Silent Hill
Published by Konami and developed by Team Silent, Silent Hill was a new step into a world of psychological horror.
The game was released on the PlayStation in 1999 to mostly positive reviews, selling over two million copies. It was later re-released on the PlayStation Store for the PSP and PlayStation 3. It is widely recognized as the first fully 3D third-person horror game, games like Resident Evil and Alone In The Dark used pre-rendered backgrounds. It used fog and darkness to hide the limitations of the hardware it was on, and even the gritty textures were highly praised for helping bring a dingy atmosphere to the game. Team Silent went on to make three more games before splitting up, but that didn't spell out the end of the franchise. Several more main games were released, along with two movies and multiple comics. The main goal of the first game was to find your daughter, Cheryl in the long abandoned town of Silent Hill. You needed to fight your way through the town and come out alive. There are multiple possibilities when it comes to winning, but the common win conditions were to just leave the town with your daughter, going through the story until you reach the end, and surviving.
Silent Hill showed that games could be made scary through intense atmospheres and in spite of hardware limitations. It utilized the DualShock controller's vibration feature for detecting enemies nearby and warning you of your health. However, the movements and camera controls were clunky and tank-like, not fit for an action game. The voice acting as well was not up to par, the timing of certain lines was . The music was anxiety inducing and fit situations perfectly in game, and the opening song has become iconic along with the series itself. Many songs are heavily mechanical sounding, like metal scraping along walls. The monster designs were creepy and unique, and in the second game the monsters became centralized around a certain theme, that being based off of our protagonist's crime and sins.
In each game, there are multiple endings, all depending on the choices you make throughout the game. There's even a joke ending in almost every game that requires special events or items to take place, such as needing completion of other endings first or finding an extremely hidden item. In the first game, they have a UFO Ending where Harry, our protagonist, meets a group of aliens and it doesn't go so well for him.
The characters you meet along the way are just as memorable as the monsters, and despite knowing that other people are in the town with you, you're always left with a feeling of isolation. You meet people like Cybil Bennett, a female cop from a neighboring town who will occasionally help you through your journey, and who you eventually have to save. You also meet poor souls like Lisa Garland, who were doomed from their very arrival into your play through.
Here's some gameplay for your viewing pleasure.
Silent Hill showed that games could be made scary through intense atmospheres and in spite of hardware limitations. It utilized the DualShock controller's vibration feature for detecting enemies nearby and warning you of your health. However, the movements and camera controls were clunky and tank-like, not fit for an action game. The voice acting as well was not up to par, the timing of certain lines was . The music was anxiety inducing and fit situations perfectly in game, and the opening song has become iconic along with the series itself. Many songs are heavily mechanical sounding, like metal scraping along walls. The monster designs were creepy and unique, and in the second game the monsters became centralized around a certain theme, that being based off of our protagonist's crime and sins.
In each game, there are multiple endings, all depending on the choices you make throughout the game. There's even a joke ending in almost every game that requires special events or items to take place, such as needing completion of other endings first or finding an extremely hidden item. In the first game, they have a UFO Ending where Harry, our protagonist, meets a group of aliens and it doesn't go so well for him.
The characters you meet along the way are just as memorable as the monsters, and despite knowing that other people are in the town with you, you're always left with a feeling of isolation. You meet people like Cybil Bennett, a female cop from a neighboring town who will occasionally help you through your journey, and who you eventually have to save. You also meet poor souls like Lisa Garland, who were doomed from their very arrival into your play through.
Here's some gameplay for your viewing pleasure.
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