In 1999, the gaming world was introduced to a gloomy and frightful town called Silent Hill; via the PS One game titled 'Silent Hill'. It is a survival horror adventure that gained publicity as nightmarish and a competitor to Resident Evil. Years later, Silent Hill evolved into a media franchise; producing various sequels, a prequel, comics, movies and establishing a contrast to the Resident Evil "Peek a Boo!" by establishing the psycological horror that pushed boundaries and welcomed us to the more twisted and shocking realms that were actually more realistic then in other games such as Resident Evil. Arguably this point was best potrayed in Silent Hill 2, which is considered to be the best Silent Hill game, and experience thus far.
Now I am not the biggest fan of Silent Hill, I started of with Silent Hill 3 and got not very far. I tried Silent Hill 2 and too got nowhere. I required walkthroughs written on the internet to progress and gradually complete 2 and 3, as well as the backing of codes to relieve some of the tension and nerves as I progressed into the unknown realms of Silent Hill. I felt bad cheating and not going through the process of exploration into the twisted images of 2, and 3, but even so I did quickly realise that Silent Hill was more preferable then its rival games such as Resident Evil. Nothing to me proved this more than Silent Hill 4 The Room... my personal favorite in the series.
This may sound weird but I associate Silent Hill 4 with my development in life a lot; the moment I explored the demo on PS2 and squashed the Sniffer Dogs and Victims with Henry's foot, I was enchanted into the horror. I completed the demo back to back for days until the full game was released and I sought out for my copy which I obtained in Tesco Extra at Tower Park in Poole. I had the PS2 version because I didn't have the original Xbox, though I later found that it was a tiny bit better on the Xbox console and preferably my choice of format. To ensure I got far and enevitably to the multiple endings, I had the offical strategy guide and with it I sought to complete Silent Hill 4 with all its endings several times and explore the perks, easter eggs and novelties contained within. Its thanks to Silent Hill 4 that I understood human emotion better and explore imagination beyond what I knew before, for better and worse. I will admit however that having to transport back and forth between worlds and the apartment just to exhange or equip or remove items was really medicore.
But it also associates a fair amount with what I fell out with and lessons that didn't benefit my life. Firstly it made me distrust the gaming magazines I enjoyed reading and collecting, all because in the Offical PlayStation 2 Magazine, the review for Silent Hill 4 was 7/10, yet it scored the same points as Colin McRae Rally 2005 which in the same issue scored 8/10. This alienated me to no end and it wasn't until years later when I understood that minds wired up differently from mine valued things differently. Consciously I cannot forget the car crash that happened after I brought my copy of Silent Hill 4 from Poole without thinking that having this game had cursed me and brought the bad luck. Its stupid I know but 'til this day I feel this way still. Silent Hill 4 also introduced an inappropiate obsession I have with gaming in that I collect games I like and keep them even though it does nothing logically but take up space. I must note as well I have had copies of Silent Hill 4 far too many times for I to count just like I have with Need For Speed Underground 2.
With my many experiences with Silent Hill 4, I had a newfound trust for the series and renewed interest in completing all the Silent Hill games I had as well as understanding the stories and events in each entity of the series. I completed 2, 3, as well as the first Silent Hill and in time found myself invested in the future of Silent Hill whether it be the next game in the series or movie. Unfortunately like the Angry Video Game Nerd and his love for Castlevania, Silent Hill for me couldn't improve following 4 or the regarded best of the series 2 in the same way that AVGN found numerous dissapointments following Super Castlevania IV.
When Silent Hill V (5) was announced, I was excited as to be expected and dreamt of what it could be like and how the plot may unfold. As soon as I learnt however that it would be developed by Double Helix Games; the same developer that made 'The Da Vinci Code' video game, I felt my hopes and expectations fall to the ground and shatter like a heart made of glass. Silent Hill Homecoming was a significant departure from the Silent Hill tradition and broken in fundemental ways that I felt mad that it was even called a Silent Hill game because it sure as hell didn't deserve to be. I admit its not terrible, its playable and if one can ignore the 'Silent Hill' aspects, it is a 7/10 game at best; but because its a Silent Hill game and fails badly at being convincingly harrowing or challanging, it is in my opinion the WORST Silent Hill game.
In years to come Silent Hill would expand onto the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and introduce the prequel; Silent Hill Origins. Now this was more like it though it still wasn't terrifying as a Silent Hill game should be and because it was a PSP game, it had limitations which were made so dangerously apparent when it was ported onto the PS2 later on. Its still better than Silent Hill Homecoming, but not close enough to remedy the franchise after the blasphemy that was Homecoming.
Silent Hill Shattered Memories is an intresting addition to the series, but again it wasn't the saving grace other fans might have hoped, and it installed a really daunting impression that the series was in grave danger because it utilised the humble beginnings of Silent Hill, altered it somewhat and then made it into a survival horror, puzzle game. It was actually pretty good but I hated its forced linear nature and the inibility to fight the monsters, plus it was on the Nintendo Wii which meant it was compromised from the start. It could have been a real turnaround for the series but instead it was built on last generation consoles like the PS2 and the Nintendo Wii which felt last gen from the start even though it competed against PS3 and Xbox 360. My biggest gripe with Shattered Memories however is that while it may not be considered cannon, or in other words a spin-off title, it interferes with the memories of the first Silent Hill and potrays a different and worse impression of characters like Harry Mason. It made me mad like how "That '90s show" of The Simpsons contradicted what was already established in the Simpson timeline and story.
Movies came and subsequently went, while the comics continued, but the bitter disapointment I felt and no doubt fans of the series also felt was still profound. The first (1st) was 'okay' but then I didn't think highly of the concept of making Silent Hill into a movie in the first place so therefore my expectations were dammingly low to begin with. The same could be said for 'ilent Hill Revelation 3D'; the second (2nd) movie I felt was better because it hit more the notes which Silent Hill 3 introducted but its like saying the Xbox 360 looks better in white than black, its not significant and personally I wish Hollywood would leave video games alone and that we didn't have the games we love turn into films like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Need For Speed, Tomb Raider, Prince of Persia and so on. Oh and I hate the fact that Revelation feels rushed from the start and has that Vincent character, I would've promoted Revelation as the best thing since the sandwich toaster if Heather brutally and inhumanely murdered Vincent while driven insane by the Otherworld.
Now I want to go on record and say that Silent Hill Downpour should've been a very good game and would've brought life back into the Silent Hill series. I personally really liked Downpour and it had a lot going for it too; music, story, setting, secondary missions, exploration... I would've said that Downpour was at long last the one to be better than Silent Hill 2 and taken its place over Silent Hill 4 as my personal favorite out of the series. There was just one major problem however, the game was beyond broken! Even with the patch, Downpour fumbled about, struggled with framerate, loading times, auto saving every time a person blinked and awful animations. Some reviewers state the fighting mechanic is also broken, but I actually like it because it made you feel vulnerable and outmatched against the monsters just like in the first four (4) games, and not tediously overpowered like in Homecoming. The bad fighting mechanic however was profoundly atrocious when Murphy becomes the 'Bogeyman' and tries to strike Anne.
The animations and stiffness is a dissapointing factor in my opinion becuase there are numerous ways of dying such as being consumed by the Otherworld while in 'Chase mode' or being impaled by spikes yet when death does occur Murphy simply groans and collapses like a wardobe toppling over. Given the numerous possibilites and ways of dying, it would have been nice and dare I say satisfying to see Murphy being eviscerated, decapitated, torn apart, shredded by a saw, catch on fire and burn to death or literally swallowed up by the Otherworld while in 'Chase mode'. Personally Downpour needed to be more freightening, a way to do that would've been in a death scene or a Fatality like in Mortal Kombat, I needed to be afraid of dying because of the visual presentation of Murphy or Anne dying instead of being frustrated when inadvertant death occurs unspectaculary and then have to wait for the game to load. Instead it proves flat, frustrating having to go again and incomplete.
To say Downpour feels incomplete is an understatement, it puts me in mind of The Getaway on PS2 where there is promise and the ability to explore the surroundings and town of Silent Hill but lacks the fundemental garnish that would make a barley functional and stiff game look and feel great. Even if Downpour were delayed for longer just to overcome the technical difficulties then it would've been very welcome. Instead we got a game that was great but unready and rushed. Picture Downpour like a soufflé done incorrectly and that incorrectness spoils what would've have been delicious. Frankly if you were a proud chef, you wouldn't produce a inferior soufflé to someone you know has expectations; the same could be said about Silent Hill Downpour, and yet the devolpers Vatra Games and Publisher Konami went ahead with the incomplete and inferior product.
As a result this was an unholy bad move which costed everyone involved; Vatra Games subsequently went bankrupt, Konami issued replacement games as redemption to fans, and fans playing Downpour were angry and disappointed. While there is the PlayStation Vita game: Silent Hill: Book of Memories, I have lost hope with Silent Hill and therefore choose not to invest in a Silent Hill game that is called a spin-off and focuses on online multiplayer.
For me it essentially kills off the Silent Hill franchise along with any hope that it can be revived. It is unfortunate that I see Silent Hill as extinct as the Dino Crisis series, and though Silent Hill is not yet dead with the oncoming 'Silent Hills', I have little confidence in the future of Silent Hill.
Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro teaming up to create the next Silent Hill entry called 'Silent Hills' is admittedly a hugely appealing prospect. I do not know who Guillermo del Toro is or what he's infamous for but I do understand that he regarded highly regarded in horror movies just as Hideo Kojima is highly regarded in gaming. From what I've seen, experienced and heard about the P.T Demo and 'Silent Hills', there is undeniably impressive aspects, but its still too early to be excited about 'Silent Hills' and the fact that you have Hideo Kojima and a movie director leading the project worries me. Why does this worry me? Its simple; I have a feeling that its going to be Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots all over again. MGS4 is more of a movie than a game; it is so heavily bogged down in its own world of cutscenes and near endless text and talking that the moments of gameplay in MGS4 feel lost and very few in between. Don't get me wrong, I can accept MGS4 because its the Metal Gear series and there hasn't been a bad offical Metal Gear game in my recollection, though MGS2 does sting, plus I am invested in the mind boggling story and plot, but I don't like MGS4 because of its more film than game nature. I play games for the enjoyment and gameplay simple as, if I want to watch a film I'll watch a DVD simple as. In my opinion the two (2) different entites should not be blurred into one but it did and MGS4 is the way it is, and I fear that 'Silent Hills' will suffer the same fate. It may be a great game, or at least very good, but I strongly feel like its a technical marvel like the Bugatti Veyron rather than a game I can enjoy.
If I am proven right and the Silent Hill series becomes too different from what I adored, then at least I have Silent Hill HD Collection on my Xbox 360, and Silent Hill 4 The Room on both PS2 and Xbox to enjoy and rejoice in the memories. Of course I can be proven wrong! Time will tell but in the meantime feel free to express your opinions as I do, and until next time... See ya!
