Hell on Earth

Game: Silent Hill
System: Sony Playstation
Release date: January 31, 1999
Developed by: Konami
Published by: Konami

As painters, playwrights, filmmakers, and camp counselors know all too well, people sometimes enjoyed being frightened, albeit in a somewhat controlled environment. The video game industry, still young compared to literature, fine art, and cinema, was quick to respond to this primal human need to confront its darkest fears, and began to produce scary games accordingly. Capcom has been especially prolific in turning out survival-horror games (Resident Evil) and other horror-themed games (Onimusha, Dead Rising). First-person shooters like F.E.A.R., Prey, DOOM, and Quake have also combined horror, suspense, and action. But of all the scary games released in the last 15 years none is more terrifying than Silent Hill for the Sony Playstation.

Silent Hill is the story of Harry Mason who desperately searches for his missing daughter in the seemingly deserted and terrifying town of Silent Hill. During his search, Harry encounters strange survivors, monsters, and a disturbing nightmare world creeping over everything. The town of Silent Hill is a masterpiece of terror. Harry, throughout the game, inexplicably and suddenly moves between a foggy, abandoned ghost town and an "otherworld," a nightmarish version of Silent Hill covered in blood and rust.


Namco's response to Resident Evil, Silent Hill embraces all of the elements of survival-horror games: a shortage of weapons, ammunition, and health packs; disturbing monsters; puzzle-solving; and plenty of blood and gore. Unlike Resident Evil, however, Silent Hill provides its scares not through visceral action and shocking moments, but through a steady, unbearably suspensful atmosphere of dread. The music and sound effects in Silent Hill only add to this pervasive feeling on the part of the player that something terrible is about to happen.

The greatest drawback of Silent Hill is the fact that players, depending on how well they played through the game, can experience one of four possible endings. This is easily one of my biggest video game pet peeves; there is nothing more frustrating than devoting your time and energy to a game then getting a "bad" ending. Video game players can and should be rewarded with bonus material if they perform some special action(s) in a game, but they should never be punished with a lackluster ending.

Silent Hill was followed by several console and handheld sequels and a major motion picture.

Score: 92/100