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ITT: We reminisce about Silent Hill 1 ten years later
- Thread starter randomwab
- Start date
Over 10 years, congratulations to this outstanding game. Up to this day, no game I've played could surpass it, although music and art designs were improved in later SH games. But for what it lacked, it made up for it multiple times by atmosphere, characters, story, cleverness and tension. May it forever be remembered as the best nightmare you've ever had.
And Shattered Memories: Please be good!
And Shattered Memories: Please be good!
Cat in the Hat
Member
I remember me and my friend went through the game on a weekend. We were such pussies, we had almost every light on and the doors open.
The scarriest part to me was the elementary school. OMG those babies, are just the worst.
The scarriest part to me was the elementary school. OMG those babies, are just the worst.
How About No
Member
I still feel crappy about spoiling the whole game for myself, because I thought I'd never be able to play it. And then I DID get to play it...
brandonh83
Banned
randomwab said:
Damn those are great. How does Akira make some of these sounds... I don't want to know. The Alchemilla one is just fucked.
A great watch here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoIJ2EzUtpo
This is one of the pinnacle games in the golden age of Horror. Was such a great experience, one that I'll never forget.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoIJ2EzUtpo
This is one of the pinnacle games in the golden age of Horror. Was such a great experience, one that I'll never forget.
HisshouBuraiKen
Member
This is what I was talking about, from 2:25 to 3:12. That shit blew my mind and it never quite reformed even after he laughed it off.
Still my fav silent hill followed by 2. Along with the music, there was something really creepy about the graphics despite it being on PSone. The gritty look and the satanic imagery really made it look quite different from the later series.
The plot was also quite different from the other SH games, as it was deliberately told in a vague fashion. You can really see a similar type of direction with the Siren series, which is like a trademark of Toyama.
The plot was also quite different from the other SH games, as it was deliberately told in a vague fashion. You can really see a similar type of direction with the Siren series, which is like a trademark of Toyama.
sotodefonk
Member
Amazing game... I actually bought it because there was an ad at the back of my metal gear solid's instruction manual.
I was like 14 at that time, the ad looked "cool" and Im glad I bought it, because right now, there is NO WAY I would buy a game just after seeing an ad in paper.
I was like 14 at that time, the ad looked "cool" and Im glad I bought it, because right now, there is NO WAY I would buy a game just after seeing an ad in paper.
klee123 said:
I think the first Silent Hill still has the strongest Otherworld. It was the most clearly thought out, with a solid reasoning behind the majority of its imagery, and is still one of the most uncomfortable locations to play through in a game. A lot of people say about how playing games like Condemned made them feel uncomfortable in those shitty, run down environments, but I think Silent Hill was the first of these kinds of games.
Plus, the graphics were outstanding for the time. It was never going to contain the detail of a prerendered background like Resident Evil, but for one of the first truly open world titles, its still pretty groundbreaking.
The fog and the darkness too, theyve never been done better and more believably than in the first title.
Night_Trekker
Member
Prime Blue said:
Don't think for a moment I'm defending Origins. It's the worst traditional game in the series and it has tons of problems, including that one. I still think it was worth playing.
Mar_ said:
WHAT THE FUCK. Play it, please, at least before Shattered Memories comes out.
randomwab said:
I agree about Origins (haven't played Homecoming), though I think there are some great moments there, as uneven as it is.
Even that would have been a simple copy of SH2's plot :\
Silent Hill 1 and 2 are probably the highest points in the entire series. Specially 1 for it's pure scare-factor. I remember playing it through as a young lad, thinking it would be like Resident Evil, and holy shit on a shit sandwich with shit on top was I wrong.
It was amazing. Left me with so much unease that my hands where acctually shaking as I played it through.
2 has easily the best acted, and best story out of all of them. I just wish I could go back in time, to before I knew anything about it, and play it through again. That turn it does is probably one of the most emotional I've seen done in a game. You acctually feel for James.
And one thing I keep seeing is that everyone keeps naming Team Silent. <_< But, fun fact, Team Silent never properly existed. They have never been the same gang, except for Akira Yamaoka, and maybe Ito for design for 1, 2 and 3. Otherwise, they have always changed Directors, Producers, Story-writers, Lead-designers, well, almost everything for each new installment.
They where more of a collective than anything.
It was amazing. Left me with so much unease that my hands where acctually shaking as I played it through.
2 has easily the best acted, and best story out of all of them. I just wish I could go back in time, to before I knew anything about it, and play it through again. That turn it does is probably one of the most emotional I've seen done in a game. You acctually feel for James.
And one thing I keep seeing is that everyone keeps naming Team Silent. <_< But, fun fact, Team Silent never properly existed. They have never been the same gang, except for Akira Yamaoka, and maybe Ito for design for 1, 2 and 3. Otherwise, they have always changed Directors, Producers, Story-writers, Lead-designers, well, almost everything for each new installment.
They where more of a collective than anything.
PetriP-TNT
Member
It's on PSN, at least on the EU storeMar_ said:
If I remember right, the making of the SH2 documentary that came with SH2 (PAL-version only?) shows how Akira does these noise-tunes and such.brandonh83 said:
abstract alien
Member
I think Im one of the few in the world that thinks both Silent Hill 1 and 3 are better than 2. I really did enjoy it, but not as much as the other two. It felt a bit, dry, when compared. The story was decent enough on paper, but it never translated into anything particularly interesting when it came to my emotions or interests. The only thing that ever really had me interested was the aspect of Pyramid Head. This isnt a bashing post, its just my least favorite of three games that I love.
Excellent game, and the scariest of the series to date. It still haunts me the beginning of the game, some fucked up shit.
I was never satisfied with Konami "canonizing" one ending in Silent Hill 3. I still think that if Harry had been able to save both Cybill and the reborn Alessa like in the Good+ ending he would have kept his sanity.
I was never satisfied with Konami "canonizing" one ending in Silent Hill 3. I still think that if Harry had been able to save both Cybill and the reborn Alessa like in the Good+ ending he would have kept his sanity.
ChackanKun
Member
Whilst I do love all Silent Hill's out there (still curious to see how i will feel about Shattered Memories), I can't help to wish for a last top-notch Silent Hill. Maybe a Silent Hill 6 but with the same quality of the first 3 games, graphic wise and story wise.
Silent Hill Homecoming is not a bad game, heck, I actually did like it a lot. But comparing to Sh1, Sh2 or Sh3...no chance to survive lol. Origins on the other hand, was very similar with Sh1 in atmosphere and wackiness, although the storyline is a bit sub-par.
No game, and I mean NO GAME, even compares to Silent Hill 2, and that's a shame.
Anyway, this thread is about Sh1, I played it after playing 2 and still it got me in awe! Although the storyline is less compelling, the atmosphere is much more heavier. Was one of the best games I played, and It was a shame I never played it when it first launched.
Silent Hill Homecoming is not a bad game, heck, I actually did like it a lot. But comparing to Sh1, Sh2 or Sh3...no chance to survive lol. Origins on the other hand, was very similar with Sh1 in atmosphere and wackiness, although the storyline is a bit sub-par.
No game, and I mean NO GAME, even compares to Silent Hill 2, and that's a shame.
Anyway, this thread is about Sh1, I played it after playing 2 and still it got me in awe! Although the storyline is less compelling, the atmosphere is much more heavier. Was one of the best games I played, and It was a shame I never played it when it first launched.
DodgyGeezerFella
Member
Didnt mind Homecoming too much (not a pinch on the "proper" ones), when you recognise the main guys voice as Kane from Kane & Lynch, things turned funny :lol
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
brandonh83 said:
randomwab said:
stuburns said:
I've been meaning to for a while now. Everything I've heard about the series sounds fantastic.
On top of that, I really loved Siren: New Translation, and I've been told that it's basically Silent Hill-lite, so...
Rez said:
If you like Siren: New Translation then yeah, you should definitely pick up at least the first two Silent Hill games. I'd say starting from the first game is still the best way to begin, it sets up everything about the series perfectly, atmosphere, music and story. Then you should move on to the second. The third and forth are definitely worth a look too, but only after one and two, which everyone really should play. They really are classics.
Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
Klee123 I think really hits the nail on the head about the overall vagueness of the plotting being a strength of the original game.
SH really revels in it own ambiguity -what is real, what is not, and why is this happening? It tries to show you, with visual and audio clues, (the single desk in the schoolroom, the crying in the toilets/cell) as opposed to having the whole plot laid out in dialogue.
SH3 I felt really suffered from them overexplaining everything and as a result killing the sense of mystery and foreboding. I think this, moreso even than the ever increasing reliance on combat, is what has brought the series down over the last few installments.
What was great about the original SH was that you really felt what you (as Harry) were up against was mysterious and nightmarish. The unknown is always more terrifying than the familiar.
Hell, in SH even the UFO appearances were unnerving!
SH really revels in it own ambiguity -what is real, what is not, and why is this happening? It tries to show you, with visual and audio clues, (the single desk in the schoolroom, the crying in the toilets/cell) as opposed to having the whole plot laid out in dialogue.
SH3 I felt really suffered from them overexplaining everything and as a result killing the sense of mystery and foreboding. I think this, moreso even than the ever increasing reliance on combat, is what has brought the series down over the last few installments.
What was great about the original SH was that you really felt what you (as Harry) were up against was mysterious and nightmarish. The unknown is always more terrifying than the familiar.
Hell, in SH even the UFO appearances were unnerving!
Silent hill has always had a special place in my heart. I discovered the series with number two and I still think it's the best of all, story wise and in terms of characters' development.
I bought silent hill 1 when I learned that silent hill 3 would be it's sequel and I remember playing it in my appartment with a friend. It scared the hell out of us, so much that I didn't touch it anymore after having finished it once.
Then Silent hill 3 came and it was quite enjoyable (and it was the first time a "big" title was released in Europe before US ^^) but not as much as number 2. As for number 4, I'm divided about this one. I really loved some parts (especially this one : Henry discovers Walter's body), but on the other hand, some things completely ruined it (the worst thing being the burping nurses, I never thought I would have laughed playing a Silent hill game). And I was a little disappointed after having high hopes for the game when watching trailers like this : SH4:The Room 9mn trailer
Never played homecoming (I didn't like what I watched on the internet) but I think Origins was not as bad as some people think...
It's funny cause I was replaying Silent hill 2 the other day and something occured to me : remember the part at the very beginning of the game, when you make your way to Silent hill through a forest? I think that somethinh like that could not be done in current gen games. I mean, if you decide to just walk, this part is actually very long and nothing happens. You just walk alone, surrounded by creepy sounds (like these footsteps that seem to follow you). I don't think that a game could afford that kind of thing now without being bashed by critics or players...
I bought silent hill 1 when I learned that silent hill 3 would be it's sequel and I remember playing it in my appartment with a friend. It scared the hell out of us, so much that I didn't touch it anymore after having finished it once.
Then Silent hill 3 came and it was quite enjoyable (and it was the first time a "big" title was released in Europe before US ^^) but not as much as number 2. As for number 4, I'm divided about this one. I really loved some parts (especially this one : Henry discovers Walter's body), but on the other hand, some things completely ruined it (the worst thing being the burping nurses, I never thought I would have laughed playing a Silent hill game). And I was a little disappointed after having high hopes for the game when watching trailers like this : SH4:The Room 9mn trailer
Never played homecoming (I didn't like what I watched on the internet) but I think Origins was not as bad as some people think...
It's funny cause I was replaying Silent hill 2 the other day and something occured to me : remember the part at the very beginning of the game, when you make your way to Silent hill through a forest? I think that somethinh like that could not be done in current gen games. I mean, if you decide to just walk, this part is actually very long and nothing happens. You just walk alone, surrounded by creepy sounds (like these footsteps that seem to follow you). I don't think that a game could afford that kind of thing now without being bashed by critics or players...
timetokill
Banned
Clear said:
Some good comments here. I agree that SH3 wasn't as good as the first two games, and your points about the ambiguity are interesting.
Basically I feel like SH1 and SH2 respected their audience more. They were games that really gave you more the more you put into them. If you really paid attention you could learn a lot of cool things, and it helped you get immersed into the games themselves.
SH3 was okay but it's been pretty fast downhill from there. Hoping Shattered Memories is an uptick.
brandonh83
Banned
Siren has absolutely jack fucking shit on Silent Hill. When Blood Curse came out and everyone was saying it was scarier than Silent Hill and better than the new Homecoming, I was pretty pumped. What I got was an admittedly kind of panicky game with a couple of okay smaller moments, and everyone's scariest scene ended up being a routine jump scare.
It wasn't a bad game but the hype and praise went over my head a bit. It definitely had some very... epic scenery. But Silent Hill, pretty much all of them, is the better horror product by leaps and bounds.
It wasn't a bad game but the hype and praise went over my head a bit. It definitely had some very... epic scenery. But Silent Hill, pretty much all of them, is the better horror product by leaps and bounds.
killer7ITA
Banned
reminder said:
yeahhhhhhhhhhh... full quote.
DodgyGeezerFella
Member
brandonh83 said:
Pretty much how i felt about it. It did have some really amazing lighting that really made things seem horrific, but then you realise you can just go up to most enemys and bash em down without much of a struggle
Tacky standard enemy AI walking along paths didnt help either.Night_Trekker
Member
timetokill said:
Agreed, though I think SH3 (if that storyline had to exist) was very well done and didn't explain as much as I feared it would. I think it's the weakest of the first four, but that still makes it one of my favorite PS2 games.
brandonh83
Banned
Ogs said:Pretty much how i felt about it. It did have some really amazing lighting that really made things seem horrific, but then you realise you can just go up to most enemys and bash em down without much of a struggle
Siren's good. I didn't mean to come off as some kind of Silent Hill fanboi where I think everything else sucks. Hardly. I just wish that more developers understood what makes SH so scary and implement new and original ways to frighten gamers. Because let's face it, videogames are pretty much the best way to get scared. Horror films do nothing these days aside from deploying shitty CGI ghosts and what have you and I can safely say that horror videogames have scared me more than films or even books have.
If we're doing ranking, I'd have to say...
SH2 > SH1 > SH3 > Homecoming > SH4 > Origins
Hopefully Shattered Memories can wind up somewhere past Homecoming. Don't you fuck this up Climax.
ChackanKun
Member
Morue said:
Quoted for incredibly truthness.
In the making of, the developers say that they wanted to give that exact feeling.
Btw, play Homecoming. It's not awesome, but it's also not bad. The characters acting is very good imo and the scenarios have good graphics. Only the models pale in comparison with Sh3 ones. The story, whilst not amazing, it's very enjoyable.
In my opinion:
SH2 > SH3 > SH1 > SH0 > Homecoming > SH4 (loved SH4 btw)
IrishNinja
Member
Great post, OP - nailed a lot about what i loved in SH1, as well as the fact that Harry was this journalist who'd run out of breath & miss plenty of shots, cause he's not a space marine, etc. there's little more disconceriting for me in a horror environment than unnerving scenes responded to by johnny bigballs and the usual "i aint got time to bleed" rhetoric, ugh...im thinking of Jericho here, sadly. additionally, youve piqued my interest in Siren, just sad to see its clearly not getting a disc release here in the states. anyway, Harry was, at times, starting to break from the experiences around him, an aspect i was kinda fascinated with, until Eternal Darkness came along and had some real fun with the notion.
also wanted to say im genuinely excited about Shattered Memories - yeah, im concerned about the retelling aspect, but has anyone booted up SH1 recently? granted, i did so on a ps3/HDTV but man, that sucker did not age well at all...flows a great deal better on the PSP.
wait, SH2 PAL had a documentary? off to find that shit.
also wanted to say im genuinely excited about Shattered Memories - yeah, im concerned about the retelling aspect, but has anyone booted up SH1 recently? granted, i did so on a ps3/HDTV but man, that sucker did not age well at all...flows a great deal better on the PSP.
wait, SH2 PAL had a documentary? off to find that shit.
Prime Blue
Member
SEX AND DEATHIrishNinja said:
IrishNinja
Member
Prime Blue said:
you're the tops. thanks.
ChackanKun
Member
G_Berry said:
LabouredSubterfuge
Member
Okay kids, SH2 is coming in the post tomorrow so that I can batter the shit out of my SH virginity. Mucho looking forward to it although it may have to contend with bouts of Shadow Complex and Lost Planet 2 demo. What a Wednesday.
I'm just hoping I'm not too chicken-shit to see it through...
I'm just hoping I'm not too chicken-shit to see it through...
badcrumble
Member
Play it in the dark and without distractions (ideally with headphones or an excellent sound system). Brilliant, brilliant game, but a lot of what's great about it comes out when you really start thinking back on it after finishing the whole thing.LabouredSubterfuge said:
â Narayan
Member
I can never get past the beginning part of this game where you unlock the back door to the house where you encounter the dog(s?). You go into that alley and then SHIT GETS REAL. It gets all dark and you can't see what's in front of you and I'm just like... "FUCK THIS!" - and I turn off the game.
I really need to play it again. I think, now that I have my own super PC, I'll do this.
I really need to play it again. I think, now that I have my own super PC, I'll do this.
