievements (at least on PC [Steam])
Cons
- Combat is a bit too easy, even with the limited ammo resources (weapon choice is also severely limited). Enemy variety is lacking, I guess, though this wasn't something that particularly bothered me.
- There are at least two puzzles that are genuinely far too abstract. I say that as an old veteran of these sorts of games, and a vociferous point n' click adventure gamer. There was one early puzzle in particular, which is necessary for progression, that the solution only became apparent to me by complete accident. In addition, there was one other puzzle that I arrived at the solution through educated guesswork and then had to reverse engineer the clue/prompt, which the game had provided, in order to understand how it pertained to the solution
- The story itself is fairly weak. I think the basic plot, on paper, is fine for a schlocky b-movie style narrative, but the poorly written in-game journals/diary entries combined with the clearly low-budget VO work really makes it all a bit shit. It wasn't off-putting in terms of continuing with the game in anyway, though.
I did get my Steam key for this off CD Keys for absolutely dirt cheap, but I'd say if you can pick it up on any platform for £20 or less then that'll be money well spent. Definitely a fun one for Halloween coming up, I'd say.
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Post by Aunt Alison on Oct 7, 2021 21:22:28 GMT
The story itself is fairly weak. I think the basic plot, on paper, is fine for a schlocky b-movie style narrative, but the poorly written in-game journals/diary entries combined with the clearly low-budget VO work really makes it all a bit shit. It wasn't off-putting in terms of continuing with the game in anyway, though. Sounds like Resident Evil |
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Oct 8, 2021 4:36:37 GMT
I wonder why it took so long for developers to figure out that horror games are scarier in first person. I mean, it sounds so obvious when you think about it, yet they insisted on using RE-type cameras. Even before the success of Amnesia and PT, the few first-person horror games out there were already considered more effective in their scariness than third person ones. On the other hand, while Visage looks way too scary for me to keep playing, it's also an annoying kind of scary. "Yeah, you must go in complete darkness, and oh sorry, did you know that monsters come out of nowhere?". That's a very cheap way of doing things. Of course I'm going to get scared if something suddenly jumps at me . I find third person more immersive. I like seeing my character in the world and interacting with it. In first person I'm always aware I'm just a camera floating around a 3d space. They can both be scary, but I prefer third person
And first person non-combat horror is so overdone now. It's hard to care about a new one
For Horror or otherwise atmospheric games I do definitely prefer first person. Third person I appreciate more in terms of being able to see the equipment on my character and perhaps the character itself. Though the latter only really matters to me when I have an actual choice about the look of the character. |
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Dgzter
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Post by Dgzter on Oct 8, 2021 11:46:24 GMT
As we're discussing perspective, I'll throw Darkwood into the mix. Who knew isometric horror could be so compelling Loved the atmosphere and especially the soundtrack (which I still regularly listen to on Spotify). |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2021 11:47:45 GMT
I keep seeing that when on sale. Worth buying then?
I presume there will be a Halloween PSN sale nearer the end of the month and it'll probably be on there.
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Cappy
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Post by Cappy on Oct 8, 2021 13:01:57 GMT
As we're discussing perspective, I'll throw Darkwood into the mix. Who knew isometric horror could be so compelling Loved the atmosphere and especially the soundtrack (which I still regularly listen to on Spotify). You mentioned isometric and I thought there might be a horror RPG I'd never heard of. Darkwood looks interesting nonetheless.
If anybody actually wants a turn based horror RPG;
Koudelka (super expensive, if you don't own it already you've got to sail the seas.) Shadow Hearts (Koudelka spin-off and expensive too, the sequels are more fantasy than horror.)
Darkest Dungeon (highly recommended, affordable and available on many platforms.)
At this point if we want more horror RPGs we'll probably just have to make our own like the Darkest Dungeon devs did.
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Dgzter
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Post by Dgzter on Oct 8, 2021 13:49:31 GMT
I personally loved Darkwood, but it is very different from almost anything else so it's perfectly possible others might bounce off it or find it a bit meh. As Wunty says, though, it's often on sale, so I'd say definitely worth a punt. I liked it enough that I have it now on both PC and Switch. Fair warning, there are 'survival' mechanics in it that are more akin to modern (non-horror) survival titles, but the game itself is undoubtedly horror. Think narrative wise it's loosely inspired by the Strugatsky brothers' 'Snail on the Slope', which is a genuinely batshit insane science fiction novel. In terms of horror RPGs, I did pick up Stygian: Reign of the Old Gods on GOG for pennies: www.gog.com/game/stygian_reign_of_the_old_ones. It's a low-budget attempt at a stylized Lovecraftian RPG, which is unfortunately a rather buggy and broken (not to mention now abandoned by the devs) mess. It can be completed, I hear, but takes some dedication and patience. I'm also near done with The Sinking City on the PS4. Pretty fun Lovecraft-esque action-RPG with some detective work, if that's any of your jams. |
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