Silent Hell

[Square]

Okay, I have Silent Hill 2 sat next to my Xbox, and Silent Hill 1 sat in my PS2, unfinished. Thing is, I have found SH1 to be rather boring, just a lot of running aound streets, then into a building to find keys which let you into yet more streets.

My question is this: Do I persevere with SH1, or forget about it and start number 2?

Or is SH2 just more of the same, but prettier?

Advice needed, guys...

[marcus]

SH enthusiasts like me would point to the atmosphere, surrealness, storyline and disturbing nature of the game as being its main draws, if you arent grabbed by this then I think theres little hope you will enjoy the game personally. Also do yourself a favour and play with the lights out, on a big screen with the volume high in case you arent already.

[jimmbob]

Stick with the first one. Silent Hill really picks up after you've completed the school and the "Other," school section.
When you start seeing alternate realities the game gets very creepy...

[Square]

do yourself a favour and play with the lights out, on a big screen with the volume high in case you arent already.

I wasn't, as it happens. I'll try that.

Stick with the first one. Silent Hill really picks up after you've completed the school and the "Other," school section.
When you start seeing alternate realities the game gets very creepy...

That's exactly where I am now, the 'other' school. This section never seems to end...

I do like the atmosphere, but there's not been much story so far, and I'm quite an impatient person!

[112]

Forget number 1 m8! its pap, cos silent hill 2 and 3 spoil you with its lush visuals. play 2 then 3! but please play them cos 1 left me with a bad tate in my mouth! its so damn pixelly!

112

[Square]

Forget number 1 m8! its pap

Well, I'm not sure about that. I admit that I do find the graphics a tad offputting now.

Perhaps Silent Hill is one of those games which really had to be played 'back in the day'. How many of you Silent Hill aficienados played these games on release?

[ObsessiveCompulsive]

visually silent hill 1 wasnt that impressive when it was actually released. im not sure i could play through it now.. but back in the day, it had an atmospheric buildup of fear that was quite fresh back then. one thing that stood out to me alot about silent hill 1 was the music/sfx, perfect.

[Chadruharazzeb]

Believe it or not, SH2 has even more running in the fog, nowhere near as much atmosphere of dread.

The combat stinks in both games though.

[Garibaldi Biscuit]

It's true what ObsessiveCompulsive says about SH's graphics not being that great back 'in the day', I remember watching the first, lovely piece of CGI between Harry and Sybill then grimacing when it cut to outside and the fog consisted of giant 'chunks', rather than in a fluid state.

I loved how different it was to Resident Evil though, and went for an atmosphere which I far preferred - one of low, lingering dread rather than 'boo!' type scares ( although it did have one or two of those ), which was nice because it felt like a 'survival horror' for adults, rather than the somewhat childish attempts of RE ( at that time ).

It's not perfect, of course. There is too much running about in the fog, as Chad says, and constant coming up against collapsed or cordoned off roads in the first couple of hours, but you have to take the rough with the smooth, and for me anyway the atmosphere and plot of a game like SH2 far outweighs any unecessary wandering and clumsy fights.

You may find yourself more able to get into SH2 due to the improved graphics, and also the fact that it has a plot which, while intricate and open to interpretation, doesn't need wepages like SH1 has outlining just what the hell happened when you finish playing it.

[Manta Ray vs Guitar]

Silent Hill 2 is a boring piece of **** compared to Silent Hill 1.

This needed to be said, don't shoot the messenger.

[marcus]

It might be more helpful if you say why you found it boring compared to SH1 rather than making a sweeping, generic statement thats of no help to anyone.

[Square]

You may find yourself more able to get into SH2 due to the improved graphics, and also the fact that it has a plot which, while intricate and open to interpretation, doesn't need wepages like SH1 has outlining just what the hell happened when you finish playing it.

Maybe. But I feel that would be 'cheating' if I abandoned the first game in favour of the sequel. I'm going to try Marcus' suggestion about darkness & volume, to see if I can get myself suitably spooked by the atmosphere.

I like any media which can produce an emotional reaction in me, whether that's laughter or being disturbed...

[Chadruharazzeb]

Silent Hill 2 is a boring piece of **** compared to Silent Hill 1.

This needed to be said, don't shoot the messenger.

Abso-bloody-lutely.

I found SH1 to be far creepier than it's sequel, the locations were far more horrendous, and the sensation of hearing that air-raid siren is just one of those gaming moments I'll never forget.

The only thing about 2 which was sort of better was the plot. SH1 was just ridiculously non-sensical unless you read President Evil's explanation. And even then it's far too complicated for it's own good.

[Square]

Dare I ask people's opinions on Silent Hill 3, then? I know absolutely nothing about it.

[Garibaldi Biscuit]

SH3 is good from what I've played so far, it seems to blend the better elements of 1 and 2 together, but I haven't enjoyed it as much as I expected because it all just seems so familiar. The radio, the flashlight, the nightmare world, they're all great concepts but when you re-use them two or three times you run the risk of the player forgetting just how good they were in the first place.

It does have ill-thought out sections that I came close to giving up on the game due to ( the Subway being one, mind-numbing example ), but there are some good bits later on and it's definitely the best so far visually - I do find myself hoping though that either; this is the last Silent Hill game, or Konami can restrain themselves until new hardware comes forward which can really intensify the experience.