I'll be honest...

I didn't expect much coming into this game due to Bloober team's lack of a games library as well as knowing the previous games they've developed.
however, I am pleasantly surprised to say this game not only blew away my expectations but excelled.
This game stays mostly true to the source material and it shows front and center with a few minor changes to the story and how the game is played such as the modernization to 3rd person movement as well as a simplistic yet effect combat system (now with dodging!).
I've been a big fan of the silent games for decades now and was cautiously hopeful that one developer could see the potential in revitalizing the franchise and they did just that.
the atmosphere throughout the game is near perfect, encapsulating the feeling of personal dread as well as the fact that you shouldn't be here.
i'm also glad they've kept the fog here and enhanced the detail as thick as it was with some minor changes such as being able to see taller buildings as well as trees in the distance as it's predecessor was unable to do this due to rendering limitations.
the only minor complaints i have for this game so far is that while the soundtrack is for the most part good it does have some room for improvement. for example there are times you will wander throughout the foggy town of silent hill near the beginning and the same rather loud audio will occasionally come in when it is not necessary. this is a personal opinion, but i would rather have the background ambiance be more subtle here with minor dynamics as you wander. you will notice this again in other indoor areas as well. the ambiance as you play should be rather quiet or none at all at times to really capture the uneasy-ness and tension.

the combat is simple yet effective, either melee, dodge, or shoot. that's all there is to it. while dodging is nice, it could still use room for improvement as the dodge distance isn't all that great and very easy to still get hit.

The game also pretty smooth for me as I'm getting about 80ish fps on the highest settings +dlss w/o raytracing on my 4070. i haven't really encountered any stuttering issues throughout the game, however I would like to note that during the cutscenes the game will auto lock to 30fps until the scene finishes. I don't know why this is set so low... but netherless this is only a minor complaint.

the voice acting is also pretty good in this game and the facial expressions match the voice acting for the most part with exception to one scene in particular regarding a rather depressed lady (trying not to spoil so we will leave it at that) as well as a couple of other scenes that lose their sense of serious due to incorrect facial animations.

so... is it worth the 70USD price tag???

for my first run it took me about 30ish hours to complete on hard combat and hard riddle difficulty and that is partly due to me dying over and over again. There is a new game+ option here that you will need to play if you want to explore any of the extra endings in this game, so the replay value is there.

However, as of right now I simply cant justify the high price markup for something of a niche title like this.
as much as i want to see the success of this game be well known so we can get new entries of the SH series as well as possible remakes (looking at you silent hill 3 and 4...) this game should be be around 40-50USD instead.

This game gives me hope that Konami will see the success of this and alas revitalize my hope for the continuation of the series.

Keep up the great work!


PS: in my personal opinion turn off the red indicator for low health as well as turning off icons for the QTEs this added to my immersion once these were set plus all the QTEs use the same keybind/controller bind anyways. you can tell james health state based on his stature as well as an audible heartbeart when he is one hit from dying (or just check his health the classic SH way, by going to the menu and you will see a different background based on his health state at the time.)

I'll be honest... I didn't expect much coming into this game due to Bloober team's lack of a games library as well as knowing the previous games they've developed. however, I am pleasantly surprised to say this game not only blew away my expectations but excelled. This game stays mostly true to the source material and it shows front and center with a few minor changes to the story and how the game is played such as the modernization to 3rd person movement as well as a simplistic yet effect combat system (now with dodging!). I've been a big fan of the silent games for decades now and was cautiously hopeful that one developer could see the potential in revitalizing the franchise and they did just that. the atmosphere throughout the game is near perfect, encapsulating the feeling of personal dread as well as the fact that you shouldn't be here. i'm also glad they've kept the fog here and enhanced the detail as thick as it was with some minor changes such as being able to see taller buildings as well as trees in the distance as it's predecessor was unable to do this due to rendering limitations. the only minor complaints i have for this game so far is that while the soundtrack is for the most part good it does have some room for improvement. for example there are times you will wander throughout the foggy town of silent hill near the beginning and the same rather loud audio will occasionally come in when it is not necessary. this is a personal opinion, but i would rather have the background ambiance be more subtle here with minor dynamics as you wander. you will notice this again in other indoor areas as well. the ambiance as you play should be rather quiet or none at all at times to really capture the uneasy-ness and tension. the combat is simple yet effective, either melee, dodge, or shoot. that's all there is to it. while dodging is nice, it could still use room for improvement as the dodge distance isn't all that great and very easy to still get hit. The game also pretty smooth for me as I'm getting about 80ish fps on the highest settings +dlss w/o raytracing on my 4070. i haven't really encountered any stuttering issues throughout the game, however I would like to note that during the cutscenes the game will auto lock to 30fps until the scene finishes. I don't know why this is set so low... but netherless this is only a minor complaint. the voice acting is also pretty good in this game and the facial expressions match the voice acting for the most part with exception to one scene in particular regarding a rather depressed lady (trying not to spoil so we will leave it at that) as well as a couple of other scenes that lose their sense of serious due to incorrect facial animations. so... is it worth the 70USD price tag??? for my first run it took me about 30ish hours to complete on hard combat and hard riddle difficulty and that is partly due to me dying over and over again. There is a new game+ option here that you will need to play if you want to explore any of the extra endings in this game, so the replay value is there. However, as of right now I simply cant justify the high price markup for something of a niche title like this. as much as i want to see the success of this game be well known so we can get new entries of the SH series as well as possible remakes (looking at you silent hill 3 and 4...) this game should be be around 40-50USD instead. This game gives me hope that Konami will see the success of this and alas revitalize my hope for the continuation of the series. Keep up the great work! PS: in my personal opinion turn off the red indicator for low health as well as turning off icons for the QTEs this added to my immersion once these were set plus all the QTEs use the same keybind/controller bind anyways. you can tell james health state based on his stature as well as an audible heartbeart when he is one hit from dying (or just check his health the classic SH way, by going to the menu and you will see a different background based on his health state at the time.)