Alright. Ladies and gentlemen, this is my final Comic-Con 2011 post. After this, I have nothing to post about... Okay that isn't true, but I won't have anything more to post on Comic-Con. With that said, let's dive right now.
There are few disclaimers I need to make before I begin though. The first was that the game was in 3D, so the graphics looked slightly stretched and pixelated. The second is that this is the same demo Konami had brought to E3 which I'd watched a few times over. Therefore, I knew (for the most part) all the puzzles and where to go, so I can't speak to the riddle difficulty.
What I can talk about is the combat, controls, and overall atmoshpere of the game. The demo starts with Murphy (the main character) just outside of Silent Hill. I'm assuming this is near the very beginning of the game because Murphy's goal is find different clothes to change into. For those who don't know you play as Murphy Pendleton, a prisoner on transport to death row. Like the Fugitive, your transport crashes and you escape. Unlike the Fugitive, Tommy Lee Jones is not chasing you, and you've landed your ass in Silent Hill.
Vatra Games (the development studio) has certainly nailed the look of the town. Everything looks like Silent Hill and for someone who hasn't played a Silent Hill game since '09s Shattered Memories, it felt so good to be back. The controls are much more consistent with the older Silent Hill games. Instead of being able to strafe and run all the time, you have to turn Murphy and then push forward on the analog stick in order to make him go forward. You also have to hold a separate button to run. These are all welcome changes from the last two games as it increases the difficulty and certain adds to the fear when you're being chased by something.
One thing I particularly liked about Downpour was the real time transformation from regular Silent Hill to the nightmare world. This was in Homecoming but it only happened once in the entire game (before you fought the first boss in the greenhouse). I'm hoping in Downpour it will be a more regular occurrence.
The combat in Silent Hill Downpour is a combination of the combat in Silent Hill: Origins and Shattered Memories. There are chase sequences like the ones from Shattered Memories, but there are also regular combat situations. The chase sequence also took place while Murphy has no weapons, so I'm wondering if there will be times when Murphy is unarmed or he's being chased by something too big to fight (or intangible, as the first thing chasing you was a red light.... sound familiar?).
The combat controls play out similar to the older games. You swing and hope you hit. From what I could tell, there wasn't a light swing or a heavy swing. Another thing I noticed was that the monsters I was facing were damn hard to kill. I don't know if at that point in the game I wasn't actually supposed to kill them, but I'll be damned if I could find a way out of the area I was in. After a long ten minute battle that mostly involved me running and healing, I finally died. It's worth noting that these particular enemies has a screeching ability that stunned Murphy whenever it hit. Very frustrating, but the difficulty is welcome as the last two Silent Hill games were way too easy.
Unfortunately I never found out what was past those enemies. There was a line behind me and it was continue until you die or finish. Even so, we all continued to make fun of Homecoming and how much better this demo was than that entire game. Good times.
Silent Hill Downpour is set to release (currently) on October 25, 2011.
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