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Review by: Xenovalkyrie
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Reviewers Score:
9 / 10
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Posted: March 24, 2006
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Game: Silent Hill
System: Playstation
Genre: Survival Horror/Puzzle
ESRB Rating: M
Story (no spoilers):
9/10
"The fear of blood tends to create fear for the flesh"
This quote is your first image of the opening video, and your first step
into this world of terror. Your protagonist, Harry Mason, awakes in his
car on the side of the road, to find his daughter missing. After
searching for her a while, he runs into some trouble and wakes up in a
café, apparently helped by a police officer named Cybil. She seems
equally as confused as you, and sets out to get some help while Harry
decides to look for his daughter. Thus begins your journey. This town
known as Silent Hill may not be exactly as it first appears. As Harry
searches for his daughter, things begin to get weirder and weirder, and
his mission escalates into something far greater and more sinister than
he ever expected.
The story can be somewhat difficult to fully understand, and you may
feel pretty confused at times. Many things are left unexplained...at
least not directly, and are left to you to figure out for yourself. You
will most likely feel somewhat confused at some point, but if you can
piece it all together and fully comprehend all of what's happening, it
can be an excellent story. Depending on how you perform in the game, the
amount explained to you can vary.
One of my favorite parts of Silent Hill is the feature of recieving one
of a number of endings, based on your actions. There are 5 endings, 2
bad, 2 good, and 1 joke ending that can only be acquired on your second
play through, or one afterwards. A number of things can influence your
ending, and a different combination of actions during certain situations
determines what you get. Generally, people who neglect everyone around
them and focus souly on their own survival will recieve one of the worse
endings. In order to get a decent ending, you must care about the
characters around you, and be very explorative as well. I learned my
lesson the hard way, as my first time through I was given quite an
unfulfilling and unsatisfactory ending.
Gameplay: 9/10
Learning Curve: 20-30 minutes
This plays like pretty much any survival horror game. There are fixed
cameras, but using L1 can let you adjust the camera enough to make it
work quite well. I personally have no complaints. Also, the controls
were quite natural and easy to use. They're almost exactly like Resident
Evil controls, which I also liked. I don't know why people complain
about the controls so much, I have no issues at all. I think people just
suck and use the controls as an excuse =P. (Joking by the way =P) One
nice feature that not only added to the suspense, but helped hide the
draw-in of the environment around you, is the use of a flashlight. With
the flashlight off everything is very dark. You can't examine items, and
your accuracy goes way down (because you can't see). However, you can
also sneak around enemies that way. Turning the light on provides you
with a small beam that allows you about 3 feet of vision, making corners
and long hallways especially frightening. Your radio creates static
(white noise) when near enemies, and hearing that while peering into the
blackness of a long hallway will make you hesitate to travel in that
direction. When outside, where it is sometimes day, they use fog to
serve the same purpose as the light. Wandering through the heavy fog of
the city streets can be frightening and dangerous.
Beyond all the action and suspense, comes the puzzles. Ohhh...this game
has some very clever puzzles. There were about 3 that completely stumped
me for quite a while, and you really need to think out of the box on a
few of them. Others though, require extensive use of logic, and many
riddles are littered with metaphors, so you'd better be good in those
areas. Trust me, I can almost guarantee that everyone will have trouble
with at least one puzzle in the game, you're not going to fly through
them all, although some are pretty simple. There's a particular
Astrology puzzle that I was quite angry with for a number of hours.
However, completing these puzzles on your own can be quite satisfieing,
and you'll certainly feel a great sense of accomplishment. I really wish
they could make more games these days that make you think the way Silent
Hill does.
All in all, gameplay is excellent. Some of the best survival horror
suspense, as well as many mind boggling puzzles to keep you busy.
Graphics: 9/10
For the time, the graphics are quite nice. Nothing completely new and
innovative, but not bad looking. The use of lights and fog add a creepy
effect, and some enemies look pretty creepy. The blood also
looks...well...boody =P. Cut-scenes look very very nice, and add some
detail you couldn't have if they continued using the gameplay style
graphics. One thing that stands out is the way the environment reacts to
your flashlight. It looks highly realistic as you sweep the beam across
the room, at least compared to most lights of that era of games.
Audio: 9/10
Sounds effects are excellent, from the squish of flogging something with
a steel pipe, to the creepy evil giggle of a certain enemy as it lunges
for your legs, to the disturbing sputtering of a helpless person
drowning in their own blood. These sounds really set the mood. As for
music, what very little there is is pretty decent, although seems a bit
out of place in parts of the opening video (before the menu screen).
During the game, environmental effects provide background noise rather
than music . From the clanging and whirring of a generator, to the wind
howling at a window, to the terrifying white noise eminating from your
radio, everything just adds to the suspense.
Replay Value:
9/10
Plenty of replay value! First off, there are new weapons and items to
acquire your second and third time through, as well as the 5 different
endings to discover. Also, finding notes and video tapes you may have
missed can help explain some parts of the story line. I encourage you to
play through more than once!
Overall: 9/10
The only reason this game didn't get a perfect 10 is that I don't
believe anything I have ever seen can be labeled as possessing absolute
perfection. This game is excellent though, and I highly suggest it to
pretty much anyone. There is decent action, and suspenseful exploring.
Silent Hill has a way of making anything seem scary. This game combined
with Silent Hill 4 has made me slightly afraid of wheelchairs. There are
also puzzles that really make you think, and a very in depth story line
that will take more than one play through to understand to the fullest.
Also, don't forget the multiple endings!
Images (Click to Enlarge)
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Alessa |
Cheryl |
Lisa |
Alessa |
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Smashing a Lock |
Cybil |
Café |
Wheelchair |
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