13. Silent Hill || PlayStation || 11.05.22
As someone who has been interested in survival horror games for a long time but has nearly zero experience in actually playing them, I really wanted to gather some experience within the genre finally. While I didn't start with what many consider to be the first example of the genre (Resident Evil), I chose to start with the Silent Hill as I am less familiar with the series overall. Around ten years ago, I actually attempted a playthrough and nearly reached the end, but I was having difficulty at the time and left it.
Playing as father Harry Mason, you awake from a car crash while you were on your way to the titular town Silent Hill but unfortunately cannot find your young daughter Cheryl who was with you. Knowing very little of the area, you desperately search to reconnect with Cheryl, but the town's environment quickly beings to feel disconcerting as as you seem to be the only person throughout the entire town as a heavy fog covers all over. Soon, you realize that there is more to Silent Hill than just being abandoned, as monsters of all kind creep out from the fog and attack you. While searching, it becomes clear to the player that Harry has entered some sort of limbo, as Silent Hill appears to be closed off from the rest of the world with its roads broken off which prohibit you from leaving. At times, this limbo becomes even more threatening as the town shifts into an "other world" of sorts which distorts the environment for Harry's worse. More or less, this is the premise of the story, but as the plot progresses, the player realizes that Harry is not the main character and is unfortunately only a part of it, as the game's events revolve around a mysterious woman named Alessa who has connections to the town's cult and her relationship with Cheryl.
Throughout my playthrough, I wasn't able to fully connect all of the plot details concerning the cult together which did lead to some minor ambiguity. While exploring, Harry meets a handful of Silent Hill's strange residents, but they provide few concrete story details. While exploring, there is some optional content to find that will flesh out the story while also providing the game's true best ending as well. However, this is not necessarily a bad aspect, as the script seemed to have been written like this which allows players to form their own head canon. After reading a little about what others think and after watching the film adaptation, the story elements regarding the script and the relationship between Cheryl and Alessa became clearer.
I am not sure how the later entries may effect my opinion of how the story unfolds, but, I am of the opinion now that both the limbo and other world representations of Silent Hill and the dangers within it are physical manifestations of Alessa's ongoing psychological and physical pain and trauma she has experience for decades. On the verge of death, Alessa's inability at times to maintain control of her powers results in the environment shifting from one to the other. After reading some others' insights regarding the monsters encountered and the environments explored, they all relate to Alessa's experiences she endured as a child while being surrounded by the cult.
With all that said, the game itself translates this story into rewarding gameplay. As Harry is transported from limbo the other world while searching, the added sense of exploration was an appreciated aspect, as there are essentially two areas to navigate through for most locales. Some may be of the opinion that this design choice creates an unneeded sense of backtracking, but I believe otherwise. The sense of dread in having to uncover the game's puzzles with the heightened danger surround you with limited supplies provides the perfect horror atmosphere. While the player generally becomes acquainted with an area in its limbo form, they must have to adapt to the changes the other world environment brings. In this other world, a terrifying setting forms as the town takes on a rusted industrial shape with horror set pieces placed throughout alongside extremely low lighting, broken floors, sectioned off pathways, and higher numbers of enemies with added difficulty pursuing you in near total darkness.. Coupled with the fact that the majority of doors are either jammed or locked—and that many environments look identical—players will surely encounter some level of well-designed stress while playing.
As a game developed still within the early days of 3D gaming, there are some aspects to Silent Hill that have aged poorly. The most clear example of this idea lies within the game's tank control system. It is certainly something that modern players can adapt to and still enjoy their time playing, but Harry will frequently stop running as he nears corners or if the player slightly adjusts their path trajectory. While the tank controls were not implemented by choice but instead by necessity due to development, how it functions works well in providing player stress. Because game environments have the issue of looking the same, I found myself repeatedly using the in-game to double-check exactly where I needed to be going. However, the map system itself is designed well as Harry will routinely update it with markings and notes as he learns information. For the most part, combat works well, although one aspect of it that provided more stress than I was wanting is the aiming system. If an enemy is downed and paralyzed but not dead and another is beside it, Harry almost always aimed for the former to complete the kill. It is only a minor gripe, but taking care of the immediate threat would have been more ideal to me. On that note, I almost fully relied on ranged combat with guns. Near the end of my playthrough, I was really close to having nothing left, so finding a good balance between melee and ranged weapons is needed for new players.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed my time playing Silent Hill and am glad to have another game within the genre completed. Opting for a Normal difficulty playthrough, there was enough challenge. While I was more-or-less playing the game for the first time, there were some aspects of the game I missed, so I was only able to finish with a Bad+ ending which isn't ideal but left me generally satisfied. It seems as if the game really warrants more than one playthrough, as newcomers will almost certainly miss details someway or another. With all that said, I greatly enjoyed the experience and am hoping to continue the series relatively soon since I own all of the main entries.
