In a recent interview, the co-writer of Silent Hill 5, Patrick J Doody, had some interesting tid-bits to reveal.
Two things to note in the interview are: SH5 is going to be the scariest in the series, for both "jump scares" and atmosphere. Patrick is also hoping that players will be "greatly affected by the game's end".
Since its a survival horror game would you say Silent Hill 5 is the scariest narrative in the series so far?
I think when we talk about Silent Hill and a "scary" story we are talking about two different things. Overall, the game's scares will be the biggest we've had, and that's not just jump scares - the eerie feeling of dread will be heightened because the designers can really immerse you emotionally through amazing environments and wild-looking demons. However, story wise, Silent Hill hasn't typically been “scary,” as it's more about the depths of madness and terror it takes the player. Clearly I can't talk about the story of the game, but I can say that we have worked very hard on making it the most disturbing drama of the entire series. My hope is that players will be affected by the game's end.
Without giving away any spoilers will we learn anything more about the history of Silent Hill?
Here's what I can say about Silent Hill and this installment - you will discover some new secrets about Silent Hill by way of how its history has influenced a much larger society than you may have previously thought. And that's almost saying too much!
How would you describe the protagonist of Silent Hill?
Alex Shepherd feels very new to the series. He's less a victim of circumstance and more a man of action. Now, I know people are worried that having a soldier as the star of the game means he is somehow Rambo, let me assure you that he is not. However, he does take a much more proactive approach to the world around him. We tried to make him more aware of the strange events that unfold in the story, so if you believe in the theory that the player is the character, then I think he's going to feel more relatable to someone who would make rational decisions based on what he sees in front of him.
Have you played the games and if so whats your favourite?
I think one of the reasons Konami hired us was because I was such a huge fan of the series, was very knowledgeable of the game's lore and wanted the game to have continued success.
Now, regarding my favorite, I know the fans love Silent Hill 2, and Silent Hill 2 certainly elevated the game to the direction that the series has gone. However, I'm a big fan of Silent Hill 3. I love all the characters - Heather, Cartland, Vincent - they are all so colorful and have great motivations.
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I was one of the early skeptics as well, seeing as Silent Hill is my favorite Survival Horror series of all time but after seeing this video:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/135953.html
I have a lot of confidence in this team.
Im going to rent this game.
This article was about Silent Hill 5 supposedly being the scariest SH game to date once released, not about the previous ones being scary.
Also, what do you care if this game is good or not and why should it "better be good" if you've already made up your mind on only renting it?
So this game i won't be expecting much and test it out. So maybe this will help you and Seeker understand why i continue to play the games. Cause i still like Horror games and films and want to see how the game is compared to past. I said its not great, not that its horrible games, maybe if people read and think before replying back it would help to avoid problems.
The Collective doesn't have an impressive line up of games on their resume but then again neither did Climax Studios...Even though the U.S. division was going to completely *bleep* up Origins with their "Over the shoulder" camera, the U.K. division was there to save the day. I wasn't impressed with the SH5 demo The Collective showed though.
Taking away cinematic camera angles? Thrid person "shooter" camera angle...let's face it, the game was looking like an action game rather than a "interact with the environment" game. For survival horror games to be classified just that, the character needs to be at least helpless a bit helpless (which erases RE4 off the genre).
Also, they reinforce idea that Alex won't be totally helpless and will be more aware of what's going on. That's fair, but he ain't the first one, as Travis Grady (Origins) had a pretty damn good grasp on what Alessa wanted him to do...he knew more than I did at the time.
The majority of Silent Hill camera angles are all just high shots looking down and moving with the character and there is not much of a difference in any third person game where you can control the camera. There are only a few instances where the camera is really fixed in an odd creepy way, or moves in a strangely cool way (SH1 alley corner) so I can't say it'll really make that much of a difference.
Also, they could take the approach to allow for fully player controlled camera angles in some scenes and fixed camera angles in other scenes A LA the devil may cry series, even seen as recent in devil may cry 4 where sometimes you can move the camera around and sometimes you cannot.
Either way, I have a feeling it's not going to make as large a difference in this one. The atmosphere as whole looks way... thicker, I guess you could say. Looking at the world from any angle looks creepy and very classic Silent Hill from all the footage I've seen. At least we won't have to worry about any over the shoulder stuff I hope.
The camera can be placed anywhere in a room (whether it is one corner of a room or inside a locker even), a third person view camera is usually...if not always placed behind the character. So yeah, it does make a difference, a TPV camera focuses on you, and camera angle can focus on anything in the room that might need your attention, like puzzle pieces for one.
The camera angles for DMC are more of a flaw, a game that fast paced does not need a cinematic camera angle. And cinematic/third person camera has been done in every Silent Hill, it's just that the majority of them are cinematic angles. For example, the camera follows James when he's in the apartment buildings/Silent Hill streets but whenever you enter a room it can change to an angle of the room, giving it a more unique look...and also pointing out that there is flashlight on the mannequin.
What I'm hoping is that they don't focus too much about the combat, SH4 already tried that and look what happened. They could also learn another lesson from Origins and give the player less things to defend yourself with...like limiting your firearm arsenal up to the shotgun/rifle...and not an assault rifle.
The only reason I brought up DMC was because it was a recent example that shows how a next gen game was using both fully player controlled cameras and fixed "cinematic" camera angles. And no, they're not actually flawed. You might find that you have trouble with the camera angles due to the fast nature of DMC but they DEFINITELY do it on purpose for a more cinematic feel. They don't do it simply to be stupid or for technical reasons. It has cinematic intent and I have ZERO trouble with it.
Trust me, I completely understand the phenomenon that is the fixed camera angle. I've beaten every single resident evil released as well as every single Silent Hill game.
Thing is, I do think that they must ultimately shy away from these fixed camera angles, or if they're going to, at least allow for the option for both. A lot of people don't like them, I personally have no trouble with them, and because of that they lose a lot of sales. They wouldn't even have to sell out, just give us the option.
I'm actually not the only one who has a problem with the camera angles in DMC though, I can tell you that much. Personally, I just don't see a purpose for DMC to have a cinematic feel at all, but that's just me.
Well, I do hope they use both cameras with a balance. If we all remember SH4 and Origins, the TPV camera had more problems than the camera angles, mostly because when you tried to adjust it you couldn't because a wall was in the way.
I know you're not the only one that has problems with DMC camera angles, and I know that you've played the Resident Evil games extensively and like me, have no trouble with the fixed camera angles in those games. However there are tons of people that have a problem with the camera angles in Resident Evil to the point of unplayability.
See what I'm saying? See how it works both ways and you have to see it from both sides?
Yeah, I know what you mean, reach a compromise between casual players and genre fans. I'm saying that's probably not gonna happen anyways, SO since we both know that's not happening, I don't want them to change the traditional camera angle just so they could please other people more.
Sure it's good business, but look at what Capcom did, too many mainstream reviews and people who didn't even like the genre kept saying the same crap "needs something new", we end up with RE4, and where were the oldcore fans that supported the game since it began? Down in the bottom of the gutter but not before Capcom going: "Sorry guys, I know we just butt-screwed you, but hey we're getting money, No hard feelings?"
In a nutshell: I say screw the compromise, make a game with the traditional traits that's been going on for years and add a few new additions wihout having to radically change the formula.
I completely agree with you to a point. I say spend more time on your games and give the option to play it the classic way that your series diehard fans have always loved and give a new option to cater to new series players. Everyone wins. All it takes is a little more time and dedication on the developers part, in the end, everyone ends up with a better game.
Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence comes to mind, you can switch on the fly between the MGS3 Snake Eater original camera angles and go to a brand new in Subsistence fully player controlled camera by simply pressing in the R3 button. Sometimes I even found myself switching back and forth just because I didn't want to deal with moving the camera myself because I had no real problems with the fixed rail moving cameras to begin with. It works great.
I completely agree to a point. I hate it when developers jump the shark in a video game series. Capcom is notorious for this. Resident Evil 4, Dino Crisis 3, even Devil May Cry 2 slightly. Where they could have simply renamed the games and excluded them from the main series and had them be the beginning of a brand new series they chose to bank in on the big old series name they had created. I hate it.
Resident Evil 4 would have been even more amaizng had it been called Outbreak or something. I don't know, just not be resident evil since it completely lost touch with the series roots. Hopefully RE5 rectifies this.
Same with Dino Crisis 3, wow what the hell were they thinking, the only parallel to the rest of the series is the Third Energy Research, no returning characters or anything.
Here's what developers need to do, PUT MORE TIME INTO THEIR WORK! There are so many games that could be better than they are if they simply put a little more love and care into their work and give the player more options. Give us the best of both worlds, don't alienate your diehard series fans that have made your series what it is today by getting rid of the classic camera system. Design the game to be used with the old style camera system, but then give the option to use a new completely player controlled camera to new players or simply people not fans of the fixed camera perspective.
SIMPLE! Time consuming? Yes. But in the long run, if your game is good in the first place you'll sell more copies because your game caters to more people.
WOW, GG gamegrep! Didn't display the post above me so I thought it got lost so I completely rewrote it. Oh well, some new stuff here.