I've just written this on Living Social as part of my facebook profile, but wanted to share it here as well.
This is a beautiful re-imagining of the first Silent Hill. Climax took a brave step removing the combat element, but as it was broken in the first place I applaud them for trying something new. It may not be the injection of life that Resident Evil 4 was to Resident Evil, but its certainly getting there.
Whilst utilizing the same locations from the original, the story this time is more akin to David Lynch than the traditional J-horror of the original three stories in the series. Having said that, the ending scenes left me with the same gut wrenching feeling I got watching the 'videotape scene' from Silent Hill 2. Just when I was completely confused and tempted to write the story off completely, the end moments brought everything together to unite what turns out to be a wonderfully sad tale.
Of course, something must be said of the soundtrack. Unfortunately, this was Yamaoka's last project with Konami, and many argue its was Yamaoka's composing that was at the core of the Silent Hill universe. The soundtrack is more minimalist in scope than previous outings, with its focus more on incidental sound than sweeping soundscapes, but it nevertheless perfectly compliments the vision of the game. Yamaoka is a Angelo Badalamenti fan, and elements of this soundtrack are testament to that.
This game will undoubtably get overlooked by most people, but taken out of the Silent Hill universe, it is still a great game in its own right with some brilliant puzzles and plenty of atmosphere.
