Silent Hill Series

[douyang]

I'm wondering if anyone here ever played the silent hill series, especially the first one for the PS 1. I'm working through the third game now. Awesome atmosphere.

[-Animae-]

Seeing that you post is feeling lonely, and if no one minds some grave digging (more than a month).
I watched someone play through the second game and I must say I was slightly disappointed. I had heard a lot of good things about that game, and I think it started great but did not become as intense as I expected. I don’t think immersion was the problem either and while I think the atmosphere was great, it did not manage to scare me. Not that that is unexpected, I am (much to my own loss) very difficult to scare. My friends don’t like to have me around when they want to do something like watching a horror movie because they feel that it breaks the immersion that I am not bothered the slightest.

[Donshonto]

Silent Hill 2 is probably the most scariest game I've ever played. Along side SystemShock 2.

[douyang]

I can't even bring myself to finish Silent Hill 3, wuss that I am. I stopped right after the bathtub scene at Hilltop Center...I've seen videos of Silent Hill 2 and 1 though.

[H-street]

SH3 was very good, you'll definately want to finish it..

i just bought a coyp of Silent Hill2 for the PC for 7$ off ebay, and SH4 - the Room for 12$..

gonna start on SH2 after i finish Indigo Prophecy (another excellent game)

[Elmo]

The SH series don't creep me out at all for some reason(not because I'm not easy to scare - I jump at films I've seen many times over). Prehaps this was because the gameplay wasn't particularly difficult, an element of fear is better when there is failiure even in your successes, or a real danger of your character dying. Like alot of games that could have been very frightening(e.g. the thing, resident evil) it tarnishes it's chances by being too easy and get's pwn'd by the likes of System Shock or thief(I prefer getting twitchy, over gory horror). The Set design was beautiful though and the sound was nearly sinister.

[Jeni Nielsen]

The SH series don't creep me out at all for some reason(not because I'm not easy to scare - I jump at films I've seen many times over). Prehaps this was because the gameplay wasn't particularly difficult, an element of fear is better when there is failiure even in your successes, or a real danger of your character dying. Like alot of games that could have been very frightening(e.g. the thing, resident evil) it tarnishes it's chances by being too easy and get's pwn'd by the likes of System Shock or thief(I prefer getting twitchy, over gory horror). The Set design was beautiful though and the sound was nearly sinister.

You should try playing Siren. That game is so frikin' hard! One wrong move and you get eaten by aliens. Plus it's supposed to be really creepy. My boyfriend couldn't play it late at night because it scared him too much.

[sonic]

I like horror games that are easy, otherwise I can't beat them. It's sad, for some reason the type of gameplay in the genre is difficult for me, like in Resident Evil how you keep having to run away for a lack of bullets to kill things. I don't find films frightening, and I'm not the type of person to be scared of the dark or of scary people coming to get you in real life, but the one thing that does scare me is an atmospheric horror video game. I think because in a film it seems fake and I often don't care about the character, and in real life I believe in my own abilities and willpower in most situations (as long as zombies and things like that aren't real- if they were, I would be so useless because they are scary; I mean, who can seriously fight Nemesis without dieing of fright from being stalked by it?), but in a game I tend to really care a lot about the characters and get absorbed into surviving as them. There's something terrifying about controlling the game and yet frequently having the contoll taken away, like when you think you cleared an area ages ago and then while passing through at random one time a hoard of zombies break though a window and come after you... Resident Evil 3 shocked me so much one time that I dropped the controller and got Jill killed, and Resident Evil: Code Veronica was so scary and difficult that I had to stop playing it- I just can't bare to make Claire walk through that "moaning zombie" sound effect passage one more time because I know any time now they're all gonna burst through the wall and attack her, and I don't have more ink ribbons to save with. Scary!

Silent Hill has always looked too gross for me. I don't like gross-out monsters or storylines, and it sounded a bit weird or offensive. I don't really know what other good series are out there, or what I want from a new horror series. Any suggestions for someone who is rubbish at the things (no, not like, "Don't play them")?

[Lightice]

Silent Hill has always looked too gross for me. I don't like gross-out monsters or storylines, and it sounded a bit weird or offensive.

Well, aren't those the signs of a good horror game? It's supposed to be wierd and disturbing, after all. I haven't played them, though. I don't own a single game console - my gaming, which is relatively rare, these days is done solely on PC. I saw the movie, though, which was visually quite impressive but I suspect that the plot would have opened a little more if I had been more familiar with the games.

I don't really know what other good series are out there, or what I want from a new horror series. Any suggestions for someone who is rubbish at the things (no, not like, "Don't play them")?

Well, you usually learn by playing, starting with easier difficulties. There is no such thing as easy horror game, as it would lose its suspense and become comical, if nothing in your way would prove any danger.
A game that I'm currently playing might interest you, though - Call of Cthulhu: the Dark Corners of the Earth. Though it has some annoying console-elements which disturb the immersion, majority of the game so far has been pure gold. If you're familiar with H.P. Lovecraft's prose, I can say with certainity that that game has gotten closest to bringing his writings to life. The mood is terrific, although I'm sadly incapable of being scared of fictional settings. I have no idea whether you'd find its storyline "gross", though. Is there a horror game that doesn't have one, though?

[sonic]

Well, aren't those the signs of a good horror game? It's supposed to be wierd and disturbing, after all.

Ah, there's a fine line for me. There is the kind of "weird and disturbing" that is just obnoxious to me- gross-out sorts of things, like storylines about demonic pregnancies, or all the projectile snot and vomit in The Exorcist; gross-out slathering, "butt-ugly" monsters wearing sweat-encrusted vests or something like that. Then there is the okay to actually good kind of "weird and disturbing", where the monsters are innocuous zombie-types or something, a bit blood-spattered and a bit grey-skinned, but nothing too vulgar and hideous; where the horror and the atmosphere comes from reading diaries found on corpses and learning the sinister truth behind the Umbrella corporation (okay you can tell I like the Resi series), or from passing by a particularly good shot of a used-looking guillotiene and then later learning that the area you passed by was the facilty for discarding test-victims of the T-virus, or simply investigating and reading the description of a dining room table in a messed-up looking room, and seeing the phrase, "the bread is half-eaten, and there is a bowl of soup that is still warm." Great horror comes from something more psycological, and from great camera shots and very, very clever sequences and event planning. It doesn't just come from, let's make the grossest monster or the sickest plot that we can; 'cause that just offends me rather than gets me into the mood of it. No walking butt monsters or anything like that. Blood and guts? Please, they use it so callously that it takes me out of it and makes me reflect on them as a person; I could scarce be bothered to care.

I'm not saying that Silent Hill IS like that though... because I don't know it very well. I just saw the visuals for one of the games in the series and thought the designs and locations were a bit leaning towards obnoxious gross-out world. I don't know that for sure as I haven't played them.

There is no such thing as easy horror game, as it would lose its suspense and become comical, if nothing in your way would prove any danger.

Oh yeah? Well, I cheated in Resident Evil 3 by getting the rocket launcher that kills in one hit and using it all the time, and I still found it quite scary. The storyline is just that good; all the suspense that they build, the psychological horror of what Umbrella is does to people, and the dead city with all the stories that it holds that are soon to be erased; the horror of such a terrible thing happening and then the city being erased from the map by ruthless humans... The support that you are promised every time you meet another survivor, and the terror as they choose to leave you (or are taken away from you)... That's all really strong stuff. Jill's opening narrative is really strong stuff. It is.. scary. And Jill is great too, so you care about her... I think that they totally put you in that position of trying to survive in a lonely city. And all those terrifying camera angles- it doesn't matter if you know you can kill everything or not, you feel anxious anyway. And if I didn't have the rocket launcher... I wouldn't be able to get to the end of the game. And I miss out on a great, well-shot, involving story that is immersive and interactive. At the end of the day, the value of a great horror game for me is still the experience of the unfolding story and the situation of the characters. Will you ever forget the T-Virus, Umbrella, S.T.A.R.S, or Raccoon City, even though you "breezed through it" with a rocket launcher? Nope. Believe me. And just because I'm not as tough as Jill Valentine when it comes to the undead doesn't mean I shouldn't get to share her story.

Call of Cthulhu: the Dark Corners of the Earth. Though it has some annoying console-elements which disturb the immersion, majority of the game so far has been pure gold. If you're familiar with H.P. Lovecraft's prose, I can say with certainity that that game has gotten closest to bringing his writings to life.

Ah, Lovecraft is sooo popular here. I'm not really into that type of stuff. Cthulhu seem a bit silly and fantasy-esque to me... maybe even geeky? I don't mean offence... Oh, what do you mean by "annoying console-elements"... what is such a thing? Personally I never could help but have a bit of disdain for "PC gamers"- it always seemed a bit sad that people only wanted to play their games on their computer. Not that there are never good games for the PC- we used to have an old Amiga and an even older Commodore 64, and I always enjoyed the odd little games and (for Amiga) frequent free demo discs we got. But I mean, consoles are like the main gaming platform, unless you are mostly into the Sims and those boring old online rpgs or real-time strategy games... Get a little spunk in your gaming diet! Hang out with Mario and Link, do battle with the 'King of Fighters', or drive a 'Ridge Racer'! Those things are cool! Wheeeee

[Lightice]

Ah, there's a fine line for me. There is the kind of "weird and disturbing" that is just obnoxious to me- gross-out sorts of things, like storylines about demonic pregnancies, or all the projectile snot and vomit in The Exorcist; gross-out slathering, "butt-ugly" monsters wearing sweat-encrusted vests or something like that.

Well, I agree that gore for its own sake gets boring and annoying in a while, but it is also possible to include quite good psychological suspense in the freaky and disturbing imagery. Giger's art should be enough proof for that - the things that the man can do to a human embryo are...interesting to say at least.

Then there is the okay to actually good kind of "weird and disturbing", where the monsters are innocuous zombie-types or something, a bit blood-spattered and a bit grey-skinned, but nothing too vulgar and hideous

Well, here our tastes differ. A monster doesn't need to be flamboyant, but your average video game zombie makes me yawn. And if there is a genre where gore is absolutely neccecary, it's the zombie flicks.

It doesn't just come from, let's make the grossest monster or the sickest plot that we can; 'cause that just offends me rather than gets me into the mood of it. No walking butt monsters or anything like that. Blood and guts? Please, they use it so callously that it takes me out of it and makes me reflect on them as a person; I could scarce be bothered to care.

Well, nothing says that you can't do both. I agree with you on psychological horror, but it can exist in many kinds of settings.

I'm not saying that Silent Hill IS like that though... because I don't know it very well. I just saw the visuals for one of the games in the series and thought the designs and locations were a bit leaning towards obnoxious gross-out world. I don't know that for sure as I haven't played them.

Well, from what I've heard from friends who are fans and the movie I've seen, Silent Hill is all about psychological horror. It has a number of themes of fears, which it draws from: hospitals and illness, sexuality, children and their fears, isolation and psychological separateness from other human beings, often several used together. The "gross" scenes are supposed to be flashes from the dark sides of subconsious gone awry.

Oh yeah? well, I cheated in Resident Evil 3 by getting the rocket launcher that kills in one hit and using it all the time, and I still found it quite scary.

Well, I suppose this is an individual difference - to me there can be no mood or suspense without effort on my own part. If I don't have to struggle for the goal, I feel no association with the character. There are some games with annoying scenes you have to repeat endlessly, taking all excitement away from them, so I understand what you mean, but on the other hand, making things too easy or simple just robs the sense of accomplishement from me.

Ah, Lovecraft is sooo popular here. I'm not really into that type of stuff. Cthulhu seem a bit silly and fantasy-esque to me... maybe even geeky? I don't mean offence...

Well, for each of their own. Though I'd point out that Lovecraft doesn't have a single, clear-cut style. His works can be seen influencing "Medieval" fantasy and hard science fiction, alike and his horror is typically philosophical and existential, questioning the value of all things we consider valuable to ourselves. He wasn't a good writer, but his ideas are right out of this world.

The Dark Corners of the Earth is no more fantasy-esque than Resident Evil, certainly, at least as far as I can tell. Most of the game your enemies are unpleasant, disfigured citizens of the isolated fishing town of Innsmouth. In the times when something from beyond the bounds of sanity makes an appearance, it leaves a lasting impression. When I first time encountered a shoggoth, I admit it was perhaps the most powerful scene I've seen in a computer game, as the screen blurred and twisted as my character tried to comprehend the massive shapeless thing with his remaining shreds of sanity.

Oh, what do you mean by "annoying console-elements"... what is such a thing?

Dissapearing corpses. Occasional inane puzzle, existing in the game world without rhyme or reason. Some matters of game engine and enviroment. Objects in places where they make little sense. Some of these happen in PC games, as well, ofcourse, but they're more pronounced as console elements and break a little of the immersion of the game, to me.

Personally I never could help but have a bit of disdain for "PC gamers"- it always seemed a bit sad that people only wanted to play their games on their computer.

A matter of taste - I haven't seen anything really worth playing, for the money they and the device cost, on consoles, for years. At least not anything I couldn't get on PC, as well. I know that many disagree, but the style of the most games just doesn't get me. Then again, these days very few games in general do that, anyway. Considering that one game per year is usually more than enough for me, it'd be waste for me to buy a console, which I'd propably abandon during the first year.

But I mean, consoles are like the main gaming platform, unless you are mostly into the Sims and those boring old online rpgs or real-time strategy games... Get a little spunk in your gaming diet! Hang out with Mario and Link, do battle with the 'King of Fighters', or drive a 'Ridge Racer'! Those things are cool! Wheeeee

Not for me, I'm afraid. RPGS (no onlines, at the moment, though) and shooters with a good plot are my thing, at the moment - amusingly the latter would have been an oxymoron about five years ago.
I might try my claws on strategy, one of these days, after a long, long break. Medieval 2 looks and sounds interesting...

[douyang]

Ah, there's a fine line for me. There is the kind of "weird and disturbing" that is just obnoxious to me- gross-out sorts of things, like storylines about demonic pregnancies, or all the projectile snot and vomit in The Exorcist; gross-out slathering, "butt-ugly" monsters wearing sweat-encrusted vests or something like that. Then there is the okay to actually good kind of "weird and disturbing", where the monsters are innocuous zombie-types or something, a bit blood-spattered and a bit grey-skinned, but nothing too vulgar and hideous; where the horror and the atmosphere comes from reading diaries found on corpses and learning the sinister truth behind the Umbrella corporation (okay you can tell I like the Resi series), or from passing by a particularly good shot of a used-looking guillotiene and then later learning that the area you passed by was the facilty for discarding test-victims of the T-virus, or simply investigating and reading the description of a dining room table in a messed-up looking room, and seeing the phrase, "the bread is half-eaten, and there is a bowl of soup that is still warm." Great horror comes from something more psycological, and from great camera shots and very, very clever sequences and event planning. It doesn't just come from, let's make the grossest monster or the sickest plot that we can; 'cause that just offends me rather than gets me into the mood of it. No walking butt monsters or anything like that. Blood and guts? Please, they use it so callously that it takes me out of it and makes me reflect on them as a person; I could scarce be bothered to care.

I'm not saying that Silent Hill IS like that though... because I don't know it very well. I just saw the visuals for one of the games in the series and thought the designs and locations were a bit leaning towards obnoxious gross-out world. I don't know that for sure as I haven't played them.

I never really thought Resident Evil and its zombies and other monsters were very frightening, except for your stereotypical hollywood "jump out" scares that get old fast. My main impression of them is that they are in a way action games with supernatural cannon fodder. (Yes, I know the monsters are created by a "virus", which conveniently does whatever the writers want it to). This is especially true of Resident Evil 4, which, despite the fact that it is easily one of the best if not the best game I've ever played, creates little fear for me. The monsters are just something to expend ammo on, and it never held for the atmosphere of previous RE games.

The one exception I can think of is the remake of the original resident evil I once played on the gamecube. That was some creepy shit, with the lighting and detail and creature designs, and one boss monster that you meet beneath the mansion that had a lasting impression on me.

You should really try Silent Hill sometime, if you're into subtle and psychological horror that takes intelligence and an appreciation of good atmosphere, character development, and the mood created by a thousand little details that's gradually built up as you progress through the game. I recommend Silent Hill 2, or 1, which I hear makes people stop playing for months at a time. It's not crass gore for its own sake at all. If you do your research using Dan Birlew's plot guide or the SHF Forums, you'll see it does brilliantly in the messing with your head department, but these contain spoilers, so you should play the game first.