Silent Hill
"Every Town has its secrets. Some are just darker than others." That's right on the back of the game case for Silent Hill. What a way to set the stage and create an atmosphere, right? Silent Hill came out of nowhere and really surprised gamers in 1999. The game was in development for a few years and mainly stayed under the radar. It is easy to assume that it was a response from Konami as their own entry into the horror world. In 1999, the survival horror genre was in full effect with a clear leader of the pack in Resident Evil. Those games focused on monsters you could see. What Silent Hill did differently was focus the fear on the psychological. The terror was of the unknown and the bizarre, which was great.
The director of the game, Keiichiro Toyama, created the game's scenario. At the time, he wasn't a personal fan of horror films, but he was fascinated by occult stories, UFOs, and the creative works of David Lynch. All these inspirations are clearly telegraphed in the DNA of Silent Hill. No one would doubt the quality of the Resident Evil titles. Still, after a few different entries, horror fans welcomed the tonal change Silent Hill brought to the genre. The emphasis was set on things outside of the player's control. The transition into the dark other-world reality, the disturbing puzzles tied into the game's world, and even the creatures found within were fresh air for the genre.
Mechanically, Silent Hill is also different from its competition. Instead of the pre-rendered backdrops and static cameras, the world was rendered in 3D. This allowed the camera to chase and follow the action, creating cinematic moments with staged camera design. This builds on the tension and helps keep players on the edge of their seats. Pushing all those polygons did tax the PlayStation, though. Through these limitations, the developers found clever ways to make the "fog" and dark environments mask the draw distance and rendering budget. You wouldn't know this was covering up the limitations of the title. It was so organic to the world. You can compare it to something like Turok 64. That game had you walking through a fog that prevented you from seeing 5 feet in front of you, but you were in jungles and valleys and should be able to "see" further. The horror and mystery here enveloped the town in a fog and darkness, and this technical opportunity instead added texture and value to the world.
Another stand-out aspect was the CG cutscenes. The internal Konami team that would go on to be branded "Team Silent" wasn't as big as other teams or other development companies, for that matter. Even with the smaller budget and team size, these CG scenes rivaled the likes of the big-budget titles from Square and similar studios at that time. There were also several hidden items, extras, endings, and paths to explore. There was even a faux gag reel and plenty more nuggets to uncover. For a game that was the first in its series, it delivered so much value that the sequels would continue for years.
Reviews recognized the title for what it was. EGM's review crew scored it with an 8.5/9.0/8.5/8.5 and gave it their silver award. They found the story to be one of the best features of the title. They did knock the overall English translation, though. They said it was "Probably the most genuinely disturbing 'survival horror' game around." GamePro gave it a 4.5 for its Fun Factor score. They said it was "Just a few flaws short of a masterpiece."
