The nightmare of Silent Hill

Before to be a movie directed by Christophe Gans, Silent Hill (abbreviation SH) is firstly a survival horror video game distributed by Konami for Sony Playstation.

I played it since the beginning and what I like the most of this game it is its particular atmosphere which merge me totally in the terrific darkness of the cloudy town. Moreover the music from Akira Yamaoka crisped my nerve at each corner of a street and of a building.

Silent Hill is a town located close to Toluca Lake in US. The exact location is not yet revealed, only pieces of information for gamers and fans to guess it. It was a peaceful town with its dark hidden secret before that

a ritual went wrong and burned all the town. The ritual, organized by the sect “The Order”, consisted to sacrifice a little girl for their God. Before to die physically, the little girl cursed the town and its citizens to live an eternal nightmare. Another dimension called Overworld has been then opened and the town is plunged inside it each time a kind of ash mist cloud appears and only people invited by this cloud can enter in its deeper horror secret.

The series is composed of 11 games (spin-offs included) on which each sequel has its own unique story but each one reveals some secrets of the town:

Silent Hill for PS1
Silent Hill 2 for PS2, Xbox and PC
Silent Hill 3 for PS2 and PC
Silent Hill 4 The Room for PS2, Xbox and PC
Silent Hill Homecoming for PS3 and Xbox
Silent Hill Origins for PS2 and PSP
Silent Hill Play Novel for Game Boy Advance
Silent Hill The Arcade for Arcade
Silent Hill Orphan, Silent Hill Mobile 2 and Silent Hill The Escape for mobile phone

Since 1999, SH recruited a lot of fans who want to know more about this town. Its unique ambiance is the key of its success which is more focused on spiritual terror than on action like Resident Evil for example. Here the beginning of the nightmare.

Silent Hill

Created by Keiichiro Toyama and developed by Team Silent, the game is released in 1999. Harry Mason, trying to forget the death of his wife, take his adopted daughter Cheryl on a road trip. After a car accident close to the town Silent Hill, he wake up alone and Cheryl is missing. Here starts his nightmare, each time he hear the alarm of the town, he is plunged into the Overworld and has to survive to the horror in order to discover the truth about his daughter.

Silent Hill 2

Developed by Team Silent, the game is released in 2001. For the Xbox and PC, an extended version has been created and it was called SH2 Restless Dreams. Moreover, an extra subplot scenario has been included which has been incorporated later for the PS2 platinum version. James Sunderland receives a letter from his wife who tells him to meet her at SH but the main problem is that she is dead 3 years ago. Intrigued and wanted to know more, he decides to go there and like Harry Mason, he has to face the horror to find out the whole truth.

Silent Hill 3

Developed by Team Silent, it is released in 2003. Heather, a teenage girl, has to explore the town and more deeper she goes, more she has to face her inner fears and will discover the strong relation she has with the town.

Silent Hill 4

The Room Developed by Team Silent, it is released in 2004. Henry Townshend is mysteriously locked in his own flat and the only way to get out of it, it is to go to the Overworld by a hole which appears in the bathroom. To get free of it, he has to discover the secret of this cursed apartment.

Silent Hill 5 Homecoming

Developed by Double Helix Games, it is released recently in 2008. Alex Shepherd returns from war to discover that his father is missing, his mother is in catatonic state and his little brother has just disappeared. To discover what happened to his family, he needs to find out his brother who holds the key of the truth but for that, he has to enter in the other world of Silent Hill and survive to all its horrors.

Silent Hill Origins

Developed by Climax Group, the game is released first for PSP in 2007 and for PS2 in 2008. Meanwhile driving, Travis Grady saw a house in fire. Parking quickly his truck, he rescues a little girl who was trapped inside to disappear just after and to find out her fate, he has to enter deeply in the second world of this town.

November 19, 2008