Silent Hill

aka: Jijing Ling, SH1
Moby ID: 3564
PlayStation Specs
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Description official descriptions

Harry Mason, an average man, is driving to the town of Silent Hill with his daughter. Upon approaching the town, a cop speeds by on a motorcycle. When Harry gets closer to town, he sees that same motorcycle sprawled in the middle of the road. Harry also spots a woman standing in the road, but due to the dense fog, he can't stop in time, so he swerves to avoid her, crashing into a railing, knocking him unconscious.

When Harry wakes up, his daughter, Cheryl, is missing. Sensing that she would head to the town to seek help, Harry sets out on a journey, not knowing what to expect from this eerie town, enshrouded with fog.

You play Harry Mason, a normal man, with no powers or training of any kind. You must search through the town of Silent Hill, looking for your daughter. You will come across many people, some friendly, some not. You must visit many different areas, such as the school, and the church.

Will Harry find his daughter and safely get out, or is there more to this town than a simple fog layer?

Spellings

  • サイレントヒル - Japanese spelling
  • 寂静岭 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (PlayStation version)

93 People (81 developers, 12 thanks) · View all

Director of Marketing
Product Manager
Producer
Assistant Producer
Customer Support
Packaging and Manual
Executive Producer
Director
Game System Programmer
Graphic System Programmer
Character System Programmer
Enemy Programmer
Event Programmer
Background Designer
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 87% (based on 34 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 189 ratings with 15 reviews)

Man, this game is WIERD

The Good
I really tend to go for games with good story lines, and this one is no exception. It definitely is not one of those scooby doo-like mysteries where everything is solved and all taken care of in the end. I still cannot exactly figure out what the hell happened here. I definitely can't believe that the ending I've seen- even though it is called the "Good +" ending, is really as complete as it gets. Email me if you want to know what I think I have figured out. Also, the lighting effects are superb. You can even change what color the blood is. I love that feature. Also, the game is replayable because of a feature called "Next Fear mode", which is kind of like "New game+" in chrono trigger. It becomes available after you beat the game. You start the game over, only with a higher difficulty level and there are secret items available, like the chainsaw, the rock drill the katana, the channeling stone and, if you're really good, the hyper blaster. Very good stuff.

The Bad
Too short. WAY too short. I can beat it on easy mode inside of 3 hours. And I keep running out of handgun bullets...

The Bottom Line
If you thought the X-files movie was too hard to comprehend, then this game is like... dude. You play as a tourist who got in a car crash and awoke to find his daughter missing. The town is completely desserted, save for a police officer from out of town and a couple of others who usually claim that they fell asleep and when they woke up, it was like this. In attempting to find your daughter, you encounter swarms of bizarre, nightmerish creatures and sometimes get teleported to what seems like a paralell universe where everything is totally sick and twisted and there are mutilated bodies everywhere. Horrifying, and yet... fun!

PlayStation · by Sam Tinianow (113) · 2001

The true meaning of survival horror – what Resident Evil wished it could have been.

The Good
The atmosphere is undoubtedly my favourite part in Silent Hill. And to it there are three main contributors – the soundtrack (a horror piece in itself), the setting and the plot. The soundtrack is so eerily creepy that even standing still while listening to it can give me the creeps. The setting is wonderfully done, at all times conveying a feeling of loneliness and despair, with beautifully arranged camera angles – very cinematic indeed. The graphics, (even though they haven’t aged very well), still convey the message Silent Hill is trying to pass on, with the transitions between worlds very cleverly done. Finally, the plot is outstanding, making you gather bits of it throughout the game in order to fully comprehend what has come to pass – when I finally got it all, I was simply blown away.

The Bad
The gameplay in Silent Hill is, sadly, its weakest point. The controls are incredibly sluggish, and moving Harry around is not only a challenge but also very annoying, to the point where running from enemies seems much more tempting than to simply try and face them. I hate trying to shoot an enemy and suddenly finding myself with my back to them, without knowing why. And of course, one cannot mention Silent Hill’s flaws without referencing the god-awful voice acting – it is no Resident Evil by any means (“NO, DON’T GO!”…ugh), but it still sounds incredibly cheesy, and it doesn’t look like the actors are even trying (particularly in Harry’s case).

The Bottom Line
This game was the first of its kind to truly tackle horror from the psychological perspective, and able to do it successfully. If you have the patience to deal with the cumbersome controls, it is a must-play of the horror genre, and would have been the best of the series if not for its immediate sequel, Silent Hill 2.

PlayStation · by Rik Hideto (473497) · 2014

absolutely frightening!

The Good
I loved the spooky sound effects, and creepy lighting and darkness effects. I also loved the story of this game, very involving and deep really sucks a person into the plot of the game. I also liked the different and unique characters, very life like and had a certain life to them. I was on the edge of my seat through the entire game, and I just couldn't bring myself to shut it off.

The Bad
I didn't like the voice acting, it seemed rather wooden and emotionless at times. Then again there were times when it was rather well done as well. But some of the main plot elements, which in my opinion required a great deal of skill in acting. Just didn't have the skill that it required in my opinion. I think that the producers of this game, could have worked much harder on the quality of the voice acting in this title.

The Bottom Line
Very frightening, I found myself leaving the lights on at night, while i played this game in my room. I found myself hearing strange noises in my house every night my first time through this game. It's a feast of fear and puzzle solving that I think everyone will appreciate. Now there maybe some that do not like games that have a great story and presentation. But even with those particular people, I think that even they can appreciate the beautiful lighting effects, and story presentation in this title.

PlayStation · by David Bryan (21) · 2007

[ View all 15 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Opening sequence is brilliant Donatello (466) Sep 9, 2013
1st person mode Donatello (466) Aug 11, 2007

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The PS1 version of Silent Hill appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Bloopers

This game features a "blooper reel" that can be seen upon completion of the game.

Censored content

The Pal release of Silent Hill is slightly censored, specifically it's missing the deformed child-like enemies that appear in the school and other places of the game. For this release they were replaced with the "Clawfinger" monsters (which only have a minor appearance late in the original game).

Development

When Silent Hill was first announced, press releases indicated that there would be two playable characters with different scenarios, like Resident Evil 2, but the retail version was released with only one playable character: Harry. Apparently, Cybil was originally intended to be the other playable character, and another side of the story would be viewed from her perspective.

Cybil's scenario was never completed, but not all the clues were taken out of Harry's scenario. On the map it would seem most places marked out in dark pink are significant to you on your adventure, however there is a shop on Simmons St. that doesn't open. There is also a boat below Indian Runner that you cannot get to. The door of the diner next to Norman's Motel is only locked, not jammed. In the school Chemistry Equipment Room, there is Glucose and Distilled Water — these are among the ingredients needed to make bombs, but you are told you have no reason to take them.

On a side note, Cybil as a playable character would later appear in the Japan-only GameBoy Advance text-adventure remake of the game, Silent Hill Play Novel.

References

  • Most of the street names in Silent Hill are names of sci-fi or horror authors: Finney - Jack Finney, author of "Time and Again" Bachman - Richard Bachman, Stephen King's pseudonym Bloch - Robert Bloch, author of "Psycho" Matheson - Richard Matheson, author of "I am Legend" Ellroy - Jack Ellroy, author of the "Black Dahlia" Bradbury - Ray Bradbury, author of "Something Wicked This Way Comes" Levin - Ira Levin, author of "Rosemary's Baby" Sanford - John Sanford, author of the "Prey' books Simmons - Dan Simmons, author of "Song of Kali" Sagan - Carl Sagan, author of "Contact" Crichton - Michael Crichton, author of "Sphere" Koontz - Dean Koontz, author of "Phantoms" Wilson - F. Paul Wilson, author of "Nightworld"
  • Blood marking a garage door across from the church spells out "Redrum", a reference to Stephen King's "The Shining"

Sonic Youth

The teachers on the register in the school, Moore, Ronaldo, and Gordon are the three main members of the band "Sonic Youth", Kim Gordon, Lee Ronaldo, and Thurston Moore. Also, the school section ends with you picking up the "K. Gordon" key and going to her house!

Information also contributed by Dr. M. "Schadenfreude" Von Katze, hydra9, Lain Crowley, Tiago Jacques, and Zovni

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Grant McLellan.

PlayStation 3, PSP added by Jeff Hazen. PS Vita added by GTramp.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Richard Simpson, JPaterson, Alaka, Zeppin, DreinIX, Zaibatsu, Jon Collins, brandon221234, FatherJack.

Game added April 4, 2001. Last modified January 27, 2024.