I didn’t get into the Silent Hill series until the second game’s release. My friend Drew talked about the first game, but I don’t remember playing until I started collecting retro games. I also don’t remember if we rented the first game like we did with Resident Evil 2.
I played this game several years ago for my YouTube channel. At that time, I wasn’t scripting my videos in the same way that I am now. This blog also didn’t exist at the time, so that video is a little rougher than I would want it to be. This will hopefully clean some of that up.
The Silent Hill series, especially the first few games, uses more psychological horror than the Resident Evil series. There are still jump scares and combat, but those are minimal as the developers favor telling a story that is open to interpretation. It is less of an action movie and more of a psychological thriller.
TLDR: This is the start of my favorite survival horror series.
Narrative
When I first played this game, I don’t remember thinking much about the story and setting. After playing it a few years ago, I found myself thinking about some of the things that weren’t explained as well as I would’ve liked. I was left with several unanswered questions.
There are several endings to this game. While I don’t remember what I got the first time I beat the game, I do know that I got the bad ending when I played it back in 2019. I was just trying to beat the game, and wasn’t all that concerned with which ending I received.
Silent Hill has a great story, and I appreciate how it lends itself to open interpretation. Most of the games are, which leads to some cool theories about what they’re about, and some bizarre ones. Having several endings gives this game some replay value, which is something that I love about this era of retro games.
Gameplay
I like the gameplay in Silent Hill more than Resident Evil. I find it more fun to play as an everyman who is in over his head with what he’s experiencing. This feels more like a horror movie that I would want to watch as opposed to an action-adventure movie that happens to have zombies in it.
Like other survival horror games from this period, Silent Hill uses tank controls. These can be a little clunky at first, especially if you have played with them before or haven’t used them in a while. I don’t mind them as much as other people do, and I think they add something to the game.
Combat isn’t emphasized in the same way that it is in Resident Evil. With Silent Hill, there are fewer enemies, and you’re encouraged to avoid them. You’ll get a lot of melee weapons in this game, and you have a larger inventory. It takes some of the realism out of the game, but I don’t really care much for realism in a game where you have to fight off nightmarish creatures.
The puzzles aren’t overly complicated in this game. I found them to be a little easier than those in Resident Evil. It’s probably because I’ve played this game more, and I’m used to what it was asking me to do. The guide I used was quite helpful, and it was a great resource for when I got a little lost (Link).
The radio and flashlight do a lot to make the game more fun, and if you play the game in the dark, then it can make things a little scary. Whenever a monster is near, the radio begins to broadcast static. It is a very nice touch, especially if you don’t use the flashlight.
Overall, the gameplay is quite good. It isn’t an overly hard game, but there are a few spots where you might want to either write things down or consult a guide to get through the game. I love the game’s atmosphere, and the gameplay works with the graphics to make a creepy survival horror game.
Visuals
Silent Hill looks good enough for the time that it was released. The in-game graphics are a product of their time, and the cutscenes look very good. Everything is eerie and creepy. It looks like a horror film from the 1980s, which works well for the plot.
I really like the fog in this game. It was used as a cover for the graphics in the first game and would become a staple of the series. It adds to the tension of this game as you never know where things are going to emerge from the fog. When I first played it, I kept expecting enemies to emerge from the fog to attack me at any moment. Now, I know that isn’t always going to happen.
The camera is a little better than Resident Evil. While it has the same basic idea as that game, I find the camera angles to be better. Games like this can create instances where you enter a room close to an enemy, but that just adds to the scary parts of the game.
The graphics are a little dated because of the time that the game was released. In the late 1990s, this was a good looking game. When I went back to play it, I thought it held up pretty well, especially the cutscenes.
Cutscenes aren’t used that often, but they look very good. They show the player more of the environment than you would normally see, and things look creepy. The graphics on the opening and closing cutscenes are great, and still look good for the time.
Overall, I love the game’s graphics. Silent Hill is one of those PS1 games that still looks good. Since it was released later in the PS1’s life cycle, the developers were able to get the most out of the system. The cutscenes stand out as being quite good.
Reviews at the Time
Looking up the reviews for this game has been quite the experience. Many of the reviews I’ve looked up are no longer available. This was a little disheartening, and it limited what I could talk about. From looking at the aggregate scores, the scores started in the 8s and 9s, and didn’t change much over the last 25 years.
For example, GamePro’s online review doesn’t have a score anymore. It is clear that they like the game, saying that it was “a few flaws short of a masterpiece,” but there isn’t a score anymore. It is recorded on other sites.
GameSpot gave the game an 8.2/10. They called it a great game, but liked Resident Evil 2 more. The reviewer said, “while not quite up to the mark of Capcom’s Resident Evil 2,” it is a good start for Konami’s entry into the survival horror genre. I almost forgot that this game was released close to Resident Evil 2, and that would force the media to compare them.
IGN brought up the differences between Resident Evil and Silent Hill’s approach to horror. They gave the game a 9/10, calling it amazing. The reviewer continued by calling the game “innovative” and stating that it succeeds in “telling a wonderfully crafted story.”
Silent Hill didn’t receive a bad review, or one lower than an 8/10. It seems like that hasn’t changed much over the years, which is nice. While it is a little disappointing that some of these reviews are no longer archived. There are a few of them in print that have been scanned.
8/10. While I like the game, Silent Hill isn’t quite as good as it used to be. I would rather play one of the sequels on the PS2 than go back and play this game. It is quite good, and one of my favorites from the PS1.
Pros
- Good Cutscenes
- Decent Controls
- Can be scary at times
Cons
- Dated in-game graphics
Conclusion
This is one of my favorite games on the PS1. As far as horror games go, I like the Silent Hill games more than the Resident Evil games. Both series are very good, but there is something about Silent Hill that I like more.
This game, along with the third game in the series, would become the basis for the two Silent Hill movies. I haven’t watched them in a while, so I might do that at some later time. The movies change the setting a bit, as the writer took inspiration from the town of Centralia and the mining disaster that happened there. I should make this clear, the town DIDN’T inspire the video games, it was inspiration for the setting of the movies.
I like this game more than the first Resident Evil game. Both are great, but I prefer the story and gameplay in Silent Hill. I do have more memories of playing Resident Evil 2, or at least they stuck in my mind more than the memories of playing Silent Hill as a kid.
If you liked this post, please check out my other horror game posts, such as Resident Evil and Grizzly Man.