Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7886 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Konami
• Released on: 2004-09-24
• ESRB Rating: Adults Only
• Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP

Amazon.co.uk Review
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 Silent Hill series, have been showing filmmakers just how it should be done for years.

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. The Room 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 Resident Evil style limited slot inventory system.

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 BlackAdder joke, but is unlikely to have you laughing after your first trip.

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. --David Jenkins

Customer Reviews

Certainly not what I expected...
Well what can I say? I have to admit it may be slightly early for me to write a review, as I'm still in two minds as to whether or not I actually like this game. First of all let me say I am a Silent Hill fanatic, and the previous three instalments have each kept me enthralled and petrified for months on end, but the latest addition to the series is well... different.

First of all, the first-person perspective we are forced to endure while in Henry's apartment (the only place with a save point, and therefore a frequent point of call) is infuriating, and one feels like it was included purely so that the promotional material for the game could boast an "all new 1st person perspective" as if it is a magnificent leap forward in gameplay. It isn't.

Another drastic gameplay development is the introduction of a limited inventory - Henry can only carry ten items at a time, including weapons and ammunition. All other items must be stored in a box in Henry's apartment when not being used (a direct rip-off of Resident Evil's item chest system). While annoying, this does eliminate the issue of realism apparent in the previous games, in which the characters were capable of carrying limitless items and weapons with them at all times.

The actual premise of a man waking up to find himself trapped in his apartment by some unknown force works very well, not least for the fact that you can always see the rest of the world carrying on around you, oblivious to your plight, by simply looking through the window or the peep-hole in the front door.

By climbing through mysterious portals which appear in Henry's apartment, you find yourself in the 'otherworld' (and in third-person view! Hallelujah!), which in true Silent Hill style consists of dark, oppressive environments, blood-stained walls, cryptic notes, eery noises and suitably sick and disturbing creatures trying to devour you at every turn. The different areas of the otherworld are satisfyingly varied (subway station, forest, hospital, prison etc), and on the whole they look incredible, as does the character animation (with the exception of the lip-sync, which for some reason is in Japanese this time with English voices dubbed over).

The characters you meet in the 'otherworld' are a fairly varied and interesting bunch, including slutty Cynthia (who offers to do Henry a special 'favour' within 30 seconds of meeting him), the obligatory nutcase Jasper (not as entertaining as SH2's Eddy, but still utterly bonkers), grumpy old man Richard, Andrew the paranoid wreck, and Henry's next door neighbour, the lovely (but hugely annoying) Eileen. I don't want to spoil too much of the story, but I will say that most of these characters meet very grisly deaths (the 18 certificate is there for a reason).

In my mind, what made the previous games so great was the delicate balance of fighting and puzzling, which could be altered to your liking through separate difficulty levels for puzzles and action. This balance has almost disappeared in SH4, and what we are left with is a game rotating mainly around fighting your way from one situation to the next, with very few real puzzles to stretch the gamer's mind (who could forget the infuriating coin puzzle from SH2, or SH3's insanely difficult keypad puzzle with the poem about the different parts of the human face?) In their place are a succession of the mind-numbingly boring 'puzzles' largely apparent in the early Resident Evil titles.

Considering then that action and fighting seems to be the main focus of the gameplay, you might be forgiven for thinking that it would be something rather special - however, the clumsy camera and erratic auto-targeting system make for some infuriating battles, especially when fighting multiple enemies.

One of the game's biggest saving graces as far as I'm concerned is the storyline, which ties in with a newspaper article from SH2 concerning serial-killer Walter Sullivan, and as you would expect from any SH game, is full of baffling twists and shocking revelations which manage to hold the gamer's interest even when the gameplay begins to grate on the nerves.

The overall impression made by Silent Hill 4 is that it was an experiment for Konami, and the fact that it was made in a relatively short time compared to the previous instalments does unfotunately show in the game. Not to be considered a total disaster by any stretch of the imagination, but it is certainly a disappointment and the weakest of the series so far. Hopefully there will be an SH5, and with any luck Konami will learn from their mistakes this time around, and produce something really special which could rival the sheer brilliance of Silent Hill 2, undoubtably the greatest survival horror game in existence.

Outstanding Plot but PC Version Suffers
I won't go into a huge long review about the plot, as there are good, comprehensive and accurate ones out there already. In my opinion the plot is superb and an excellent addition to the Silent Hill line.

As to the gameplay, to sum up: Could Do Better. Again, others have done more detailed reviews of the gameplay mechanics (combat is frustrating and the level repetition annoying) so I won't say any more there.

The main thing I wrote this review to say is: Do NOT get this on PC unless you absolutely have to. Yes, the graphics (on a gaming PC) are very pretty, but the controls are horrible. The game is practically unplayable using the keyboard alone and necessitates the use of a gamepad, however even doing this will cause you problems, as the completely counter-intuitive default button assignments will tell. I have a very good 12-button gamepad and I couldn't get the game to recognise the right analog stick at all, so in the first-person parts I was forced to use my keyboard to get Henry to look up and down.

To summarise: Good for Silent Hill fans, only really worth playing on consoles.

Sinister - A game for those with a strong mind
This was the first Silent Hill game I ever played, mainly because I found Resident Evil so boring. Silent Hill is unique in almost every way and Silent Hill 4 is by far my favourite.
Silent Hill 4: The Room, takes place in an apartment building situated, not in Silent Hill, but its neighboring town, South Ashfield. Silent Hill 4 focuses on room 302 and the man who for the past few years, has lived there. One night Henry (the tennant of room 302 and the main character of the game) has an intense nightmare, when he wakes, he finds that he cannot leave his room. When you play, he has been trapped in his room for 5 days and at this point, looks kinda rough (My personal opinion)
In the first scene of the game you will play through the nightmare in which Henry has endured for a previous 4 nights. You'll awaken and have the oporitunity to experience two main events which will instantly start to test your sanity; you will also be able to familiarise yourself with the apartment and what is in it. For those of you familiar with the previous titles, I will tell you that your only save point is situated in your room. (Nothing like a little extra pressure, eh?) Another thing you'll notice (mainly for those who have played the previous Silent Hill titles) is that there is a limit to how many items you can hold at one time. Eventually you will be drawn into your bathroom where you will discover a hole in the wall which leads you... not next door... but into a tunnel which for some, might remind you of the ring (movie: and that's just my opinion again)
Whilst in your room (302) you will be in first-person view, you cannot use any weapons and during the first half of the game, the room has healing powers. (That 'security' is later taken away from you as the curse amongst it beccomes stronger. It makes the game become even harder) The chest in your room will be where you store items that you have no use for, the diary is where you save and the hole in your bathroom wall (during the first half of the game) is where you enter the alternate universe.
I love this game, I still play on it and am currently trying to get the ten star ranking. The game focus' on melee weapons which is a good thing because going back to your room to grab more ammo, or using up 6 of your 10 inventory sots for 1 weapon, isn't exactly ideal. The story behind the game is more than enough to keep you on the edge of your seat... and your sanity... The monsters are the creepiest you'll ever see for a while (particulary the, as I like to call it, "Hand Monster". I won't tell you it's real name, it's a bit of a give-away) and the characters are all unique; just like in real life they have their dark sides. Some of the tasks you have to do can get agrivating and there are a few puzzles there but the game mainly focus' on it's complex story plot, battling and sucking YOU into this dark realm. The graphics are great, I have played the PS2 and PC versions of the game and I have seen some of the Xbox graphics and they're all great. (I personally think the PC graphics are the best and I don't have a £1,000 PC on my hands either) You will here some negative reviews on the game but I think it's great and worth a shot.
Down sides are: Repetition, lack of environmental sound FX (Fans of previous titles will know what I mean) and lack of guns (for the gun lovers, I don't care much for guns) Another thing I have heard and only slightly agree with is the voice acting of the main character, Henry. Henry seems to have a dry response to alot of the events around him (On several ocasions people are dying in front of him and he doesn't seem to care in his voice... aparently) But I think that is deliberate because of what his character is supposed to be like. Other than that, all the characters are well (vocally) acted.
But putting the criticism's aside, the graphics are spectacular, other than a few environmental textures which could have been more detailed, the sound effects are great and the limited music you hear is effective. The cutscenes are frequent in the first half of the game and settle down after that. The gameplay itself is alright, apart from a few people who do not like going back and forth between the room and the otherworld might find that a little agrivating.
I think I've covered everything I need to allow you to make your choice on whether to try the game out or not so I'll just leave you with my final quote...
"DARE YOU ENTER THE ROOM?"