Why Silent Hill Downpour Deserves More
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.พ. 2025
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Continuing my journey into the western Silent Hill games, Downpour was next up on the list! Join me in my retrospective on this title covering some of its development history, story analysis and my own thoughts and feelings on the game!
You can read the full interview with Tomm here:
www.tumblr.com...
Thank you to @Sputnik34 for the guest voiceover, be sure to go to their channel for more great vids! For more Downpour (and other horror game) videos, check out @thegamingmuse too!
Thanks to RudeCanine for the voiceover mixing, @hotcyder for the thumbnail and @AdamLane4 for script proofing! Also thanks to Heebo for the freecam!
Instrumental song of Downpour song by Jonathan Davis is from @MasterSkyMoon , and you can watch a cool interview with Jonathan Davis on @Scottsquatch 's channel!
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Hope you enjoyed the vid and thank you all for watching
They do seem to have awesome figures. I wish my currency wasn't so low or I get paid more haha
Oh, no, my edit undid the heart on my comment! Woe is me 😩
Have you tried Lake btw? It's about postal delivery in a twin peak/deadly premoniton esque lumber town.
Tried the demo and driving the janky postal truck around the town put me into the Deadly Premoniton headspace.
I was a menace behind the wheels and always tried to ram Harry's Limo whenever it appeared. Poor Greenvale.
Bloober team admitted that they took some inspirations from Downpour's gameplay mechanics, such as entering random buildings for side quests that are are not part of main story but finding more backstory items and notes to compliment the overall world of Silent Hill town.
It's so refreshing to find someone talk about a game without finding a reason to hate it. It's so nice to see you find what makes it good in it's own right
As a czech person myself im really happy to see someone finally (what i think is first downpour video and i've seen many of them) speaking so much about influence of Czech culture and location in the game it self. superb video as always ^^
That’s so cool dude I wouldn’t have known as an American
Wait is it really i am Czech and I never heard about this
What a refreshingly positive discussion about Downpour! I always had a bit of a soft spot for this game, and hearing the in-depth development history you were able to uncover just strengthens why I think Downpour was a victim of circumstance. I think it came out in an era when the Silent Hill fandom (and maybe even the horror gaming genre as a whole) was fatigued, especially since it released so closely to the HD Collection and the... questionable second Silent Hill movie. It might be 12 years later, but I'm glad Downpour is being re-assessed a bit more positively now, and your video is easily the strongest example of that.
Fantastic job, thugger 🌧🌫
Awesome comment! =)
couldn't agree more!!! it was one of my favourites growing up
"...with Murphy voicing his discomfort" "DEHHHHH!"
Anne Marie Cunningham:
My father was a good man. He didn't believe in revenge.
But I do.
Ironically, the last official Silent Hill release was the first one I ever played. My ex-girlfriend introduced me to it, as she had been a huge Silent Hill fan since SH2. Unfortunately, back in 2016, I didn’t have access to the earlier games in the series. But I think that’s what made this game so special to me. I quickly earned the platinum trophy for it on both my account and hers. This game definitely holds a special place in my heart. Recently, I managed to play the first three Silent Hill games using an emulator and PC, but Downpour will always be my favorite.
Favorite joke ending of the series. In the decade or so between this game and the recent announcements, it almost felt like it doubled as a sendoff for the series itself, so it was very bittersweet.
I remember being very frustrated by a lot of technical aspects of Downpour (lag, really long loading screens...) but as you mentioned, the sidequests are an area where this game really shines. There's so many strange little side-stories to explore, and I remember a lot of them despite having only finished the game once. I think my favorite one was the movie theater one, but the one with the ribbons broke my heart.
The Devil's Pit, home to the most powerful tour guide of all… *Tour Guide Nixon.*
The kids'll love it!!!
People like to deride Downpour by saying that none of the enemies mean anything, but aside from the obvious fear of the criminally insane that a lot of the monsters represent, i think the Screamers represent Murphy's wife, who no doubt screamed and cried when she found out what happened to her son, but then screamed and pleaded against Murphy's revenge plan before he went through with it.
So happy to see more appreciation for Downpour. It was a genuine sincere attempt to evolve the series in newer directions as well as expanding upon the exploration a town like Silent Hill lends itself to. I do still think the monsters could have been more interesting but the environmental design and themes it was trying to explore really hit.
As someone who enjoyed Downpour when it came out, I'm liking the critical reevaluation it seems to have been getting the last few years from some. I will always say it's got the best version of the actual town of Silent Hill in the series. It's got its flaws for sure, the somewhat dull monster design sticking out the most, but the town is so fun to explore and see.
I like it more than Homecoming and Shattered Memories despite its flaws.
I feel like that’s been happening for all the later games considering how long it’s been and now that there’s more coming down the pipeline, people are really looking back with fresh eyes.
Worst part is that they had a lot of monster designs that were far more creative, according to members of the dev team (this is from comments I saw on TotallyPointless’s video of it so take with a grain of salt) but pushback from the higher ups fucked it all up. This game feels like something that was made with genuine love for the original franchise, and that’s why I have a soft spot for it.
Maria, I want to take a moment to say just how much I cherish your content. You're one of the elite few on this platform whose uploads I actively look forward to, especially now that you feel like you can more openly express yourself through them. For everything you do, sincerely, bravo.
...That being _said,_ I can't watch this video now since I haven't played the game yet. So let's say in a few years, I'll get to enjoy it then.
Downpour may not be my favorite SH entry but you cannot deny that the team worked their ass off to do something new while making an effort to maintain the spirit of the series.
I was 14 years old when I was watching TheRadBrad play this game. Since that moment my love for horror started, soon to lead to creepy pasta and more scary stories to uncover.
I've always thought this was the best of the post-Team-Silent games. Admittedly, that's not a high bar, but I think Downpour has more going for it than most give it credit for. The story, puzzles, exploration and even some of the side quests were pretty solid in my opinion.
I've always been a downpour apologist, and it's refreshing to see some positive views on this game, and just all the details it get's right and takes stabs at what the core ideas of Silent Hill are. The devs put in an absurd amount of work, and thought into this title, and while they weren't so openly recognised at the time, I'm glad some people have really come around to it. Keep up the great work, and have a lovely day.
you mean core ideas of what silent hill 2 are? because the core idea of silent hill revolves entirely around the cult which is completely absent in this game. it's another SH2 clone.
@@ennayanne silent hills games don’t entirely revolve around the cult, sh2 only had 1 small reference, that’s it. Sh4 had Walter use a ritual he learned from the cult but it was only him. Also silent hill downpour does enough to be it’s own thing, sure it copies sh2 but it’s not a full on clone
@@cappedminer369 Yes SH2 was the only one not focused on the cult. 1/4 games. After 4, they all became SH2 clones.
@@ennayanne origins, yeah i get that, homecoming i don't think so, shattered memories not exactly, downpour so-so
@@cappedminer369 Homecoming has the same twist, SM has similar twists and downpour definitely does. Downpour doesn't even know what it's story is since the explanation for the events is different in every ending. But yeah, they're all SH2 clones. For some reason SH2 is all anybody cares about despite it being about on par with SH3
Man I had no idea about the companion comic that was part of it and hearing about how its contents are reflected in the main story of the game definitely opens up a lot more meat to dive into. Too bad this wasn't something that could be found in the game itself. Oh well, better late than never, thanks for making me aware of all this, great video.
I have a personal love for Downpour, I loved the way the side stories were told and how macabre it all was.
Maria + Silent Hill essays are always such gems. Very much looking forward to watching this later. The Shattered Memories video essay gave me a whole new appreciation for the game, so I'm fascinated to hear your insight on Downpour as well. Thank you for all the incredible work you do, Maria!
Wanna mention the song played during the joke ending is "Here be monsters" by Ed Harcourt
2 videos in 3 days?! We're getting spoiled!
My Older Brother gave me Downpour as a birthday gift back when the game was first released
I loved the series since i played the first three games in an emulator, and he knew it, so when we got a 360, he inmediatly bought the game for me.
I still remember that night when the game finished installing that i started playing so vividly... I even remember how he actually played first and said to me "This games are so boring, i don't know why you like them" lmao
I was so much in love of this game, it kinda broke my heart that it was so poorly received by the vast majority of the fandom, and even so many years after I still remembered the game with so much love, so i'm really happy that it got its deserved praise so many years after.
One of the happiest gaming moments in my life buying it day one, skipped school for it, and it happened to be raining when i started it.
This was the first SH that I played and was so in love with the chance to explore the town, but the patrolling cars were the bane of my existence. They made me so anxious and overtly cautious so I never explored everything the town had to offer.
Did you do the side quest which helps you to call off the patrol cars?
I'm glad to see people appreciating Downpour more these days, it sucks Vatra died because of it since they could have gone on to develop their skills further. It's a bit of national pride for me to hear about things made here in the Czech Rep or things that are properly influenced by us like Victory Gundam, and I feel I need to give them the best of faith when experiencing them.
Knowing that Downpour runs great with Xbox's Backwards Compatibility and that RPCS3 is managing to make it looks good makes me want to play it myself, since I only played SH2 Enhanced Edition.
Nice to see Downpour getting some love.
Downpour has its fair share of issues, but it's really a fascinating game with a ton of love and thought poured into it. I think it's the game would most like to see another team take a crack at in the future, especially Blooper since their work on SH2R took a lot of inspiration from Downpour
Thank you for another amazing video! I would never have checked this game out going by what people usually spew out but I'm so glad to have seen how interesting this game really is. The visuals are quite unique and the many side elements to this game are really cool. Thank you for showing us things in a positive light! And well done on the sponsor, well deserved!! 🥳
Downpour has a soft spot in my heart. It feels like I was the only person in the world that preordered it and got it on day one.
Great analysis! This makes me view the game in a whole different light, so thank you kindly! Love that the Western games are getting some love on your channel.
Loving your thoughts, analysis, and the kind of things you choose to talk about in your videos as compared to other channels
Downpour is the only Silent Hill game I have played and I am happy that it is getting some positive attention. Thank you for making this video. Your analysis of the game's themes and characters is fascinating. Also, I didn't know about all that stuff regarding Downpour's development and about the backstory comics. Knowing about it now made the game even better for me.
I love that you used the Dishonored soundtrack in the background!! I don't know if it's because Murphy is called Pendleton but if not, that's a neat coincidence
Your videos help me sleep peacefully every night, the topics bring me comfort and the way it's presented is like being told a bed time story. Thank you.
Downpour is easily the best post Team Silent SH game! The open world, story and side quests were genuinely good.
Great video, and I'm glad to see Downpour getting more recognition. As Tomm mentioned, it felt oddly maligned at release by "those videos", but I genuinely loved the vignette feel of side quests in the game; just wandering the town experiencing these small stories. I just wish it got a PC or modern release.
ty as the first silent hill i played ive always had a fondness for it and the story it tells, murphy pendleton is such a cool dude😭i use to playthrough the whole game during hangouts for my friends to experience it
"... along with Murphy voicing his clear discomfort." "GAAHH!!!" I love the laconic tone of your script.
I really appreciate this video, I always got incredibly frustrated by Downpour being written off as generic and soulless despite just how hard Vatra tried to really evolve the series, sure, some of their ideas weren't good, but an underratedly large amount of them were incredibly cool and frankly ahead of their time and deserved far more praise than they got. The fact that such an inexperienced studio were able to make something as innovative as Downpour was always something I found incredibly impressive. It made me very sad to see its poor reception when 90% of peoples' complaints with the game felt completely unrelated to the game itself and more just complaining that Team Silent wasn't making it and that Akira Yamaoka wasn't doing the OST and being unwilling to look at Downpour (as well as its OST) on its own merits, since there is A LOT about Downpour that is worthy praise.
"underratedly large amount of them were incredibly cool and frankly ahead of their time" What are those ideas actually?
After this video i came thinking that Downpour was even less than i thought. Most of the good points are "Well, this had potential", everything does, that means nothing.
"Something as innovative as Downpour" What is exactly innovative about it?
Thank you for making this video. Silent Hill is my favorite franchise and it is heartwarming to see you treat it with such respect and care
Love your content! and your voice is so calming!
loved the vid!
thank you so much!
Downpour (Czech studio) walked so SH2 Remake (Polish studio) could run. Just look at the new James and Murphy, they straight up look like twins.
Excellent video. Lovely to see Downpour getting some recognition.
I'm going to agree! I think SH: DOWNPOUR could have been this gritty prison drama set in the world of Silent Hill, imagine Prison break but in the titular town. But instead...we got a guy called Murphy.
Really awesome and refreshing to see someone discuss Downpour while giving it its rightful flowers - I played it as an edgy 12 yo and enjoyed it a lot, sitting in my little corner of the school cafeteria reading Anne's Story, so like several others in this comment section I do have a soft spot. Thank you for putting all this together, especially the fascinating development information!
I think you made me appreciate this game much more now, you’ve shined a different light in my perspective on it.
Out of the “modern” silent hill titles I’ve always had a soft spot for Downpour, it was the first SH game I got to play on my Xbox 360. I also love the ambiance and the themes of the game, they genuinely good. Although there are things that I personally don’t like, like the enemy design and the other world, after watching this video I think thematically they make more sense to me now. I don’t think this game is as deep as some of the rest of the series, but I also don’t think it is as horrible as many other TH-camrs make it out to be.
You know this channel really manages to shine a new light on games i already have made my mind up about. The love for details and the niche subjects add to that.
Love the lil outro animation!!
Also I liked the info about this game's world being from someone else's head than just Murphy's.
The game was difficult for me, I ended up with one of the worst endings because the whole boogeyman chase through me off at the end. I'd love to hear more in depth details about it! ❤
Nice to see some people giving it a civil analysis instead of saying it’s a garbage game.
8:09 THE TRAIN GUY WAS DRUNK!
Fantastic work as always, Maria, you always do such justice to any subject matter or games explore, and those 57 minutes flew by. As with your other videos, I once again came away with a far greater appreciation and respect for the subject matter when I started. I love how you highlighted the unique strengths of Downpour, from gameplay to art direction. The most intriguing element that I hadn't realized was the side quests and puzzles (the rewinding the tape reel of a murder was unnerving as hell), and incidental horror moments around the town (the tire swing changing to a hanged man). The interview with Tomm Hulett was excellent, too, and I really liked his perspective on the development process and the story itself. His thoughts on Murphy being punished already and that Silent Hill was really reacting to Anne was a surprise, and I look forward to playing through Downpour someday to see how much that comes across in game, as it's a refreshing route for the SH series to go. Again, fantastic work as always.
thank you for doing this game justice! i actually love this story a lot. it was so interesting to me!! i also really like murphy as a character!! so thank you for giving a great retrospective on this game! because when i heard not a lot of people liked it, i was like “how? its really great!” again, thank you for this!
if you could, i’d love a deep dive about silent hill 4, because i also love that game a lot too!!
Honestly, this is the most interesting Downpour review/retrospective/video I've seen yet. All other ones I've seen seem to generalize that it's just all about Murphy, barely bringing up Anne, and completely ignoring the other characters and any other media affiliated to the title.
I'm pretty sure not even Avalanche Reviews gave them the light of day.
Great attention to details!
I think you might be my favourite horror game channel on this site, keep up the great work! You’re insightful, thorough, and never fail to be entertaining 💜
Maria single handily helping to raise the second hand price of a Downpour on eBay et al. with this stellar video.
Just started the video, but wanted say I'm glad you enjoyed your time with it. As someone with czech heritage I'll admit my initial appreciation for it was the czech game dev representation - but upon further playthroughs I found I did genuinely enjoy it - both as a silent hill entry and as a stand alone horror game. I like what they tried to do differently, and personally I found the story heartbreaking and satisfying at the same time. Something I haven't really felt about the silent hill games after Downpour.
Edit: Now that I've finished the video - thank you! Always glad to see more people talking about this game and giving it the recognition it deserves :)
I really appreciate your passion for this genre. Silent hill isn't a game I've been able to connect with but I appreciate you sharing your connection to these. Great stuff!
The way you describe the story shows the crazy potential it had. This could have been one of the true greats of the series.
Your videos are well written, edited and come across as very thoughtful. Keep
up the great work
I loved how insightful you are in your videos and even some horror games that can seem genuinely not as known for the community, you create a fresh breeze to enlight all their strong points and environments. It's lovely to watch your videos, specially the SILENT HILL ones, I really loved SILENT HILL videogames and it's wondeful to see your take even on the ones that seem that didn't make a good impression. :)
Man this videos is so engaging great work ! I really appreciate your care to design and how the local area can influence it so though provoking
so happy to see another eurothug upload
I've always really liked Downpour and it's good to see that in recent years it's been getting a positive reversal of opinion from when it launched.
Love the video!
Odd question but what microphone/recording software do you use? That audio sounds so cleaaaan 🧼
Another awesome video! Though if it was only a day late you didn't need to be so sorry about the delay! Glad it came out, and hopefully whatever happened got resolved!
I really am glad that someone else can appreciate this game as well as me. I personally think that the spinoffs (Origins, Shattered Memories, Book of Memories, and especially Homecoming and Downpour) honestly do have their merits, and are often dismissed simply because of them not being one of the Big Four. I've realized that sometimes I'm drawn to games in series that break away from the formula, such as Rise of Lyric for Sonic, Sister Location for FNAF, Rising: Revengeance for Metal Gear, among others (though not all, such as freaking Yaiba for Ninja Gaiden).
My favorite part of the game is both the Wheelman and The Bogeyman, and I realized something: He's the equal opposite of Pyramid Head. Both represent hatred, but while PM embodies the inner hatred of the self, BM represents the outer hatred of others. PM has a helmet, a smock and a giant blade, BM has a gas mask, a raincoat and and hammer. Most people flee from PM, while others pursue BM. The only way to defeat PM is to confront him, while the only way to truly overcome BM is to walk away and let him go.
If I could, I'd like to recommend other obscure yet amazing games for you, such as the Captain America and Thor Movie games, the Revenge of the Sith movie game, TRON 2.0 and Evolution, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Remorse: The List, Second Sight, You are Empty, The Resistance: Fall of Man saga, Aporia: Beyond the Valley, Among the Sleep, Owlboy, Obscure, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, Terminator: The Redemption, the Metro Trilogy, In Sound Mind, Death's Gambit, Apsulov: End of Gods, Spider-Man: Edge of Time, Resident Evil 0, and others, if you're interested. (I don't know why games with secondary titles are so good)
Revenge of the sith was peak
Ah man I love how in depth your Silent Hill videos are with the interviews themes and analysis and I always wanted someone to go into downpour more thoroughly, like it had a incredibly buggy launch (like one of the worst launches of all time) and it wasn't the original so it had alot against it so its nice seeing someone cover it in detail
I was already having a great time watching this review, but what really made my day was the whole bit on the enemies design and the duality between Murphy and Anne's, including the roles they play in the story. That was basically my take on Downpour since the first time I played it, and it only shows that the team was deeply passionate about the series' lore. This game definitely deserves more love.
SH Downpur was genuinely the most mixed experience I had woth the franchise! But your video about this game was awesome ❤ enjoyed watching it a lot.
i've yet to play downpour myself, but watching your video im surprised by all the ire its gotten over the years--this game sounds fantastic!
This is the best video I have seen on this game!! I loved my time with Downpour and still revisit it on my PS3 from time to time, definitely an underappreciated game.
This is a channel made for me. I wish you the best
I recently finished watching John Wolfe play Alan Wake two and I was surprised about how much it reminds me of Downpour, Alan Wake II is to me, the best version of this kind of story, everything Downpour tried to do, it was perfected in Wake, the side plots, puzzle solutions, atmosphere, all tuned correctly so the game didn’t have the technical difficulties Downpour unfortunately has, I would really love to have more games that have this kind of style, even if they don’t have a relationship with the Silent Hill lore
I’m so happy to see people giving this game love, played it when it came out and now years later I see so many people cover it and it’s always “bad” or “mixed bag” and I’m here wondering if I’m wrong that I loved it lol
Great video, every vidya analisis you post cheers me up as im passing trough some stressful things in my life rn and they really help to make me forget the bad stuff❤Love and peace from Argentina
It's 2:30am, got Bloodborne booted up, and now I got a fresh Silent Hill video from eurothug to watch while I'm trawling the chalice dungeons. Feels good, thank you for the cool video Maria! :)
I did not expect kiryu to be mentioned in a silent hill video, this is awesome
Yessss getting 2 horror video game Video essays from my 2 favorite video essay ladies in the same week! Let’s gooooo
Just love you docu' style vidz!? 🥰 can't wait to see the one on, " We Harvest Shadows "
thanks youtube algorithm i’m definitely enjoying this video and i’ll be subbing for more.
Fantastic script and video, as always!
This was a really, really good video. Well done!
The story about the underground river in the cave system reminds me of when I went to the Blue Grotto. The tides affect the height of the opening to the grotto, so similarly, the tour can only be conducted depending on water level. We had to transfer from a larger motor boat to small canoes and duck into the boats to fit into the passage. The guides had to pull the boats along by a chain that had been attached to run through the passageway since their oars couldn't fit. Meanwhile, in the US, I went to visit Howe Cavern, a large cave system in New York, and everything felt roped off or off-limits for safety reasons. There really is a very different culture about that sort of thing here.
Thank you for talking about it Downpour. I liked playing it back in the day and I'm glad it's got some positive reception now adays. :)
Enjoyed Downpour so much back in Xbox 360 era, it truly deserves more love. Thanks for this awesome video 🙏
I have not watched the video yet, but I love to see some coverage for Downpour. It was probably the first Silent Hill I knew of before I really got into the series and I thought it had a few good scares. I think a lot of people treat it like an afterthought since there are a lot more interesting games to talk about. Anyway, I love your videos!
EDIT: I loved that you played the entirety of the Surprise! ending, I forgot I used to have Ed Harcourt's Here Be Monsters on repeat after I watched an ending compilation for Downpour probably 12 years ago now, wow.
Amazing video! I appreciate that you addressed the Czech influence seen in this game.
THE BIRTHDAY ENDING IS SO CUTE
This is essentially the only positive review of Downpour I've ever seen and it was very thoughtful and well put together.
omgggg the ending animation is so adorable!!!
i would kill for a modern downpour port
I watched this on Nebula already and I'm so happy to hear that someone else saw in this game what I did back when it was released.
Does it have performance issues? Yes. Is the moral choice system a little on the nose? Also yes. But I thought the art direction for the town, the environmental effects, the effort made for all the side quests to feel unique and tell interesting stories and the overall narrative itself was executed so much better than the sum of its parts.
This game and Vatra Games deserved so much more than what Konami were willing to give them. Had Silent Hill not been such a mercenary undertaking at that point and it hadn't suffered backlash spilling over from the awful "HD Collection" that came out around the same time, Downpour could have really been something special or least seen as a better game than the (underserved aside from Homecoming) reputation all the non-Japanese games have.
I loved the sidequests in Dowpour. They made the atmosphere very rich in showing other people within Silent Hill and their hardships.
I would love to see and learn about Silent Hill Book of Memories in the future if possible ❤
Also Homecoming?
Honestly I have a soft spot for this and homecoming. I know they’re not critically acclaimed but they have a certain charm I enjoyed. Puzzles and atmosphere. The downpour graphic novel is actually really good. This was a nice dive back into it. Great video.
Really refreshing take on this game-I think I will add it to my wishlist now thanks to your review. Thank you for the video!