While the games are technically categorized as “Survival Horror”, it should be noted that they are a bit more psychological in their scare tactics than other games in the genre such as RESIDENT EVIL and ALONE IN THE DARK. Sure, there are hideous creatures, gory moments, and a general sense of dread and fear, but many of the themes central to the plot of the games deal with other factors, such as the occult, torture, religion, insanity, imagination, and both the limitations and powers of the human mind. SILENT HILL isn’t meant to be lumped into one specific style of horror, but rather it encompasses several versions of fear, and therefore slightly grounds itself in reality, despite its remarkable and fantastical situations. The series has a long-standing history with these ideals, and they all play as a running theme through the storylines of each game, as well as the current comic book series. But how did it all begin?

SILENT HILL – PSONE (1999)

It’s a remarkable story, and without giving too much away, has a load of remarkable plot twists and scares throughout. And all throughout the game, one thing remains constant; the “atmosphere”, both literal and figurative. The feeling of dread and confusion brought on in the game through the series’ trademark use of fog was almost by accident. Due to the system’s limitations, fog was used to cover up graphical missteps such as pop up and draw distance with images far away.

Beyond the fog, however, the sense of evil around every corner was heightened due to the series’ fantastic use of sound. The little radio that Harry carries around in the game serves as an early warning system when nasty things approach, giving off a high pitch of static the closer you come to the dangers. That, coupled with the little pocket flashlight that shone throughout every corner of the sleep, scary town added an ambience that both thrilled and petrified gamers.

The game’s mix of intriguing puzzles, multiple endings and straight on fear combat was a great one, and the game went on to be a smash hit, and is even the rough basis for the film. And while moments of the game are bizarre and just downright head scratching, one thing always seems to bring players back: the human element. Players could relate to Harry’s need to rescue a loved one, and were there with him through every torturous scene and scenario. The game’s sensibilities to religion and faith would also play a strong role in the game’s reception to fans, and would find that to be a running theme for the film as well.

Still, it must be said, that without those great scare moments, as well as the excellently told, almost cinematic story focus, the game wouldn’t be nearly as big as it is today. I mean, without those, I wouldn’t be writing this feature, now would I? Everything from the story, the audio and visuals (the gameplay graphics were well done for the time, but the cut-scenes were outstanding) to the simple yet effective gameplay made SILENT HILL a contender for many gamers’ favorite horror title.

One Gamer’s Opinion:

SILENT HILL 2 – PS2 (2001)

Part of his insanity stems from the fact of how his wife died in the first place. Sure, she was ill, for quite some time in fact, but what finally brought her to her end? Also, why is the new woman in his life, Maria, so familiar, yet so different to him? The second game in the series brought along a deeper plot filled with even deeper psychosis for it’s protagonist, and while it is a bit of a fan favorite, overall it doesn’t quite match up to the original.

That’s not to say it isn’t without its fare share of scares. While the first game had a good deal of zombie-like creatures running around, and creatures that used to be animals attacking from the ground and the air, there was no real “big” baddy to stalk you at every turn, other than the main boss, of course. Well, with SILENT HILL 2, we got our first taste of unrelenting evil in the form of the Pyramid Head creature. A creature that toils against lost souls for Samael, PH basically just poked and prodded at you, but was so horrifying (and recognizable) that he instantly became a fan favorite, and found his way into the SILENT HILL film.

This game also incorporates another tried and true theme for the series, that of general human emotions gone wild. Here, many factors come into play for most of the characters you encounter, be it thoughts of suicide, guilt, anger, abuse, or your every day run of the mill serious mental illnesses. All of these (and more) shape the way the characters interact, and form a decent (if not disturbing) story for the game.

One Gamer’s Opinion:

SILENT HILL 2: RESTLESS DREAMS – XBOX (2001)

Not content with providing more information via cut scenes, we actually have a separate storyline, running another 3 to 5 hours of gameplay time in which Maria’s tale is told as a bit of a prequel to the main story. Titled “Born from a Wish”, Maria’s mission was to serve as a reason for her being, but ultimately stands as just an extra bit of “something to do”, surrounded by minimal story. Once you know the ending of the main game, honestly, there’s not much reason to play Maria’s, as you’ll just end up scratching your head as to why her side story even exists, other than to further prove James’ psychosis.

I will say, however, that despite being better looking overall, there is a bit of a framerate difference between the Xbox version and the PS2 version. While the Xbox version’s graphics are cleaner, the animation on the PS2 is much smoother. Also, while the original version of SH2 on PS2 did not include the “Born from a Wish” side game from RESTLESS DREAMS, the subsequent Greatest Hits version of the game did.

One Gamer’s Opinion:

SILENT HILL 3 – PS2 (2003)

Again, without giving away too many spoilers, the third title in the series is a bit more direct in it’s explanation of the plot and the strangeness going on around Heather, who actually doesn’t even enter the town of Silent Hill until midway through the game. Still, the same style remains, and while there is less fog, the graphics still remain sharp and horrific, with newer, more gruesome foes to face at every turn. What I colorfully refer to as “moaning bags of flesh” run rampant throughout this adventure, and for me, this is the scariest of the games. I still can’t play it longer than a half an hour at a time before being sufficiently freaked out.

And while it’s big on scares, in the long run, it’s the shortest game in the series, due mostly in part to the characters in the game willingness of exposition. Most of the clues are laid out for you via dialogue, and while there are the occasional twists (especially as to how it connects with the first SILENT HILL) overall you see most of what happens right away.

Rumor has it that Christopher Gans (the director of the film of SILENT HILL) wanted to do a movie of SH3 after playing it, but needed to do the first game adaptation first, and then follow up with this as the sequel. The second game, which is said to be his favorite, was his first choice, but it actually takes place chronologically after part 3.

One Gamer’s Opinion:

SILENT HILL 4: THE ROOM – PS2, XBOX (2004)

While not officially “in” Silent Hill, the game has enough connections to the town through the various characters you encounter, as well as the apartments “former tenants”. What’s most striking for this game, however, is the style in which it’s presented. All the sections of the game that take place within “the room” are done in first person perspective, while everything in the outside world is done via third person.

This title also forgoes the usual creatures for more formidable specters…namely ghosts, victims of various mishaps and misfortunes. While the combat is a bit on the clunky side, it still retains the same fear induced need for survival as the other games, and the puzzles are once again more of the focus of the adventure, rather than dispatching of the beasties that you come across. In fact, many of the ghosts you’ll HAVE to run by, as you won’t find a weapon with which to even do harm to them with until almost two thirds into the game.

While not as scary as the other entries, this one gets an A Plus on the “downright freaky” scale. Two faced mannequin bears, giant heads coming out of lavatory stalls, fractured people…this game flips me out every time. And while it all occurs, once again, the themes of past games come into play. Emotional separation, abuse and the like once more play a factor into the main character’s inner demons, as well as the ones they run into in and out of the apartment.

And though it tries many new things, it’s probably my least favorite in the series. There is a good story behind it all, and much of it has that familiar SILENT HILL style, but overall, something was a bit lacking. Maybe it was how, through 4 games, the control hasn’t varied much. Sure, the lighting, ambience, and sound are all as fantastic as before, but…maybe I just miss the actual town. Then again, maybe not. I mean…would you?

One Gamer’s Opinion:

THE SILENT HILL EXPERIENCE – PSP (2006)

Taken the viewer through a tour of Midwich Elementary School, you can go down a number of corridors where the features are located. As the cinematic passes you along the path, occasionally, a small red “X” appears in the bottom corner of the screen. Time a press of the X button correctly, and you’ll find hidden features, such as two VERY disturbing music videos, or even the secret UFO endings to the first two games, as well as the bizarre “dog” ending for SH2.

The set up works extremely well, allowing you to basically work your way through the creepy school to find digital versions of the 5 part SILENT HILL comic, “Dying Inside”, as well as a brand new short story, “The Hunger”, presented here for the first time anywhere. There are corridors that lead you to 20 select tracks from the soundtrack of the entire series, as well as the trailers for all four games and the film. Finally, there’s interviews with series’ producer (and composer for both the games and film) Akira Yamaoko and film director Christopher Gans.

For a SILENT HILL fan, it’s a nice little collection of rare treats and gems from the series, and the digital comic is pretty cool (though I would have liked for there to be some voicework for the dialogue, not just music from the games over moving panels). Also, it would have been a nice touch to include something about SILENT HILL: PLAY NOVEL an adaptation of the first game that was released for the GameBoy Advance only in Japan. Still, what’s there is awesome, and is a definite must for any fan of the games or someone looking for a bit more information for the film.

One Gamer’s Opinion:

As to the film itself, after seeing, I can safely say without hesitation, that this is the most faithful and accurate video game to film translation yet. Now, these may be bold words to begin a review with, but bear with me here. Don’t think I’m not going to back that claim up.

The story is both familiar and new, as it takes the main focus of the first game and tweaks it a bit. As we know, Hollywood always seems to take some liberties with any adaptation, and this film is no different. However, what they’ve kept in of the source material is well worth the price of admission to any long time fan. Here, the hero of the game has been turned into a heroine. A young mother named Rose (Radha Mitchell) is concerned that her adopted daughter Sharon (Jodelle Ferland) is still having sleep walking trouble. Whenever she enters this state, she screams of a town called Silent Hill. In an effort to discover her ailment, Rose sets off with Sharon in tow to uncover what may be the trouble. Her husband, Christopher (Sean Bean) doesn’t want them to go, considering the town’s history of being deserted after a coal fire underground the city which still burns, but they leave without him and set off on their journey.

From that moment of exposition, the film shifts into almost a mirror image of the game. The car crash, Sharon’s disappearance, the discovery of the creatures, the creatures themselves…it’s all from the game. The actress they have paying Cybil (Laurie Holden) actually looks so much like her CG-I counterpart from the game I thought she could have done the motion capture work those years ago. While exploring the city, Rose encounters a child that resembles Sharon, and along the way, finds clues to direct her where to go. There’s a moment early on when Rose returns to her car and finds pages from Sharon’s art book scattered on the ground, and a page inside the car with a painting and the word “school” at the top. Remembering that part from the game made me smile quite a bit, wondering if next she would crawl inside a doghouse to find a key hidden there. The movie is FULL of moments like that.

And while it pays great homage to the source material, it also sets itself as a separate entity all on its own. Cybil is a much stronger character, and the cult that inhabits Silent Hill is a bit larger than the one seen in the game. While Dahlia is a member, her role is a bit changed as well, those she still plays a bit part in Sharon’s life (see…Sharon is similar to Cheryl, the name of the child in the game).

Of course, the best moments of the film are when, as the character’s say, “the darkness comes”. The transference of the town from sleepy abandoned city to hellish nightmare world re done VERY well, and the creatures found within it are both horrific and fantastic. The first appearance of Pyramid Head (here called Red Pyramid in the credits, though never referred to as such in the film) is one of the great jump-moments, and his appearances, while sparse, are some of the best scares in the flick.

Near the middle of the film, it’s clear that they’ve taken the basis of the first game and built upon it for the film, as one of the themes so strong in the first game becomes repeated throughout the events in the movie. “Mother is God in the eyes of a child” is something that is so central to the plot of both, and it’s executed very well here. While some parts deviate from the source and establish the film as a separate tale only similar to that of Harry Mason and Cheryl from the first game, it’s still a wholly excellent story, and the scares come at a quick pace in order to keep the non-gamers in the audience tight to that seat edge.

One thing that was a bit unexpected for me was the gore involved in the film. While the games do have some truly gruesome moments, I actually didn’t expect there to be as much blood and horror as there was here, and I was pleasantly surprised. Still, considering the topic, it should have been expected. Also, there were many moments where the audience started to laugh…which as I type it doesn’t sound quite right, but bear with me. While the film is by no means funny, there were some of those “saving grace” moments where laughter was needed to ease the tension, and it was brought about in a very human way. Parts where characters say things like “what the fuck is going on?” repeatedly, or when another assures a character that ‘everything is going to be ok” when they both know full well it’s not brought about the most chuckles.

Those moments were few and far between though, and more often than not screams were heard echoing through the seats…and occurrence I haven’t heard at the cinemas in quite some time. One thing that should be mentioned is the music. Fans of the series will be able to recognize the tunes, as they ALL come from the games (with one exception being Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire"). The end credits song is even the theme from the third game! To be perfectly honest, however, you don’t have to be familiar with the games AT ALL to enjoy this flick. Sure, video game fans will get the most out of it (especially if the first game is your favorite) but horror buffs will also have much to like here as well. It’s dark, it’s bleak, and it’s fantastic. Just don’t go alone.

One Gamer’s Opinion:

And so, my premonitions were true. SILENT HILL is the first movie based on a video game to get it right. Too bad the upcoming DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE doesn’t hold the same promise.

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