Silent Hill Review

Here we are. October. The month of proclaimed horror, with ghosts and zombies and spiders and things jumping out at you shouting aboogly woogly woo.

SO TO SHOW THAT HERE'S SOME HORROR GAMES

The first game we're playing this month is one that's already pretty well known, but its Silent Hill. Released in 1999, this game released to critical acclaim in the fact that at the time it knew the best ways to make people poo their pants. Well times have changed. Grand Theft Auto causes controversies, graphics are all that matter in a game, and all games must have guns to be good. But hey, we're talking about the good times here. But its 2013, nearly 15 years after Silent Hill's initial release. Horror has changed, so can Silent Hill still prove to be as scary as it was back then?

Beginning with the plot, I say that so Mich I might as well make it a bullet point, begins with Harry Mason, driving to the town Silent Hill withe his daughter, Cheryl for a vacation when a person stumbles onto the road. Harry tries to avoid the person, but spins out of control and crashes. When he comes to, he finds himself inside the foggy Silent Hill, with Cheryl nowhere in sight. After following a figure that looks like Cheryl, getting attacked, and dying, Harry wakes up in a diner and meets Cybil, a cop who came into Silent Hill in order to find a number of missing persons, only to find herself trapped inside, with no way out. She gives Harry a gun while warning him about the monsters outside, and sets off to continue her investigation, while Harry sets off to find Cheryl. Harry soon finds himself in the middle of a plot involving cults, demons, and gods, and soon learns that something much bigger is going on in the small resort town, Silent Hill.

Now the gameplay. In Silent Hill, your goal is to get from point A to point B, beat a boss and watch plot progression. During the trek from point A to B, you'll have to avoid enemies and, more frequently, solve puzzles, usually by using a contextual key on a contextual lock. Makes you wonder how anyone in this town got around. One thing that this game continues to do is be scary. That moment when you hear static always makes me tense, and when I start taking damage from behind from an enemy I couldn't see, I buy a one way ticket to the Nope Express over to awayvil. There's even some cut scene scares that also prove to scare people. So the games still scary. That's good. Now the only problem. In order to reach the scares, you have to win a battle against the controls.

First is the weapon controls. In order to attack with melee weapons, you have to prepare your attack with the L2 button, and then strike with X. While preparing to attack, you won't be able to move. It takes a moment for Harry to swing whatever weapon he's holding, making you a sitting duck. And if you swing at the wrong time, you'll take damage and miss the enemy. This can make even the most basic encounters difficult, so don't be surprised in the beginning if your health drops like a brick. The other option is to use guns. These can make it so that you'll deal damage without taking some yourself. However, even these have cons. Ammo in this town can be scarce at times, which is understandable, since this is a resort town after all. Harry is also prone to missing if he's not close enough to the enemy or is in the dark, meaning that in dark areas you have to gamble with a chance of shooting the enemy at the cost of the enemy seeing you and making a mad dash to rip your face off, or missing and wasting ammo. This is also understandable, since Harry is a writer, and I'm willing to assume that most writers are sharpshooters. This doesn't, however, justify his inability to walk normally.

Anyone who's played Silent Hill sees where I'm going with this, but Harry Mason has tank controls. For those who don't know what that means, let me enlighten you. In a normal overhead game, if you press up, you'll move up, regardless of which way your facing. Same with all directions. So basically your moving in each direction relative to the camera. In tank control games, if you press up, you won't go up, but rather you'll go forward in whatever direction the characters facing. Therefore, your now going forward relative to your character, and not the camera. So left and right are now turning, and forward and backwards are now that direction relative to Harry. When exploring the over world, this is fine, but when the game decides to get cinematic, controlling Harry becomes more like controlling, well, a tank. And if there's an enemy around during this point, death will probably soon follow.

In terms of presentation, its good overall. The graphics have definitely begun to show age, but there's a certain charm that it would lose if it was remade for modern systems. And it doesn't stop the game from getting all of its points across to scare you. It still shows archaic choices though, like how characters don't have eyes or mouths and communicate through bobbing their heads up and down. And the music is great. Though most of the time its just ambient noise and the sounds of the monster and your radios static detecting said monsters, when music does play, it shows that stuffs about to go down, and it leads to a fantastic soundtrack that helps get you immersed in Silent Hill, and it picks up the slack where the graphics miss.

There's even replay value in this game. First of all there's multiple endings depending on certain combinations of characters you save. There's five endings you can get, one of the five becomes available after getting the best ending. Getting the good endings can be hard though, so make sure you explore everywhere, otherwise you'll be leaving Silent Hill with the worst ending. Regardless of what ending you get, you'll be ranked on time it took to beat the game, number of saves, things of the sort, and if you get a good rank doubled with a good ending, you can get additional weapons and items for your next playthrough, like chainsaws, katanas, and other things like that.

But is it worth doing even a single playthrough of Silent Hill? Hm. Well the game still succeeds to scare people, so if that's what your looking for then, yes this game comes recommended. It definitely shows its archaic design though with its graphics and controls, so its kind of hard to recommend this game to people coming for its story. If you power through it, then that's no problem, but there are more comfortable ways to experience the first games story. First is Silent Hill Shattered Memories, a reimagining of the first game on the Wii, PlayStation 2, and PSP. Of course, as many people know, don't go there if your looking for horror. More on that game later. And there's also the first Silent Hill movie. That's all I can say about it. Maybe later. The first Silent Hill is available, for the PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3, PSP, and PS Vita.

In response to the Racoon City or Silent Hill choice, The Silent Protagonist would turn around, though he'd probably end up in Hinamizawa.

Grand Theft Auto Review

So Grand Theft Auto V came out last week and everyone's been saying that its the greatest thing since laptops, the PlayStation 2, and Kid Icarus Uprising. So on that end, I pulled out the PS1 and played the first Grand Theft Auto game.

Believe it or not, there was once a time where Grand Theft Auto didn't cause all kinds of controversies. There was also a time where graphics didn't make a game, and a game didn't need to be in first person with you holding a gun to be considered passable. And it is not a time in which we are currently living. The time was however 1998, when video games were riding high, with classics like Metal Gear Solid and The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time being released, with others like Smash Bros and Silent Hill not too far behind. Before it was owned by Rockstar, Grand Theft Auto was owned by Take-Two, and before it was an open world sandbox game it was a slightly less open sandbox game that was overhead instead of third person, and guns were found on the side of the street. Its glorious.

In Grand Theft Auto, you play as one of three random blokes in one of three random cities trying to finish as many missions as possible. To do this, you'll have to hijack cars, drive to your destination, avoid the police if you tick them off, and occasionally kill someone with the aforementioned guns on the side of the street. Missions can range from delivering certain cars to certain places, killing someone, retrieving goods,the regular stuff.

In the cars, the game controls OK. You can't use the joysticks, but rather have to use the d-pad. Turning is done with the left and right buttons respectively, while accelerating and reversing is done with the x and triangle buttons. Its when you move on foot that things get messy. You control the same on foot as you do in the car, except now the square button hijacks cars and the circle button fires a gun that you happened to find on the side of the road. This makes aiming on foot harder than it should be, and pressing triangle to back up gets confusing, and leads to more than one death.

Speaking of deaths, you have lives in this game. Whenever you die, you lose a life,
whatever guns you found, and you re-spawn at a different location. You also lose a life if you get caught by the police, unless you find a Get Out Of Jail Free Card on the side of the road, which will only make you go to the police station. The lives lead into another problem, as do the police, but more on that soon.

On the presentation, its passable all around. The way the camera zooms out once you pick up some speed is cool, but up close, everything's just kind of meh. I know its sprites, and there's not a while lot you can do with that, but there are SNES overhead games that look better than this. As for music...well I'm not a big music guy, so having this games score be performed by different bands doesn't mean a whole lot to me. Not that it matters because , realistically, no music plays when your on foot, and some of the bigger better vehicles don't have radios, so no music plays there either. I'll give them credit for the music that plays being good, but I don't think the musics worth a bullet on the back of the case.

Here comes the weird part, and that's the part where the first game in a largely popular and successful franchise has so many problems to it. Ignoring the presentation and control issues mentioned above, there's saving. The only way to save is to do it on the menu. This means the only way to save your score and records it to either complete all of the missions in a particular city, or purposely lose all of your lives. And even doing the ladder can take some time, because the police take some time to show up, and finding water to fall into will work once, but you'll have to drive back about three times if you want to end the game. There's no fast way to quit the game while saving your data, and that's bad design.

And on the topic of the cops, what are up with them?? Doing crimes like killing people, firing guns, or just hitting their cars will sick the cops on you, and let me tell you, the cops in this game are out for blood. They will chase you, hit you, make road blocks, and fire at your car in attempt to kill you rather than pull you in, making that Get Out Of Jail Free Card kind of pointless. Only sometimes though. Its strange what the police consider crimes in this city. At one point, I got a truck, drove forward fast enough to blow up a taxi right next to a cop, and he didn't even bat an eye. Not much longer later, I hit a cop at 2mph, and he opens fire. The cops are  completely random and strange in how they act, and that can't bother only me.

Another problem is the map, or lack of. When you need to get to a phone, or get to a destination, a yellow arrow will come up on screen, pointing you in the right direction. However, it does only that. So you could be facing the right direction, but the arrow won't take into account the giant river that's in your way. And all of these cities are huge, so there will be driving around trying to find the right path, and after a while, that just gets boring.

And that's Grand Theft Autos biggest problem, in that it just gets boring way to fast. While playing through, it took a lot out of me to not just stop and get to playing another game, and that's not good. I'm not sure if its because the other sequels make the first game just seem bad, or if its actually a bad game, but regardless, I can't say this ones worth a play. Should you want to play it, its available on the PlayStation 1, Gameboy Advance, and on Rockstar's website. But overall, the first games was a mediocre start, and should only be played by the very curious, or hardcore fans of Grand Theft Auto. 

The Silent Protagonist accidentally blew up a motorcycle that he was supposed to steal. He's good at these kind of jobs.

iOS Showcase

When it comes to portable gaming, I don't like saying that games on the iOS are games in the same sense as games like Pokemon or Professor Layton. When it comes to systems I'll sooner grab my 3DS or my PlayStation Portable before I grab my IPod touch. So no, I don't think that phones are going to destroy portable gaming, and that's because developers don't think that people are going to buy phones and Ipods for the games, in the same way you don't watch Nichijou for a complex plot. So that being said, a lot of iOS games then to be a little less then great, but there are quite a few of them that people claim are really great, so let's take a look at a select few titles and see if these games are worth getting freaking board games for.

The first game on our list is the infinite jumping game Doodle Jump. In this game you play as a little green...something that has nothing better to do than jump up on green platforms in order to get as high as he can. The only controls in this game is to tilt the device left and right to move and press the screen to shoot, as jumping is automatic. Now you might be thinking "Why would I have to shoot in a game where I only jump?". Well during little green something's jumping, aliens and monsters attack the little green something because, I dunno, maybe they got sick of attacking Ravenholm or something. So you have to shoot them or you'll get knocked off by so much as touching them. Unless you touch them from up top because that makes you suddenly invincible. You also have to watch out for black holes that swallow you whole, moveable platforms, breakable platforms, exploding platforms, and a few other surprises. There are also different skins that come with the game, changing the look of the game, and even a bit of the gameplay. Overall, Doodle Jump is pretty fun, and an iOS game I recommend, as its cheap and worth the small amount of money you'll pay.

Next is a jumping game in the different sense, Tiny Wings. In this game you play as a tiny bird who is unable to fly. Thankfully the islands he lives around have a ton of hills, and he happens to be the heaviest bird alive, so he can slide down the hills in order to fly. And that's the gameplay as well. You touch the screen and your bird will fall. You let go and he lightens up. The challenge of the game is wondering when you should touch the screen to gain speed, or when to let nature take its course. I'll tell you, its really quite exciting getting a big jump combo and flying high and fast, before the excitement is shot down by you inevitably messing up. On top of having high score boards this game also has achievements which unlock as you complete a list that the game gives you. This game also has a single player race mode, where you play as one of four birds and you must race to the end as fast as possible. These races will really put you to the test, because those other birds can be brutal. This game is also fun and cheap, so if this is your kind of game, its worth picking up.

The next one is already pretty well known, but its Fruit Ninja. This is probably the simplistic game in this showcase. Hit fruit, don't hit bombs. In order to score points in the many different modes you need to try to get combos by hitting fruit in one clean swipe. There are 3 main modes: Classic, Zen, and Arcade. In classic, you try to get as many points as you can, and whenever you miss a fruit, you get a strike, and when you get 3, game over. Bombs will also end the game immediately. There's Zen, where there's no bombs, no power ups, and just fruit, making it a good mode to practice combos in. Then there's my favorite, Arcade, where you have to get as many points possible in a set am mount of time, avoiding bombs which make you lose time, and using crazy power ups to win. Overall, this game is a blast, and its available on other systems as well, so this game is definitely one to give a shot, because on iOS its, well, cheap, as all games here are.

Next is a game by the same developers as Fruit Ninja is an infinite running game called Jetpack Joyride. You play as Barry, a guy who has really nothing better to do than break into a lab, and steal their jetpack. Taping the screen makes Barry rise while letting go makes him drop. You have to use these controls to avoid electric barriers, missiles, and lasers while collecting coins and going as far as possible. This game, like Tiny Wings, has an achievement system that rewards you with coins when you clear a certain amount. This game can be very fast paced and it can get very crazy, but its a good time. The game is available on the iOS and the PlayStation handhelds, so its worth picking up, though its recommended that you get it on iOS as the PlayStation versions cost money, while the iOS version is free, if memory serves.

Now we get to the big ones. Now its Temple Run, an infinite running game where your goal is to escape the treasure guardians by running as fast as humanly possible. You swipe left and right to turn when the game requires it, swipe up to jump, swipe down to slide, and tilt the device to move left and right to get coins. All you have to do is run and last as long as possible. Touching basically anything will probably kill you, but with revives and power ups, its pretty easy to make it through. Then there's the sequel, Temple Run 2, which is much of the same with a few differences. For one, the setting is different. Two, there's new mine cart sections where you tilt left and right not only to collect coins, but to stay on the right path to keep going. Third, there's the gems which you can get while running which can be used for things like revives and things of the sort. I like Temple Run 2 better than 1, but since both are free, its worth giving both a try.

Now there was one other iOS game I wanted to talk about, but after thinking about it, that one will fill up a whole review in it of itself. Plus I have a LOT to say about this particular series and its insane following. I won't say what it is, but I don't think it requires much imagination. But I can get this review out of the way, Candy Crush Saga. Its horrible. A three way matching game that tries to rip you off at every possible turn. Its like Bejeweled if it was owned by EA-OH WAIT.

The Silent Protagonist wanted to play Grand Theft Auto this week, but school still sucks.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village Review

School. School school school. Now that I'm taken up for seven hours of the day for five days a week with things going on after, the time for playing games for hours and hours on end is over. And with the first week already demanding essays and projects, I'm in exactly the right mood to do something to get my brain working again. So I read a book. And then decided to play Professor Layton once I decided that the particular book I was reading was boring.

Professor Layton and the Curious Villages is the first game in the Professor Layton series released on the Nintendo DS in 2007. The story follows Professor
Hershel Layton and his apprentice Luke Triton as they are summoned to the village of St. Mystere to track down the Golden Apple, an item left by the late Barron in order to see who will gain his fortune. Shortly after arriving at St. Mystere, the crank to the bridge, the only way out of the village, is stolen, and mysterious abductions and a murder mystery show that there's more going on in this case than meets the eye.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a puzzle game, where your goal is to go around, solve puzzles, and discover the mystery of St. Mystere and the Golden Apple. Gameplay is kept to the bottom screen using the stylus to move around town, talk to people, and examine things. The people of St. Mystere really like puzzles, and they're not going to tell you much of anything unless you solve a puzzle for them. These are also controlled by the stylus and let me tell you, they are not a cakewalk. Some may be easy, but others will test your brain like nothing else. And there's a lot of them. Over 120 in fact, and that's just the main story. When you solve a puzzle, you earn picarats which act as your score. If you get there puzzle wrong, you earn less picarats, but they don't really do anything so don't worry. If a puzzle has you stumped, you can use a hint coin, which you find hidden in the town, which will give you a hint. You can use up to three per puzzle, but if you really can't figure it out, you can quit the puzzle with no consequence, though there are puzzles that are required, and there will be points where you will have had to solve a certain number of puzzles in order to advance, so its good to try to solve every puzzle.

In terms of presentation, the hand drawn backgrounds and characters look great, the animated cut scenes look good and the voice acting, what little there is, is good as well. Though during animated cut scenes the voices can sound a bit blurry. The soundtrack as well is great also, with nice violin pieces playing while in the village, and a puzzle theme that really gets you in the mood for thinking. Also, there's the main theme, which is amazing. Not as good as Unwound Future's theme, but still great. Just listen to it you won't regret it.

Buying Professor Layton and the Curious Village is cheap, with copies going for under $20, but is it worth picking up? The puzzles are hard and very well put together making it great for people who like things such as puzzles books. There were parts in this game where I thought "Darn, why is this game so clever?". You need to be ready to think if you want to track down the Golden Apple and solve the mystery of St. Mystere, so if your not ready to think like a pro, you might not like this, and if your not big on puzzles, this won't change your mind. But for everyone else, this game is certainly worth a play through.

The Silent Protagonist says that everyone is Don Paolo. And Don Paolo is everyone.