Gotta say it...

I hate to sound like one of those people who go on boards and say "this movie was crap!" And then other people are like "Why did you come to this board then?" Anyway, I love Silent Hill. But I gotta say, I'm finding this one underwhelming...

I'm only just passed the sanitarium, so no spoilers please. But I gotta say I like how they stayed true to the source material, especially keeping Alchemillia hospital with the same map. I thought that was a nice touch.

But at the moment, I'm not really getting into it. The combat system I've heard great things about, but it's not doing anything for me. I don't even bother using the melee weapons because when I pull one out I get tackled before I can swing it, and then it goes back into my inventory, so I stick to fists and guns, and as there is precious little ammo.

So starting at the sanitarium, I noticed that the enemies can sometimes be in groups of six! I'm like "What the hell!? I've never seen that many in one room before (haven't finished 3 or 4 yet, but they're on my to do list (got a lot of horror games to play through :P). Seeing as you get overwhelmed by just two when you're using fists, I've decided to just run past them.

Speaking of the sanitarium, may I say 'poor level design'? That place was massive, and there are like about four areas where you didn't even go. Why was that place so big? It was bigger than the two hospitals in Silent Hill, and most sanitariums I've seen are smaller than hospitals (I work in aged care). I kept getting lost, trying to retrace my steps, and the place is so big that when you're stuck, you can't be arsed going back and rechecking everything. I did get stuck on that doll puzzle, but fortunately I had a feeling that it had something to do with the male seclusion, but I did a bit of running around before I found the piece of paper with the prescriptions. (oh, and totally saw that twist at the end coming :P)

One more thing to add. So far the story seems more like a self insertion fantasy than an addition to canon. Why the seemingly random insertions of the bubblehead nurses, lying figures, and a (seemingly not fully formed) pyramid head, minus the pyramid. All of which are supposed to represent the repressed sexual frustration and guilt of James Sunderland. So I hope you can understand why it seems like a little fan wank.

But I digress. I'll post here again when I finished the game, and maybe the story will become more coherent. I'll catch ya's later. And try not to flame too much :P