Konami Silent Hill 4: The Room

Description: Survival horror games don't get the recognition they deserve in the wider world. Whereas CGI effects have done nothing but make horror movies less and less scary, ironically video games, particularly the <I>Silent Hill</I> serie.... Read More

Description: Survival horror games don't get the recognition they deserve in the wider world. Whereas CGI effects have done nothing but make horror movies less and less scary, ironically video games, particularly the <I>Silent Hill</I> series, have been showing filmmakers just how it should be done for years.<P> Irritatingly though the original PS one title remains the best of the series with the last two PS2 titles being little more than hi-res rehashes. <I>The Room</I> manages to shake things up a bit though, ditching the radio and flashlight gimmicks and adding twice the normal amount of side characters and a more involved fighting system. There's also a number of completely invincible bad guys and a new <I>Resident Evil</I> style limited slot inventory system. <P> The room in question, as you're no doubt wondering, is in fact the toilet. Playing yet another everyman character you wake up from a rather disturbing dream to find out that you're locked inside your flat and the only way out is through a gateway to hell next to the privy. Which almost sounds like a <I>BlackAdder</I> joke, but is unlikely to have you laughing after your first trip.<P> Within your flat the game uses a first person view, with the series' more traditional third person viewpoint taking over when you go through the portal. A series of weird lens filters and excellent (i.e. very unpleasant) sound lends a real otherworldly feel to proceedings, so that when things do choose to go bump in the night at you, you end up being very scared indeed. --<I>David Jenkins</I> Minimize