Oct 102014
Let’s continue our celebration of spookiness by taking a look at one of my favorite survival horror games. Silent Hill 4: The Room is not widely considered to be one of the best Silent Hill games, but it’s actually the one I like the most.
As you might know, I got into the survival horror genre because of Let’s Plays. I was convinced I wouldn’t like horror games, but my friend talked me into watching her Let’s Play of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. You know what? I really liked it. I went crazy trying to figure out what was going on in the story, and when it was all over, I missed it.
So I found other Let’s Plays of the rest of the Silent Hill series, and of all of them, I liked the fourth game the most–so much so that I needed to play it myself, and thus I bought and played my first survival horror game.
(I played the Xbox version because it was less expensive. Silent Hill 4 is one of those Xbox games that works on the Xbox 360 with just a few issues, in this case weird graphical problems like lines on characters’ faces. The gameplay was perfectly intact. The PC version, on the other hand, has notoriously terrible AI.)
Unlike most games in the series, Silent Hill 4 doesn’t begin with the player entering the town. Instead, you wake up in an apartment in South Ashfield, a city near Silent Hill. The apartment is sealed. The doors and windows won’t open, the phone doesn’t work, and no one can hear you when you shout. When a strange hole opens up in the bathroom, it looks like your chance to escape, but it leads you to a strange version of the nearby subway station…
The apartment, Room 302, acts as a hub area, where you can save, store items, and heal before returning to the various Otherworlds. It’s also viewed in first-person, although the rest of the game has a third-person view. Rumor has it the game wasn’t originally meant to be a part of the Silent Hill series, but the decision was made very early in development (so don’t use that as a reason for disliking it).
Objectively, I’ll admit Silent Hill 4 is not the best Silent Hill game. That title probably goes to Silent Hill 2. But something about it just appeals to me, even if its protagonist is, well…
This is his happy face.
And his sad face.
And his terrified face.
Poor Henry Townshend gets a lot of criticism for having next to no emotional range, responding to nearly every situation with, “What… the hell…?” and asking a blood-soaked dying woman if she’s all right. But the thing is, Silent Hill 4 isn’t about Henry, not really. Sure, from the player’s perspective, the entire game is about helping Henry escape from his apartment. But what does the gameplay really do?
It sends you to twisted locations in both Ashfield and Silent Hill to discover the events of their pasts, gives you clues as to what happened in Room 302 and to its former occupant, Joseph Schreiber, and forces you to piece together a story about a little boy, a cult, and a serial killer.
From its plot to its symbolism, Silent Hill 4: The Room is about Walter Sullivan.
Even the title, The Room connects back to Walter. Sure, it’s Henry’s room that he’s trying to escape from, but the room itself is at the center of Walter’s obsession. It may begin as your sanctuary and safe place, but it gradually falls under Walter’s sway…
And he’s always watching you.
Walter Sullivan is one of my favorite villains, and he’s really the reason I started writing fanfiction. (Although my writing has improved a lot since then, so I cringe to even look at my original Silent Hill 4 fanfiction.) His dual nature as both this scary villain and tragic victim resonated with me when I watched that first SH4 Let’s Play, and it still does now. He’s the sort of villain you wish you could help, even though you know it’s too late.
Silent Hill 4’s symbolism is often criticized, because it has virtually nothing to do with Henry. Henry isn’t the James Sunderland of this story, Walter is. The Otherworld, the monsters, and every other piece of symbolism in the game connect strongly to Walter’s story, just as strongly as Silent Hill 2’s symbolism connects to James. In fact, I’d argue it’s much stronger than Alessa’s symbolism ever was, although that could be because Silent Hill 4 takes place in an Otherworld created by Walter through a ritual, rather than in Silent Hill proper.
Speaking of rituals, I love the cult. I have a slight bias toward Silent Hill games that involve the Order of the Halo of the Sun in some way. Cults are frightening, and their involvement lends credence to the idea that even in Silent Hill, humans are the real monsters.
Two more things are sometimes brought up as flaws of Silent Hill 4–the invincible ghosts and the escort mission. I have no problem with either of these. Invincible ghosts just add more tension, especially when one starts chasing you. As for the escort mission, it isn’t the kind where you fail if the person dies. In fact, it’s impossible for her to die during the game. Your success or failure at protecting her when she’s with you is tied to how difficult it is to get the good or best ending. It even sets up a pretty neat risk/reward system, as you need to decide if you should arm her, which helps you take out monsters but also puts her in more danger. Great stuff!
So, as we look forward to a new Silent Hill game and other great survival horror games, I think back to how it all began for me. I still love Silent Hill 4: The Room. Give it a chance. You won’t be sorry.
What’s your favorite Silent Hill game? Vote and share your thoughts on Silent Hill 4: The Room in the comments below!
Buy Silent Hill 4 from Amazon
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I enjoyed Silent Hill 4 also. I really like how they took a chance and did something totally different for the franchise and the genre.
Yes, another Silent Hill 4 fan! I think Silent Hill runs the risk of becoming repetitive if it tries to follow the same formula, and SH4 tried a lot of new things–most notably setting the majority of the game outside of Silent Hill, along with the first-person apartment sections–while staying true to the mood and lore of the series.
First off, aaaaaaah I can’t believe you talked about my Let’s Plays! I’m at the same time flattered and mortified because wow looking back on those Let’s Plays, the quality was baaaaad. Second, I burst out laughing at your caption for Henry. Third, these articles are making me wish it was October so I could justify my tradition of re-watching the Silent Hill series every year for Halloween.
And for anyone reading this comment, I can confirm that yes, she did go crazy trying to figure out what was going on in Shattered Memories. I still have the file on my computer where she made a chart of every possible piece of symbolism and what it could probably mean when we took too long to reach the ending.
Well, your Let’s Play is responsible for getting me into Silent Hill! How could I not mention it? (Better warn you, I mentioned it again in my blog post about Shattered Memories.)
October is just a month away!
Oh, you mean when I copied down pretty much every line of dialogue to analyze? 🙂