Released four years ago this month, Silent Hill 4: The Room is the last game in the series developed by Konami, and also the only game in the series that wasn't originally supposed to be a Silent Hill game. Originally intended as a side story (think Resident Evil: Dead Aim but less craptastic) it was decided during development to turn the game into a full fledged Silent Hill game. Fans of the series were in for a bit of a shock because The Room was a little bit off. First off, a large chunk of the game took place inside Henry's apartment, which the player viewed through first person. He would take trips through portals in the wall to different locations that played more like levels with starting and ending points and less like organic locations. Puzzles became less important while combat was given a bit of depth in the form of breakable weapons and charged attacks. The biggest difference was that the town of Silent Hill wasn't actually a main location. References to the town were made and it was hinted that Henry had visited, but there were no trips to the fog soaked town that we knew from the previous three games.

As for the storyline, while demons and ghosts were old hat by now, the real scares came from two very real fears. The first was the idea that one's home can be turned against them, that the place we view as the most safe can in fact be the source of our greatest nightmares. The second chilling plot point came in the form of Walter Sullivan, a serial killer who murdered his victims regardless of age and gender. No matter his motives, the thought of a man brutally slaying other human beings is scarier than any monster attack you can imagine. So who were the pawns in this game?

Henry Townsend
The protagonist of The Room, Henry is one of the most relatable characters in the series. A shy man who spends more time in his own head than socializing with his neighbors, Henry epitomizes the archetype of the everyman the series has been known for. Unlike past characters however, Henry seems to be caught up in a larger story, rather than having the narrative focused on him. He remains a mystery throughout the entire game.

Eileen Galvin
A kind and caring woman, Eileen is Henry's neighbor and harbors a bit of a crush on our protagonist. She happens to be the first and possibly only person in the building to notice Henry has been missing for a few days and questions other tenants about his whereabouts. Eileen is eventually dragged into the events of the game and becomes a vessel for a sinister purpose. I've learned from my time in the Silent Hill universe to never be a supporting female character, you always end up possessed.

Walter Sullivan
A serial killer and the crux of the fourth installment of the series, Walter Sullivan committed ten murders in ten days during the events of Silent Hill 2. Following the 10th murder, Sullivan committed suicide and has since been committing murders from beyond the grave. He intends to commit 21 murders in order to complete a ritual meant to resurrect his "mother" who just so happens to be an evil demon. It's always a demon in these games, always. Walter appears in two forms throughout the game, his older immortal self, and a child version who wants nothing more than to be with his mother.

Cynthia Velasquez, Jasper Gein, Andrew DeSalvo
Henry meets each of these three characters in his journey through the bizarre looking glass. While Henry first thinks they are manifestations of his seemingly broken mind, he soon learns that what happens to them in the "otherworld" affects them in the real world. Oh, and nothing good happens to them.

Joseph Schreiber
A journalist and the previous tenant of room 302, Schreiber is actually playable very briefly at the beginning of the game. Another of Walter's victims, Joseph becomes a friendly ghost that assists Townsend on his quest. Think of him as Casper, if Casper had been the victim of a serial killer. How's that for destroying a childhood icon?

Otherworld
Henry takes trips to different locations created from the memories of Walter Sullivan. It is hard to say that these areas are created by the power of Silent Hill, or if they are the combination of a ritual being performed and the broken psyche of a serial killer. Regardless of the source, the Otherworld can most closely be paralleled to the dream world present in the Nightmare on Elm Street films, where the serial killer Freddy Krueger is able to murder children in their dreams, effectively killing them in the real world. Walter is able to display a similar power, although his killing is focused on a specific goal rather than a random massacre.

Where the heck is Silent Hill?
Silent Hill 4: The Room doesn't take place in Silent Hill. We've established that little fact by now. So why the foggy hell is this game called Silent Hill? I think by this time the idea of Silent Hill has expanded far beyond merely a physical place. Silent Hill 2 showed us a town bringing people in to its borders to punish them. Silent Hill 3 had half the game take place outside the town, with the lead character being a creation of the town. Now in Silent Hill 4 we are given a glimpse into the effects of evil in a nearby town. If we learned anything from the series it is that the real town of Silent Hill is located in the deepest corner of a person's soul. Sometimes they are able to tap into such power through acts of brutality, and sometimes this power awakens due to the actions of others. Silent Hill is inescapable, no matter who you are or where you live.

Coming Thursday
We're going back to the very beginning and delving into the origin of Silent Hill.