Silent Hill

My first Silent Hill was Shattered Memories, and I kind of feel dissapointed in doing so, because I usually go back to the past and experience the first carnation of anything. But because SM was so accessible to me, this was not the case this time. 

Anyhow, Konami's other proud horror franchise generally delves into psychological and religious themes, where as the main characters usually dissolve into nightmaristic worlds of mist, darkness and hellish locations.

And since Shattered Memories was more of a disappointment than a truly memorable game (Opinions of course vary), I had this giant urge to finally start with the franchise and enter the world of Silent Hill with the original. Glad that I started with this.

It shows it's age, but the fog, especially the foggy atmosphere makes it a great experience which by the way was a clever way of keeping the graphics in the distance obscure, lowering the loading times and keeping the frame rate stable. 

This is of course an assumption, but frankly I don't see why else other than the horror aspect that fog was included. I will let others find out the story for you. The gameplay is very familiar to a big Resident Evil fan like me, however Silent Hill has a nifty auto aim gun pose that shortens the time to kill those demons and manifestations.

It's almost identical otherwise, but it seems that in overall Silent Hill is a more difficult game, despite that it was generous with the health drinks and first aids. I am enthusiastic about telling you the most tense part I had while playing the game.

Yes, the cat in the locker was a good start but sooo obvious for a horror veteran like me, and its Otherworld alter ego was even better, plus random sudden shocking noises are also awesome to experience if implemented at the right time.

Not to mention the fuck up moments where you aren't playing the game, but the game is playing with you, including a warp sequence between the rest rooms of the school or when you hear the flapping sound of a bird in a room but you can clearly see no bird being present in the birdcage.

Even the metallic music playing at some parts was effectively scary in some way, but the top of the iceberg easily goes to when I first entered and explored the hospital. After a quick cutscene with a certain Dr.Faustman, you are left to explore the rest of the hospital.

Before I even encountered the nurses and doctors, Silent Hill completely had me around its finger when I was opening doors with high tension. And that music in the background, which is almost not music, but a creepy sound changing from its sound slowly that accompanied me while exploring the hospital was what made it an unforgettable period the next time I think back on Silent Hill.

It's another hard experience to explain, let me finish summarizing it by saying that you would NOT feel safe at an abandoned hospital after those freak events you already witnessed. Something was just not right about that hospital, heh. 

Rating: 8.2

Silent Hill games really set you up for the mood, I’ll give you that. I’m glad to have finally played and beaten this incredible PS2 game, once should be enough for now. Part 2 is more of a stand alone title from the rest of the franchise, it’s entirely about James’s life instead of some demonic cult bent on shaping the world.

The first time playing these atmospheric games, there is definitely a feeling of unease playing in your mind. Especially when you are searching for the destination in a foggy or dark town, or when you try to open the umpteenth door only to acknowledge that it’s a locked or a broken down door once again, or when the tension music is quietly yet effectively playing, in summary, Silent Hill is an expert in trying to creep you out.

And I can easily see why Silent Hill 2 is such an amazing game. It’s a messed up journey full of symbolism, weird occurrences, scary environments and a beautiful but sad complex plot await. Gameplay wise, Resident Evil comes to mind what with the weapons and the vast amounts of ammo. The enemies although scarce in variety are original and the most effective are the mannequins and of course Pyramid Head.

There are so many theories floating around on forums as to what it all means that it keeps getting interesting to talk about this classic horror game. And as for how scary Silent Hill 2 truly is…the sense of unease is definitely present. 

Sadly (but perhaps also thankfully in a way haha!) I missed the infamous Toluca Prison scream in the women’s restroom. I recently heard it on YouTube and I definitely would had peed my pants if I never knew of this scream from beforehand.

However I think that the original slightly wins more because of its sudden but well placed loud and scary SFX sounds and the Otherworld “looked better”. But make no mistake, Silent Hill 2 is easily the best SH game I have played so far, and it most likely will remain my favorite.

Rating: 8.6

From what I have seen, it definitely is the most disturbing of the three main Silent Hill games. Make no mistake, all three of them made me at unease to play through them, and that’s while using a walkthrough(!), and all three have memorable horror scenes neatly scattered through the areas here and there.

But Silent Hill 3 took a step further, adding in more bizarre scenes of indescribable horror, borrowing heavily from the movies Jacob’s Ladder and I think even Session 9, more monsters which means more tense and without a doubt the best Otherworld yet, better known as simply Hell.

The story is connected with the original, but like any Silent Hill game, the dialogue scenes are vague, mysterious and never too clear. Believe me, logic and reason are far and far away from the resort town known as Silent Hill. 

Fortunately there are plenty of experts out there on this twisted franchise. I’m really glad to have beaten them all so far, a must play for horror fans. A minor disappointing note is that Silent Hill 3 is the most linear of the three, meaning that there wasn’t as much exploration and freedom as in the other parts. 

Rating: 8.5

It has its moments, but part 4 has to be the weakest in the series yet. But since I know of other titles later on having an even worse reputation, I think I will stop here and see what Downpour can bring to us.

The Room suffers from repetition by the use of recycling previous world levels, by only adding in extra puzzles, new enemies and new progressions. The inventory system is inferior towards the previous one for limiting items with 10 objects only.

And by the way, the handgun and revolver in this game not only are less spectacular than the melee weapons, but their ammo block much needed item slots for health or key items, meaning that for each ammo box you find, it will occupy one slot, it won’t add up on itself, the same goes for health items. 

And although I usually can do fine with main characters, Henry here is noted for being more dull than Heather, James or Harry. The Room’s good things are the “locked in” concept of being stuck into your room, having still a decent eerie atmosphere (although the trilogy was scarier)and the gameplay plays fine, even Eileen wasn’t annoying to have as a partner.

And the story of course gets interesting, but only near the end, pretty much like any other Silent Hill. The twin baby monster, the SH4 nurses and most of all the very unusual hospital room where a giant Eileen head with focused dizzly eyes onto Henry are the creepiest things in the game for me.

Rating: 7.6

So this is my first game of the series, a remake from the original game, however I have heard that the differences vary a lot between the two. The best factor to this is the lonely atmosphere, the immersion is impressive to experience.

The profiling is an interesting touch to a horror game. Choices that affect the gameplay and the story is another cool addition. But while it's a very good cinematic game,the lack of effective horror and even gameplay lowered my expectations.

Rating: 7.5