The way the camera shifts defines the space so much in Silent Hill. Even right off the bat in the dream sequence intro, the game's dynamic angles evoke much disorientation to further emphasize the oppressive mood. These sparks of unsettling creativity aren't limited to just the regular exploration but continue in the cutscenes that slowly piece together the cryptic narrative, world, and characters of the game. The merry-go-round sequence is striking where Harry reveals to Cybil that Cheryl isn’t his biological daughter as the text scrolls by with the obscured attraction in operation. The whole final act in general is so thoroughly cinematic and tense with its own stylish flourishes. Everything terrifying, tragic and so effective can be seen with the scene where Lisa comes to realize her fate as she begs Harry to stay, and he flees and shuts the door on her. It’s the peak of the game for me in communicating Silent Hill’s nightmarish tone and themes on the occult, trauma, and religious abuse and domination, and everything else across the short journey adds to that.
Also contributing to the foreboding atmosphere of Silent Hill is the stellar sound design. The densely fog world is eerily quiet with wind howls and Harry’s footsteps filling the zones until the radio static comes alive alerting of nearby fleshy monsters approaching to kill. The flapping, quick successive pattering, distorted laughing, distant creaks, and many other disembodied groans and moans; it's all very threatening as they chase Harry across the town until he reaches the various locales of Silent Hill. It's hard to pick a favorite out of the many as the brilliant sound design is just consistently great across the board; the hospital, elementary school, nowhere and the sewers are particularly oppressive and unnerving to walk and run through, the darkness obscuring the threat of what lurks beyond. Even silence is a powerful tool in raising anxiety on what happens next.
On less frightening things, the progression of main areas through puzzles felt very intriguing to solve. It's very Resident Evil 1 like but sometimes even more cryptic in a handful of puzzles. Outside of those is a good sense of exploration with extra items that can be collected around the areas and many, while still completely optional, can have fascinating effects on how Silent Hill wraps up in the various endings, upping the replayability of the game. How the game controls might be the only sticking point for those filtered by tank controls, but they never felt too unwieldy and are easy to adjust to. Not to mention the game is far easier and more forgiving than Resident Evil's early titles as a surplus of resources are always around the corner and shooting or hitting enemies connects as long as you’re facing them. This might undercut some tension since you can just mow down or run away from them with little risk to taking damage and ending up saving more resources, but this didn’t bother me. Additionally, the boss fights are pretty simple and short to kill, but again who plays these games for the riveting gameplay?
Also contributing to the foreboding atmosphere of Silent Hill is the stellar sound design. The densely fog world is eerily quiet with wind howls and Harry’s footsteps filling the zones until the radio static comes alive alerting of nearby fleshy monsters approaching to kill. The flapping, quick successive pattering, distorted laughing, distant creaks, and many other disembodied groans and moans; it's all very threatening as they chase Harry across the town until he reaches the various locales of Silent Hill. It's hard to pick a favorite out of the many as the brilliant sound design is just consistently great across the board; the hospital, elementary school, nowhere and the sewers are particularly oppressive and unnerving to walk and run through, the darkness obscuring the threat of what lurks beyond. Even silence is a powerful tool in raising anxiety on what happens next.
On less frightening things, the progression of main areas through puzzles felt very intriguing to solve. It's very Resident Evil 1 like but sometimes even more cryptic in a handful of puzzles. Outside of those is a good sense of exploration with extra items that can be collected around the areas and many, while still completely optional, can have fascinating effects on how Silent Hill wraps up in the various endings, upping the replayability of the game. How the game controls might be the only sticking point for those filtered by tank controls, but they never felt too unwieldy and are easy to adjust to. Not to mention the game is far easier and more forgiving than Resident Evil's early titles as a surplus of resources are always around the corner and shooting or hitting enemies connects as long as you’re facing them. This might undercut some tension since you can just mow down or run away from them with little risk to taking damage and ending up saving more resources, but this didn’t bother me. Additionally, the boss fights are pretty simple and short to kill, but again who plays these games for the riveting gameplay?
2 Comments
@Detectivefail Thanks! I started playing this weekend to try it out and didn't realize how short it was but still offering much after playing it again. Lisa really stood out in an already intriguing cast of characters and I def agree that her encounters, especially the last, will also stick with me for awhile and the music for it too, just a phenomenal sequence. Also agree on the detail of the camera shifting in interesting, subtle ways even in the more 'regular' moments of the game. The camera angles really struck me in a way I didn't expect, even as a fixed camera angle game that usually lends to more dynamic and creative shots and perspectives; Cinematography was the word I was trying to think of while writing this earlier today haha. Can't wait to move through 2 and 3 with 1 done now and how great it was.
Detectivefail
4 months ago