With Silent Hill: Revelation 3D opening up in just a few short days, I thought what better time to do a retrospective on what used to be the pivotal survival horror franchise.

Sometimes I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’m still a huge fan of Silent Hill. Though I should be used to the mediocre offerings that the last few iterations have given us, for some reason I still find myself anticipating every release, and I always end up grabbing them right on release day. One day, I hope I’ll be able to pick up a new title and get that same feeling of sheer terror and extreme polish that the older Silent Hill games offered, but until then, at least I’ve got the memories.

I’ll be taking a quick look at all the main games in the Silent Hill series (with the exception of Origins, as it’s a title that I never got to experience). I have a lot of memories of these titles as I mentioned above, so I’ll be sharing a few of those with you as well. If you’ve never experienced any of the games for youself, I’ll recommend you a jumping off point, and also tell you which titles to avoid (however, you’ll have to read on to find out!).

Silent Hill

Konami’s first entry into the survival horror genre would come in 1999. It was initially hailed as the company’s answer to Capcom’s Resident Evil franchise which was already nearing launch of its fourth title. Upon release players realized they had signed up for something much different. Instead of an action heavy game where your biggest fear was coming across a pack of zombie dogs and not having enough ammo to take them out, you found yourself in the shoes of Harry Mason, an everyman who kind of sucks at combat. Your best defence in Silent Hill is not a weapon of any sort, but instead a radio that warns you of the approaching horrors and quick feet that can run in the opposite direction. Silent Hill also had some technical achievements that Capcom hadn’t included in their franchise: the game tended to look exponentially better, due to the fact that it used real-time environments rather than Resident Evil‘s prerendered backgrounds.

I still remember being a nine year old kid (it feels like so long ago!) and popping that disc into my Playstation for the first time. I remember running through those foggy streets in search of Harry’s lost daughter. I remember following her into a dark alleyway (greeted by freaky fixed camera angles) before being torn apart by a pack of strange, unexplainable creatures. I remember immediately turning the game off after this, because I was freaking nine years old and scared as hell.

After that first taste however, I just couldn’t stay away. Within hours I found myself turning on that matte grey console again. The story was just too intriguing, the atmosphere too interesting. I’d turn the game off in stress countless times before the credits would roll, but a week later I would find myself at the end of the game. I was terrified for my life at that point, but I was already itching for more. I had just experienced one of the most interesting games of that age, and few other titles that generation would ever leave me feeling the way Silent Hill did.

Of course I wasn’t the only one who felt that way: the game would go on to sell over two million copies (a lot back then!), and ended up on many “Best-Of” lists throughout the history of the first Playstation.

Silent Hill 2

2001 would see a new Sony console, and a new Silent Hill too! Sadly it would take me a couple extra years to experience this one (it took a lot of allowances to save up for that sexy black PS2). The Silent Hill sequel would up the ante on every single element that the first game introduced. The game would be heralded by many (even to this day) as both the best survival horror title in gaming history, as well as the most terrifying game of all time.

I feel just as strongly about it: no movie, no game, no piece of media has terrified me on the same level that Silent Hill 2 has. Those damn nurses all over that disgusting hospital, the introduction of the now iconic Pyramid Head, the insanely deep plot elements and extremely disturbing overtones, all topped off by the hauntingly beautiful score of Akira Yamaoka.

The plot would follow newcomer James Sunderland on a mission to the cursed town. He receives a letter from his thought-to-be-deceased wife with a request for him to meet her there. Everything goes to shit of course, and the beautiful place from James’ memories becomes a horrible nightmare. The game was ripe with new characters, previously untouched subject matter (for any game), challenging puzzles and countless terrifying moments. Though a few years older than when I played the first title, I still found myself turning this one off constantly. Silent Hill 2 was simply too stressful.

Silent Hill 3

2003 would see the series’ third entry (aptly titled Silent Hill 3). The third chapter would feature the series’ first female protagonist. Unlike Silent Hill 2, which was a new story altogether, the third game acts as a direct sequel to the first and expands heavily on the overarching themes of that game.

You find yourself in control of the teenage Heather as she finds herself drawn to the horrific town. The cult from the first game has some special plans for her, and she’d like to stop these plans before they come to pass. You’ll get to visit the series’ staple hospital in Silent Hill 3, and some new locales as well, including an amusement park that’s straight out of a horrible nightmare.

At this point, people were starting to get a sense of deja vu with the series. Though each game features largely different stories, the gameplay had remained the same throughout the franchise. Combat was clunky, and though you would typically visit different locations in each title, the method of progressing through each one was very similar.

Despite this fact, Silent Hill 3 still received mostly positive reviews. Though I definitely felt that familiar feeling, the game itself was still a blast to play through. In any case, the thing that the Silent Hill franchise has always been best at is atmosphere, and Silent Hill 3 may have the heaviest atmosphere of them all. While the story overall may not have been as powerful as Silent Hill 2, the strong sense of connection with the first game made the entire experience feel much larger in scale. Silent Hill 3 was also praised for its graphical prowess and remains one of the best looking PS2 titles to ever be released.

Silent Hill 3 is also the basis for the upcoming film Silent Hill: Revelation 3D.

 Silent Hill 4

Silent Hill 4 came just a year later, and was both a breath of fresh air and the first misstep in the iconic series.

The game takes more of a Silent Hill 2 approach to plot, meaning Silent Hill 4 is not related to any of the previous games. It instead tells the tale of Henry Townshend, a lonely introvert that couldn’t leave his apartment even if he wanted to. The front door won’t open, the windows are locked, and the phone doesn’t work. He’s stuck in every sense of the word, and has been for days. He wakes up one day to a strange tunnel in his bathroom and has no choice but to enter it.

The game never actually takes you into Silent Hill. Instead you’ll learn about the plot and mythologies by visiting surrounding areas. While weird (if you’re playing a Silent Hill game, you’re likely looking to visit the town), it was also welcome to visit locations that we hadn’t seen before.

Konami tried to respond to some of the gameplay criticisms that the last game received by introducing a first-person element to the title. Any time spent in Henry’s residence would be spent in the new perspective. It certainly added a new level of fear to the game, as your field of view is simply much more narrow than you’re used to. There is much less to be afraid of in the apartment however, so the first person elements tend to get old rather fast.

I still had a lot of fun with Silent Hill 4, but it was definitely the weakest of the Team Silent developed games. It simply isn’t overly memorable, and feels much more like a spin-off than a main title.

Silent Hill 4 would also be the last game developed by Team Silent before they were disbanded by Konami in 2005.

Silent Hill Homecoming

I was an 17 year old broke high school student on the day that Silent Hill Homecoming would hit store shelves. I decided to skip school that day and wait for my local Blockbuster to open. I had to use both straps on my backpack as it was stuffed full of games to trade in (not because I wanted to trade them, simply because that was the only way I’d be able to get the game home on launch day). I still recall racing home only moments after the store had opened, gleaming with excitement and eager to place that disc into my PS3.

I was instantly in awe with the graphics and sound, the insanely crisp voice acting, and the other technical achievements that Homecoming had to offer. The realization didn’t set in for an hour or so: this was not a Silent Hill game. Sure it looked like Silent Hill, and an insanely beautiful rendition of it at that, but the game just felt off.

As I mentioned above, Team Silent was disbanded soon after the release of Silent Hill 4. Konami entrusted Double Helix Games (a company that didn’t have the greatest track record) to develop the next iteration of the series. People were excited to see a western developer take on the horror franchise, but sadly, the game did not turn out as good as it looked.

Silent Hill Homecoming was a much more action oriented title than any of the games we’d seen before. If I remember correctly, guns were much more plentiful and enemies tended to go down without much trouble. This was severely detrimental to the experience: in past titles you’d typically turn to running before you’d stand and face an enemy, but in Homecoming you feel like it’s never necessary. The combat controls were completely reworked for this game, but the sheer amount of combat you would face highlighted the fact that it was still clunky as hell. Homecoming was also the first title that gave the player complete control over the camera. In this age it’s basically a requirement to have this “feature”, but again, in a title like this it can hurt the experience: while past games had you moving slowly around corners in case of a surprise attack, in Homecoming you could simply look at where you were going before you got there.

I’m still pretty torn on Silent Hill Homecoming. On one hand, you have a visually (and audibly) beautiful rendition of the town and the terrors inside it, but on the other, the game severely lacked the terrifying elements of the older titles and was rarely, if ever scary. You could fairly easily have removed the fog and threw another title on the box, and few people would ever know, it simply felt that different.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

December 2009 saw the release of the only Silent Hill title for a Nintendo console (though it would later release for PS2 and PSP). The game was a reimagining of the first Silent Hill, and kept only the premise of Harry trying to find his missing daughter. Nearly everything else was unrecognizably different: the plot and characters within it were not the same, and even the world of Silent Hill had changed from a fog covered plateau to a frozen wasteland. Combat was completely removed from the game, leaving you only able to run from any of the monsters you may encounter.

I was so impressed with Shattered Memories that I nearly played the entire game in one sitting. Thinking back on the title, I can’t really think of anything that I didn’t like about it. The story may not be as strong as what Silent Hill 2 had to offer, but by far, Shattered Memories was the best survival horror title in years.

I was really impressed with the original content that Climax Studios added to the franchise as well. Shattered Memories opens with a creepy first person psychotherapy session that asks you to answer questions honestly. These sections are interesting, thought provoking, evocative, and also effect what you’ll see during the time you’ll spend in Silent Hill: NPC characters will look and act differently, and entire areas of the game may be different or inaccessible, all based on the choices you make.

The game was also a perfect fit for the Wii, and the motion controls made you feel like a much bigger part of the experience. The luminosity of the town tends to be very low (of course), but pointing with the Wii Remote gives you full control of the ever important flashlight. You would also receive the occasional phone call in the game, and the rarely utilized Wii Remote speaker would act as your earpiece. It’s pretty creepy listening to screaming characters when the sound is emitting so close to your ear.

Sadly this would be the only Silent Hill title that Climax Games would get to develop. Though this was Konami’s most successful Silent Hill in some time (quality wise anyways), the next title would again go to a different developer. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories would also be the final title composed by series regular Akira Yamaoka, which was a sad day for series fans as Akira’s beautiful music was always one of the strongest elements of any Silent Hill title

Silent Hill: Downpour

Silent Hill: Downpour released six months ago to mixed reviews. For some reason I was still excited for the game, though previews looked muddy and gameplay looked clunkier than ever.

I took in every moment of the game that I could, but it turned out even worse than anticipated. Downpour was filled with technical issues that were never apparent in prior titles, including constant (constant) framerate issues (sometimes dipping into single digits), freezing, and audio sync issues (or missing entirely) among others.

The plot was decent enough: inmate Murphy Pendleton would find himself near the ill-fated town when the bus he was being transported in was destroyed. After discovering what was in store for him, Murphy’s main mission was simply to find a way out alive, though he didn’t seem opposed to doing weird side tasks along the way.

Silent Hill: Downpour was the franchise’s first (and hopefully only) attempt at an open world game. It was stupid. Sure it was cool to be able to run around the whole town at your leisure, but that fact that the town was basically empty and that you could interact with very few of the buildings made the majority of the experience extremely boring. You could literally run around for the better part of 20 minutes without anything happening. It was also hard to tell at times if the quest you were attempting actually had anything to do with the story, or was just some sort of side silliness.

Downpour is also the epitome of bad creature design. The Silent Hill games of yore to this day have some of the most atrocious, disgusting, disturbing, amazing monsters you could imagine. Those creatures fit the town and the subject matter perfectly. While wandering the streets (and many other areas) of Downpour, you’ll likely just see the same zombie man or woman over and over again. They look bad, their AI is bad, and they’re so easy to take down that you’ll never, ever fear them.

Downpour was not all bad of course. The sound design was excellent for the most part, and though Akira Yamaoka would not return to compose this game, Daniel Licht managed to fill his shoes pretty well. Combat, though dragged down by the awful AI, played better than any Silent Hill title before it. Developer Vatra Games also added a stereoscopic 3D option to the PS3 version of the game, which was very welcome and gave a new dimension (haha) to the few scares that the game did offer.

Closing Thoughts

It wasn’t until beginning this retrospective that I realized just how far the mighty had fallen. Over the last 8 years, nearly everything the franchise had to offer has been of dismal quality compared to the titles we used to get.

What used to be one of Konami’s first-tier games seems to have become a joke even to them: the company entrusted a mobile developer to remaster Silent Hill 2 & 3 in HD, and it seems as though the “remastering” was never actually completed before release. In many cases, the Silent Hill HD Collection looked noticeably worse than the original PS2 titles, and had a myriad of issues that were not present in the source material. Konami eventually issued a statement saying that they could not fix the game, but would be happy to exchange it for another title. This is something I’d never heard of before, and basically showed us that Konami just didn’t give a shit about the game. This being said, Silent Hill: Downpour was released just one week earlier, and the insanely distracting technical issues present in that title as well made it feel as though it was not an isolated incident.

All this being said, I’m quite looking forward to Revelation. The first Silent Hill film was nothing to write home about, but if it did anything right, it was taking the source material seriously. Creatures and music were ripped right from the game and thrown onto the silver screen. The town looked fantastic and had a wonderful atmosphere. Though the plot was a nigh-unrecognizable amalgamation of series’ themes, the film felt mostly coherent, and in my opinion is probably the best video-game adaptation to this day (though that’s not saying much). If Revelation can at least match that, it will be well worth my $10.

If you’re looking at getting into the Silent Hill series, your best bet would be to start with Shattered Memories. Again, it’s simply a great re-imagining of the first game for the current generation. Silent Hill 2 and 3 hold up well and are fantastic stories, but I’d try and track down the original versions and skip the atrocious HD Collection altogether. Unless you can find Homecoming or Downpour for dirt cheap, I’d avoid those ones too, as they are definitely the biggest disappointments in the series. Silent Hill 4 is not bad, but is mostly unrelated to the other games, and definitely is not one of the necessary games to play.

I hope that one day Konami realizes what they’ve done to the series. I hope that they decide at some point to take Silent Hill seriously again. When this happens, I think we’ll get another game worth playing. Until then, you could always catch up with Resident Evil.

In my restless dreams I see that town… Silent Hill. Cue Theme of Laura:

Make sure to let us know what you think of the series, and of course if you agree or disagree with what I had to say!