What Is Techno Again?

Wake up, Henry. Clever fans will note the connections between the fourth game and previous installments: from the significance of the superintendent Frank Sunderland’s name to the mysterious “There was a HOLE here; it’s gone now” in SH2 and the repeated mentions of a certain murderer throughout the series. Wonder no more, because Silent Hill 4: The Room means to unravel the truth—whether you like it or not.

What You’ll Like

21 Ways to Die

Henry Townshend finds himself inexplicably locked in his apartment for five days. The windows won’t open, nobody on the outside can hear him when he yells, and somebody’s chained his door from the inside along with the friendly note, “Don’t go out — Walter.” When a strange hole forms in his bathroom wall, that’s when the nightmare really begins.

Your apartment, haunting-free. You live on wine and chocolate milk, apparently.

“Walter” turns out to be the name of a deranged serial killer named Walter Sullivan, who believes he can resurrect his “mother” by carrying out the ritual of the 21 Sacraments—which consists of twenty-one separate murders, including his own suicide. Henry crawls through the hole in his apartment to different Otherworlds, where he meets the last of Walter’s to-be victims; he can do nothing to keep Walter from killing them and ensuring their deaths in the real world, as well. Soon he and his neighbor, Eileen Galvin, are the only two intended victims still living.

While the characters aren’t developed much due to their, erm, untimely deaths, the story itself plays out in a unique and incredibly chilling manner. You’ll be dragged down into the abyss with Henry—especially once your apartment no longer acts as a sanctuary, instead susceptible to various types of deadly haunting. The Room specializes in a genuine feeling of suffocation and growing isolation: People are dying around you, and no one outside your room can hear your cries. On top of that, you’re left with a frighteningly nonexistent sense of control. Henry becomes an unwilling servant to the 21 Sacraments, forced to stop an immortal Walter from completing the ritual. Ghosts can’t be killed, only warded away or stopped; half the time you have no idea where the Otherworld holes are going to take you next; your apartment and soon the entire building becomes a hell, whose limits Walter eventually breaches. No place is safe, and the game you thought you were playing starts taking on an entirely different set of rules.

Lose the Black, Keep the Trenchcoat

As far as villains go, Walter Sullivan succeeds at freaking me the hell out—and he completely takes advantage of that fact. With a blood-stained, terrifying visage and an intimidating demeanor, Walter lives up to his serial killer name. The first time you meet you practically run into him on the stairs, and before you can even think to run away, he starts having a pleasant conversation with you. Of course, he actually intends to trick you by giving you a cursed item. From the beginning, Walter toys with you, knowing he’s saving you for last. From the hospital scene to the forest chase, Walter’s actions are horrifyingly unpredictable … and wonderfully so.

This washed out picture really doesn't do Walter justice. I'll be over there, crying.

The Cut-Out Heart of Interior Decorating

The Room boasts detailed, grotesque environments completely aware of their place. Your apartment feels bland, like all crappy apartments are—at least until hauntings begin to adorn it with bloodied chairs, faces in the wall, and children’s shadows in your closet. Regardless of evil spirits, each time you return to room 302, there’s something new to be discovered—whether it’s red diary pages from the resident before you tucked neatly under your door or Walter stalking you through your door’s peephole.

And of course, Akira Yamaoka provides an always excellent score; strengthened with vocals by Joe Romersa, the soundtrack wields some of the best vocal songs in the series.

What You Won’t Like

Next Time Bring the Chocolate Milk

The concept of traveling through holes to other dimensions—which reveal the secrets of the cult-run Wish House where Walter grew up—plays out well until you’re burdened by inconvenience. Silent Hill 4 bears the shame of being the only game in the series with a limited inventory system and no means of discarding, which means you’ll have to make frequent and annoying trips back to your room and dig through its storage box in order to progress. Combat suffers from cumbersome execution, as well. Although the dodge and charge features are helpful, there’s no way to efficiently switch between targets.

Monkey see, monkey do. Enemies aren't too difficult once you know their mannerisms.

Having virtually no control over your situation makes for a captivating story, but not when it comes to gameplay. You’re given practically no guidance as to why collecting saint medallions and saving loads of health are important measures to take for later in the game, which can lead to a decent dose of frustration.

And speaking of that, Eileen might be that caring and self-conscious girl next door you never get the chance to ask out since you’re, oh yeah, trapped in your room thanks to a madman, but she quickly becomes one of the worst examples of escort missions. She’s injured to begin with, and her limp and clingy nature means constantly making sure she’s close enough to follow you through doors. This quickly becomes irritating due to the growing presence of ghosts and Walter, who turns aggressive in the latter half of the game. Plus, Eileen can’t drop down holes or use ladders, so you’ll have to find a different way to move from Otherworld to Otherworld. However, she can be surprisingly advantageous a fight, and needs much less healing than Henry.

Hurry, Henry!

The pieces slowly come together in the first half of the game, but the second chunk with Eileen focuses too much on cramming story and gameplay into several hours’ time. Returning to your apartment won’t heal you; although the interaction between the Otherworlds and your apartment—like it’s being contaminated by Walter’s reality—makes the game more interesting, the hauntings don’t really start until the second half. You’ll want to hunt down every holy candle you can, because later each visit back to your apartment means another haunting to clean up before the situation worsens.

Ghosts will give Henry (and you) a sizable headache.

Not to mention you can almost zip through the Otherworlds revisited, whose maps are significantly less extensive the second time. Compared to previous Silent Hill games when the sirens take over, the change here feels more than a little lacking.

Silent … Mountain?

The game begins in South Ashfield Heights and takes you to Otherworlds near your apartment—the subway, St. Jerome Hospital, etc. Silent Hill has little do with it, including the style. Ghosts have never had prominence in the series, and the absence of boss battles causes the game stray from the usual, too. I’m an advocate of giving series titles the room (no pun intended) to evolve, but not when it comes to wandering away from its spirit (again with the puns) entirely. The Room probably would have been better off if it had been released as a separate game altogether. At least the voice-acting is decent … except for the emotionally stunted yet handsome Henry and his hilariously emo way of dying.

Recommendation:

While I enjoyed The Room, it wasn’t until my second play-through that I truly warmed up to the game. It barely holds on to the name Silent Hill, for gone is the flashlight and sirens, heavy shadows, and psychological torment. As far as horror goes, SH4 does a decent job, yet perhaps not on the level of the series’ previous titles. For a game that only requires around ten or eleven hours depending on whether or not you know what you’re doing, a more even pace for the latter half would have done a world of good. Even though flaws in execution bring Silent Hill 4: The Room down a notch or two, the overall experience is still impressively worth the, well … sacrifice. 8/10

Handsome Haunted Henry.

Review format credited to the Girls Entertainment Network