Murphy Pendleton, Downpour’s lead role, is sitting on the prison transport bus heading to an unkown location and imprisoned for an unknown reason. The ride is cut short after the bus careens off of a cliff. Having survived the impact, Murphy finds himself stranded in Silent Hill. This kicks off the demo.
Upon entering the eerie town, Murphy stumbles upon a flashlight next to a locked gate. Fortunately, this time around locked doors won’t pose as much of a problem as Homecoming (included 133 locked doors that could never be opened). The lock on the gate was rusty and, therefore, less resilient than other locks. A quick survey of the area revealed a nearby crowbar which could be used to break the lock off. That is how they are remedying the issue with Homecoming. It won’t be “go find a key” anymore. Instead, it is about finding the right tool to get the door open.
Once past the gate, Murphy began walking cautiously along a cliff edge. This change in walking animation is something the team is very proud of. There are various walking animations the player will see in the game and they are all context sensitive. Entering dark, creepy areas will have Murphy change to a slightly more hunched position as his head turns from side to side to view his surroundings. The idea behind this is that Konami wants the player to be able to understand what’s going on through body language rather than having the character on screen constantly say “wow this is scary.” The body language is also your health indicator. As you take damage, Murphy will begin to limp and his clothes will become stained with blood. If you really find yourself on the wrong end of a savage beating the screen will flash/pulse red. The health then takes on a combination of regenerative and classic health styles. If your screen begins flashing red, then you must exit combat long enough for it to stop. However, that doesn’t mean your health is full once again. It only fills up part way. The remainder can only be recovered through the discovery and use of health packs.
As Murphy proceeds through the level he reaches the first puzzle. The ticket machine is missing and tickets are necessary to get through the gate seperating the character from the tram. After a quick glance around the area marks are discovered on the ground showing that the machine was dragged away. Following the trail, Murphy comes across an old pickup truck and is approached by a mailman for a while. The game takes its signature Silent Hill route as the mailman comes off a little too cheerful as he ignores questions regarding the town. A window in the nearby house flashes with a creature, but open looking back Murphy notices that the window is completely boarded up. This section of the demo finished off with Murphy outrunning a strange, black hole type object as it chased him down a hallway that kept expanding in front of him.
Now we were taken to the combat portion of our preview. Shortly after entering a grim yard, a Screamer appeared. These creatures can slash you up close, but they get their names from the move the perform at a distance. If you get far away from the monster it will scream leaving Murphy disoriented temporarily. The real issue comes in when there’s two Screamers. One will move in for the close-quarters combat while the other screams in the background to leave you partially incapacitated and vulnerable to melee attacks. In order to defend yourself you’ll have to arm yourself with whatever you can find. This can be chairs, pipes. and in some cases guns. Weapons break over time just as past game did, but now those broken pieces that fall off can be used seperately. For example, if a chair leg flies off during an assault with a chair, that leg can be grabbed and used by itself. Since there isn’t an inventory system you can only keep what you can hold. One weapon a time is how it goes with one exception. Guns are rare so if you find one you’re able to place it in your waistband in addition to whatever weapon you’re currently holding. The team didn’t want to punish you by making you decide between a lead pipe and a handgun with a few bullets. The battle between Murphy and the Screamers came to a close and so did our demo.
At the end the team took time for us to conduct a short Q&A. Here’s a list of what we were told:
– The game combines player-controlled camera with fixed camera angles in order to maximize nostalgia and scare factor
-Weather conditions effect the surroundings
– Here’s a basic forumula to go by: “bad weather = bad surroundings = more enemies”
– From this we understand that downpours result in increased enemy presence
– There are no loading times between levels
– The only loading time occurs when you start a new game/load a save
– Stamina is back, but much more forgiving this time around
– In an unofficial statement from the team they believe that the game is divided up “30/70 between combat and exploration respectively”
– It won’t feel like Homecoming where it was just battle after battle
– There are “nods to every Silent Hill game”
– These references are hidden in newspaper articles, radio broadcasts, and tv displays
– The most hardcore fans will have fun finding these
– Besides past Silent Hill games, the dev team took some inspiration from the show The Walking Dead
– No multiplayer component is included (This was asked because the PS Vita Silent Hill game is multiplayer focused)
– At the moment there are no plans for a Wii U Silent Hill game, but the team did seem interested in the idea stating “anything’s possible”
Revealed Key Features:
– All new and updated Silent Hill experience that visually stands on its own with the current competition. Utilizing Unreal 3 technology, the game brings the town of Silent Hill, its characters, the creatures and the alternate hell world into vivid and spectacular display.
– Free-roaming and deep exploration that will take players into all-new ‘Side Quests’ unlocking areas within the game, special items and bonus content.
– An ever-changing game world including day and night ‘Normal’ world and ‘Otherworld’ world, all manifested and sourced from character actions throughout the game.
– First-time ever 3D technology will bring Silent Hill a step closer to the player with three dimensional immersion.
Silent Hill: Downpour comes out this October for Xbox 360 and PS3.
