is a 1999
survival horror game developed by
Team Silent
Team Silent was a development team within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (KCET), responsible for the first four games in the ''Silent Hill'' franchise by Konami released from 1999 to 2004. Later titles were developed by non-Japanese companie ...
and published by
Konami
, is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casino ...
. The first installment in the video game series ''
Silent Hill
is a horror anthology media franchise centered on a series of survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four video games in the series, '' Silent Hill'', ''Silent Hill 2'', ''Silent Hill 3'' and '' ...
'', the game was released from February to July, originally for the
PlayStation. ''Silent Hill'' uses a
third-person view
In 3D video games, a virtual camera system aims at controlling a camera or a set of cameras to display a view of a 3D virtual world. Camera systems are used in video games where their purpose is to show the action at the best possible angle; m ...
, with
real-time rendering
Real-time computer graphics or real-time rendering is the sub-field of computer graphics focused on producing and analyzing images in real time. The term can refer to anything from rendering an application's graphical user interface ( GUI) to ...
of
3D environments. To mitigate limitations of the console hardware, developers liberally used fog and darkness to muddle the graphics. Unlike earlier survival horror games that focused on protagonists with combat training, the
player character of ''Silent Hill'' is an "
everyman
The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them.
Origin
The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...
".
The game follows
Harry Mason as he searches for his missing adopted daughter in the eponymous fictional American town of Silent Hill; stumbling upon a cult conducting a ritual to revive a deity it worships, he discovers her true origin. Five game endings are possible, depending on actions taken by the player, including one joke ending.
''Silent Hill'' received positive reviews from critics on its release and was commercially successful. It is considered by many to be one of the
greatest video games ever made
This is a list of video games that multiple reputable video game journalists or magazines have considered to be among the best of all time. The games listed here are included on at least six separate "best/greatest of all time" lists from diff ...
, as well as a defining title in the survival horror genre, as it moved away from
B movie horror elements toward a more
psychological horror
Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre frequently overlaps with the related subge ...
style, emphasizing atmosphere.
Various adaptations of ''Silent Hill'' have been released, including a 2001
visual novel
A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...
, the 2006 feature film ''
Silent Hill
is a horror anthology media franchise centered on a series of survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four video games in the series, '' Silent Hill'', ''Silent Hill 2'', ''Silent Hill 3'' and '' ...
'', and a 2009 reimagining of the game, titled ''
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories''. The game was followed by ''
Silent Hill 2'' in 2001, and a direct sequel, ''
Silent Hill 3
''Silent Hill 3'' is a 2003 survival horror game developed by Team Silent, a group in Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, and published by Konami. The game was released from May to August, originally for the PlayStation 2. The third installme ...
'', in 2003.
Gameplay
The objective of the player is to guide main protagonist and player character Harry Mason through a monster-filled town as he searches for his lost daughter,
Cheryl. ''Silent Hill''s gameplay consists of combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving.
The game uses a
third-person view
In 3D video games, a virtual camera system aims at controlling a camera or a set of cameras to display a view of a 3D virtual world. Camera systems are used in video games where their purpose is to show the action at the best possible angle; m ...
, with the camera occasionally switching to other angles for dramatic effect, in pre-scripted areas. This is a change from older survival horror games, which constantly shifted through a variety of camera angles. Because ''Silent Hill'' has no
heads-up display
A head-up display, or heads-up display, also known as a HUD (), is any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints. The origin of the name stems from a pilot being able to view informa ...
, the player must consult a separate menu to check Harry's "
health
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
".
If a
DualShock
The DualShock (originally Dual Shock; trademarked as DUALSHOCK or DUAL SHOCK; with the PlayStation 5 version named DualSense) is a line of gamepads with vibration-feedback and analog controls developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the Pla ...
controller is used, a heart beat rhythm can be felt signifying that the player is at low health.
Harry confronts monsters in each area with both melee weapons and firearms. An ordinary man, Harry cannot sustain many blows from enemies, and gasps for breath after sprinting.
His inexperience in handling firearms means that his aim, and therefore the player's targeting of enemies, is often unsteady.
A portable radio collected early in the game alerts Harry to the presence of nearby creatures with bursts of
static
Static may refer to:
Places
*Static Nunatak, a nunatak in Antarctica
United States
* Static, Kentucky and Tennessee
*Static Peak, a mountain in Wyoming
**Static Peak Divide, a mountain pass near the peak
Science and technology Physics
*Static el ...
.
The player can locate and collect maps of each area, stylistically similar to tourist maps. Accessible from the menu and readable only when sufficient light is present, each map is marked with places of interest. Visibility is mostly low due to fog
and darkness; the latter is prevalent in the "Otherworld".
The player locates a pocket-size flashlight early in the game, but the light beam illuminates only a few feet.
Navigating through Silent Hill requires the player to find keys and solve puzzles.
Plot
''Silent Hill'' opens with Harry Mason's drive to the titular town with his adopted daughter Cheryl for a vacation. At the town's edge, he swerves to avoid hitting a girl in the road, and as a result, he crashes and loses consciousness.
Waking up in town, he realizes that Cheryl is missing and sets out to look for her. The town is deserted and foggy, with snow falling out of season, and he begins to experience bouts of unconsciousness and encounters with hostile creatures. During his exploration of the town, he meets Cybil Bennett, a police officer from the neighboring town who is investigating the mysterious occurrences. Dahlia Gillespie, a cultist, gifts him the Flauros, a charm which she claims can counteract the darkness spreading through the town. In the town's hospital, he encounters its director, Dr. Michael Kaufmann, bewildered by the sudden changes in the town, and discovers a frightened,
amnesiac nurse, Lisa Garland, hiding in one of the rooms.
Harry can later rescue Kaufmann from a monster, discover evidence of Kaufmann's role in the local drug trafficking, and stumble upon Kaufmann's hidden bottle of
aglaophotis, a supernatural liquid that can exorcise demons. Harry comes to believe that a darkness is transforming the town into someone's nightmare, which is why the inhabitants have mostly disappeared. Dahlia urges him to stop "the demon" responsible for it—the girl in the road who appears to him sporadically—or Cheryl will die. Continuing his search, Harry finds himself drawn into a fight with Cybil, who has become the host to a supernatural parasite; the player can choose to save her.
The next time Harry sees the girl, the Flauros activates and neutralizes her telekinetic powers. Dahlia then appears and reveals that she manipulated Harry into catching the girl—an apparition of her daughter, Alessa.
Harry then awakens in the hospital again, next to Lisa. Lisa explains that she experienced a sense of
deja vu
Deja or Dejah may refer to:
* Deja News, an archive of messages posted to Usenet discussion groups and its successor ''deja.com''
* Andreas Deja (born 1957), German animator
* Dejah Mulipola (born 1998), American softball player
* Dejah Thoris, a ...
while in the basement, and when he finds her again, she despairs that she is "the same as them". She pleads with Harry to save her, but Harry pushes her away and blood starts to run down her face; horrified, he flees. Her diary reveals that she nursed Alessa during a secret, forced hospitalization. Alessa's never-healing wounds terrified her, as she fell deeper into a drug addiction fueled by Kaufmann. Finding Dahlia with Alessa's defeated apparition and charred body, Harry demands to know Cheryl's whereabouts: he discovers that seven years earlier Dahlia conducted a ritual to force Alessa to birth the cult's deity; Alessa sustained significant burns when fire used in the ritual escalated into a conflagration, but survived because her status as vessel rendered her immortal, while her mental resistance to the ritual caused her soul to be bisected, preventing the birth. One half manifested as the infant Cheryl, whom Harry and his wife adopted. Dahlia then casts a spell to lure Cheryl back, while Alessa was imprisoned within the hospital, enduring unceasing agony as a result of her injuries. With Alessa's plan thwarted and her soul rejoined, the deity is revived and possesses her.
Endings
Five different endings are available, dependent on the player's previous actions:
* In the "Bad" ending, the deity merges with Alessa and electrocutes Dahlia before attacking Harry. He defeats it, and Cheryl's voice thanks him for freeing her. Overcome by grief, Harry collapses, and the next scene is that of his corpse in his wrecked car, implying that the entire game was a dying dream.
* The "Bad +" ending concludes with Harry and Cybil fleeing instead after the deity's demise.
* In the "Good" ending, Kaufmann, now feeling betrayed by Dahlia, demands that she restore the town to normal and uses aglaophotis to exorcise the deity out of Alessa. Harry defeats the deity, and Alessa gives him an infant, the
reincarnation
Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is ...
of
herself and Cheryl. She then helps him escape from her nightmare realm.
* In the "Good +" ending, Harry escapes with Cybil and the baby. In both "Good" endings, a bloody and vengeful Lisa prevents Kaufmann from escaping with Harry.
* The "Joke" ending features
extraterrestrials abducting Harry.
Development
Design
Development of ''Silent Hill'' started in September 1996.
The game was created by
Team Silent
Team Silent was a development team within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (KCET), responsible for the first four games in the ''Silent Hill'' franchise by Konami released from 1999 to 2004. Later titles were developed by non-Japanese companie ...
, a group of staff members within the
Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
, is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casinos ...
studio.
Konami
, is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casino ...
sought to produce a game that would be successful in the United States. For this reason, a
Hollywood-like atmosphere was used for ''Silent Hill''. According to composer
Akira Yamaoka
is a Japanese composer and music producer. He is best known for composing music for several video games in the '' Silent Hill'' series by Konami, among other games. Yamaoka also worked as a producer on the series, as well as composing for the ' ...
, the developers did not know how to proceed with the ''Silent Hill'' project, either. As the time passed, the personnel and management of Konami lost their faith in the game, and the members of Team Silent increasingly felt like outsiders. Despite the profit-oriented approach of the parent company, however, the developers of ''Silent Hill'' had much artistic freedom because the game was still produced as in the
era of lower-budget 2D titles. Eventually, the development staff decided to ignore the limits of Konami's initial plan, and to make ''Silent Hill'' a game that would appeal to the emotions of players instead.
For this purpose, the team introduced a "fear of the unknown" as a
psychological type of horror. The plot was made vague and occasionally contradictory to leave its true meaning in the dark, and to make players reflect upon unexplained parts.
Director
Keiichiro Toyama
is a Japanese video game director and designer, best known as the creator of the ''Silent Hill'', ''Siren'' and ''Gravity Rush'' franchises.
Biography
Toyama was born in 1970 in Miyazaki Prefecture, and studied art in Tokyo Zokei University. ...
created the game's scenario,
while programmer
Hiroyuki Owaku wrote the text for the riddles.
Toyama did not have much experience of horror movies but was interested in UFOs, the occult and
David Lynch movies which influenced the game's development. Toyama questioned Konami's decision to appoint him as director, as he had never been one prior to ''Silent Hill''.
The localization company Latina International translated the script into English.
The town of Silent Hill is an interpretation of a small American community as imagined by the Japanese team. It was based on Western literature and films, as well as on depictions of American towns in
European and
Russian culture
Russian culture (russian: Культура России, Kul'tura Rossii) has been formed by the nation's history, its geographical location and its vast expanse, religious and social traditions, and Western influence. Russian writers and ph ...
.
The game's joke ending came out of a
suggestion box created to find alternative reasons for the occurrences in Silent Hill.
Artist
Takayoshi Sato corrected inconsistencies in the plot, and designed the game's cast of characters.
As a young employee, Sato was initially restricted to basic tasks such as
font design and file sorting. He also created 3D demos and presentations, and taught older staff members the fundamentals of
3D modeling. However, he was not credited for this work as he did not have as much respect within Konami as older employees. Sato eventually approached the company's higher-ups with a short demo movie he had rendered, and threatened to withhold this technical knowledge from other staff members if he was not assigned to 3D work. As a consequence, his superior had to give in to his demand, and he was allowed to do character designs.
Instead of relying on illustrations, Sato conceived the characters of ''Silent Hill'' while creating their
computer-generated models.
He gave each their own distinctive characteristics, but made Harry almost completely neutral as he wanted to avoid forcing interpretations of the game on the players.
Creating the skull shapes for the faces of the American cast was difficult because he had no
Caucasian
Caucasian may refer to:
Anthropology
*Anything from the Caucasus region
**
**
** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region
*
*
*
Languages
* Northwest Caucasian l ...
co-workers to use for reference.
Although Sato was largely responsible for the game's cinematics and characters at this point, his superior still did not want to fully credit his work, and intended to assign a visual supervisor to him. To prevent this from happening, Sato volunteered to create the full-motion videos of ''Silent Hill'' by himself.
Over the course of two and a half years, he lived in the development team's office, as he had to render the scenes with the approximately 150
Unix
Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, an ...
-based computers of his coworkers after they left work at the end of a day.
Sato estimated the game's budget was lower than the cost of Japan's biggest games at the time. He said the development team intended to make ''Silent Hill'' a masterpiece rather than a traditional sales-oriented game, and that they opted for an engaging story, which would persist over time—similar to successful literature.
The game debuted at the 1998
Electronic Entertainment Expo in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
, United States, where the presentations of movies and in-game scenes garnered applause from the audience.
This favorable reception persuaded Konami to allot more personnel and
public relation
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...
initiatives to the project.
Konami later showcased ''Silent Hill'' at the
European Computer Trade Show
The European Computer Trade Show (ECTS) was an annual trade show for the European video game industry which first ran in 1988, the last event being held in 2004.
The exposition was only open to industry professionals and journalists, although it w ...
in London, and included a
demo
Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to:
Music and film
*Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release
* ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes
* ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...
with its
stealth game
A stealth game is a type of video game in which the player primarily uses ''stealth'' to avoid or overcome opponents. Games in the genre typically allow the player to remain undetected by hiding, sneaking, or using disguises. Some games allow th ...
''
Metal Gear Solid
is a series of techno-thriller stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX home computers. The player often takes control of a special forces opera ...
'' in Japan.
The names and designs of some ''Silent Hill'' creatures and puzzles are based on books enjoyed by the character of Alessa, including ''
The Lost World'' by
Arthur Conan Doyle and
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...
's ''
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creature ...
''.
The game contains several real-life references, particularly in characters' names. Cheryl Mason's first name is based on actress
Sheryl Lee
Sheryl Lynn Lee (born April 22, 1967) is a German-born American film, stage, and television actress. After studying acting in college, Lee relocated to Seattle, Washington to work in theater, where she was cast by David Lynch as Laura Palmer and ...
's first name, and Lisa Garland's surname is taken from actress
Judy Garland
Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...
.
"Michael Kaufmann" is a combination of
Troma Studios producers Michael Herz's and Lloyd Kaufmann's first name and surname, respectively. Alessa's original name was "Asia", and Dahlia's was "Daria", based on the first names of actresses
Asia Argento
Asia Argento (; born Aria Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento; 20 September 1975) is an Italian actress and filmmaker. The daughter of filmmaker Dario Argento, she has had roles in several of her father's features and achieved mainstream success with ...
and
Daria Nicolodi—Argento's mother.
Harry's name was originally "Humbert", and Cheryl's was "Dolores", in reference to the protagonist and title character of
Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bor ...
's novel ''
Lolita''. The American staff altered these names, as they considered them too uncommon.
Fictitious religious items appearing in the game have used various religions as a basis: the evil spirit-dispelling substance Aglaophotis, which is said to be made from a medicinal herb, is based on a
herb of similar name and nature in the
Kabbalah
Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "receiver"). The defin ...
(
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ...
); the "Seal of Metatron" (also referred to by Dahlia as the "Mark of Samael") references the angels
Metatron
Metatron ( ''Meṭāṭrōn'', ''Məṭaṭrōn'', ''Mēṭaṭrōn'', ''Mīṭaṭrōn'', ''Meṭaṭrōn'', ''Mīṭṭaṭrōn'') or Mattatron ( ''Maṭṭaṭrōn'') is an angel in Judaism mentioned three times in the Talmud in a few br ...
and
Samael
Samael ( he, סַמָּאֵל, ''Sammāʾēl'', "Venom/Poison of God"; ar, سمسمائيل, ''Samsama'il'' or ar, سمائل, label=none, ''Samail''; alternatively Smal, Smil, Samil, or Samiel) is an archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic ...
, respectively; and the name of the "Flauros" was taken from the
eponymous demon appearing in the ''
Lemegeton
''The Lesser Key of Solomon'', also known as ''Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis'' or simply ''Lemegeton'', is an anonymous grimoire on demonology. It was compiled in the mid-17th century, mostly from materials a couple of centuries older.''Lemegeto ...
'', a book on magic said to have been compiled by writings of King
Solomon.
Certain items and doors in the "nowhere" dimension of the game were given names based on occult elements in order to symbolize magical traits of Dahlia. The names of these doors were taken from the names of the angels
Ophiel
Olympian spirits (or ''Olympic spirits'', ''Olympick spirits'') refers to seven (or sometimes fourteen) spirits mentioned in several Renaissance and post-Renaissance books of ritual magic/ceremonial magic, such as the '' Arbatel de magia veterum'' ...
,
Hagith Hagith, Haggith or Hagit can refer to:
* Haggith - Biblical character
* Hagith (opera) - the opera by Karol Szymanowski
* Hagith (spirit) - the Olympian spirit in the Arbatel de magia veterum
* Hagit (name) - Hebrew female first name in contempo ...
,
Phaleg, and
Bethor
Olympian spirits (or ''Olympic spirits'', ''Olympick spirits'') refers to seven (or sometimes fourteen) spirits mentioned in several Renaissance and post-Renaissance books of ritual magic/ceremonial magic, such as the ''Arbatel de magia veterum'' ...
, who appear in a medieval book of black magic and are supposed to rule over planets. This motif of giving names that suggest planets was used to signify that "a deeper part of the realm of Alessa's mind is being entered", according to Owaku.
Music
![Akira Yamaoka - Game Developers Conference 2010 - Day 3 (2)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Akira_Yamaoka_-_Game_Developers_Conference_2010_-_Day_3_%282%29.jpg)
The soundtrack for ''Silent Hill'' was composed by sound director Akira Yamaoka, who requested to join the development staff after the original musician had left.
In addition to the music, he was in charge of tasks such as
sound effect
A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. Traditi ...
creation and
audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via me ...
.
Yamaoka did not watch game scenes, but created the music independently from its visuals. The style of his compositions was influenced by ''
Twin Peaks
''Twin Peaks'' is an American mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 for ...
'' composer
Angelo Badalamenti. To differentiate ''Silent Hill'' from other games as much as possible, and to give it a cold and rusty feel, Yamaoka opted for
industrial music.
When he presented his musical pieces to the other staff members for the first time, they misinterpreted their sound as a
game bug. Yamaoka had to explain that this noise was intended for the music, and the team only withdrew their initial objection after he elaborated on his reasons for choosing this style.
On March 5, 1999, the album ''Silent Hill Original Soundtracks'' was released in Japan. The 41st track on the CD, the ending theme "Esperándote", was composed by
Rika Muranaka. After Yamaoka had approached her to create a piece of music for the game, she suggested the use of
bandoneón
The bandoneon (or bandonion, es, bandoneón) is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It is a typical instrument in most tango ensembles. As with other members of the concertina family, the bandoneon is held ...
s,
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...
s, and a Spanish-speaking singer. It was decided to make the song a
tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
, and Muranaka composed the melody for the English lyrics she had conceived.
When she arrived in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, to record the translated Spanish lyrics with
Argentine singer Vanesa Quiroz, Muranaka realized that the syllables did not match the melodic line any more, and she had to recompose it in five minutes.
On October 29, 2013,
Perseverance Records
Perseverance Records is a record label which releases film scores on CD and online. Releases are usually accompanied by extensive booklets. Extras, such as audio interviews with composers, are also sometimes included.
Discography
*
*''No Pass ...
released a "Best Of" album, which features 16 newly interpreted instrumental tracks composed by
Akira Yamaoka
is a Japanese composer and music producer. He is best known for composing music for several video games in the '' Silent Hill'' series by Konami, among other games. Yamaoka also worked as a producer on the series, as well as composing for the ' ...
and arranged and performed by Edgar Rothermich. The 17th track on the album is the ballad "I Want Love" performed by
Romina Arena
Romina Arena is an Italian American, Italian-American popera, operatic pop, pop Crossover (music), classical crossover, rock opera and New-age music, new-age singer-songwriter.
Early life
Romina Arena was born and raised in Palermo, Sicily, to a ...
.
Release
''Silent Hill'' was released for the PlayStation in 1999, from February to July in North America, Japan, and Europe. It was included in the Japanese ''Silent Hill Complete Set'' in 2006. ''Silent Hill'' became available for download from the European
PlayStation Network store of the
PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...
and the
PlayStation Portable on March 19, 2009. Two days later, the game was removed due to "unforeseen circumstances". On September 10, ''Silent Hill'' was released on the North American PlayStation Network. It was re-released on the European PlayStation Network on October 26, 2011.
Adaptations
A radically altered version of ''Silent Hill'' was released for the
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...
. Titled ''Play Novel: Silent Hill'' and released only in Japan in 2001, it is a
gamebook
A gamebook is a work of printed fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices. The narrative branches along various paths, typically through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages. Each narrative typically does not ...
-style
visual novel
A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...
. It contains a retelling of ''Silent Hill''s story through text-based gameplay, with the player occasionally confronted with questions concerning what direction to take the character, as well as the puzzles, which are a major part of ''Silent Hill''s gameplay. After completing the game once, the player has the option of playing as Cybil in a second scenario, with a third made available for download as a
paid-
DLC on the device, once the second scenario has been completed.
When the game was exhibited, Western critics were unimpressed, and criticized the lack of any soundtrack as severely detracting from the "horror" factor of the game.
A film adaptation, also titled ''
Silent Hill
is a horror anthology media franchise centered on a series of survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four video games in the series, '' Silent Hill'', ''Silent Hill 2'', ''Silent Hill 3'' and '' ...
'', was released on April 21, 2006. The film, directed by
Christophe Gans, was based loosely on the game, incorporating elements from ''
Silent Hill 2'', ''
3'', and ''
4''.
Gans replaced Harry Mason with a female main protagonist,
Rose Da Silva
''Silent Hill'' is a 2006 supernatural horror film directed by Christophe Gans and written by Roger Avary, based on the video game series of the same name published by Konami. The film stars Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Laurie Holden, Deborah Kara ...
, because he felt Harry had many qualities typically perceived as feminine.
When designing the film's visual elements, Gans was influenced by fellow directors
Michael Mann
Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer of film and television who is best known for his distinctive style of crime drama. His most acclaimed works include the films ''Thief'' (1981), ...
,
David Lynch, and
David Cronenberg.
The film's soundtrack includes music composed by Yamaoka.
Although critical reaction was mostly negative, the film was a financial success and was praised by fans, especially for its visuals.
A "
reimagining" of ''Silent Hill'', titled ''
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories'', was developed by
Climax Studios
Climax Studios is a British video game developer based in Portsmouth that is best known for their work on the 2004 action role-playing game ''Sudeki'' and the 2007 and 2009 survival horror video games '' Silent Hill: Origins'' and '' Silent Hi ...
and published by
Konami Digital Entertainment
, is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casinos ...
. The game was released on December 8, 2009, for the
Wii and on January 19, 2010, for the
PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation Portable, to mostly positive reviews.
Although it retains the premise of a man's search for his missing daughter, ''Shattered Memories'' branches off into a different plot with altered characters.
It features psychological profiling which alters various in-game elements depending on the player's response to questions in therapy,
lacks the combat of ''Silent Hill'', and replaces the "Otherworld" with a series of chase sequences through an alternate frozen version of the town.
In January 2022, a
fan shot-for-shot remake developed by independent developer Codeless Games with
Unreal Engine 5
Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game ''Unreal (1998 video game), Unreal''. Initially developed for Personal computer, PC first-person shooters, i ...
was announced.
Reception and legacy
''Silent Hill'' received "generally favorable reviews" at the review aggregate website
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
.
The game sold over two million copies,
which gained ''Silent Hill'' a place in the American PlayStation
Greatest Hits
A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...
budget releases. In November 1999, the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD) gave ''Silent Hill'' a "Gold" award,
indicating sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
''Silent Hill'' has been compared to the ''
Resident Evil
''Resident Evil'', known in Japan as is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...
'' series of
survival horror
Survival horror is a subgenre of survival of the players as the game tries to frighten them with either horror graphics or scary ambience. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical ac ...
video games. Bobba Fatt of ''
GamePro'' labeled ''Silent Hill'' a "shameless but slick ''Resident Evil'' clone",
while ''
Edge
Edge or EDGE may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Edge computing, a network load-balancing system
* Edge device, an entry point to a computer network
* Adobe Edge, a graphical development application
* Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed ...
'' described it as "a near-perfect sim nightmare".
Others felt that ''Silent Hill'' was Konami's answer to the ''Resident Evil'' series
in that, while they noted a similarity, ''Silent Hill'' utilized a different form of horror to induce fear, attempting to form a disturbing atmosphere for the player, in contrast to the visceral scares and action-oriented approach of ''Resident Evil''.
Adding to the atmosphere was the audio, which was well-received; Billy Matjiunis of ''TVG'' described the ambient music as "engrossing";
a reviewer for ''
Game Revolution'' also praised the audio, commenting that the sound and music will set players on edge.
AllGame
RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel.
Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publ ...
editor Michael L. House praised ''Silent Hill'', describing it as "a truly magnificent work of art" and "a genuinely terrifying experience combined with a unique, gripping story and immersive atmosphere".
Less well-received was the voice acting which, although some reviewers remarked it was better than that found in the ''Resident Evil'' series,
was found poor overall by reviewers, and accompanied by pauses between lines that served to spoil the atmosphere.
Reviewers noted that ''Silent Hill'' used real-time 3D environments, in contrast to the pre-rendered environments found in ''Resident Evil''. Fog and darkness were heavily used to disguise the limitations of the hardware.
Along with the grainy textures—also from hardware limitations
—most reviewers felt that these factors actually worked in the game's favor; Francesca Reyes of ''
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' described it as "adding to the atmosphere of dilapidation and decay".
In using 3D environments, however, controls became an issue, and in "tougher" areas, maneuverability became "an exercise in frustration".
''Edge'' selected it as runner-up for the Gameplay Innovation award. They stated that, whereas other games attempted to hide the PlayStation's visual inadequecies, Konami used its draw-distance deficiency to chilling effect by draping atmospheric fog about the place.
The game's popularity as the first in the series was further recognized long after its release; a list of the best PS games of all time by ''IGN'' in 2000 listed it as the 14th-best PS game,
while a 2005 article by ''
GameSpy'' detailing the best PS games listed ''Silent Hill'' as the 15th-best game produced for the console.
A ''
GameTrailers'' video feature in 2006 ranked ''Silent Hill'' as number one in its list of the top ten scariest games of all time.
In 2005, the game was credited for moving the survival horror genre away from
B movie horror elements to the
psychological style seen in
art house or
Japanese horror films,
due to the game's emphasis on a disturbing atmosphere rather than visceral horror.
In November 2012, ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' named it one of the 100 greatest video games of all time.
Notes
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1999 video games
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Everyman
Game Boy Advance games
Horror video games
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Video games scored by Akira Yamaoka
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