Silent Hill 4: The Room

[Jolly Rogers]

Screenshots and box / manual covers

[CID]

Although, I have not play any previosu versions. i heard that it is pretty scary and nice game.

Based on the cover photos, I am sold this time.

[Jolly Rogers]

GameTrailers.com has an extra freaky trailer. It sure looks scarier than 3, although if the story will be good like 2 remains to be seen.

[wolfx]

Although, I have not play any previosu versions. i heard that it is pretty scary and nice game.

Based on the cover photos, I am sold this time.

Personally...i didn't find it all that scary WHILE playing the games. But i felt abit freaked after playing it and THINKING about it and what it all meant. But in terms of scaryness factor, 1 was the best despite PSone era graphics.

Ouh...about Silent Hill 4, it has English sutitles in it! w00ts!!

[Skippy438]

In my experience The games have a really scary atmosphere, but once you get over that it's kinda ho-hum. It doesn't try to jolt you or shock you (say like a zombie popping out of nowhere in RE). But the style is really great, especially when they added that grainy effect to 2.

[BoBe-Patt]

damn that's freaky. Even though I didn't understand the damn story lines in part one and two, I still enjoyed playing those games. I still haven't been able to play part 3, is it any good? And can somebody explain the story lines from part 1 and 2? I still like to know the origins of these creatures.

[leo]

I remember I played the 1st one on PSone.. and I recall I refuse to play it at night.. cause I remember it gives me the creeps when I play the game at night. As a scary game, it sure got me good.

L,

Edited June 16, 2004 by leo

[Jolly Rogers]

damn that's freaky. Even though I didn't understand the damn story lines in part one and two, I still enjoyed playing those games. I still haven't been able to play part 3, is it any good? And can somebody explain the story lines from part 1 and 2? I still like to know the origins of these creatures.

Go look up the game at www.gamefaqs.com and you'll find some plot guides posted there.

3 was a direct sequel to 1 (2 being an independent story of its own) and was the best looking of the first 3 games and the most action oriented. I was slightly disappointed that the story was nowhere as good as 2's, but the unlimited submachine and light saber make it a lot more fun to play.

The notes you come across in the games suggest that Silent Hill was built on sacred ground that has powers to manifest, give physical form to, the subconscious. This explains the creatures. The town is not inherently evil, it only serves as an amplifier of sorts for people's subconscious fears and desires.

Story spoilers for Silent Hill (highlight to read):

Harry Mason, a widowed writer, takes his daughter, Cheryl, to Silent Hill for a vacation. The got into a car accident and were separated at the outskirt of the town. Harry goes looking for his daughter, only to be attacked by hideous creatures. He later meets a cop, Cybil Shepherd, who comes from the next town to investigate as the town appears deserted.

Harry meets a few living folks while encountering numerous creatures as he searched for his daughter. One of the "living folks" turned out to be a creature who did not realize that she had been turned into one.

As Harry searches for clues, he came to realize that the strange happenings in the two has to do with a cult and the town covering up the cult's doings by distributing a drug called White Claudia. Harry also came to realize that Cheryl, his adopted daughter, was the soul of Alessa, a child who the cult had tried to use as a vessel to bring their God to our world. Alessa refused to be the vessel, which resulted in her being burnt alive. She lived, but spent years in misery in a hospital. During this time, she figured out a way to separate her soul from her body and entered into a newborn child, who was found by Harry and his then-living wife while they were vacationing at Silent Hill.

At the end of the final confrontation, Alessa greets Harry and hands him another baby as a farewell gift.

The creatures from the game, some have theorized, were from the nightmares of Alessa as her now soulless body still struggles against the pain as a burnt victim. The deformed nurses are a strong supporter of this theory, as her confinement to the hospital means her only social interactions are with nurses. The dogs also appear big and mean, as they usually do to small children. The killer children in the school is a physical manifestation of her fear of other children in school, who were being mean to her because of the special abilities she possessed (think Carrie).

Story spoilers for Silent Hill 2 (highlight to read):

James Sunderland, recently widowed, receives a letter from her dead wife telling him that she's waiting for him in Silent Hill "at that special place" they shared. Puzzled but too grieved to behave rationally, James goes to Silent Hill in search of Mary, his dead wife. Along the journey he encounters other searching souls who came to Silent Hill for their own reasons. Among them:

Angela, who is still fighting the demon of her child-molesting dad (the pulsing rods in the room where she was menanced by the Door Monster being a less than subtle indication of this). Turns out she killed her father after years of abuse, but is unable to live with her guilt. The final scene between her and James was an indication that she was unable to cope with things and chose suicide (corresponds to the In Water ending where James commits suicide by plunging his car into the lake).

Eddie, who turns out to be a psychopath who justifies his murders because people called him names for being fat. James ended up killing him in self-defense, and the state Eddie's life ended in indicates that he gave in to the madness, which corresponds to the Rebirth ending, where James takes his dead wife's body to a cult church in an attempt at resurrecting her.

Maria, practically a doppleganger of James' deceased wife Mary, except she's more voluptious and sexy. Maria found herself in Silent Hill surrounded by monsters, and in exploring the town she found out she was one of the creatures herself, but she was given a human appearance due to James' desire to find his wife. Knowing that she is not the real deal but only a substitute, she exhibits insecurity issues around James and her repeated slaughters in front of James stem from James' desire to be punished for what he did to his wife. Her improved appearance in comparison to Mary also indicates that James wanted his wife back before the disease took her health and life away. The Maria ending where James leaves town with Maria obviously corresponds to this character, where James gives in to his desires regardless of the truth.

Laura, a child who came to Silent Hill also looking for Mary. She spent time in the same hospital as Mary and became good friends. She is the only character who did not see any monsters in Silent Hill, and many attributed this to her childish innocence as compared to the other sinners who were summoned there for punishment/penance/redemption. She represents the "Leave" ending, where James finds redemption and receives a forgiving letter from his wife urging him to carry on with his life.

Towards the end of James' adventure, he came to realize that while Mary's disease was terminal, it was him who ended her life early to ease her and his own suffering. The suppressed memory also played trick on his mind, making him believe that Mary died 3 years ago (when she was diagnosed as terminal) instead of a few weeks ago, as Laura correctly stated. Guilt-ridden, he felt the need to be punished (thus the creation of Pyramid Head, an executioner who repeatedly kills Maria in front of him and force James to confront his own guilt - after James came to terms with his own guilt at the end, there was no longer the need for the Pyramid Heads, therefore they "committed suicide" and no longer haunt him).

The creatures James encountered are possibly manifestations of James' subconsciousness - the mannequin legs represent his sexual frustration that result from a bedridden wife. The patient demons and nurses represent the unpleasant memories from visiting his wife at the hospital, etc.

That's the short and quick of it. I think you'll get a more in-depth analysis in the Plot Guides they have on GameFAQs.com.

Added: You can also check out the Silent Hill Forums for more info via the link in the 1st post of this thread. If you go to page 9 or 10 of that link's thread there are video clips of the creatures from 4. Freaaaaky!

Edited June 16, 2004 by Jolly Rogers

[mbs357]

I finished the second game a few weeks ago.

Amazing game.

It was creepy, great graphics, great atmosphere, good controls, and a great story.

I use the word great alot because I'm stupid and can't think of anymore superb, intreaging, or fascinating words.

Best game I've played in a long time.

I got the demo for the third...there wasn't much to it.

I'll have to keep an eye out for this one.

------

Ok I just watched the trailer.

Remembering the AvP thread, this is how trailors SHOULD be made.

Wow that was freaky. Maybe I won't look into this game after all. @_@

Edit:

Thanks Mr. Rogers, that cleared up alot that I didn't know about the game. I doubt I'll ever get the first one, or the third one now that I know it's a sequel to the first.

I'm happy to say that I recieved the 'good' ending. =D

Edit2: I also wish there was an option for Japanese audio with English subtitles in the second one. The acting was generally pretty good, but I'm a fanboy. =p

Edited June 17, 2004 by mbs357

[Jolly Rogers]

As far as I know the voice acting in 2 and 3 are English only - the game being based in a small American town after all. They did provide sub options for many other languages. Did the JP version of the first game have a Japanese voice track?

I think 4 was made by the same team that made 2, that's why I have high hopes for 4 (3 was made by a different team). According to Maskrider from SHF, he's a few chapters into the game and the story is "beginning to get interesting." In case no one's noticed yet, the main character from 4 is locked in "Room 312" and his landlord is also named Sunderland...

Edited June 17, 2004 by Jolly Rogers

[Max Jenius]

lol, with all the symbolism and mental screwiness... these people should make an Evangelion game...

[mbs357]

=O

Wasn't 312 a locked room in one of those apartment buildings?

I can't remember.

NO WAIT!

I remember now. =p

Didn't know 2 and 3 were English only, interesting. =O

How many American companies do you know that would make a movie or game totally in the language it takes place in?

Hmm...

NONE

That's why Japan is cool. o_O

[wolfx]

Don't remmember what was room 312. Sunderland was the doc rite? I can't remmeber the details of what happened in most of Silent Hill, but I did understand the storylines, reinforced by that long ass plot analysis by President Evil on gamefaqs.

What I wanna know are the manifestations of evil which were in silent hill 2,3 and now 4. I'm talking about those big ass /freaky things which you can't kill. Like in 2, Pyramid Head, 3 would be the monster which you randomly see around turning valves (you nver fight it) and it seems now for SH4, its one of those "long-haired" female ghosts/monsters.

[mbs357]

James Sunderland was the player character in SH2.

312 was the hotel room (I think).

Jolly Roger's post cleared up a whole lot of things for me, maybe you should check it out?

[Jolly Rogers]

Don't remmember what was room 312. Sunderland was the doc rite? I can't remmeber the details of what happened in most of Silent Hill, but I did understand the storylines, reinforced by that long ass plot analysis by President Evil on gamefaqs.

What I wanna know are the manifestations of evil which were in silent hill 2,3 and now 4. I'm talking about those big ass /freaky things which you can't kill. Like in 2, Pyramid Head, 3 would be the monster which you randomly see around turning valves (you nver fight it) and it seems now for SH4, its one of those "long-haired" female ghosts/monsters.

312 is the # of the hotel room where James confronts the truth in SH2.

Sunderland was just a regular Joe (main character from SH2). The doc is Kaufman from 1. The doc from 2 is not named, unless you are referring to the one who was referred to or wrote some of the memos you found in the hospital.

The monster turning valves in 3 is special.

SPOILER for plotpoint from 3 below (highlight to read):

Vatiel is a guardian angel for the fetus of God that Heather/Alessa carries inside her. In some of the death scenes you see Heather's corpse getting dragged away by Vatiel, presumably so the fetus of God can be safely retrieved

There's a book called Lost Memories, which contains interviews with Team Silent on the plot points, creatures, and characters from the first 3 games. It's in the process of being translated, and you can check out the translated passages here.

[wolfx]

THanks for the link and spoiler, Jolly Rogers. But is that "Vatiel" a fan speculation or official explanation? Vatiel can also be seen covering the body of that crazy woman before you face off with her in a final boss battle.

Spoiler for SH3:

And I didn't know that Heather was carrying a "fetus of God" but more like she is the incarnation of Samael.

[Jolly Rogers]

Did you actually check out that link for Lost Memories?

Scroll down to the section on Valtiel

Relating Valtiel to the Magician from Tarot cards

Spoilers regarding SH1 and SH3 (highlight to read):

Heather is in fact Alessa (you should know this if you've finished playing SH3). She reincarnated herself in the form of the baby given to Harry at the end of the original Silent Hill, who Harry raised as Heather. Claudia kept trying to remind Heather of "who she were" throughout SH3, because Heather was in fact Alessa, the vessel Dahlia Gillespie tried to use to bring their God to this world. Since the God was unborn, I called it a fetus (that sure looks like what Claudia swallowed). Heather/Alessa would be considered the mother of God.

BTW Lost Memories was published by Konami as part of their official guide for Silent Hill 3 in Japan, so it's about as official as any book can get. Short of translation errors, whatever was stated in the 2 links above are official.

PS I misspelled Valtiel as Vatiel... LOL.

[wolfx]

THere's alot of stuff to read there, friend and i'm in the office. Will get to it once i get back. Once again, thanks for the link.

[Jolly Rogers]

Over 200 (and growing) sreenshots - warning, may contain explicit gore

[BoBe-Patt]

Over 200 (and growing) sreenshots - warning, may contain explicit gore

gore? what gore? I can hardly see in any of those picts as it's too dark!

[BoBe-Patt]

oh and thanx Jolly Rogers on clearing some light on the subject of storylines.

[christ]

It's funny that Evangelion was brought up in comparison to the Silent Hill games. I have always felt that they both contain a similar dramatic "power".

Evangelion was so powerful for me because of the "dreamlike, inner life" it conveyed at its core of grand, giant robot action drama. I felt totally destroyed after that last scene of THE END OF EVANGELION move. "I feel sick" or "This feeling sucks" indeed.

Similarly, the end of silent hill 2 destroyed me. When you finally realize what the entire game meant, what all the monsters really were and what Maria was, it's almost like coming through a difficult time in your life when the smoke clears and you can finally deal with the horrible thing that happened to you. Like Evangelion, it has been entertaining you with the freak show but at the same time, quietly laying down thick layers of subtext. Meaning keeps occurring to you days after you're done with it.

And both soundtracks are excellent.

I'm sorry. I tried to keep this as general as possible as not to ruin anything for anyone.

[Jolly Rogers]

Over 200 (and growing) sreenshots - warning, may contain explicit gore

gore? what gore? I can hardly see in any of those picts as it's too dark!

According to those who are playing Part 4, some of the hallmarks of this series - flashlights and fog - are nowhere to be seen.

The "gore" part refers to the images from around #150 or so. You've been warned...

[BoBe-Patt]

Over 200 (and growing) sreenshots - warning, may contain explicit gore

gore? what gore? I can hardly see in any of those picts as it's too dark!

According to those who are playing Part 4, some of the hallmarks of this series - flashlights and fog - are nowhere to be seen.

The "gore" part refers to the images from around #150 or so. You've been warned...

I still don't see any gore. All I see is the guy and girl that's all bandaged up either talking to each other or walking around. I see one with some dead guy on the floor, but that's not even gorey. Maybe you have a different definition of "gore" than I do.

[Jolly Rogers]

Check out the ones whose file names end with 128, 129, and 138 (not the ones listed as #128, 129, and 138 in the gallery).

[BoBe-Patt]

Check out the ones whose file names end with 128, 129, and 138 (not the ones listed as #128, 129, and 138 in the gallery).

ok, I see what your talking about. My definition of gorey is like body parts everywhere, decapitated heads on the floor and wall. Something like diablo, even though you can't really see it much. Resident evil is pretty gorey only because you see guts n stuff.

[Jolly Rogers]

I think there's decap in 129.

RE has very little gore. It's just chunks of red blocks without much detail.

Added: Silent Hill 4 comics using actual screen shots

Added: 3 movies containing spoilers

Edited June 20, 2004 by Jolly Rogers

[wolfx]

Played Silent Hill 4 abit today. Its pretty cool. Dual language modes for English and Jap, which is only the info text. The dialogue is english in both modes. I like the monster designs in this sequel...they look really freaky. The combat mechanics hasn't improved, probably became worse IMHO. There is some kinda Stamina pie chart or something....when you use melee weapons. I only played it for 10 mins so far....will comment more later.

[Jolly Rogers]

The "stamina pie chart" is actually a force gauge that indicates the amount of force applied to your attack/swing/strike. The higher the force the more damage it does, but if you miss, you will also be more open to attacks.

[wolfx]

The "stamina pie chart" is actually a force gauge that indicates the amount of force applied to your attack/swing/strike. The higher the force the more damage it does, but if you miss, you will also be more open to attacks.

I'd probably find out later, but since i'm at work, how does the gauge increase in intensity?

[Jolly Rogers]

Dunno, I am waiting for the US version to come out for that free soundtrack CD. It should explain how to do that in the manual though. If I had to guess, hold down the attack to build up the meter before you release the button.

[Bub]

The Silent Hill 4 Available in HK is Japanese Version, right? Sorry I just want to confirm. Thanks.

[Jolly Rogers]

Yeap, unlike 3, which came out in Europe first, they released 4 in Japan first and it is the only region where the game is available now. The game's voice tracks are recorded in English and English text is available in the JP release, so your guess is as good as mine regarding the holdup on the US and EU releases. A lot of people unwilling to wait have already got flip-top mods installed and importing the game.

[Bub]

Thanks.

Hmmm..... What could be the difference with the upcoming US release?

[Jolly Rogers]

The US release is supposed to come with a free OST CD. The game will probably be identical, although people who played it were hoping for a "director's cut"-like re-release of SH2 which contained extras. The current game is lacking the traditional joke / UFO ending, which was also missing in the original release of SH2 until a new version was released.