Silent Hill

"A game that arguably benefits from the limited hardware capabilities."

When you go back to the late nineties and you think of the survival horror genre, the series that instantly comes to mind is Capcom's Resident Evil series. The series proved a huge success with critics and fans alike, and it wasn't long before every other developer was jumping on the survival horror band wagon. Many of these efforts failed miserably, so it goes without saying that when Konami announced Silent Hill, many people were quick to judge it, before it was even released, expecting another poor Resident evil clone, eager for a quick cash in. Little could they know that this game would equal, and arguably in many ways, surpass the series that inspired it in the first place.

GRAPHICS-9: The playstation has terrible graphical capabilities in this day and age, there is no denying it. Many of its games have not aged well and are almost unplayable these days, unless you don't mind straining your eyes. Silent Hill is a notable exception. the backgrounds still look pretty impressive, even today, although the character models are as blocky as you would expect.

I would actually argue that in a weird way, the game actually benefits from the limited graphical capabilities. A lot of games on the system suffered from a severe case of pop up which could be very annoying. Silent Hill suffers from it too, but it cleverly hides it through cinematic camera angles, dark interiors and a thick fog in the town, that not only hides the fact that the enemies just pop up in front of you, but also adds greatly to the atmosphere. The foggy town was actually kept in the sequels, because it adds to the atmosphere so much, and one can't help but wonder, if it wasn't because of the limited playstation hardware, would they have even included it to begin with.

The backgrounds and enemies too look much scarier in this game than the later games, thanks once again to the poor graphics. Sure the shiny, realistic enemies and backgrounds of the later games are scary, but they cannot compare to the rusty look of the walls in this game, or the enemies that look like they had their faces scratched off with a cheese grater. The imagery of this game reminded me a lot of the hellraiser movies,

SOUND-10: In a game like this sound plays an important part in setting up the mood, and Silent Hill does not disappoint. Because you have a hard time seeing enemies, they needed to find a way to warn you when they are near so instead they opted to use sound instead. You are given a broken radio that makes a noise whenever an enemy is close by. The closer the enemy gets, the louder and more frantic the sound from the radio gets. For this reason, you will soon come to associate that sound with fear.

There isn't a lot of musical tracks in the game, instead focusing more on sounds affects, but the music that is there is simply amazing. The intro is one of the best I've ever seen, and the music is a big reason why.

PLOT-10: Absolutely brilliant. The story is about a widower, Harry Mason, who decides to take a vacation in Silent Hill with his daughter Cheryl. While driving there at night he swerves to avoid hitting a young girl and crashes. When he wakes up he finds that his daughter is missing, and it has suddenly gotten very foggy. Off in the distance surrounded by a fog he sees a figure that looks just like his daughter so he runs after her and follows her into an ally. The further in he goes, the darker and creepier it gets. Eventually he stumbles upon a body that looks as if it has been crucified on a barbed wire fence. Before he gets a chance to figure out what is going on he is attacked by demons, and the...well I don't want to spoil it. Lets just say that something very strange is going on in the town, and his daughter is connected to the mysterious events of the game.

GAMEPLAY-8: The game plays a bit like Resident Evil, but it is not just a clone. The camera, while not great is miles better than those of the Resident Evil series, being fully 3D. Harry Mason, unlike the Resident Evil characters is not trained in the use of fire arms. There are only three guns in the game, two of which have very little ammo and are best saved for boss fights. Instead the focus is on melee combat. Unlike Resident Evil, you have far more options than a useless knife including a metal bar and a hammer. The game also uses a different style of scares than Resident Evil. Rather than focusing on jump scares like dogs jumping through windows, it instead focuses on building an intense atmosphere, making you think that something could happen to you at any time, leaving you constantly on edge. It also has a much friendlier inventory system than Resident Evil, which will save you from moments of frustration.

FINAL RECOMMENDATION: If you like scary games then this is a must have. Even now almost a decade later it stands the test of time as one of the most terrifying games ever made. Just make sure to keep a change of underwear.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/27/08

Game Release: Silent Hill (EU, 08/01/99)