Silent Hill- The Escape

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Silent Hill: The Escape is a horror game by Konami. $7.99

iPhone_Reviews re-reviews Silent Hill: The Escape by Konami, as his opinions of the game do not match those of Arron's. This review as well as the original review by Arron on Razorianfly are located [HERE] The review will be shorter as a lot of the stuff is covered in the original review.

We thought It'd be great to give you a second opinion. Unlike Arron, I have never played the original Silent Hill games on the console version, mainly because of what I heard about them from friends.

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Not playing the console version seems to make the experience of playing Silent Hill: The Escape more enjoyable. I was expecting what I received, a dungeon crawler where you had to shoot the coming enemies, just like the recently released Dead Man's Dungeon. What I wasn't expecting from this game was how scary it is. There are some games I enjoy playing at midnight in abandoned hospitals, but Silent Hill just isn't one of those games.

I was not expecting Silent Hill: The Escape to be so scary. Even after level 1 you are already turning corners and having faceless nurses right in front of you. Being impatient when gaming I usually charge around the corners and when I find a nurse or wheelchair in front of me, I was known to drop my iPod out of fright.

The objective of Silent Hill: The Escape is to escape through all 10 levels of the what appears to be haunted hospital. There are five different maps which are used for two levels each. For the second time it is used there is always a graphical change and some things are added, such as bars blocking some ways through. There are no boss levels in the game and once you finish the 10 levels you unlock a new character. There are two characters to unlock in total.

The aim of the game is to find the key and get to the exit without being killed. There are many corners in the levels and turning around them quickly can be deadly. To be killed the enemies just need to walk into you. You have a flashlight that needs to be constantly refueled by batteries to stay bright. If you go for long enough the game will become really dark and alot harder to know what is around you.

You get rated after each completed level on your accuracy, time, distance traveled and an overall mark. There is no need to get a certain mark to go to the next level, but it gives you something to aim for if you decide to go back and play the levels again. I found myself getting bad marks because of how frightened I was getting. Turning around corners is the worst feeling, not knowing if you will walk straight into a nurse or whether it will be safe.

This is a good game graphically. Each level has a different theme about it, and it is good to see as I was expecting one layout for the whole game. Alot of detail has gone into the graphics, and it definitely shows. All the different enemies have been made to give a certain effect. All the ones I have seen are pretty much faceless and just plain creepy. I like the way they got past Apple's gore restrictions with grey blood.

Playing Silent Hill: The Escape with sound is obviously one of the main ways to get scared. It sounds like there is a dodgy radio in the background that gets louder as enemies get closer. Only the music in Silent Hill and Hysteria Project have managed to be even slightly frightening, and good use of music has really made this game enjoyable to play, while maybe not at the time.

I like the way controls have been implemented to suit the iPhone. The only bad thing is the way to walk by dragging your finger around the screen. I would like an actual D-Pad on the screen. Shooting is fine with the accelerometer to aim and tap on the actual target icon on the screen to shoot. When you run out of bullets you have to recharge, which is done by tilting the device until all the shells match up with the actual gun. This is a great idea as you panic when enemies are coming at you and sometimes none of your bullets will fall into the gun. Apart from the controls to move it is implemented to the theme of the game very nicely.

I enjoyed the game, and I found it to satisfy what I expected from Silent Hill. Unlike Arron, not playing the console version hasn't made me expect it to be to the same standards. If you haven't played the consoles versions you are more likely to enjoy this. For those who have played the console versions, just be expected for a corridor crawler.

The US version of Silent Hill is $7.99 but compared to the rest of the world's prices it should be only $5.99. I think Silent Hill would sell better at $4.99 or $5.99 but it is up to Konami. I found Silent Hill very challenging and a great game for those who like horror games. Just don't expect to find your way to the cupboard to get a torch without panicking if the lights go out!

Gameplay- 5.5/10
Graphics- 8/10
Sound- 9.5/10
Overall- 7.5/10

I would recommend this game if you enjoyed- Dead Man's Dungeon

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