Silent Hill - A Retrospective

[jimmbob]

*Thread contains spoilers*

So, I was playing through silent hill t'other day in preparation for the new movie and all that ****e.
Currently playing the "uncut" US version, and it still creeps me out.
I know the graphics aren't up to scratch, and the fog covers up the machines limitations, but I actually like the grainy filtered look. I like the way you can't quite tell what the baddie is meant to be. If nothing else the look of the first one definately set the tone for the 3 sequels.
I think the puzzles are brilliantly put together, the piano one especially. I also love some of the humour present, like the banging locker doors scaring the **** out of you, only to find it's empty! Or the street names belonging to famous horror Authors, (Norman Motel!).
I've heard the combat be moaned about, because you can't see where Harry's aiming, or he's a **** shot, or there's not enough guns, but that's the point. He's meant to be a crap shot, he's scared to death, non of us would be natural born marksmen the first time we're forced to pick up a firearm!
My first play through, I didn't think it could get any more weird, then the alternate school, the lighthouse, the fairground, the school register, the school, the Hospital, the alternate hospital, the SCHOOL! the blood covered nurses, the school!
Jesus what a great game, the more I think about it, the more I appreciate it is arguably better than the second one, probably because I feel the games so-called limitations, were it's strong points.

[eastyy]

Silent hill was one of the few games where i was mesmorised just watching someone play through the entire game

[Dogg Thang]

the more I think about it, the more I appreciate it is arguably better than the second one, probably because I feel the games so-called limitations, were it's strong points.

In terms of locations and creeps I would definitely agree with you. I still find SH1 to be easily the scariest of the bunch. It is dark, dingy and plain nasty - something I felt the third tried to replicate and yet didn't achieve. And I also agree that the limitations actually contributed to it - the rough, muddy textures gave this nightmarish quality to it. Maybe I'm the only one, but one of my recurring things in nightmares is poor visibility.

Sound is superb in SH1. Oppressive and just plain scary. The move into slightly more musical territory in SH2 very much suited the sad story of SH2 but that oppressiveness doesn't seem to have been recaptured in later games where I sometimes felt Yamaoka was more interested in making songs for an album rather than the game.

Personally I prefer SH2 but that is because I felt so much more involved in the characters and the story. It was simpler, and yet so psychological - everything had meaning. This, to me, made it a stronger experience but definitely nowhere near as scary as the first.

The plot of the first game had both positives and negatives. Once I hit a certain age, cult and demon storylines just don't do it for me. They feel like teen goth fodder. And SH1's plot was so convoluted and mixed that I get the impression that they really weren't sure what they were doing half the time - the desire to catch drug dealers in the midst of such a nightmare was more than a little baffling. And yet such confusion actually helped the overall experience and helped it transcend the 'evil cult' storyline. It meant that there were many more ways of looking at what was going on - it was open to interpretation and I think this saved the plot in many ways. The confusion aslo put the player at a disadvantage - something that contributed to the scares as you really had no clue what to expect next.

SH1 is truly an excellent game. I love the whole series but SH1 captured something unique that they never repeated, even when they tried to revisit the same ideas in SH3.

[jimmbob]

I agree the story at first did come across as bollocks! But I remember reading an interpretation by a guy called President Evil over at Gamefaqs which talked about the plot, it was pretty informative IIRC.
The introduction is the part that sticks in my mind the most, walking down the dark alleyway, the creaking wheelchair (A sign of the hospital horrors to come), being knifed by a poison dwarf! And the dizzying camera work in that part blew me away, I thought that I'd died, it was weird to then wake in the diner where you get that bastard radio!

[carbon boy]

The original Silent Hill game is still the only game to date that has truly scarred the crap out of me. Magazine reviews hyped it up but I expected to be taking it back to the store a couple of hours later. Truth of the matter was, I was too damn scared to step out of my own front door!

The hospital section still creeps me out. That design and code team must have had some really good LSD knocking around when they pieced it together.

[Dogg Thang]

With the hospital section and the bits leading up to the lighthouse I had developed a great system of reading the map, working out where I needed to go, turning off my flashlight and just legging it. This was to alleviate the scares. Needless to say, I missed a lot on my first playthrough...

[112]

its the heart beat and rumble deature that got me first time round, it was jus disconcerting for me............ althogh i did play 2, then 3 before i played 1, and then 4 lol!

112

[jimmbob]

Oh forgot about the heart beat thing. If you ran around too much he actually got physically tired didn't he? He couldn't run for long periods of time, and would often fall over some porch steps or something. He really was probably the most useless protagonist in any game. lol.

[Emir]

Definitely the only game to scare holy **** out of me.
As someone already mentioned - THE SCHOOL! It's so horribly oppressive. That piano puzzle is also my favourite puzzle from any game.

The missus is trying to play it now infact, but hates the controls and is having a hissy fit.

[112]

He really was probably the most useless protagonist in any game. lol.

No wonder they got rid of him in favour of the woman in the movie lol!

112

[sputnick]

started and finished the original in march 1999, i'll never forget the 3 games i imported were street fighter z3, syphon filter, and silent hill.


to put it bluntly it was a very brave effort to release this game on limited technology, but it turned out a masterpiece and WAY ahead of its time. i remeber thinking how sick it made resi 2 look(and all the rest imo).

Still the best version of silent hill too, which is why i defo will buy a psp if it gets a proper remake.

[buster_broon]

its definately a game where less is better

the whole not seeing everything and the radio crackling adds a superb dimension of reality and the fact you feel as if you are being stalked by the beasts in the game

again inside it wins due to the limited scope of the torch fitted to the hero's body

[MattyD]

I think SH was made by the limitations it suffered from - the low-fi SFX and industrial noise soundtrack made the game for me. The feeling of isolation was only heightened by the empty streets and short visible distance (in fact I can think of few games where short draw distances were made a credible part of the game instead of just a glaring technical limitations).

On the other hand, one major limitation - the poor localisation - hamstrung the game and made it more incomprehensible than it already is. Too much of the plot has to be inferred from the various notes etc you find along the way, but the terrible dialogue doesn't help you put them together into a meaningful whole.

Still a fantastic game though, and it's aged surprisingly well in gameplay terms even if the graphics look old. It's still the most fun to play of all the titles.

[Applefiend]

Debbie Harry's looking like hell these days isn't she?

[jimmbob]

Remember her?
She had real issues, just when you think ole Harry's gonna get his end away, she starts to bleed from the face!
Also when you go to the hospital and the extra floor appears in the lift it's very creepy.
That hospital was a total head ****.