The first details on "Silent Hill: Downpour" emerged a few weeks ago, which is cause for joyful alarm. Joy, because... well... "Silent Hill" rules. And alarm should be fairly self-evident if you've ever played any of the past games in the series. Sleepless nights are ahead once again. Now we know a little more about the game, thanks to a bunch of newly released screens and the planned release window, which is currently set for Q3 (July-September) of this year.
"Silent Hill: Homecoming" came out at the end of 2008. It was eclipsed by some of the other marquee releases that year and a few reviews came down on its convoluted story, but for me "Homecoming" encapsulated the perfect survival horror experience. There's a new developer on board for "Downpour": Czech studio Vatra Games, replacing Double Helix Games, for whom "Homecoming" was a one-off.
We learned earlier this month that Vatra is making some changes for "Downpour," notably doing away with Double Helix's first-for-the-series freely controllable camera and replacing it with the more familiar 360-degree camera/fixed perspective mix. While I liked the previous game's control scheme very much, I'll admit that there's value in those fixed perspectives, moments of horror that can be more effectively created by forcing players to zero their attention in on one thing or another.
In the new game, players will step into the shoes of escaped convict Murphy Pendleton. And that's pretty much all we know on the story front. The titular town will be featured, but Vatra has confirmed that we'll be exploring previously untread territory and that familiar locations, such as the hospital, will not be returning. A big amen to that.
Water and rain will play a key role in the experience as well, though exactly how remains to be seen. Given the fact that the supernatural aspects of Silent Hill feed into what's squirreled away in the dark corners of the player character's mind, it's probably a safe bet that the game's excessive wetness can be attributed to Murph being hydrophobic. Just a guess, but a reasonable one.
There are more details to be gleaned about the gameplay from our previous report, so click the link above if you want to know more. There are also MANY more screens than what you see here, so head over to GameSpot to check out the rest.