The Silent Hill Games

Last post I talked about the Silent Hill movies; I think is fare to give the same treatment to the video games, like I have said before; the Silent Hill franchise has made such a powerful impact in the genera that anybody who plays video games can tell you he has at least heard of them.

The games have a very dedicated fan base and with how rich in story and lore the series is, it deserves much attention has it´s in my opinion, the one franchise that is still trying to do right for horror games and understand it´s roots even if it´s hand many stumbles along the way...

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Silent Hill (now called by many people Silent Hill 1) is the first entry in the series; it´s interesting to know that at first the game was meant to be some sort of first person shooter with aliens from what little was reveled, but in time, Konami slowly lost interest in the project and thus let the team pretty much on their own; this gave the team almost free ways on how to proceed with the development and almost full creative freedom. The game was lunched and even if it didn't quite match the results of other sells at the time put it catches the attention of critics and player because it wasn't just something they haven´t seen before but also because of the unique setting and atmosphere of the game... the idea of a hunted town is not really new, but in game form it really was not something that at the time was made, it maybe was imagined but Silent Hill mastered it.

The story of Silent Hill fallows Harry Mason, a widow father who is heading to the town along with his daughter Cheryl; of course things go wrong after a car crash and Cheryl goes missing and so Harry´s quest to rescue his daughter is on. One thing I feel is important to bring up is that in games we are a costume to save damsels is distress (princesses, kidnaped girlfriends, etc...) but here, Harry is trying to find his daughter, I think that is a very powerful motivator; even if Cheryl´s character is not really developed, the fact that Harry and Cheryl are father and daughter is already a powerful bond... Harry himself is going trough hell itself to save his little girl; that is kinda touching (considering how crude the story itself is). There is of course more going on in the story, we learn why the town is possessed, why is Cheryl needed, we learn about Alessa Gillespie and her tragic story.

Silent Hill 2 lunched on the Play Station 2, taking advantage of the back then "nex-gen" console and made the "sequel" that blew the minds of critics and gamers alike. The story this time fallows a new protagonist named James Sunderland, who (just like Harry) lost his wife to a decease, but got a letter from her to meet him at their "special place" in Silent Hill. Silent Hill 2 does not fallow the story of the first, it fact, it docent even have anything to do with it... is a whole different story that holds it´s own, in fact this game started a trend many Silent Hill fans are now aware of, the two timelines or sides of the Silent Hill mythos (witch I will touch upon later).

I hate to say this but, has good and polished has Silent Hill 2 is, I find it to be a very overrated game... Allow me to elaborate; on it´s own is a really good game: it´s scary, it has interesting art in terms of the world itself (is much more different than the art in first game) and the story is very good... but here is my particular problem; I don´t feel like anything really blows my mind in any way at all; I have replayed many times this game and I still find myself enjoying it, but I am just not enraptured by everything the game does... and maybe is because the characters and story in general aren´t really that amazing to me, it´s a men trying to figure out his wife´s death... I don´t know but to me is not a quest has touching has say a father trying to save his daughter from a fate worst than death. It´s just a personal opinion; but in overall I do believe is a really good game and it did inspire many future developers that came abroad on this series to be like it by trying to have a story that does feel like it´s trying to challenge players with something new (even if it back fires most of the time) thus helping to expand the universe of the franchise.

Silent Hill 3 is the next game that lunched after the success of it´s predecessor and I don´t just think this is better than Silent Hill 2; it´s one of the best survival horrors ever made... It´s almost the perfect balance of horror, survival, action, exploration, puzzle and fear factor that make every great game in this category. Silent Hill 3 went trough a very complicated development process, the team wanted to focus on making a terrifying game but at the same time something that could bring closure to the story of the first entry has well has making a female protagonist for the game in the game; there is many different concepts for Heather made, but the devs were convinced that she had to be "regular and casual looking", so they asked for the opinion of the woman of the team and the it was the girls who gave to Heather that classic look we all know.

In this story, it continues and brings closure to the story that began in Silent Hill 1; we now fallow Heather Mason, Harry´s daughter almost 17 years after the events from the first game, has she is being hunted by her past and wants to claim her... what´s great about this is that is not some metaphor in the storyline, her past is actually hunting her down. At the end of Silent Hill 1, it is reveled that Cheryl is actually a part of Alessa, a part of her that she herself split to avoid her mother from using her to give birth to the cult´s "god"; Harry managed to stop the cult from using Alessa and saving her at the same time, has she was in her dying breath, she was reborn has a baby and Harry adopted her... I like pretty much everything about the story, I am constantly finding myself thinking deeply about it because even the main villain is interesting having a very well rounded backstory that mixes nicely with the story that the game is trying to tell, the documents reveal very interesting story elements that almost make everything feel genuine, but the real catalyst of the story is Heather herself... getting the protagonist right is so important that that it makes the character we are following feel that more relatable; there is something about her that make her a great female protagonist in the genera, it´s maybe because she feels more real has a young woman fighting for her life, her personality, backstory and motivators feel genuine has does her personality; she is a teenager, so she can get angry, frustrated, scared, but she also has a genuine fun side has she can also be sarcastic. Heather also is the reincarnation of Alessa and struggling with her dark side is intriguing, has Alessa was tortured she contemplates suicide and to just end her life... but her new self, Heather wants to live; this is one boss battle in the game that it´s basically telling this metaphor: for Heather, that boss fight is a psychological battle. I also like it´s ending has is a fitting conclusion to this story and finally brings closure to it, thus it does not need a sequel... Alessa´s story ends with this game.

Silent Hill 4: The Room is the last game made by Team Silent before they disbanded... but they left with an excellent entry in the franchise; this game came pretty close to being my actual favorite of the series, it has everything going for it (story, characters, atmosphere, fear factor, etc...) but I´ll explain later why it falls short. The development process for this game was interesting, originally the game was not meant to be a Silent Hill game, but the developers thought that the game they were making function has one and decided to make it a part of their series.

Like Silent Hill 2; Silent Hill 4 approaches to the franchise being it´s own self contained story with a new protagonist, circumstances and characters. The story takes place not in Silent Hill but in a town near the hunted town, the only location is the apartment residence where Henry (Silent Hill 4´s protagonist) lives, the Ashfield Heights Apartments... he one day wakes up to find himself locked in his own apartment and there is no visible way out except for a strange whole on the bathroom wall that takes him to the twisted world of Silent Hill; from there is a race against time to figure out what is the mystery behind this bizarre incarceration; what´s great about the story is much what made Silent Hill 3 amazing, all the little details show the larger picture by recreating the events that lead to the motivation of the villain, the mystery behind the incidents in the apartments, the murders and the previous Silent Hill games are smartly connected here. The villain is a man called Walter Sullivan, who is mentioned in a magazine in Silent Hill 2 has a man who murdered many people before killing himself, this story is expanded upon in Silent Hill 4 has Henry in basically chased by Walter to become part of a ritual to turn the room where he lives into a maternal whom. Walter is totally convinced that his mother is the room where Henry lives... ever since he was a little boy he was brain washed by the cultists of The Order to believe this; it´s sick, but for this villain after you see the full story, it comes full circle and much like Silent Hill 3, is very though provoking because of it´s depth in story and lore. Sadly it falls short because of the technical problems; like some very funny sound effects, combat is sloppy (even more than is SH2 and SH3) and artistically is not really impressive but I still find it an amazing game that gives a lot, is close yet slightly far from being the best for me, but it´s deep and philosophical story is smart, creative and just all around amazing.

The other big entry can be debated... but I am thinking that another important addition is Silent Hill: Origins (known has Silent Hill Zero in Japan), The story fallows a man called Travis has he stubble upon the town and meets Alessa when she is being burn in the ritual by the cult and her mother, but Travis saves and and from there is... well, kinda of a mess; it tries to tell the story of how Alessa became the main catalyst of the towns possession but instead they try to give Travis this dumb backstory about his mother being dead and his father killing himself or something? Why try to flesh out the main character like this? Why can´t he just be a regular guy who happen to come across the town at the wrong time? all because they feel they need to at a tragic back story to every protagonist just because Silent Hill 2 did it and it worked; the story of origins was just clumsily executed, like they didm´t gave the story much though... but to be fare I do think is a good game and a solid entry in the series has it gives full circle to the story of Alessa... being (so far) the last of this particular tale it pretty much makes a trilogy, composed of Silent Hill Origins, Silent Hill 1 and Silent Hill 3, thus making the story feel like it has come full circle... almost.

Silent Hill Homecoming is pretty much in the wonderful world of "fan service" witch is just dumb... The story fallows Alex Shepard, a young man who is coming back to his hometown only to find out that not only it is posses by the mysterious forces of Silent Hill, but also his brother and father are missing, so finding them becomes his main goal. Although not awful by any means I have to say this one does feel like the worst, the general story is very... well "meh",is very basic, cliched and lacks the interesting depth that made the first 4 games great and makes it even more painful by trying to tie in the first game; Why? Is it really necessary? What is it adding to the story you are trying to tell? WHY IS PYRAMID HEAD IN THIS GAME????. Is much more action oriented, almost like they were trying to make a blockbuster action game... but overall I find it a good game; the world does feel like Silent Hill, the combat is actually fun (I dare say is the best combat system in the whole franchise). Homecoming is not a horrible game... just not a good Silent Hill game...

Silent Hill Downpour is the latest entry in the series and to be fair, is pretty good (At least compared to Homecoming). Murphy is a prisoner who is being translated into a new detention area when suddenly he ends trapped in Silent Hill after his bus crashes while passing through the foggy town (sound familiar?), from there is trade mark Silent Hill story line: character has a trauma, he must face it, he encounters many different people in the town, faces his own demons and ultimately he must face his own fears... without spoiling much is harmless. I must say that to it´s credit it does not bring itself to be "fan serviceable" where unlike in Homecoming we got a cameo from Pyramid Head here we get no such thing, it tries to bring it´s own originality and it does came up with some interesting designs for monsters (though most are pretty generic). But this one has his place has a solid entry in the series IMO.

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Silent Hill has two separate branches or series. The first is composed of Origins, 1 and 3; these are the stories about how the town became cursed, we learn about "The Order" the dark cult that practices evil rituals and the story of Alessa Gillespie the one who served has the main catalyst for the possession of the town and the central focus in all three games; since it´s all about her fears, her suffering and her demons... I like to look at this 3 games has a trilogy and I call it "The Alessa Gillespie Tragedy" and in my opinion should be left alone has it is, no more continuations or prequels; maybe a few references now and then... but that´s it; this one is great has it is.

The other branch is the one that can be called the "common" stories or self contained: Silent Hill 2, 4, Homecoming and Downpour enter in this side, has they are self contained stories that have nothing to do with Alessa, The Order or the Mason´s (or at least not directly). The general view of this particular side is that it´s all about the characters themselves; their inner demons, their traumas, their evil deeds... This is the one side that most will feel familiar with and think of when they talk about Silent Hill has it´s much more personal and relatable because it´s pretty much normal people with their own fears and insecurities that the town manifests has physical entities and try to kill or break the will of the characters, is all about a survival struggle... both physical and psychological.

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Rumors say that the next game could be made in Japan with some of the crew members of Team Silent along side with Hideo Kojima and using the new FOX engine (the same used for Metal Gear Solid V); I think it would be great to see a new Silent Hill game made by the same team who made the first 4 and hopefully be has good... There are more games in the series that I could mention, but I would be dwelling and really just digging more than necessary, I basically wanted to talk about the main entries and I did. In general the franchise has some solid entries in and hopefully in the future we can see even better games...