As good as SH is, i think they should develop more on the protagonists fears and uncertainty more in the games. They kinda did it with Heather in SH3. But for the rest...they seem pretty much like "Oh...there's a monster...wow this world has become hellish....guess i'll just get outta here" kinda non-chalantness. SH4, the protagonist again feels like he's just in it for the ride. No fear. No curiosity. No anxiety that he was trapped in his room. Well...just a little (banging on front door).
Don't really feel SH4 was action oriented either. About the same thing. Controls felt clunky at 1st but got used to it over time. Most of the time you just run away from monsters/ghosts since they can't die anyway. Annoying buggers.
Going back to later levels is alright....but I think its more laziness on the designer's part. IE: Too lazy to remodel the whole Silent Hill just for your running-in-fog pleasure.
PS: Didn't know this didn't originally started out as a SH game. But cool. Despite not having a radio, Henry still hears the static sound when near a monster though.
SPOILER FOR SUBWAY REVISITED
I'm now at the subway....fighting the 1st victim....i can't seem to pin her down with a sword. Any pointers?