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| Source of the image: Cover from the game owned by Konami |
The true origin of the
horror genre in gaming begins here…
“At first I thought I was losing my mind. But
now I know I'm not. It's not me. This whole town. It's being invaded by the
Otherworld. A world of someone's nightmarish delusions come to life. Little by
little the invasion is spreading. Trying to swallow up everything in darkness.”
Source of the video: Uploaded by YouTuber coreduo64
Trailer from the game shown at E3 Konami Press Conference (1998)
Developer(s):
Konami Computer, Entertainment Tokyo
Publisher:
Konami
Director:
Keiichiro Toyama
Platform:
PlayStation
Release
date: 31 January, 1999
Genre:
Survival Horror
Mode:
Single-Player
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| Source of the image: ru.silenthill.wikia.com (Alessa Gillespie) |
“Now the
dream of this life must end, and so too must the dreamers within it. They have
denied their own fates. They've lied to their own souls. But now is the end of
days, and I am the Reaper.” (Quote from Alessa, adapted)
Synopsis (with no spoilers):
Harry Manson, main character from
the game, is driving through a road that leads to a town called Silent Hill, he
wants to go on vacation with his daughter Cheryl, but fate prevents this from
happening, seeing a ghostly girl in blue dress crossing the road suddenly, he
loses control of the car and crashes, losing consciousness. After this, he
wakes up realizing that Cheryl went missing, he goes to Silent Hill to search for
her, but with no success, Harry than meets a police officer called Cybil Bennet
that warns him to be careful when looking for his daughter in the town. When
exploring closely the streets and buildings from Silent Hill, he learns that
they are inhabited by monsters and that occasionally a wave of dark and
nightmarish hell invades the town, substituting the mysterious ashes and fog
that fall from the sky, and introducing more dangerous/strong creatures. Will
Harry be able to discover the secrets behind this town and find his precious
daughter before it’s too late…
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| Source of the image: http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/File:Alessa_Portrait.png |
“When
you're hurt and scared for so long, the fear and pain turn to hate and the hate
starts to change the world” (Young Alessa)
Review:
Gameplay - The gaming mechanics can
be a little bit tricky, this game is an old gem, and because of that in those
times we didn’t have the same technology that we have now. The camera angles
can stand out has the more “difficult” mechanism to handle by some people, but in my
opinion the fact that we sometimes can’t see what is in front of the main
character only ads the more “scary” aspect for what the game is well known for.
We control Harry trough out the town in third person view, when monsters seem
to be closer to the character, a radio that he has with him, sends a static
noise that warns him of the potential danger. Players can collect weapons, key items
for puzzles and maps of several places of Silent Hill to help them guide through
the game. The fog and the “darkness” of the town’s “otherworld” can represent
one of the main obstacles in the game, as it prevents the player to see what
surrounds the character and sometimes even blocks the reading of the maps given
in the main menu.
Combat - Harry can use melee weapons
and firearms against enemies, but he is very weak against their attacks as one
blow can have major damage to his health (that can be recovered with health drinks found ocasionally around the surroundings). Harry’s aim when using firearms is
very unsteady and he also gets tired easily after sprinting for a few seconds.
Harry using a firearm against Air Screamer
Characters - During the game, there
is a total of six characters that stand out in the storyline, Harry Mason (main
protagonist, adoptive father of Cheryl, when she goes missing he does
everything beyond possible to save her); Cheryl Mason (adopted daughter of
Harry, she disappears after he crashes his car upon arriving the town); Cybil
Bennet (a police officer that helps Harry on his journey to find his “daughter”
in the town); Alessa Gillespie (the driving supernatural force of the game); Dahlia Gillespie (mother of Alessa) and Lisa
Garland (nurse of Alchemilla/Silent Hill's Hospital).
Multiple Endings - Once again, I’m
not going into full detail about the endings of the game, I just want to say
that there is lots of variety, there is a total of five endings and only four
can be achieved during the first gameplay, there is a Good Ending, a Good+
Ending, a Bad Ending, a Bad+ Ending and a UFO Ending (this is one is probably
the best out of them all… just kidding!).
Monsters - Each monster in the game
as a meaning behind it, mostly representing a dark part of Alessa’s childhood.
These often resemble insects, transfigured humanoid looking creatures or ghost
like beings.
Source of the video: Uploaded by YouTuber KennyTheSheep
A video
that shows all the monsters encountered during the game
Environment - As I mentioned earlier,
the mysterious town of Silent Hill is divided in two dimensional words, the “normal”
world, where there is fog and an ambiguous aura surrounding the buildings of
the town, and the “nightmarish” world, where everything is dark and rusty
invaded by more scary/dangerous monsters than in the other dimension.
Source of the image: Image used as thumbnail in this gameplay video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh83Gp88yQA - from YouTuber callo111
The “Otherworld”
of Silent Hill
Final analyses in one huge line: “An iconic masterpiece that teaches what true horror gaming is really about,
this game isn’t based on jumpscares like many other horror games are only based
nowadays, Silent Hill is a forgotten franchise that should reemerge and serve
as an example to future horror titles out there, as its scariness comes from
the atmosphere, the gaming mechanics, the sound and the remarkable storyline
that is provided during the game itself”.
My Final Score: 9/10
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Hill_(video_game)
http://www.imdb.com
https://www.rottentomatoes.com
http://silenthill.wikia.com
My Gaming Experience
A.K.
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