Silent Hill is one of the most well known survival horror games to be released during the genre’s height of popularity. The development history for this title is quite interesting; it was created by a team comprised almost entirely of Konami employees that had been kicked off of other projects. It’s interesting then that this team of ‘rejects’ were able to create one of the most iconic and celebrated video game franchises in developer Konami’s history. It wasn’t until years later that I had the opportunity to play through Silent Hill, and while it’s not quite as high up on my list as the first few Resident Evil titles it’s easily one of the best survival horror games ever released. Unfortunately this one hasn’t aged as well as so many others due to its real-time graphic engine.
The story in Silent Hill takes place in a backwoods American small town of the same name. You play as a man named Harry Mason who, along with his young daughter Cheryl, are traveling through the scenic mountains which travel right to it. As the two approach Silent Hill they are passed by a police motorbike, and soon notice the crashed remains of it further down on the side of the road. Soon after a dark figure wanders out in the road and Harry swerves to avoid it causing a wreck leaving him unconscious. He awakens in the town of Silent Hill and is horrified to discover that his daughter is missing. Harry begins his search for her within the fog covered town, and soon finds that the city is host to an army of otherworldly monsters that all want to tear him apart. While the story is primarily character driven you are also given a lot of backstory about the town itself. There are some very interesting side stories and background information that is uncovered by exploring the dilapidated buildings. You will find notes like in Resident Evil, but most of the backstory is expressed through the scenery. Silent Hill is a truly interesting place.
Silent Hill is a third person action game that plays in a similar fashion to most other survival horror titles. You wander through three dimensional environments battling monsters using both firearms and melee weapons. There’s a big emphasis on light puzzle solving, item collecting, and searching for keys to unlock new areas and in this vein it’s very similar to the classic Resident Evil titles. The major difference here is that the environments are rendered in real-time. This means that in many areas the camera is dynamic and will follow Harry through the environments. Generally the view is from behind while you’re outdoors, but inside buildings it tends to stick in one place so as to highlight areas wherein you should be looking. Unfortunately combat is quite clunky. You must equip your weapon, and hold the R2 to ready it, and the X button to carry out the attack. Unfortunately it’s very difficult to aim, and I found myself wasting almost half of my bullets because of the awkward perspective. I was also a little turned off by the emphasis on melee combat; there’s never any real concern of running out of ammunition like in Resident Evil.
Aside from combat the rest of the game is very enjoyable. The level designs are extremely thoughtful with environments that are a lot of fun to explore. You’ll visit a hospital, an abandoned school, the city itself, and more. To help find your way through the corridors or to navigate the town streets you’re given a set of very helpful maps. I’ve always found these most helpful in the indoor areas when you need to find specific rooms as referenced by story events. Like most survival horror games there is a significant amount of backtracking required, but generally just from room to room so it isn’t a big issue. As I mentioned earlier puzzles are a big part of this game as well, but this is mostly in regard to collecting items and using them at the right moments. Other times you will need to pay attention to in-game dialogue because characters often drop subtle clues about how to get past specific obstacles. Other times it’s more complex with numeric codes referenced in earlier sections that you will need as a password. Generally Silent Hill is more focused around puzzles and exploration than Resident Evil and you may go long durations without encountering any enemies. This game focuses more on atmosphere as well as exploration.
Graphically the game is a bit of a mess. At the time of its release Silent Hill was one of the more technical releases on the platform, but because the developers chose to render the environments in real-time it hasn’t aged particularly well. The frame rate is generally quite bad; the game absolutely struggles to maintain it, but it dips quite constantly. Furthermore many items and characters can be very difficult to see because of the fog and darkness. The lighting effects are admirable by 32-bit standards and I know of very few other titles from this era where the environments were illuminated primarily by a flashlight. The full motion videos look a bit archaic in my opinion with characters that look unrealistic and a little unsettling. This adds to the atmosphere in my opinion, and there’s one video sequence in particular near the end of the game that I will never be able to forget. The soundtrack fares better than the visuals with moody and simple compositions. The main theme with its heavy use of the mandolin is downright eerie, and it has since become absolutely iconic. The voice work is cheesy B-movie tier stuff, but it adds charm.
>Silent Hill is easily one of the best survival horror titles around. It’s different enough from Resident Evil and its sea of copycats to be referred to as a simple clone. The atmosphere is unbeatable by video game standards, and this is along with the puzzles are enough to make up for the super clunky combat. This is one of the absolute classics on the original PlayStation. It was remade for the Wii, PSP and PS2, but this original release is by far the best. Download this one from PSN.
