So I was rather skeptical about the game before it came out, not only because Team Silent (which has had a rotating cast of participants over the years, but still) didn't work on it, but also because series producer & soundtrack composer Akira Yamaoka wasn't working on it. However, I am more than pleased to report that, after beating it and getting 3 of the 6 endings, it's surprisingly great.

My thoughts on the elements the series is known for (as well as some other important elements of the game):

Story:
One of the main reasons why I love the Silent Hill games is because they tend to be overflowing with psychological themes, symbolism, and metaphors, and I was delighted to find that Downpour is loaded with all of that. In fact, I'd go as far to say that it has the third-most "deepest" storyline in the series, after SH2 and Shattered Memories. Like the other games in the series, the final act of the game has a bunch of pretty shocking revelations and plot twists that give replays of the game a new perspective. I won't spoil anything, but rest assured, Murphy (and the rest of the characters) has just as many issues to deal with as the rest of the series' protagonists, and the monsters, locations, and events of the game reflect that. Also impressive is the number of homages and references to the previous games Downpour has; while Murphy has no relation to previous characters, Downpour definitely takes place in the same continuity as the rest of the games.

Gameplay:
Like the other Silent Hill games, the game is basically divided between fighting (or running, if that's your preference), puzzles, and wandering, so I wouldn't go into Downpour expecting a major change in that regard. I'm going to be blunt: the combat in Downpour is not so great. In fact, it's the one aspect of the game that I thought was less than stellar. It's kind of like Condemned in that most of it is melee combat and you take turns with the enemy attacking and blocking and countering, but not only does the game not have any kind of combo system, but if an enemy hits you hard enough while you're blocking they can stun you and execute combos of their own, which led to some intensely frustrating moments as I'm an idiot who played through the game for the first time on the hardest difficulty. Not to nitpick, but I feel like the game would've benefited massively if Murphy was given the ability to dodge or strafe (which, considering literally all of the series past protagonists have been able to evade attacks in some capacity, it's strange that this one cannot). I can kind of see why they made the combat the way they did, though, if only because (minor spoiler)...:
[SPOILER:bf64bfe0a2]Which ending in the game you get directly ties to the amount of enemies you kill, i.e. killing as few enemies is the "moral" thing to do. Basically, the combat is cumbersome because Murphy (a physically average guy with little to no past experience with fighting) sucks at combat, not the player. I still find it frustrating, though.[/SPOILER:bf64bfe0a2]
The puzzles are still mind-bending and fun to accomplish (one puzzle involving turning a room upside-down to get to different areas comes to mind). The "aimless wandering" aspect of the game is flavored with a crapload of sidequests that extend the duration of the game a surprisingly large amount of time; I finished about half of the sidequests in the game and my total time at the end came to about 11 hours.

Environments:
The main theme of Murphy's underworld is water; everything is sopping wet (which has a lot to do with the storyline that I won't reveal), and bottomless lakes, water wheels, and (interestingly enough) clock imagery are all over the place. Again, in the past games the "otherworlds" manifest the characters' psychological issues and overall mentalities, and the otherworld in Downpour symbolizes a lot of Murphy's problems. A lot of moments in the otherworld are genuinely scary - the chase sequences and a section involving a giant clock come to mind.

Music:
The series music (normally done by Akira Yamaoka) has always been absolutely fantastic, and easily my favorite video game music. I was upset when I heard that Akira Yamaoka was no longer providing the soundtracks, but thankfully the soundtrack to Downpour is nevertheless excellent. The composer this time around is Daniel Licht (who some of you may know as the soundtrack composer for the Dexter TV series). The soundtrack isn't quite as noisy or mechanical-sounding as the games' previous soundtracks, but it still maintains the ambient, drone-y atmosphere the series is known for.


So yeah, I'd highly recommend Downpour. In terms of the whole series, at this point I'd probably rank it SH2 > SH3 > Shattered Memories > Downpour > SH4 > Homecoming > SH1 > SH0. I definitely look forward to Vatra making more Silent Hill games in the future, as they've more than proved that they have what it takes to do justice to the series.