It’s been a while since I tossed my enraged opinion about something on the site, but there’s been trouble brewing on the internet lately.

As hardcore fans of the original 3 Silent Hill games, it seems like our expectations can never be matched with each new addition to the series. Silent Hill 1 was a masterpiece of terror, the sequel was a marvel at twisting a storyline to truly make the player ponder its outcome, and the 3rd had moments of fear great enough to not proceed into the next room. So what happened since then?

…

…

…

I have enjoyed every edition of Silent Hill ever since the 1st “trilogy”, looking past its flaws and soaking in an atmosphere that only that series could produce. It’s been a very long time since then, and sadly, they haven’t gotten the respect they’ve deserved with the advance to the newer consoles. With the greater technological feats available since the original, it’s amazing how little innovation Silent Hill: The Room (X box and PS2) and Silent Hill: Homecoming had to offer. That said, they were solid games that were worth playing regardless.

Silent Hill: Homecoming attempted to bring a new generation of fans into the franchise by integrating a better control scheme, with its protagonist being ex-military. With counter attacks and dodging, you could now be able to stand your ground against the creepy opponents scattered throughout. While it was an appreciable attempt at changing up the gameplay style, it also took away the unnerving sensation from hearing that fabled crackle of your walkie-talkie. It was a solid attempt to recapture the magic of the early titles, but no dice.

In Silent Hill: Downpour, our hero is a convicted felon with little experience in melee combat, like all of the other characters before. As a core mechanic of the game, you’re forced to choose from feeble weapons lying around the ground. From a rock to a fire axe, everything is breakable and shouldn’t be kept for long. The inhabitants of Silent Hill are disturbing, but not as they were before. Gone are the indescribable bipedal forms, insects and dogs of many of the old games; you’re met with small groups of human-like monstrosities. Depending on the weapon you’re holding, they will react differently (and aggravatingly smart at times) to you. Point a pistol at a couple of encounters, and they will actually back off.  Pick up a rock, and they’ll charge you.

Sledgehammer joke: Go ahead, get it over with.

In addition to this mechanic, you’re limited in time to explore Silent Hill’s main town without ducking into shelter, thereby resetting the rain that starts pouring in. The harder it rains, the more aggressive and numerous the random enemies are. 90% of the time, as it was before, running is your best option. If you’re an achievement whore, not killing any monsters is an option. (A melee confrontation ends with a KO, and you have the option to finish them off with your feet or chair-in-hand)

Mechanics aside, it’s the story that counts, and its here that I truly believe that IGN can suck on my balls.

Sorry, couldn’t type any longer without unleashing some of my rage toward the dumbest site for reviews on the entire internet. Giving this game a 4.5/10 (or “bad”), these pricks once again hire a pompous ass to rip apart a game that obviously took a lot of effort to make, and creative strides were made. But go ahead and rate the 12th rehash of Call Of Duty a 9/10, because as we all know, a complete lack of innovation is not a review factor, but rather a selling point nowadays.

OK, back to the game:

The graphics are very detailed and make the best use of the Unreal Engine outside of Gears to date; while I personally found some of the stuttering while exploring to be annoying, it’s not game-breaking by any means. As a design choice, the “otherworld” sequences are kept on the lesser end of the game, as you will spend most of the game in reality. Thankfully, the game has a plentiful and intriguing line of side quests for you to sniff out as well, making the 1st playthrough a lengthy one.

When you DO experience the otherworld, it’s a fantastic, eerie and disturbing romp where reality twists right in front of you.. Rather than sticking to what has worked before, the developers clearly tried (and mostly succeeded) in thinking outside the box. Instead of a gross factor, or a sense of despair and darkness, the player is treated to a visual feast  of metallic imagery and subtle references. On top of this, your character for the first time in the series actually acts out what he’s seeing, and screaming when he’s in danger.

The sound and music are a mixed bag this time around, with myself missing the old score of previous titles. While I enjoyed the music of this game, the take is a bit more of a classic horror film, rather than the strange metallic noise that the old games had. The sound effects are very well done, however, and help bring you to the edge of your seat at times; the audio of the walkie-talkie (used to detect enemies) is thankfully re-imagined to make a bit more sense, and force the player to tense up from the lack of distancing the old setup had.

The combat is the most mixed of opinions of fans and reviewers alike. My personal take is that it’s generally a smart move to make the combat clumsy and difficult, as it brings the realism and tension back; with a lead pipe in hand, you would still have difficulty taking 2 opponents down. It’s admittedly frustrating to deal with enemies even on a 1-on-1 fight at times, but for the MOST part, it’s unnecessary to engage enemies to begin with. Only in the final act does certain encounters get truly frustrating, but we’re talking about me here.

My only other major complaint is the technical problems that I ran into, which was mainly from the outside world, and its persistent loading. Crossing the park means to stop the music, combat, and even the rain from occurring  to allow the other side of the park to load. Reaching intersections means a constant stutter, which again, isn’t game breaking. It’s annoying as piss though.

I won’t get into the story, but I will confirm that there are actually endings for once, with the “A” ending actually being a rather satisfying one. With choices in the game, you’ll sculpt the main character into whom he is, and why he’s in Silent Hill. Oh, and there’s Korn at the end credits. Take that for what it is.

So again, it’s not a perfect game by any means, but neither were any of the other titles. It was about sitting in front of your tv, lights off, and letting yourself get sucked in. (Turtle Beach headsets help out a bit too, if you have the heart to take it.) I think many of the reviews were picking on a game for its flaws, rather than appreciating what the game does to you in the right environment. I think this developer (Vatra Games) has what it takes to really outdo themselves next time around, and finally give the fans the terror that we’ve missed all these years, and maybe “earn” a 6.0/10 from IGN.

Fog? Silent Hill? No way!

Hi Res: Great atmosphere, fresh gameplay in a dying genre, great story

Lo Res: Can be confusing, some annoying combat sequences, technical stuttering

Verdict: A worthy, fresh addition to the franchise. IGN can suck my balls, in case you missed that.

She's fine.

I love detective games. Unfortunately trying to find decent ones that don’t involve mindless pointing and clicking makes playing good ones a bit of a rarity. Does L.A. Noire fill that deep inside burning to be master detective? Read on for my take on this bad boy from Rockstar.

Smile.

This game looks  phenomenal. The rendered faces look so lifelike you honestly feel like you’re watching a movie. This is particularly noticeable when you’re conducting your investigation and make your Truth/Doubt/Lie decisions. When a POI reacts to your questions, their facial expressions and body movement clue you in as to whether or not they’re telling the truth. It’s quite amazing to see in a video game, and it’s executed perfectly here.

The city of LA looks great in this game, especially considering it’s 1946. Buildings, cars, the people walking around (mild complaint about them later) all make it really feel authentic. I ran into alot of glitchy and twitchy environments cruising and walking around L.A. though, but not really enough to knock it.

Gameplay is actually pretty cut and dry for a game of this type. Head to the crime scene, find the few basic clues to get a head start, go interview people, etc. Occasionally an action scene will come into play, and they’re needed to avoid (at least in my case) the boredom factor that will creep in from time to time. GTA, this isn’t. While technically a sandbox game, unless you really want to search every alleyway for the 50 film reels, (ugh) you don’t really stray off the beaten path too much.

These action scenes are actually a tad disappointing for me personally. I don’t mind a little hand-holding, and I love the way the characters jump over things/climb ladders for you, but it lacks challenge because of this. The only time you’ll ever fail these is hitting a random telephone pole while driving or something. And even in the one scene I had trouble with, (you’ll know when it happens) I was allowed to just skip it after a few tries.  Really? Maybe that’s the point. The game is meant to hit AX or Y, and not chase/kill bad guys.

To render any boredom factor are 40 street crimes. Again, a majority of these are pretty easy, but they do make a nice change if you get sick of walking around and interviewing people.

The story of the game itself is actually in parts, and can’t really be commented on w/o spoilers. It’s engaging, but in my case i found myself outsmarting it, wondering why A happened instead of the more obvious B. This can actually make getting the interviews right a problem at times. You feel forced to end a case just to move on, when you know something just isn’t right.

The cases themselves are where this game shines. Every one is different, although there will be some connections to others. You can never really “fail” a case, just change it’s outcome based on how well you do. This makes replay value higher, along with getting a 5 star rating on them. They’re all loosely based on real events, making them all the more interesting to solve.

Nobody makes me bleed my own blood.

So did it feel my desire to be master detective for a while? Meh, yes and no. I plan a future article with spoilers etc for anyone who’s finished the game to read with comments and gripes, etc.

Hi Rez: Fantastic graphics, story, voice acting. Fun to play detective.

Low Rez: TBA

Verdict: Completely worth picking up. Innovative and gorgeous.

8/10

100% accurate.

Made this after about 2,000 hours of CoD data in my lifetime.

I stood in a familiar yet disorienting scene. The north bank of Dalaran looked the same as always; Blood Elf tellers holding court in ridiculously small booths (i’d always wondered WHERE they stored my items…), vortex-ey guild banks to their left. I turned towards the door. I couldn’t quite place what was odd, but there was definitely something out of place.

Blink.

As I teleported about 15 feet forward due to the arcane magic of Blink, it hit me before I even materialized on the stairs outside the bank:

Dalaran was a ghost town.

To my left and right, the mailboxes that usually had heroes of all shapes and sizes around them were unused. The well in front of me where some asshat with some raid-achievement flying mount would hover? Asshat-less. The major intersection outside the blacksmith shop? Not a soul in sight. I stood in awe for about a minute until a level 76 something-or-another walked past me. Yes, Dalaran was a ghost town.

These were the first moments I experienced after installing Cataclysm; the already 4.5 million unit selling expansion pack to World of Warcraft. I’d just finished installing the game and logged in nearly two whole days after its’ release, and it was clear the world of Warcraft had migrated back to Azeroth, leaving me alone in the once vibrant hub of the now-forgotten Wrath of the Lich King expansion. The vast majority of players were racing to the level cap in the new zones of the game (heck, some guild friends were already level 85 when I’d logged in) or trying out the new playable races. I felt like I’d been left behind.

In some regards, that was an apt feeling for my World of Warcraft experience. I had done some raiding late in the first expansion, and raided again once Lich King was released. I played week in and week out, banging my head against raid bosses until I couldn’t take it anymore. I’d taken a sanity break from the game for a few months and rejoined with a new look on the game. I didn’t feel like putting in hours a week to raid. I’d become one of the millions of “more casual” players.

Pictured: The Cleft of Shadow -- AKA "Mage Hell"

Realizing there wasn’t much to be done in Dalaran anymore, I fired off a portal to Orgrimmar — the once and future capital city of the Horde. Expecting to be placed in the usual perch above the mage trainer, I was again disoriented: I was in a dark, purple-hued cavern. Mages and their trainers had been relegated to the “basement” of Orgrimmar in “The Drag”. After realizing this, I began walking around, stumbling to find an exit.

Blink.

As I blinked forward my requisite 15 or so feet, I came to the outside area of Orgrimmar. And boy, it was not as I remembered: Buildings now three stories tall, and everything seemed to exhibit a scale much larger than before. A tauren on some form of dragon swooshed by my head. Oh, right… you can fly here now. Suddenly the larger scale made more sense; Orgrimmar expanded to allow for air traffic above. I quickly made my way to the flight trainer to purchase the right to fly.

That’s certainly one of the larger draws of Cataclysm for the veteran WoW player. The “old world” of Azeroth now allows high-level players to fly all over it. And fly you needed to: since nearly every single zone in the game is now different, there is a lot to see, and the new Archeology profession takes you all over the new old world. All of this is as compelling as you’d expect, with the master storycrafters at Blizzard displaying great skill in both narrative and the “carrot-on-a-stick” gameplay design.

But I was ready to kill things, so I trained up on the new mage skills and headed out to Mt. Hyjal, one of the new “starting zones” for previously-max level players. And over the next few hours, I saved bunnies, destroyed elementals, and even played through a series of quests based on the classic quarter-munching arcade game Joust (which nets you a small, ostrich-like pet as a reward upon completion, natch). And I can say that the quests are easily some of the best made yet: varied, exciting and epic-feeling.

However, I soon begin to feel that, for all the polish and glitz, this was the same old game I’ve been playing on and off for 6 years. Sure, the formula was improved more than it had been before, but it was the same formula. I picked up a quest that led me to slay some slave handlers and free the slaves that they had in tow. I flew over to the encampment, swooped down and began throwing copious balls of fire at the slavers. And as soon as they would perish, another one or two would pop up in their place, charging at me to avenge their fallen friends.

The scene is familiar to anyone who’s played a role playing game as a cloth wearing magic slinger. When outnumbered, it’s wise to retreat and regroup. Unlike all of that heavy plate armor the warriors are clad in, cloth offers meager protection against being bludgeoned by a crude cudgel. With my health dropping fast, I turned from the slaver and charted my escape.

Blink.

Get used to this again, clothies.

As I fired off the blink spell, expecting to be 15 feet away from my attackers, I somehow end up in the exact same place as before. Ah, yes… the good old blink bug. Instead of being free and clear, my attacker throws one last blow upside my head and I’m now an undead dead mage.

As I walk back from the spirit healer to find my body, it becomes clear that, like a mage alone in Dalaran, the game has passed me by yet again. I quickly resurrect my mage, activate my hearthstone to get back to a safe place, and log out from the world of Azeroth. I’ll be back in a few weeks, when the urge to play again comes calling.

Not the winner.

Hello out there. Well it’s been a hectic year for us at SHR, which kinda left this place gathering cobwebs. To somewhat make up for it, I’m going to at least continue our year end awards by listing my top 5 for 2010, despite having not played some big titles. Read on to see Loco’s favs of the year, in short detail.

#5 – Red Dead Redemption

A better game than most expect. The GTA in the old west game has an engaging storyline to keep it from getting stale.

#4 – Fallout – New Vegas

Fallout’s Vegas adventure is pretty much the same as it’s predecessor, but it’s Vegas baby. Everything you loved about Fallout 3 is here so it doesn’t disappoint. Hours and hours and choices and looting. Doesn’t get much better, unless you add slot machines and blackjack.

#3 – Rock Band 3

Keyboards, a sweet new interface and tons of new songs. The only thing keeping this from being #1 is not being able to play pro guitar yet.

#2 – Call Of Duty – Black Ops

This game is way better than I expected. The multiplayer got some sweet tweaks, namely getting rid of annoyances like stopping power and martyrdom. But there’s too many to list here. It’s the best MP CoD game to date. The campaign (which I loved personally) gets ragged on for being too much to eat at once, because it never slows down, and some players tend to get burned out quick.

#1 Limbo

Odds are you’ve already played LIMBO, but if for some reason you haven’t, stop reading this immediately and go buy it, now. Full review from earlier this year:

http://www.superhighresolution.net/2010/07/review-limbo/

So that’s it. Short and sweet. I missed alot of games this year due to it quite frankly sucking ass for me, so here’s to 2011 where I’ll hopefully catch up a little and play the year’s offerings. Happy New Year.

Proof that sometimes it’s better to be lucky, than good.

Yeah, we’re still here. And this is awesome.