I bought the PS2 version of Silent Hill 4: The Room a long time ago, along with a copy of 2. The first time I played the game, I hated it. I though " this isn't Silent Hill" and actually dislike the 3D controls. If I were to write a review of this game 6 months ago, I would have given it a 3 or 4. I decided to sit down and play this game, and I feel a bit empty.

What I mean by that is that this is a good, scary game. But it has one huge, gapping flaw: it dosen't feel like a Silent Hill game. Well first of all, the game takes place in South Ashfield, a town near Silent Hill. The name of the game is SILENT HILL! All the previous games on the franchise took place there, hence the name of the franchise, and this game taking place in another town with only light references to the haunted town is almost insulting. I'm sorry, but I really belive this game should have been called something like The Haunted Room or something else. Lacking the flashlight and the radio that becomes static also alienates this game.

Also, the story has barely anything to do with the whole plot. It mentions The Order and the father of the main character of Silent Hill 2 appears, but besides this and the appearance of Robbie the Rabbit from Silent Hill 3, there is nothing else to relate this game to the others and the over arching plot. Yes, I know that suspicious holes and the main villain Walter Sullivan were mentioned in Silent Hill 2, but they were really brief. The story itself is cool, and really dark, but has a big problem that plages more the old school Resident Evil game: backstory. If you played any of the games on the RE series prior to RE4, you know that memos tell the story of Umbrella and such. But in this game, most of the story is told in backstory. The identity of the main villain and his actions and why he did that are also only in backstory. It works, and Sullivan's backstory is very interesting, but I wish there was another method. Story segments in the game itself are brief.

Silent Hill 4 is a good game, and I really should have given it a bigger chance long ago, but it dosen't feel like a Silent Hill game. It should have been something else.

Be sure to check my review of this game too, where I sumarize everything I just said and some other coments.

If you don't agree with me, I'd be happy to discuss with you. A nice discussion between inteligent people.