So today my friend Jake and I finally completed the original Silent Hill. I’ve beaten it before, but it was nearly 10 years ago and needless to say, it hasn’t aged well. Don’t get me wrong, the atmosphere’s still terrifying and the sound design holds up just as well, but the graphics and some of the outdated play mechanics that have unfortunately continued plaguing the series are more than a little hard to swallow. But, I don’t play it because it’s got fantastic graphics, controls, or even story. I play this series because of the atmosphere and while it’s certainly got its shortcomings, the Silent Hill series has always excelled at flat-out scaring the piss out of me. I think that’s what drew Jake in as well, but he cut his teeth on Silent Hill 2 with me a few years back and like me, has eagerly anticipated each new release like the rabid and ravenous dogs we so often scuttle away from, terrified as we desperately claw our way to Alchemilla Hospital.
After finding just how much charm the original had to offer, I figured periodically I would start playing some of my old favorites and talk about the differences I see between when I first popped it in my system and now, when I likely will dust off that old system and load up a revered classic. So read on to see some of my now and then thoughts about Silent Hill.
The Graphics
Then: “Oh my God…what are those things?! AGH! The demon babies are stabbing me! Why can’t I fight back?!?!”
Now: “Oh my god… these graphics look like burnt asshole. Alright demon babies…let’s get this over with”
Yes, I know, the game’s a decade old, but it’s an easy joke, so give me a break. However, despite the horrendously low-res textures by today’s standards and the blocky character models, the artistic merits of Silent Hill still stand pretty strong. The transition from regular Silent Hill to the other Silent Hill are just as jarring as they were back then, and the palpable saturation of pure evil is just as unnerving.
The Gameplay
Then: “Hmm, this is ok enough I guess. Run, steady yourself to shoot, X to examine, and hey, I can strafe with the shoulder buttons! Neat!”
Now: “What the shit is this? Why can’t I circle-strafe these geriatric nurses?!”
To be fair, the ‘now’ sentence there could easily be from Homecoming, but I digress. Unfortunately, there are some bad design conventions that still plague the series today, whether you’re replaying the title that started it all or it’s latest entries. The movement’s always been stiff in these games and while it was forgivable the first go around as most 3D games were rough around the edges at the time, hearing the designers claim later efforts controlled that way to ‘heigten the tension’ left many of us scratching our heads. We’re already being pursued by merciless manifestations of our fractured psyche in a town serving as the very personification of evil, hunting us down in and of itself- isn’t that tense enough?
The Sound
Then: “Is that the soundtrack or am I about to get raped by a meat grinder?”
Now: “That is the soundtrack, but I still feel like protecting my junk…”
Akira Yamaoka has always done a bang up job with the series’ audio. Back then it was terrifying and today it’s terrifying. A hallmark of good atmospheric audio for a horror game is when it’s so utterly unsettling that you can’t discern whether or not it’s the soundtrack, ambient noise meant only to mess with your head, or a guy with a pyramid instead of a skull in a flesh apron dragging a sword to break down that puny door you’re huddled against. If any one element of the game withstood the test of time, this is certainly it.
Overall
Then: *Picks up phone*…”Hi mom, I uh, know it’s 3:30 in the morning but I couldn’t sleep…”
Now: *Wakes up Nicole*… uh, hey sweetie, I know it’s 3:30 in the morning but I couldn’t sleep…”
I had a great time playing this again. Some of the puzzles came back to me more vividly than others, but I was happy to find that not all of the challenge was due to uneven game design, but some genuinely difficult logic to work through. I’ll probably play through it again some day, but not now when there are way too many good releases coming out.
Follow Us!