Silent Hill 4: The Room (2004)

Genre: Survival-Horror / Action | Players: 1
Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo

If anything can be said for 4, it’s that games actually can justify their place in franchises they weren't originally meant to be part of. Further, this should be judged for oneself, on the merits of the finished product. Do not let your feelings about it be determined by popular opinion or initial impressions. Akin to Hibiki of Kamen Rider fame, The Room more than earns its spot in the Silent Hill series. However, know that the differences inherent are what both define it, and make it a less than perfect entry.

The limited inventory system, while weakly validated, will not present you with extreme troubles. You will have no need of the scarce firearms and their space-hogging ammo stacks once you’ve tried out the Rusty Axe and its brethren. Indeed, 4 stands with 3 and Homecoming as an entry with a satisfying, varied, and effective melee system. Aside from weapons and health and puzzle items, you are also tasked with collecting spirit-warding artifacts to use in your apartment. Said apartment acts as a hub-world between various sub-spaces, and houses set pieces such as hauntings that must be dealt with if you are to achieve the 'better' endings. This area is experienced in first-person and is effective in how it goes from being a safe-haven to just another part of the nightmare as the game progresses. It also further ties into what becomes an interconnected game world. At first, you will explore individual, discrete areas. Over time, however, you will end up revisiting each of them in a series of threaded experiences. As you do so, you will be escorting someone who can actually fend for themselves to a degree. Ultimately, their biggest impact is that they slightly slow your movement, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The final unique feature of 4 is how the lead, Henry, is hands-down the least interesting character in the game. This, however, can be attributed to what he’s experienced and affords us a (nearly) silent protagonist with which to witness the twisted story of one of Silent Hill’s most compelling denizens: Walter Sullivan. If you have the patience and inclination to try something different, I can absolutely recommend giving this a spin. It can be a bit stilted, but I think it is ultimately rewarding because of its 'ancillary' characters, unique take on the structure of Silent Hill, and loose association with 2.

If you'd like to read my updated thoughts, please head below the cut.

Buyer’s Guide:
Available on PS2, Xbox, and PC. While you can occasionally find it in used bins, I would recommend hunting around online for a good deal, as it is usually pretty pricey, in all its incarnations. Borrowing it from a Silent Hill-obsessed friend is honestly your best course of action.

Oh Neg, you bittersweet summer child. You had no idea what the world (and corporate entities) would do. When you're done laughing at me, reader, click here.

3½ Abandoned Umbilical Cords out of 5

Nutted by NEG

Spoilers for Silent Hill 2, 4, and Downpour are highlighted in red, so they may be glossed over, if necessary.

I feel a bit differently about this game now, and I think it’s because I’m much more attuned to game design practices. A big part of my increased appreciation derives from the structure of the worlds. I feel much more positive about the backtracking. In your initial trips to each world, you are allowed to encounter the “tools,” the interaction-ables, if you will, that you can only utilize on your return trip. It’s a delicious tease of what’s to come. They get you thinking about how they’ll come into play and quite simply let you know that you’ll be back. Which, is important for establishing expectations. Further, because it’s Silent Hill, it gets you excited because you know there’s more to the worlds and that you’ll be getting more time with them.

Eileen is a movement puzzle to be solved and that makes her lightyears more interesting than someone who is purely an escort mission. Plus, she can fight. She can down enemies and even stomp them. She can handle plenty of friendly fire without it negatively impacting the ending you receive. As I said above, the worst thing she does is make you move slower and that’s not really a bad thing in a Silent Hill game.

It’s incredibly fitting that Henry is the Receiver of Wisdom, as that’s your role in playing. This is only helped by the fact that Henry is essentially a silent protagonist. It’s your role to learn about Walter.

There’s a reason that teachers stress the need for making outlines before writing. Having a solid framework will not automatically make a piece of fiction worthwhile, but it goes a LONG way in paving the road there. What’s hanging upon it may not be the best one could achieve, or that someone has experienced, but it allows a strong sense of perspective in that it makes it obvious what the writers and developers were going for. If there’s no clear-to-see structure in place, then what’s on display has to be far more compelling to overcome what could be a complete mess of a narrative. A lot more faith is required to make it to the end, if missteps occur along the way. Kamen Rider Ryuki is an example I like to use, as to me it’s a lot of strong characterization presented in a garbage bag, for which there is no receptacle, let alone a landfill. The Room, on the other hand, has a very strong framework in place, just as Homecoming does.

To close, I'll address all of the even-numbered entries in the series.

Skip past the red text to avoid spoilers for 2, 4, and Downpour.

The connections and similarities between 2 and 4 extend beyond the presence of Frank, and the apartment of Mary’s nurse, Rach(a)el. As noted, Henry and James both have traveling companions. You get to get right up on Toluca Lake at one point. Henry has to jump into holes to progress, just as James did, and the animation is even similar! One of the messages in Neely’s Bar takes on a new meaning with the existence of 4. Henry has to contend with a counterpart the same way as James. Granted, Henry’s is far more inviting! There’s a prison related to water (which is equally disturbing in an ENTIRELY different way) and the items associated with resurrection in 2 are present and central in 4’s lore. There is a mannequin that predates the ones in Downpour. Looks just like them. Freaks the shit out of me EVERY. TIME. 2 obviously has monsters called Mannequins, as well. There’s a doll in a wheelchair in 4 that Henry has to construct and Murphy has to contend with the presence of the Wheelman, which he similarly had a hand in creating.

Henry is trapped in his apartment, but is allowed movement through locations in South Ashfield and Silent Hill. He ends his journey inside a variant of that very apartment. Similarly, Murphy was in prison and actually ends up in a prison in Silent Hill, after getting to explore part of the town. If Frank is to be believed, James and Mary never left Silent Hill, at all. I'm more inclined to believe that they simply never contacted him again, but if what he says is true, it's easy to see how that course of events would essentially be akin to the events in the film 1408. Which, would tie all three of the games together all the more, in this final regard.

They really did a sound job of establishing links between the Evens!

While I personally still have a hard time placing 4 above any of the other games in the series, the truth is that I like it far more than I used to. It’s directly akin to Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII. It’s a case of me loving something, but simply loving it the least of its/their contemporaries.