Silent Hill 4: The Room (PS2) (2004)
Developer: Konami

Review by Faididi and Co.

It's only less scary than needing to pay rent

Story: Above Average

Henry Townshend is in big trouble. Trapped in his own apartment by evil forces after moving near the town of Silent Hill, he soon finds that the creepy tunnel mysteriously appearing in his bathroom only leads to one nightmare after another. He has no other choice but to survive the ordeal. On the bright side, he'll eventually meet and help his sweet, pretty neighbor.

The story wins extra points for again exploring different avenues in the series' world. Like in the second installment, only the setting serves as a common link, as the characters and the plot are unrelated to those of the past. Although much of the game doesn't take place at Henry's apartment, the heaps of horrors hidden there turn upside-down the concept of a safe haven common to so many games.

Gameplay: Above Average

Konami's Silent Hill 4: The Room may resemble its predecessors on the surface, but it plays quite differently as an action adventure. Its heavily reworked gameplay features major changes in how the areas are organized, in the roles played by unique characters, and even in how the items are carried and used.

The level design is deceptively interconnected, taking care not to repeat the mistake of sheer linearity and frequent jammed doors made in Silent Hill 3. Henry's apartment acts as a home base, to where he can return via the portal tunnel that conveniently appears throughout the dungeon-like areas. At his home, our hero can save his progress, swap items in and out of his personal inventory, and even regain stamina for free. However, Silent Hill's evil magic may still invade his apartment, sometimes in the form of horrifying manifestations that can literally kill him. While the names of the dungeon areas themselves leave something to be desired (try not to laugh at "Hospital World" or "Water Prison World"), the level and puzzle designs conceal a double-layered nature.

Without spoiling too much, the second half of the game has Henry revisiting the same dungeon areas to complete new sets of puzzles, and this time he'll be accompanied by the computer-controlled neighbor ally, Eileen. Teaming up against monsters with a friendly (and very cute) heroine is a fun new twist for this series. Because Henry's stamina is indirectly tied to Eileen's, watching her back is important, and she can't just be exploited as a meat shield.

The greater focus on unique characters extends to the enemies as well, because among the bad guys are several special ghosts who will keep pursuing Henry in the dungeon areas. These ghosts each have their own individual set of traits and attack styles, but all of them can't be permanently killed. The most that Henry can do is to drive them off and then run away before they return for an angrier rematch, but the game is still paced to allow plenty of time for thorough exploration.

That brings us to the redesigned item system. Unlike the heroes of the earlier installments, Henry can carry up to only 10 items at once, although he can still bring stuff back to his apartment and build up a reserve stockpile of goodies. Besides making Henry more like a real person who doesn't have Harry's infinitely deep pockets, this reworked item system requires him to carefully think about what to bring with him into the dungeon areas. That grows even more important when Eileen joins him, because her pre-existing conditions require him to share his personal inventory with her.

Controls: Excellent

The controls are revamped, too. Although the button layouts are no longer fully customizable, the movement controls in The Room are completely screen-oriented, and the exceptional camera work is designed with that in mind, avoiding any sudden perspective changes that can disrupt Henry's movements.

The items are also now selected and used in real time, not on a subscreen like before. This greatly increases the game's immersiveness, not to mention encouraging Henry to organize the weapons and ammunition in his personal inventory with care. The hand-to-hand weapons are each wielded much more differently compared to those in the past installments, and Henry can charge up his strength to a greater degree when he attacks with them.

Graphics: Excellent

The visuals continue to be impressive, with the fluidly animated characters and the ultra-atmospheric environments looking as good as or better than those of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3. Extra attention is given to the unique characters, from the way Eileen's purse dangles from her hands to the strand effects of the long-haired woman who is one of the special ghosts.

Audio: Excellent

This sequel's revisions haven't forgotten about the audio work, either. Because The Room ditches the now-too-familiar radio and flashlight items, it makes greater use of the evil ambience effects to indicate the presence of enemies. While the acting for most of the supporting characters is imbalanced and can come off weird, Henry thankfully doesn't talk a lot. Eileen's acting is the best of all, and she actually sounds like a person who notices that something is terrifyingly wrong with the game's world.

Overall: Above Average

An action adventure that honestly changes up its gameplay without compromising on the horror themes, Silent Hill 4: The Room provides a revitalizing lift for the series. Those who are unimpressed by Silent Hill 3 and its lack of innovation will find much to enjoy in this bold sequel, especially its less conventional level design, its more engaging item and weapon systems, and its cool new focus on unique characters.