Silent hill 4: the room

Gameplay Basics

The gameplay is centered on Henry's apartment, which uses a first-person view. The diary in the apartment is the only place to save in the game ^[10] . The protagonist enters other levels through mysterious holes appearing in the bathroom of the apartment and in the laundry room ^{[28] [29]} . In the first half of the game, the room also heals the player ^[20] . In the second half of Silent Hill 4, the apartment is surrounded by ghosts that inhabit various objects or seep through walls. The player can watch the tap and eye oozing with blood, spontaneous movement of slippers ^[30] , a TV randomly turned on, a meowing piece of meat and so on. Ghosts can be driven out with blessed candles. Medallions give temporary immunity to their effects. In other levels, The Room uses a classic third-person view ^{[10] [14] [16] [24] [28]} . There are three game modes in the project: “easy”, “medium” and “heavy” ^[18] .

Unlike other parts of the series, the player’s inventory is limited, so you have to leave things in Henry’s room ^{[18] [29]} . Silent Hill 4 focuses on battles, as a result of which complex riddles are greatly simplified ^{[18] [28]} . If there is an object in the room with which the player can interact, then, when approaching it, an eye icon will appear in the upper left corner of the screen. There is also a strip of vital energy ^[31] . Thus, for the sake of ease of the gameplay, the studio decided to move away from the policy, according to which the icons should not be displayed directly in the playing field, which was later regretted ^[32] .

In the second half of the game, the protagonist is accompanied by his neighbor Eileen ^[31] , controlled by artificial intelligence ^{[24] [K 1] [33] [34] [14]} . The player can also supply her with weapons ^[24] . The amount of damage that Eileen will suffer determines how quickly she dies during the battle with Walter Sullivan, as well as her behavior in the last location. Its viability as a result of the final collision affects the ending of the game ^{[14] [17] [18]} . The total duration of The Room is approximately ten hours ^[35] .

Battle System

The Silent Hill 4 combat system is very much like its predecessors with minor differences. The player has access to a variety of weapons - melee and ranged combat. The first category includes a “classic” water pipe, a stun gun, an aluminum bat, a knife, a hoe, an ax, dichlorvos, a pickaxe of despair, and others. To the second - a pistol, a revolver and a submachine gun. Eileen can be equipped with a handbag, a whip, a chain and a baton. Some types of weapons have such a characteristic as fragility - for golf clubs, a bottle of wine and others - in the end it breaks and becomes useless ^[18] . Medallions and candles lose their strength over time. A significant difference is also the presence of a “simple” and “charged” strike. The latter is slower in speed, but does more damage. The first, on the contrary, is faster, but less effective ^[36] . Inventory navigation and weapon changes take place in real time ^[37] (according to the developers, numerous online games prompted them to make such a change in the menu system ^[32] ).

After the release of the game, the creators reported that excessive dependence on close combat was a mistake. The developers believed that it was cruel physical violence over the enemy was one of the important aspects of the horror component of the series. Therefore, initially in The Room the number of melee weapons was significantly increased, and ammunition for firearms came across too rarely. However, such a system led to the fact that players collected ammunition only for the battle with the boss, which made the gun a useless type of weapon. Then the amount of supplies at the level increased sharply ^[32] .

Background

Walter Sullivan was born in apartment 302 in the house of South Ashfield Heights in the city of Ashfield 34 years before the main events of the game ^[14] . He was abandoned by his parents and brought up in the shelter "House of desires" ( English Wish House ), which was influenced by the religious cult of The Order . The guilty pupils of the shelter were sent to Panopticon, a kind of prison in which Andrew DeSalvo worked as a security guard. At age 6, Dahlia Gillespie showed Walter his birthplace. Since then, he began to think that it was this apartment - his Mother.

Periodically, he came to the house, but the child annoyed the residents. In the subway, he met Cynthia Velazquez, but she got angry when she learned that Sullivan had been watching her for 10 years ^[38] . He also met with Eileen Galvin, who gave him a doll. When Walter grew up, he read a fragment of one of the books that mentioned “21 Communion” - a religious ritual that can be used to awaken Mother. After killing ten people, Sullivan was arrested by the police and imprisoned, where he committed suicide by sticking a sharpened spoon into the carotid artery . He continued his work already being dead, creating a different world ^[14] .

The main part

The main events unfold in the apartment 302 South Ashfield Heights ^[29] . Henry Townshend has dreams that seem real to him. After a while, he discovers that he is locked in his apartment: the door is hung with chains, the phone does not work, the windows cannot be broken, the clock stopped, and the TV shows only interference ^{[37] [39]} .

Through a strange hole in the bathroom, he embarks on a journey through parallel worlds ^[29] . First, Henry visits an abandoned metro station, where he meets Cynthia, who believes that everything that happens is nothing more than a dream. Later, an unknown person kills her. Returning to his apartment, Henry hears on the radio that Cynthia is dead in the real world. Three more people also die: Jasper Gein, who burns alive in the world of the Forest, Andrew DeSalvo, who was drowned in the world of the Water Prison, and Richard Braintree, who died in an electric chair in the world of the Building. The criminal's handwriting resembled the work of the late serial killer Walter Sullivan. Henry finds parts of the diary of a former occupant of apartment 302, Joseph Schreiber, who was investigating the case.

Walter, already dead, remains almost immortal. Henry is the intended 21 victims. Sullivan's childhood manifestation, baby Wally, interrupts the killing of the twentieth victim - Eileen Galvin, and she joins Henry. Apartment 302 begins to inhabit ghosts. Schreiber's ghost appears, reporting that the only way out is Sullivan's death. Soon, Henry removes the chains from the door and finds Crimson Tom in the house, who says that the ritual will not help wake Mother, but will call the devil. After he receives Walter's umbilical cord, allowing him to be killed. This is followed by the final battle between Walter and Henry ^{[14] [17] [18]} .

Ending

In total, the game presents four options for various story endings. The ending was determined by factors such as the presence of Ghosts in apartment 302, Eileen’s state of health and her survival in the last battle ^[17] . In previous games in the series, Team Silent employees came up with some particularly ridiculous idea, and over time embodied it in the form of a silly finale, however, there was not enough time to implement these plans during The Room production ^[32] . Therefore, the traditional UFO- ending in the project is absent ^{[18] [40]} . The studio reported that fans love elements that intersect with other games in the series and noted the fact that fans were disappointed ^[32] .

• “Salvation” ( Eng. Escape ) - another world begins to crumble, Sullivan dies, and Henry and Eileen run away. Baby Wally, dying, disappears. A day later, Henry visits Eileen in the hospital, where she offers to look for them a new apartment.
• Mother is the same ending, but room 302 remains in a different world. Eileen says she will have to return to her old apartment.
• " Eileen's Death " ( Eng. Eileen's Death ) - another world crumbles, Henry wakes up in his apartment. Radio reports that police found several bodies with numbers carved on them. Miss Eileen Gelvin was sent to the hospital of St. Jerome, but died due to severe cuts.
• “21 Communion” ( English 21 Sacraments ) - Walter Sullivan performs a ritual and reunites with his mother - room 302. After that, they report on the radio that the police found the bodies of five people. Eileen Galvin was taken to the hospital, where she died after some time. A mutilated corpse of a man was found in apartment 302 ^[41] .

Characters

The Room has nine main characters. Seven of them are men - including the main protagonist and antagonist , two - women. Six of them are guaranteed to die during the game, the fate of some depends on the ending ^[18] . All the heroes of the game have green eyes ^{[31] [39]} . Critics, for the most part, were pleased with the voices of voicing the characters of Silent Hill 4 , the artistic features of the graphics of the heroes also earned praise ^{[21] [36] [42] [42]} . In 2005, Akira Yamaoka admitted that the characters were “a little weak”, and there was not enough time to create more “strong” heroes ^[43] . It was planned that one of the characters would be voiced by Donna Burke , who had previously worked on the roles of Claudia Woolf in Silent Hill 3 and Angela Orozco in Silent Hill 2 , but she never participated in the project ^{[44] [45]} . Before the release of the game, the developers hinted that characters from the previous parts of the series will be involved in Silent Hill 4 ^[46] . The press suggested that perhaps one of them would be James Sunderland, the other - Valtiel, the third - Heather, but in the end they turned out to be Walter Sullivan and Joseph Schreiber ^{[24] [31] [39] [47] [48] [49]} .

The protagonist of the game is Henry Townshend ( born Henry Townshend ), who is about 20 years old ^{[K 2] [39] [47] [10] [16]} . He is a white man, 185 centimeters tall and weighs 80 kilograms, keen on photography. The theme of his murder is Wisdom ^[50] . Henry is an “ordinary” person who has been described as a closed introvert ^{[21] [51] [52]} . Townshend is always calm and does not allow to expose their feelings ^[9] . Throughout the game, he remains unchanged, while everything changes around him. The goal of the developers was to associate the player with the protagonist. They did not want to make it heroic so that the players did not have a sense of unreality of what was happening ^[19] . The character is voiced by Eric Bossick ( English Eric Bossick ) ^[45] . The actor, answering the question whether it was easy to play Henry, said:

Eric admitted that during the work he was inspired by the images of the Pyramid-headed and Valtiel. In response to criticism of his hero, Bossic said that, as a rule, game characters are not more thoughtful, but he appreciated the growing trend of deeper immersion in games, as they, in his opinion, are becoming closer to the movies, turning into an interactive film ^{[ 53]} . According to the results of the SMS- voting held from October 26 to December 1, 2004 by Igromania magazine, Henry took the last fourth place in the chart of the most memorable main characters of the series - he was given only 80 votes out of 1022 ^{[31] [54]} . Observers noted his role as a noble savior, about which, however, his biography, profession, and family secrets are unknown ^[18] .

The antagonist, Walter Sullivan ( born Walter Sullivan ) appears in the game as a serial killer and a crazy villain, one in two. He was described by reviewers as a shaggy long-haired middle-aged man with a “vile grin” ^{[18] [24] [37] [39]} . A young incarnation of Walter ^[55] , a sullen boy of about five ^[39], also appears in the game. The theme of his death is Assumption ^[50] . The character is voiced by Dennis Falt ^[45] .

Eileen Galvin ( born Eileen Galvin ), a white woman, described by critics as "a pretty girl" ^[39] , appears in the game as an "object of noble salvation" ^{[18] [K 3]} . In the second half of The Room, she gets injured, which, according to observers, only made her more sexy ^[56] . Although other authors spoke of her as a lame disabled partner ^[20] . Her character tends to be highly dependent on others ^[9] . The theme of her murder is Mother ^[50] . Sullivan needed a living mother, and so he decided to introduce the girl to his plans to revive the devilish "mother." Eileen sincerely worries about her missing neighbor, but can do nothing ^[18] . The character is voiced by Anna Kunnecke ( born Anna Kunnecke ) ^[45] .

Cynthia Velasquez ( born Cynthia Velasquez ), is a woman of Hispanic descent, the first person whom Henry meets in the other world. She believed that everything that was happening was a dream, so she asked the protagonist for help in exchange for a “special service” of a sexual nature ^{[14] [17] [38] [57]} . The theme of her murder is Temptation ^[50] . Sadako from the movie "The Bell " and Onreo ^{[56] [14]} became the ideological inspiration of the image of the ghostly Cynthia. Unlike Eileen, the heroine was described by observers as an unpretentious character, which eventually turns into a long-haired witch, who after death lost her charm ^{[17] [18]} . In fact, the eroticism that the heroine hinted at was the most logical way to end the nightmare ^[58] . Cynthia speaks in the voice of Lisa Ortiz ^[45] .

Among male characters in Silent Hill 4 are Superintendent Frank Sunderland. Browsers wondered if Frank had anything in common with protagonist of the second part of the series, James Sunderland ^{[20] [36]} . So Timur Khorev, a journalist for Best Computer Games magazine, cautiously noted the low probability that Konami decided to make him just a surname ^[18] , while Ivan Vasiliev, an employee of 3DNews , openly said that the hero is James’s father ^{[ 59]} .

Joseph Schreiber worked as a journalist, investigating the sect's acts in the Wishing House, and at the end of the game acted as an assistant and a friendly ghost. Critics noted the similarity of the fate of Joseph and Henry ^[18] . The theme of his murder is Despair ^[50] . Schreiber was voiced by Robert Belgrade ^[45] . It is believed that at the very beginning of the game, the player controls precisely Schreiber, given that he does not recognize the photograph of Henry on the wall ^[14] .

Jasper Gein ( English Jasper Gein ) was characterized as a "tall and awkward kid", a researcher of ancient cults and a lover of the paranormal ^[18] , who wants to study the religion of Silent Hill. Dressed in a T-shirt with the image of Incubus, the boss of the first part of the series ^[14] . The subject of his murder is Source ^[50] . According to the Internet Movie Database , the character was voiced by Clifford Rippel ^[45] , although in an interview he denied his participation in the project ^[60] . In the game there are guard Andrew DeSalvo ( English Andrew DeSalvo ), and "gloomy man in a suit and tie" Richard Braintree ( English Richard Braintree ) ^{[18] [37]} . The project also mentioned Alessa from Silent Hill ^[61] .

Creators

The fourth part of the Silent Hill series was developed over 2.5 years by Team Silent under the leadership of Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo ^[32] . Work on The Room began after the release of Silent Hill 2 , in parallel with Silent Hill 3 . The creators set out to realize a fresh style of play that would set a new direction for the series ^{[40] [51] [62] [63]} . For the first time, development news was released in October 2003. Konami officially confirmed this information on Player Day 2004 - the ninth of January ^{[39] [64] [65]} .

Silent Hill 4 was produced by Akira Yamaoka, who also performed as a sound engineer and composer ^[43] . Suguru Murakoshi, who directed the scenes in Silent Hill 2 , took over as scriptwriter and director, and Masashi Tsuboyama, who directed the addition of Born from a Wish, became the art director. By that time, Masahiro Ito, who created the design of the scenery and monsters, became a freelancer , and the developers of the first part of the series Keiichiro Toyama, Naoko Sato and Isao Takahashi switched to work at Sony . Screenwriter Hiroyuki Ovaku completely left the gaming industry ^[66] .

The working title of the game is Room 302 ^[67] . According to some game publishers, the game was originally developed as a spin-off ^{[14] [28]} , and was not directly related to the main series ^[29] . It is believed that her affiliation with the franchise was the publisher’s marketing move ^{[14] [57]} . Silent Hill 4 is the final project created by the now defunct Team Silent ^[68] . Most of the subsequent sequels , prequels, and new interpretations were created, although under the direction of Konami, but by other developers ^{[69] [70] [71] [72]} .

Release and sales

For the first time, the game was presented at the Electronic Entertainment Expo conference , which was held from May 12 to May 14, 2004 in Los Angeles . There was a separate stand in South Hall , looking like "a real room, turned upside down by shabby walls." At the entrance are garbage cans and a puddle of "incomprehensible substance." From the inside, the stand was a “kitchen with tiled and blood-stained tiles” and “dirty windows”. Above the “rusty sinks” there was a mounted screen, the joystick was attached to the washstand, the cord from which went deep into the plumbing communications ^[74] .

Silent Hill 4: The Room was released in Japan on June 17, 2004 on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox platforms ^[75] . Microsoft has confirmed that the port with the Xbox is compatible with the Xbox 360 console ^[76] . In North America and Europe, the release took place on September 7 of the same year. Those who bought the game on pre-order received a soundtrack CD ^{[15] [77]} for free. Initially, the publisher’s representatives stated that the project would become a console exclusive, but in May 2004 the version of The Room for a personal computer was announced ^{[34] [74]} . Based on the Microsoft Windows operating system , the project appeared on September 9 in the United States, and September 24, 2004 in Europe ^[8] . SoftKlab was the Russian distributor of the fourth part of the series. The game was released exclusively on the PlayStation 2, it was not exposed to localization and distributed in English ^[4] . The game has been reprinted repeatedly on the PlayStation 2: in 2005 as part of Konami the Best ; July 7, 2006 as part of the Silent Hill Complete Set , which included all the games in the series that had been released at that time ^[2] ; along with the two predecessors in 2006 as part of the European Silent Hill Collection , which appeared due to the release of the movie adaptation Silent Hill ^{[3] [78]} . The latest release, called Konami Dendou Selection, took place on January 28, 2010 ^{[1] [79]} .

The Room was not included in the re-release of the Silent Hill HD Collection . Project producer Tomm Hewlett said his team was trying to focus on what fans like the most. According to Tomm - if “you are a fan of Silent Hill , then <…> love the second or third part”, thereby rejecting the idea of ​​playing a game in HD at the moment, although leaving this possibility in the future ^[80] . On October 18, 2012, the fourth part of the series was released as part of the PS2 Classics program for the PlayStation Network on the PlayStation 3 platform ^{[6] [81]} .

Silent Hill 4 topped the top charts for gaming sales in Japan, but fell to 10th place a week later ^{[25] [82]} . According to official statements by Konami, sales of the game in North America were “favorable” ^[26] . According to the ratings of the Russian press, Silent Hill 4 three times hit the charts of the top ten best-selling games: in seventh place in the UK (versions for PS2 and Xbox) ^[27] , and in ninth in Moscow (version for PS2) - with a relative rating sales of twenty one points ^[5] . In total, about half a million copies of the game were sold ^[83] .

Concept

The concept of the new structure of the game is the idea of ​​the room, as “the safest part of your world”, and, subsequently, its transformation into a danger zone ^[67] . At the first public display of the project in San Francisco, Akira Yamaoka stated that the developers would refute the expression “my house is my castle”, discrediting the concept of a house as a refuge, shelter, protection from the dangers of the outside world ^[37] . A first-person view appears in this location with the goal of causing claustrophobia in players ^{[19] [43]} . The developers have retained the classic third-person view in all other locations to focus on action and combat system ^{[19] [67]} .

The only place to save in the game was conceived as a special limitation, the purpose of which was to obtain more acute sensations. Returning to the apartment, according to the developers, can be described as a headache, but giving players the ability to save anywhere would make the gameplay less exciting ^[73] . The decrease in the number of puzzles was justified by the peculiarity of the game system - all its elements were combined into one level of complexity. The repetition of locations, according to the creators, was supposed to emphasize the changes in the characters, demonstrate the psychological aspect of the horror. The absence of fog and darkness, despite the negative impact on the atmosphere, emphasized the so-called “obvious horror”, where the player faces the question of what to do with the monster and not to guess if it is ^[19] .

Masashi Tsuboyama, designer of Silent Hill 4 , said that since the game was the fourth part of the series, the development team wanted significant differences compared to past games. He noticed that earlier Silent Hill resembled a line map that looked like a one way story path, however, placing the central part in the middle gave the main storyline three-dimensionality. The first-person view was created to demonstrate the difference in atmospheres, as well as to test the possibilities of future incarnations of Silent Hill .

Akira Yamaoka believed that the most important thing in the production of horror games is realism. If the developers cannot reliably express the reality, then the players will feel the difference of the worlds, and if they succeed, then people will feel an escalated atmosphere of fear. In his opinion, The Room is filled with a large number of genuine sensations and natural manifestations of life, "causing players anxiety and forcing them to contemptuously wrinkle their foreheads." The producer focused on maintaining a balance between the two. “The horror is when you don’t understand what is happening to you. I believe that everyone can feel this atmosphere in the game ” ^[84] .

In creating Silent Hill 4, Team Silent tried to implement many changes, some of which they later recognized as successful, and some as unsuccessful. The main idea, according to which the player could move from an apartment to alternative worlds, according to the studio, was ideally suited for horror. However, the project lacked the depth and relevance of the gameplay ^[32] .

Impact

Daniel Etherington, an employee of the BBC Collective, noted that The Room , like the previous games in the series, contains references to the film “ Jacob 's Ladder ” ^[85] . The article also mentioned that the protagonist Henry is similar to the actor Peter Krause ^[85] , other observers noted a resemblance to Ashton Kutcher ^[86] . The architecture of the room and the appearance of holes in it were compared with non-Euclidean space in the novel of House of Leaves by Mark Danilevsky. Other allusions referred to the novel “ ” by Ira Levin , the series “ Twin Peaks ” and the work of Stephen King ^[85] . The creators admitted that the most significant ideological inspiration of the game was the novel " Children from the left-luggage office " by Ryu Murakami ^[87] . They reported that the project came close to such films as “ The Exorcist ” by William Fridkin , “ Friday the 13th ” by Sean Cunningham and “ A Nightmare on Elm Street ” by Wes Craven ^[32] . The gaming press also noted references to the films “The Call ”, “The Evil Dead ”, “ The Window to the Courtyard ”, “ Be John Malkovich ”, “The Scarecrows ”, “ Poltergeist ” and the anime series “ Evangelion ” ^{[17] [56] [88 ] ] [89]} .

Akira Yamaoka, discussing the differences between Japanese and Hollywood horrors, noted that Japanese tends to show an invisible enemy, themes of revenge, hatred, a sad storyline. Hollywood horrors focus on evil spirits, zombies and special effects . “The modern American horror - as representatives like Stephen King and David Lynch - really influenced us. Thus, we, the Japanese, created horror with Western stylistics, which made it unusual ” ^[90] . In his opinion, the game was also influenced by childhood memories and the culture of Japan ^[19] . The rotating gyroscope in the scene of the final battle very much resembled the engine of a spaceship from the film Through the Horizon ^[14] .

Monsters

The game features about eleven different types of monsters. Some of them, such as Wheelchairs and Ghosts, are immortal , which displeased many critics ^{[20] [88] [91] [92]} . The developers reported that the image of the ghost is deeply rooted in Japanese culture. In the project, he appears as a tireless creature that tirelessly pursues the player, which scares any person, regardless of his origin. In response to a negative critical reaction, Imamura and Yamaoka acknowledged the problem, saying that this type of monster was too intrusive: "Players were annoyed by the need to constantly run around from ghosts, and as a result they were not able to fully appreciate the beauty of the game world." Already after the release, they reported that the concept of Ghosts itself was not bad, but the studio went too far with their strength. After the defeat, they returned to the battle after 3 to 10 seconds, “... and if we could change anything, we would increase the stun period to 15-60 seconds” to give players a respite ^[29] .

Most of the opponents, such as Rubber-headed ( Eng. Gum head ), Slugs ( Eng. Tremer ) and others, are capable of spatial movement, with the exception of the Walls ( Eng. Wall man ), ingrown into the wall, and Grebe ( Eng. Toadstool ) - blood-red plants with a rounded "head" mushroom-shaped appearance. A monster visually similar to opponents from the previous parts of the series are Sniffer dogs - dog-like creatures with long tongues that suck blood from their prey. Patients were reminded to the Nurses by observers ^[18] . It is believed that it was thanks to the Worm that holes appeared ^[14] . Before the release of The Room, the Twin Monster ( eng. Twin victims 07 + 08 ), visually looking like two fused babies, was planned to be removed from the game after a two-headed baby was born in the Dominican Republic ^[73] . Rubberheads symbolize Walter's hatred of the adult world ^[93] .

Initially, Konami planned to develop a special game engine for Silent Hill 4 and release the game on the PlayStation 3 , however, the delay in the release of the new console prevented the practical implementation of the idea ^[31] . Subsequently, the developers entered into an agreement with Hideo Kojima to use the technology of the Metal Gear Solid 3 engine ^[39] . However, it was decided to abandon this idea. As a result, The Room was based on a redesigned engine from Silent Hill 3 ^[37] .

Criticism Reviews

Reviewers have differently characterized the graphics of the game. Observers of the Igromania magazine believed that in The Room it was very mediocre, worse than the previous project of Silent Hill 3 studio ^[94] . They noted that the console’s resources were almost exhausted, “so all that remains for the developers is to squeeze the last juices from the old engine and desperately refine the animation ” ^[31] . This point of view was also supported by Sergey Svetlichny, a reviewer at Home PC magazine. The graphics turned out to be noticeably weaker than their predecessor, the locations seemed quite ordinary to the criticism, and realistic shadows, in his opinion, were completely absent from the project ^[47] . Absolute Games critic Vladimir Goryachev believed that Konami "once again feeds the same locations to the people ... but furnishes it with style, without saving on details." The palette, pale in places, almost monochrome, coupled with the cinematic camera angles of the virtual camera with the effect of film “grain” enhance the impression, however, muddy textures of surroundings spoil the photographic look ^[89] . Ivan Zakalinsky found it difficult to give an unambiguous assessment to the graphic component of the project - on the one hand, the models of characters and monsters had high-poly effects, on the other, some textures were “disgusting,” but on the whole the graphics left a positive impression on the observer ^[10] .

Production and Production

The soundtrack for Silent Hill 4: The Room , recorded at the intersection of such genres as industrial , noise and rock , was released on June 17, 2004. The release consisted of two CDs , the first contained selected musical themes from the game, and the second contained an audio performance in Japanese performed by Teisui Ichiryusai. The performance was recorded at the Tokyo studio in March 2004 ^[99] . There is no second disc in the European edition of the soundtrack; the design is also different from the original Japanese release ^{[95] [100] [101] [102]} . Also on June 7, Konami, as a promo, released a premium disc with three tracks ^[103] . On August 20, Robbie Tracks was released, also consisting of three tracks ^[104] . On September 8 of the same year, the American release of the limited edition of the album, which included seven new compositions, some of which were remixes ^{[97] [100], took place} .

The composer of the album was Akira Yamaoka, and the author of the lyrics was Hiroyuki Owaku ^[105] . The album contains five vocal compositions - in four of them the lead vocalist is Mary Elizabeth McGlin (“Tender Sugar”, “Your Rain”, “Room of Angel”, “Waiting For You”), in one - Joe Romersa (“Cradle of Forest ") ^{[101] [102]} . Romersa also translated the song lyrics into English ^[105] . In 2010, Joe, together with McGlyn and Yamaoka, shot the eponymous clip ^[106] for the song “Cradle of Forest”.

The album was included in the Silent Hill Sounds Box ^[107] , which was released March 16, 2011. Another notable feature of the recording is “Your Rain (Reprise)” - a fragment of the chorus of the song superimposed on the ambient accompaniment of the musical theme “Result”, sounded in the statistics window, trip-hop compositions “Last Walk” and “Moments In Bed”, “A Monster In Her Eyes ”- the remixed track“ The Last Mariachi ”, as well as“ Clown Parade ”,“ Serious ”and“ Until The Stars Go Out ” ^[108] . A short version of the song “Your Rain” was included in the video games Dance Dance Revolution Extreme and Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA ^{[109] [110]} . The video for the first game was a video in which Cynthia sings in the rain, sitting on an old couch and dancing on the stage ^[111] .

Talking to members of the press in San Francisco, Akira Yamaoka said he paid a lot of attention to writing the soundtrack. Initially, it was not known whether the music would be released on a separate disc - “Even if Konami says that they don’t need a soundtrack, I will write it - and there everything depends on them” ^[37] . In late April, Konamistyle.com published several music excerpts from the upcoming game, posted on the Internet for advertising purposes ^[31] . Subsequently, the main album was distributed as a bonus for pre-orders of the game, and the tracks were available for free download on the official website of Silent Hill 4 ^[77] . Speaking about the process of creating music for the Silent Hill series, and determining its style, the composer said: “We express anger and sadness in the same way. I set myself the task of making their manifestations more diverse over and over again ... As soon as you hear the first sounds of Silent Hill , you immediately plunge into its world. So I would probably call this style “Puppeteer” ” ^[105] .

Mary Elizabeth McGlyn, describing her feelings for the song “Waiting For You”, imitating a live performance in one of the Silent Hill clubs, did not understand why the track was not included in Silent Hill 4 in the original version. When she first listened to the remix, she felt as though she was really performing live at Wembley Stadium ^[112] . There was no song in the game, but the disc is listed as a live version recorded at Heaven's Night. Yamaoka stylized the original as a live version: he added noise and applause of imaginary spectators as a sound entourage. The name of the club, in turn, he borrowed from the second part of the series ^[100] .

Criticism

The album, for the most part, was praised by critics. The browser of the Game-OST resource under the nickname Mars noted that the soundtrack combines not only atmospheric and lyrical, but also a dynamic and measured way. The atmospheric part, in his opinion, is “beyond praise”. The composer continued to work with ambient noise, and industrial notes received a new development. “The soundtrack certainly succeeded. No, he did not take the series to a new level, but he expanded the depth of perception so much that it makes no sense to talk about new levels ” ^[98] . However, opposing points of view were also expressed. So, the columnist for Absolute Games said that the composer “there will be no praises. The industrial “noise” has finally lost its juiciness, and the title song can now be sent to the reporting concert of the “ Star Factory ” ” ^[89] .

Square Enix Music Online reviewers rated the game soundtrack differently. The critic Sitorimon wrote an enthusiastic review, setting the album to 9 out of 10 points. The vocal compositions and musical interludes are positively characterized. Tender Sugar has been described as a slow, low-frequency darkwave -style guitar composition that sets the tone for the entire album; “Cradel of Forest” with Joe Romersa's vocals as “catchy rock song”; "Your Rain" is recognized as a kind of "anthem" of the collection; “Room of Angel” - “the darkest track of the album”; and Waiting For You "hooks the listener with grunge rock." The Inescapable Rain In Yoshiwara supplement, according to the author, could have been better understood if it had been voiced in English ^[95] .

The critic Resk was more restrained in his assessments, and marked the album with 7 points out of 10. The slight dissonance of most of the tracks was called the hallmark of the Silent Hill series. The tracks “Traversing the Portals of Reality”, “Into the Depths of Self Discovery”, and “Fortunate Sleep - Noone Disturb Her Dead” (representing an atmospheric composition “with a light beat of percussion instruments ... and a fantastic mixture of piano and synthesizer) were positively marked "). The voice of Romersa in the album is called "inappropriate" and "wrong." In contrast, the "strongest vocal" and emotional performance of McGlyn is set. In the final description, the album was called "not as impressive as the previous works of the series" ^[96] .

The Resk reviewer also rated the American release of the limited edition soundtrack as 6 out of 10. Of the seven new tracks, “only one worthy is“ Lifetime “”. Remixes on the compositions “Fortunate Sleep”, “Resting Comfortably”, “Your Rain and Tender Sugar” were positively characterized. Summing up, the author notes a small amount of fresh material and states: “Roughly speaking, the album is disappointing. All together the compositions create a rather pleasant impression, but each element in itself is rather weak ” ^[97] .

The output of Robbie Tracks , which was distributed along with a T-shirt depicting Robbie's bunny, was welcomed by the press: “[Mini-album] are three techno tracks ..., whose names indicate the language of the words used in the compositions ... A well-known video is also associated with this character " Usagi " ... Techno sounds in the video - this is apparently the connection between the game and the music disc. The logic is simple: bunnies love techno! ” The album was rated 7 out of 10 ^[104] .

List of Songs

Ratings

According to ratings of the Metacritic aggregator site, the average score for the game for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles coincided, and amounted to 76 points out of 100 ^{[114] [115]} . A similar indicator for PC was lower - 67 points out of 100 ^[116] . The GameRankings aggregator gave the fourth part of the series an average rating of 76.13% for the PS2 version ^[117] , slightly lower, 73.16% for the Xbox ^[118] , and even lower, 70.35% for personal computers ^[119] . From GameStats, console versions received 8 points out of 10, and the PC version got 7.8 points ^{[120] [121] [122]} . After being released in 2004, the game attracted the attention of central news releases CNN , BBC and The Times ^{[85] [123] [124]} . IGN in a preview on 2004 E3 named Silent Hill 4 the best adventure game PlayStation 2 ^[125] . According to the results of 2004, Igor Varnavsky, a reviewer of the Igromania magazine, called Silent Hill 4 a failure of the year, noting “the inconsistency and often practically unsolvability of puzzles” and music “that became worse by several orders of magnitude” ^[94] . The game, which took 12th place, was included in the "Top 25 best horror games of all time", in accordance with the rating of Eric Swain ( Eng. Eric Swain ), a representative of the Gameranx resource ^[126] .

Timur Horev, reviewer of the magazine “ Best Computer Games, ” gave the ghostly apartment second place in the ranking “Kingdom of Fear: Ten Creepiest Moments in Games”. About her it was said: "The apartment ... at first it seems like a safe haven, a base where you can heal, dig in the chest, look out the window or the door peephole ... Everything changes in the middle of the game, when the harmless apartment becomes a refuge of ghosts and a kingdom of nightmares." The Room lost first place to visiting the Shailbridge Shelter from the game Thief: Deadly Shadows ^[127] . Ghosts took second place in the rating of "Five creepy monsters" from the magazine "Gambling." Peter Melekhov noted that the victims of Walter Sullivan are the “unsung stars” of the series, who will never retreat and surrender, and they scare with absolute focus on one goal - to find the player and kill. The Necromorphs from Dead Space turned out to be the most creepy creature ^[128] . Rubberheads and Gemini were included in the rating of 13 most terrible creatures of the series according to Lucas Sullivan, a representative of the GamesRadar resource ^[93] .

Foreign Press Reviews

Console versions of Silent Hill 4: The Room received 8 points from Douglas Perry, an IGN reviewer who described the game as “not brilliant, but not terrible,” although he was annoyed by the lack of boss fights. The article expressed mixed feelings of the author directly to the “room” itself. The critic generally accepted the main idea positively, but was dissatisfied with the need for constant returns to 302 apartments. The browser praised the visual component of The Room in versions for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, however, in the version for personal computers, it found graphic problems when starting the game on the GeForce FX 5900 graphics card and errors in audio synchronization on the Radeon 9800 Pro card. Perry also complained about the most vague textures he had seen recently on this platform, and about “extremely low mouse sensitivity”, which seriously complicated the gameplay. His final comment also noted another drawback of the game - “All the classic style has become so familiar and recognizable in the series that it has turned into a cliche” ^{[21] [140]} . Browser Jim Sterling considered the clumsy management and limited resources in The Room to be one of the reasons for the decline in popularity of traditional Japanese horror ^[22] .

Kristan Reed, a Eurogamer reviewer, was disappointed with the clumsy combat system of the game, in which all enemies can be defeated with one baseball bat. The reviewer was concerned about the reduction in the number of in-game puzzles. He noted that most of the available puzzles were too simple, and if they caused difficulties, it was only because of the tendency of developers to hide interactive objects in locations. Thus, the complete lack of brain activity did not improve the current gameplay situation. The observer said that the plot was not simplified, dialogs, dubbing and cut scenes were performed routinely, although they were not without some share of talent. The advantages were the use of granular filters, the audio-visual side of the project and the alarming atmosphere. Repeated locations were negatively perceived, for the most part of which there were no significant changes, and a limited inventory of the 8-bit era . However, despite these shortcomings, the author expressed the opinion that “fans of games in the horror genre usually have rather thick skin and endless reserves of patience, so many of these criticisms will not distract them from getting new sensations” ^{[28] [ 129]} .

1UP.com reviewer Che Chow outlined the effort to "go beyond digital horror." The port itself to personal computers, created on the principle of "tyap-bling and ready," is described as extremely careless - it was affected by vague textures, reducing the number of details of the environment to a "crude minimum", "awkward control" and "useless camera". The appearance of first-person perspective, suspense and a dynamic sound design creating a “gloomy and depressing mood” were positively characterized. “ The Room is an unrivaled masterpiece, you just need to know that you have to pay for the outstanding atmosphere” ^[131] . In his review, the author praised the "inventive scenario" of the PS2 version, the presence of a variety of smarted enemies. The reviewer said that due to limited capabilities, the players "have little chance of evaluating the new combat mechanics." The tarnished action, lack of bosses and puzzles are called significant shortcomings of the game ^[132] . Greg Orlando, discussing the Xbox version, expressed a negative attitude towards immortal enemies, and was also unhappy with the need to follow Eileen. As a plus, a decrease in the number of “silly puzzles” is indicated ^[133] .

A reviewer from Computer and Video Games magazine considered that “the fourth part of the long-playing series from Konami could have contributed a lot to the franchise , but it’s limited only to winning a bunch of new fans.” The author drew attention to the fact that the game correctly uses the strengths of its predecessors in the plot. The soundtrack of “decent quality” was also positively noted. The minuses of the game are attributed to blurry textures, rare preservation and inconvenient control ^[143] . GameSpot gave the PS2 and Xbox versions 7.9 points, noting the combat system, which is "in its infancy" and improved intelligence of enemies. Bethany Misamilla suggested that not all changes benefited the series, but a dark tense story allows Silent Hill to keep the brand ^{[42] [144]} . In the review from the GameSpot version for personal computers, the score is 7.6, the author praised the graphics as “well-optimized for PC”, but called the controls inconvenient ^[35] .

According to Gamepro.com, a Star Dingo reviewer, The Room ’s storyline is “better than the original Silent Hill or SH3 , and is on par with the indomitable SH2 .” The developers "technically surpassed themselves by creating perfectly lit rooms." The author noted that the "world of sleep" is replete with the traditional elements of the series - "a lot of broken doors, scary corridors, keys and coins ...", while the "real world" presents logical puzzles to the players. The combat system is called "shaky", but "no one will argue that any other part of the Silent Hill series had acceptable control." The author rated the game four points out of five. To summarize, the reviewer called Silent Hill high art ^[88] .

Russian Press Reviews

Igromania magazine characterizes The Room as "the most controversial game in the series," "created at the junction of ingenious finds, the competent exploitation of our everyday fears and ... frank freebies." More specifically, the reviewer notes a low level of graphics - as a result of an outdated engine and blurry textures that do not display, but "symbolize" a particular surface; inconvenient control when switching to first-person view; scanty combat system; invariability of intelligence of enemies and boring design; limitations on inventory capacity; the ability to save only in Henry's house; repeated passage of the "passed" levels. The most unpleasant was the lack of an atmosphere of fear and the plot turmoil of the first half of the game. As given, it was said about cosmetic changes, such as a more convenient call of equipment without interruption from the action, the appearance of a health strip. The plot plot, logical puzzles, creating an atmosphere of security in the apartment were worthy of praise. Evaluation of the game - 7.5 points out of 10. At the end of the article, the author, despite all the shortcomings, summarizes: “... playing with this, of course, is worth it. Because the music is still brilliant. Because Yamaoka is still masterfully working with sound. Because for a few heartbreaking scenes you can forgive The Room, if not all, then a lot. Because, finally, this is the fourth series of Silent Hill ” ^[16] .

Andrey Egorov, being a representative of the PlayGround.ru portal, rated the game at 8.2 points. The author has noticed the borrowing of some gameplay elements from the Resident Evil series. Pluses - “well-drawn, albeit a bit pixelated ” graphics, the sound part “also does not appeal”, and the musical accompaniment is “magnificent” - “you want to listen and listen to dark mystical melodies”. Cons - plot predictability of the first half of the game, partial lack of atmosphere, "almost complete absence of bosses ", control ^[23] .

The reviewer from the magazine " Country of Games " Valery Korneev spoke sharply about the game - ambiguous innovations, "stupid" puzzles, a straightforward plot and gameplay based on the model "outdated in the nineties." The main vices of Silent Hill 4 are called duplication of levels, the ubiquitous backtracking , the "ragged" pace of the game. The reviewer also reacted negatively to annoying screensavers that arise when moving between worlds. The plot was compared to an episode of The X-Files , whose problem is that from the middle of the game the killer, his modus operandi , becomes clear, because of which the project loses the unknown factor. The predictability of what is happening, the imbalance of the combat system and the lack of “classic” flashlights and fog make the fourth part of the series less scary than Doom 3 . The only advantages described in the article are the idea of ​​traveling from a locked apartment, graphics and music. The critic rated The Room at 6.5 points ^[56] .

The reviewer of the magazine " Navigator of the game world " Nikita Kareev said that the plot only affects everything that happens in the game. Its diversity “within the limits of the permissible” was perceived positively, since not only an outstanding cult came to the forefront, but an antihero worthy of psychological analysis. The gameplay and plot are closely intertwined: “The room is the foundation, the beginning and the end, the hero’s refuge and the shelter of his enemy, the place where the most interesting and uninteresting events of the game take place, this is a kind of image that looms everywhere and does not go out of the head <...> A room is an atmosphere. ” At the same time, Kareev wrote that battles with monsters are boring, the management is “stupid”, and the camera is clumsy. The ability to save in one place was characterized as a "spit in the face." The atmosphere of The Room is a systematic, confident, torn deepening into a nightmare. Game music, according to the reviewer, is worthy of repeated listening. The final grade is 8.5 points out of 10 ^[20] .

Maria Arimanova, a critic of the Game.EXE magazine, characterized the apartment as an ideal environment for catwalking scenes . Other levels were called short energetic episodes of "dramatic concentration" that look rather casual. The storyline seemed to criticize more complex than its predecessor. In her opinion, the developers overdid it with the design of monsters, since they look like the arithmetic mean of creatures from all previous parts. The author praised a number of realistic puzzles ^[24] .

Ivan Zakalinsky, a reviewer of PC Games magazine, believed that in the fourth part of the series there was very little atmosphere of fear, replaced by “strangeness” and disgust, but the plot retained the mystical component and human experiences. Battles with enemies were called tense, both due to inconvenient control and the increased number of enemies. Riddles do not go beyond the limits of game logic, but their solution is complicated by numerous “walks” and the need to look for alternative ways for Eileen. The sound was characterized as clear, beautiful and velvety. The music was also positively received. The final score was 7 points out of 10 ^[10] .

Resource Absolute Games also outlined the many shortcomings of the game, putting the game 53% of the 100% possible. Browser Vladimir Goryachev aka Nomad compared the game with harmful fast food , which they made "like a hamburger in a roadside eatery." The main problems are the lack of an atmosphere of fear, a “gray” plot and empty-headed empty characters. The Room’s general description is “an uncomplicated, predictable series of walks in small sectors, burdened by the destruction of creatures and attempts to dodge migraine- causing spirits.” The praise of the reviewer was awarded a visual series. Summary:

“The innovative approach has given way to imitation, other people's thoughts are presented as original, and the plot, suspense and bright characters are pushed to the tenth plane. The main secret of SH 4 ... it’s not Henry Townshend, but the collective incarnation of Konami wanders through the corridors of memory of the former parts of Silent Hill , carrying a one-eyed disabled person with a broken arm, whose name is “gameplay” ” ^[89] .

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