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Silent Hill 4: The Room Review - PS2

Ever since I played the first game in Konami's terrifying Silent Hill series at the age of twelve I became hooked; it's now one of my favourite series of all time. From Silent Hill 2 onwards I employed the few 'rules' of playing the Silent Hill games: play only at night, turn off all lights and make sure the room is silent. This made the game twice as creepy, which I had no problem with, loving a good scare. While certain gameplay elements of the series have been frowned upon - the sluggish combat and the occasional boring area within Silent Hill, for example - it's the game's unique, deep and mysterious storyline and genuinely terrifying gameplay that keep it alive. As you can imagine, ever since I previewed Silent Hill 4: The Room months ago, I began to anticipate the game's release. Now that it's been released and I've had a chance to play it, however, Konami has, in my opinion, done just a couple of things wrong that'll disappoint some fans.

Once again Konami has come up with another unique storyline, though it doesn't, unfortunately, beat Silent Hill 2's absolutely captivating one. Silent Hill 4: The Room focuses upon a young man named Henry Townshend, who has recently moved into a small apartment. After just a few weeks, though, he begins to have strange dreams, and after waking up one morning he finds his door strung with numerous thick chains and the windows locked. Not knowing what's going on or how to get out - and for some reason unable to simply break a window and call for help, or climb out for that matter - Henry ventures into his apartment's small bathroom where he finds a messily-formed, large hole in the middle of the tiled wall, the distorted chattering of young children emanating from within it. He climbs in and finds himself in a twisted alternate world to his surroundings, filled with grotesque creatures and strange sounds.

Gameplay

Henry's apartment is small, dark and eerily quiet. In addition to acting as a hub to the gory, alternate worlds of Silent Hill travelled to via the hole in the bathroom and, later on, the laundry, it has a few more minor functions. For example, occasionally, after returning to it as a means of escapism or simply to save your game, you'll hear knocking on the door or other sounds that, once investigated, progress the story slightly as they involve the other members of the apartment who, later on, become fairly important. As mentioned, the apartment is also used as an area to save your game, which is done by examining the red diary on the side table. It also allows you to take a breather and wait for your health to regenerate - which, mind you, only happens while you're inside the apartment - before heading back through the hole into the ghost-infested alternate world. In the lounge room of the apartment is a large (continued next page)