Jim Sterling: "Silent Hill Downpour let me down, felt poor"

[JGarret]

CGI, on the other hand, here´s Dale North´s impressions:

"I'm coming fresh from just having spent some time with Silent Hill: Downpour. I wanted to hurry and write this up while it was still fresh on my mind. I wanted to tell fellow Silent Hill franchise fans that I'm feeling really good about how Downpour is looking right now. Really good.

Developer Vatra tells me that the game is still in alpha, but I spent a good amount of time with it, and it feels and looks great already. I think series fans are tired of Silent Hill franchise games trying to be Silent Hill 2, but I don't think any of us mind if developers look toward it as inspiration. That is what has happened here. The atmosphere, pacing and exploration in Downpour feel good, in the way that Silent Hill 2 felt good.

The best thing I can say about Downpour so far is that it is not afraid to take its time to set the stage and pull you into a good story. It seems to invite exploration, and it's not going to beat you over the head with instant action.

I think you're really going to like this one. Even if you didn't like Homecoming or Shattered Memories, I'm pretty sure you're going to like this one.

Silent Hill: Downpour is technically a survival horror game, but it felt a lot more open to exploration, and definitely more focused on slowly scaring the sh*t out of you later. The tension in the game seemed to rise naturally and gradually, but I was running for my life before I knew it. It looked great, sounded great, felt great, and had some pretty immersive 3D to boot. And again, this is in the alpha stage of development. Things are looking really good for Silent Hill: Downpour already. It's safe to get excited about this one."