14 DAY TRIAL // Silent Hill: Homecoming might not have been the hit that the series needed but the developer Vatra and publisher Konami are hoping that the changes made for the upcoming Downpour will convince gamers to give the franchise another chance.
Devin Shatsky, who is a producer working on Silent Hill: Downpour, has told the United States version of the PlayStation blog that, “We’ve gone with a more realistic weapon and inventory system. In past Silent Hills, you had this magic pocket where you could carry a full arsenal of weaponry — Uzis, swords, hammers and more. That took away from the player’s suspension of disbelief, but it also empowered the player a bit too much and it impacts the scare factor.”
He added, “In Downpour, you’re limited to carrying what’s in your hands, plus a holstered firearm. You’ll want to use your weapons carefully. Each weapon is breakable, so wooden weapons will break after a couple of hits while metal weapons will last longer. Most weapons are everyday items: rakes, bottles, kitchen knives. There are no katanas or the like in this game.”
The main reason for the changes made in Downpour is that the main character is an every day man who needs to cope with a situation that goes from bad to worse very quickly.
The health system is also remade, with the physical appearance of Murphy, the main character, used to show damage via effects blood on clothing and physical defects like limping.
The new main character will also determine the enemies that will appear in Downpour, which might mean that well known faces like the nurses or Pyramid Head might not be in the game or their presence might be severely limited.
Silent Hill: Downpour is set to arrive on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 during the first quarter of the year.