20 years ago, the most underrated survival horror sequel redefined the entire genre

Henry Townshend wakes up one morning to find himself trapped in his own dingy apartment. The front door is mysteriously covered in chains and padlocks, and Henry has no way of communicating with the outside world. Except for a mysterious hole in his bathroom wall that acts like evil. Mario blowjob, taking him to nightmarish hellscapes.

So begins Bedroom (no relation to Tommy Wiseau’s 2003 cult classic), the fourth installment in the popular survival horror series Silent Hill. Although the game is considered the black sheep of the franchise, its ambitious gameplay – despite the uneven execution of subversive ideas – was a pioneer of contemporary survival horror games that almost managed to surpass the biggest rival of the franchise.

Although Silent Hill 4 isn’t affectionately considered the most visually impressive or mechanically sound Silent Hill, its introduction of ambitious gameplay mechanics paved the way for how modern survival horror games are designed while also setting Resident Evil on guard (at least for a little).

Perspective in a not-so-safe vault

One of Silent Hill 4 Innovations is its first-person camera inside Henry’s apartment. This is where the game exclusively introduces a first-person perspective – a first for the series. This also came with a horrible realization: not all rooms to save your game in are rooms where you can find temporary shelter.

Apartment 302 apparently serves as the game’s vault. Here, Henry can observe the outside world through various holes and windows and observe subtle changes in the layout of his apartment as the game progresses. The room also allows players to save their game and drop items into an inventory box.

However, Apartment 302 can become increasingly antagonistic to players if they unintentionally drop cursed items into their inventory box, thereby turning the vault into another hostile environment with a mix of hauntings. This clever change in gameplay presentation proved so ingenious that it ended up carrying over into other survival horror games like Dead space, Survive toAnd Resident Evil 4 Remake.

Survival horror combat has evolved

In addition to disrupting the cinematographic transmission of the story via camera angles, Silent Hill 4 also introduced a myriad of gameplay changes to its combat. The first visibly noticeable change is a visible health bar at the top left of the screen. This addition effectively dismisses this entry in the series as an immersive cinematic experience as a step towards resident Evil action-oriented survival horror atmosphere.

Another curious visual element to Silent Hill 4 the busiest screen is a circular icon to the right of his health bar that indicates the strength of melee attacks. In theory, the gauge – which fills like a speedometer – allows the player to charge up powerful melee attacks in high-risk, high-reward combat scenarios. In practice, however, a quick volley of faster melee attacks is more optimal as they stun enemies more effectively. While Silent Hill 4 The melee icon served as an impactful addition to the franchise’s formula, its inclusion made the game a bit smoother in the combat department.

We can also credit Silent Hill 4 for bringing us a controversial element in modern games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Realm — weapon durability. Because the more you fight, the more your weapons tend to break. Just like in recent Zelda games, Silent Hill 4 The approach to weapon durability and the on-screen item selection menu forced players to stop and think carefully about risky encounters instead of forcing their way through.

A cult classic heritage

Silent Hill 4 Legacy’s legacy as a divisive game lies less in its story being divorced from both the setting and story of its predecessors than in the poor execution of its new ideas. Metacritic Score Snapshot of Silent Hill in 2024 Reveals Silent Hill 4 is not in the upper echelons of the franchise. In fact, the game is the sixth highest rated silent Hill game, sandwiched between Silent Hill: origins And Silent Hill: Homecoming. (The first three numbered silent Hill the games occupy the top three spots in the series according to Metacritic.)

That you see Silent Hill 4 as a great game marred by its execution or a low point in the series, there’s no denying that its neat tricks served as a harbinger of the state of modern survival horror games. To paraphrase the immortal words of YouTube video essayist NakeyJakey: games that are only 7 out of 10 work… so the real 10 can copy their ideas later and win lots of awards.