When Silent Hill was released in early 1999, the cynical lot of gamers nearly immediately cast the game off as a Resident Evil clone, with Konami merely cashing in on the survival horror genre RE had all but cornered at the time. However, those who actually gave the game a play found something completely different - instead of the "boo!" horror theme like Resident Evil, Silent Hill instead took the psychological route, simply messing with your head to creep you out. No, Silent Hill wasn't a mere Resident Evil copy - it's a whole different can of worms - and a great one at that. It's perhaps a little confusing, but SH is one of those games that forces you to actually think about what's going on, instead of having your hand held throughout.

Silent Hill puts you in the perspective of Harry Mason, a writer, on his way to the resort town of Silent Hill (hence the name of the game) along with his daughter Cheryl. Harry is a sad fellow, given his wife recently died of a long illness (no word on whether it's the same one that took down James Sunderland's wife in Silent Hill 2 - just another theory for SH fans to think about), and is taking a vacation to get away from his troubles. However, things go terribly wrong, as the image of a little girl appears on the highway, and Harry is forced to swerve and cause a serious one-car accident. When Harry comes to, his daughter is nowhere to be seen. He goes looking through town - which is a tough call, as SH is extremely foggy today, and even snowing, despite it being the middle of summer. Eventually Harry heads down an alley; one that gets increasingly disturbing, with guts, blood, wheelchairs, gurneys, and at the dead-end, a decaying body that apparently has been crucified. All the while, the skies turn dark and ominous. Then, out of nowhere, squeaking little demons, known lovingly as demon children start hacking away at Harry with their knives (this image in itself is a bit freaky, no?), until they kill him.

And then he wakes up...

This is just the first 5 minutes or so - but the introduction sets the tone for an extremely strange story that is even more confusing than Metal Gear Solid 2; at first anyway. All you know is, you must find Cheryl in the town and get the hell out, and even though this world is disturbing, weird, and horrifying, it doesn't matter to Harry - he just wants his girl back. Along the way, Harry encounters many people, both friend and foe (though really, most are neutral until later on in the game), who slowly reveal the secrets behind all the strange happenings in Silent Hill.

Silent Hill is one of the few games that actually use graphics and sounds as an integral portion of the gameplay. While the majority of the game is solving puzzles and blasting away creepy enemies, the graphics engine and sound engine accent the happenings of the town, further adding a level of suspense and horror to the game. For instance, when playing in Foggy Silent Hill (the one that's normal, with the exception of no people being around, and weird chasms in the roads), the fog level makes seeing far ahead nearly impossible; it's not a cover-up effect - it's to add a further level of fear of not knowing what's ahead of you. Even when you hit dark places in the area, like the school, only your flashlight and radio can guide you through the halls and identify enemies, clues, and paths to take. However, when you get whisked into Darkside Silent Hill, the floors are replaced with fencing, the rooms are decaying and disgusting, the puzzles are even more disturbing, the enemies are stronger and more frequent, and the gore level is brought up to terrifying proportions, with dead, decaying bodies all around, blood stains all over, and a general uneasy feeling. Yeah, the PlayStation limits the details of the game, but in many ways, it's a great idea; as then, you're forced to try and decipher what's going on, but you really can't - making the game creepier.

The sounds only make it worse. Forgetting the voice acting, which is decent, the sound effects of Silent Hill are spectacular when joined with gameplay. So many times, you'll hear noises coming from...somewhere...yet nothing is really there, putting you further on the edge (or forcing you to find the power button and run to mommy). The radio that you carry that makes a ringing sound when enemies are near is another tool of fear - nothing like entering a dark room, only to hear the radio screech out and not be able to find the enemy before they attack. It's difficult to put into words, but the first time you start encountering some of these nasty tricks, it proves to be the anti-Resident Evil - as in, when you hear something, it's probably nothing. Probably. There's also the industrial/techno-ish soundtrack to the game, which further increases the tension - sometimes it's so well composed that you can't tell whether it's a sound effect or music.

Still, the bulk of Silent Hill is done with exploring and fighting. The controls are a bit nasty and clunky, but with purpose. Harry isn't a superhero; instead, he's a regular guy who's probably scared half to death and carrying a few pounds of poopie in his pants while running around town. As such, he's a terrible aim with a projectile weapon, missing the targets from a distance, forcing him to attack as close as possible, putting him in the line of fire himself. It doesn't help that Harry runs kinda funny and has a problem with making corners on a dime without skidding to a stop and gasping for air.

Exploring through Silent Hill is simple, yet difficult. While Harry has a map that's constantly updated when finding new areas (such as marking when a street is missing road and you can't cross, or what rooms in the school or hospital or whatever are locked if you find the proper map), it takes a bit of effort to navigate the fully 3D world. Most of the progression is solved through puzzles; many are cryptic and creepy, and usually always written to you in blood. There were numerous times when I got stumped on one of the strange puzzles, but once the hints are properly gathered, it's not too challenging - enough to keep your mind busy, though. It makes no difference whether or not you're in either Silent Hill incarnation, the puzzles are necessary to solve to advance.

When you mix all these gameplay elements up, you get the full perspective of what kind of game Silent Hill is. At its heart, it's an adventure game in the mold of a PC game, with puzzles being the main method of progressing through the game. Yet, it maintains the action of a Resident Evil game, though much more methodical in pacing. However, what makes the game stand out is in the scare department - the psychological tricks Konami plays with your mind is incredible, and given how wide open the game is to interpretation, who the hell knows what you could conjure up in your head while playing. So much of the stuff is vague (purposely), that the game ends up only being as whacked out as you make it, depending on how you interpret things. With 5 endings (4 serious, 1 loony), playing through the game multiple times is a must, going about things a little differently each time. Silent Hill is one of those games you have to see and play to believe, as the disturbing atmosphere and Konami's ability to play with your mind is incredible.

The Real Bottom Line

As a late PS release, Silent Hill didn't quite get the notoriety that it could have, but it still found an audience of smart gamers who were willing to decipher the subliminal clues and figure out the cryptic storyline. It did manage to become a Greatest Hit, and is probably available to buy somewhere even today, despite PlayStation games not being heavily stocked anymore. If it wasn't for the clunky controls (even if they were purposely made that way), the game would be 5 stars; alas, this flaw can be a cumbersome hassle. With Silent Hill 3 on the way to America later this summer, it's worth digging in to the original if you haven't yet - as the original sets the tone for one of the most bizarre and chilling game franchises ever.

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