1999: The phenomenon that is Silent Hill is one that made a lasting impression, from the late 90’s until today. 23 years later, 17 games, two major movie releases, several pachinko’s and a demo that is one of, if not the most popular demo in gaming history this franchise leaves an impressionable mark on those who experience it. With writing ahead of its time, and an atmosphere that makes the player cross the boundaries of thought, time and space, Silent Hill is where horror as a genre shine.
Horror at Its Finest:
The future of horror in gaming is only made possible by the work done with titles like Silent Hill. When this game came out in 1999, it was a leap and a jump from what was being created in the industry. With creepy music that sent shivers down my spine, and a plotline that made the horror genre what it is, Silent Hill is just as breathtaking then, as it was now. Now granted I never got to play this game when it first came out, I played it 23 years later, and when technology is at its peak currently. Playing a game that is old enough to be in college, and it still hitting all the right emotions says a lot about the game itself. Silent Hill deep dives into psychology, life and death concepts and ties it all together with letting the player know that this isn’t the end, just subjective beginning. It’s why we don’t see Harry Mason again until Silent Hill 3. Silent Hill’s story is a personal one that feeds off of the character as an individual who’s driving it.
So, while yes, there is a linear concept to what makes the story what it is, each game is really their own thing and has their own purpose. Silent Hill One covers Harry Mason, a writer looking for his daughter, Silent Hill Two covers James Sunderland, an angry over obsessed narcissistic, obsessive person that seeks to control others, Silent Hill Three brings things back to Silent Hill one as its own thing and with Heather Mason, looking for the truth about who she is and why her life was seemingly all a lie. Silent Hill takes peoples greatest fears and manifests them into a tangible reality, forcing the character to fix what has been lying dormant for far too long.
A Perfect Hell: Naturally, playing this game emulated I was bound to run into some problems. The controls on PC were incredibly bad. Playing them as is would prove to be a nightmare, so I figured out how to set up a controller and it worked out perfectly. Setting things up on Duck Station was a breeze and easy in terms of figuring things out with how to assign what movement/action to which button. It was also my first time emulating a game, so having an application that was easy to install and use was very much appreciated.
While the controls were how I expected them to be, the game still held its charm. Through blocky looking characters and voice acting that was so bad at times it was laughable, I feel it to be something sacred, yes, it’s not what a lot of modern gaming is nowadays that’s the point. It’s like I went back in time and witnessed history in the making and found myself utterly memorized that this game (and Resident Evil) would be the ones revolutionize how we as a community would look at horror in gamming. Its creepy music, enchanting atmosphere and characters create a world that is something of its own that no game can really replicate even if they wanted to. The feeling of isolation, sadness, hell, even desperation to find someone is captured so effortlessly in this game. The Devils in the Details: If in Silent Hill two we fight against Pyramid head, (ourselves) and find our modus operandi which is Mary, then in Silent Hill three we do the same with fighting a darker version of ourselves, does that mean that in this game, Silent Hill we are fighting death? If Harry died in this game (which is one of the endings you can get), when who is heather talking to in Silent Hill Three? It could possibly lean more towards Heather having delusions/hallucinations caused by trauma, and her main place of comfort is her father so that’s who she’s going to see the most of.
Since there are several endings in Silent Hill, this being the one that makes the most sense it makes me think that Harry was never alive during the game and that we were just going through purgatory, chasing a dream that would never come true. Because of this we have these alternate worlds that collide, dream states that start and stop and doses of reality mixed in that make it makes more sense to Harry. The causes a ripple effect in the story of Silent Hill and makes me think, was this intended or just an “oops” moment in the writing. If this was something that was intended, then there is more to this story than already researched and uncovered.
A Hit and Miss Storyline: while the story of Silent Hill has a lot of promise and creates a lot of tension it very seldom delivers on this promise of being something revolutionary. At the end of the game there are so many loose ends to clean up with Alessa’s character and the story as a whole that it becomes a “that’s it?” moment of sorts. The game has a lot of story and content that you can’t possibly learn the first time around, so when I was left with all these questions at the end its because there are four different ending you can get that expand on an already vague story. Yes, the story is good for face value but there is still a lot that needs to be done without feeling like there’s an unneeded cliffhanger. The game doesn’t even give a proper indication of their being a second game at all. This game is amazing for what it is and shows just how far stories and concepts were willing to be pushed in the late nineties making Silent Hill a piece that will never be forgotten and always recreated.
Comments