Silent Hill

[aboutlastnight]

Right, I have played Silent Hill 2: Directors Cut and Silent Hill 3... is it worth buying 4? I've read mixed reviews. Is it so bad I should avoid, or is it still worth getting?
Also I was toying with the idea of buying the very original PSOne Silent Hill, as of course the PS2 is backwards-compatible. Is it worth it, or is it too dated now?

I need to get my fix of disturbing shit, after playing 2 and 3 I really crave it! Even bought Jacob's Ladder because I've read that if you like the fucked-upness of SH then it was similar. And some of it is.

[skibz]

I really liked the second one, but I bought SH4 and took it back the next day, it was utter cack. They've made it a lot more combat-oriented, but forgotten to actually put a decent plot in there or anything to really compel you to want to keep playing. If you really, really liked the second one, then get the PS1 original - it's not as technically accomplished, but still every bit as scary.

And yeah, Jacob's Ladder is fantastic, isn't it? I remember seeing it the first time and genuinely sitting open-mouthed at 'that' scene in the hospital...

[aboutlastnight]

Yeah, I loved the hospital bit. Very fucked.

If you liked SH2, I recommend 3.

Wonder where I can get PS1 games? And I hate eBay, so I'd rather avoid that route...

[Hobo]

Seems a good place to post news about the upcoming Silent Hill movie:

Spoiler alert

Silent Hill producer Don Carmody recently posted a synopsis for the forthcoming game-to-film adaptation on his personal website. The synopsis has now been removed from Carmody's site, but a reader who tipped us off about it included a copy of what was supposedly there in his email.

The story apparently centers around a woman desperate to save her dying child who gets trapped in an alternate reality while search for her daughter in a dangerous world of filled with demons. The setup goes like this:

Rose cannot accept the knowledge that her daughter Sharon is dying of a fatal disease. Over the protests of her husband, she flees with her child, intending to take the girl to a faith healer. On the way, she ends up driving through a portal in reality, which takes her to the eerie and deserted town of Silent Hill.

Sharon disappears in Silent Hill, and Rose follows what she thinks is her daughter's silhouette all over town. It's soon clear the town is not like any place she's ever been. It's inhabited by a variety of creatures and a living darkness that descends and literally transforms everything it touches. The human inhabitants – the ones who are left – are trapped and fighting a losing battle against the Darkness.

Joined by a cop named Cybil, who has been sent to bring her and Sharon back, Rose searches for her little girl while learning the history of Silent Hill and that Sharon is just a pawn in a larger game.

To save her daughter, Sharon makes a deal with a demon in the form of a little girl, and allows the forces of darkness to take the town and destroy those who tried to destroy the demon. In the end, she saves her daughter but at a high price.

The Silent Hill movie, currently in pre-production, is being directed by Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf) from a script by Roger Avary (The Rules of Attraction). Gans and Nicolas Boukhrief contributed to the story.

A 2006 release is planned for Silent Hill

[close]

[aboutlastnight]

Could be amazing, as long as it's not Hollywood-y.

[Consignia]

If anyone's interested Silent Hill 4 is in the Gameplay payday sale, for about £12, I think.

Myself, I never finished two, as that Pyramid Head Guy scared the living shit out of me, so I never went to subsequent ones. I did finish 1, though, that was excellent. I've always been a Resident Evil guy anyway.

[Jack Skellington]

I have all four, as Im one of the very few who thinks that the entire series is amazing. If you can get your hands on SH1,  please do. I consider it to be the best next to SH2. I didnt like SH3 at first (SH3 in story terms is actually the sequel to SH1) but I find that its a real grower..

As for SH4, it's quite short (they are all short), but brilliant. Some of the set pieces in that are amazing.

Scariness factor definately goes to SH2 hands down, which still scares me now, although they all have their moments!

Jacobs Ladder was actually one of the main inspirations behind SH2. I mean, look at the main character, they stole Jacob's look (the army jacket in particular). Even some of the camera angles from the film were used in the game! (actually, i remember that they modelled one of the houses in SH1 on the house used in the original psycho -it used the same camera angles from the film  aswell)
If you look closely in SH3, you'll notice that the train station there is called  Bergen Street, the same name as the one in Jacobs Ladder. I could go on, but ive bored the balls of you all enough.

Well, one last thing. All the streets in SH1 and 2 are named after authors.

Stop me now.

[Macerate and Petrify]

All of the games are amazing. Get the ones you don't have ASAP.

Meanwhile: http://www.horror-movies.ca/gallery27.htm

Edit: Uploading the 'Fukuro' video from Silent Hill 2 for those of you who have not seen it.

[Macerate and Petrify]

//www.e-pimp.biz/Temp/Silent%20Hill%202%20-%20Fukuro.avi

There it is. Probably NWS, although not in the conventional sense.

[Dark Sky]

Mmm...I absolutely adore the Silent Hill franchise, but I find them absolutely too shit scary to play, which is kinda a pain.

I love horror films so much, and yet movies don't scare me any more.  And yet with computer games I get absolutely freaked out...  I scream from fear whilst playing Pac Man.

Silent Hill...wow...  A friend of mine got it for the Playstation years ago and I would watch him play it whilst biting my nails.  Then eventually he got frustrated with it and stopped.  

But last year he dug it out again, and we played it all the way through.  Or rather, I watched him play it with a cushion in front of my face.  I then went through a Silent Hill phase of buying all the games.  Even got the original and got a Playstation emulator to play it.  

Not that I have.  I can't play them.  They're too scary for me.  I want to play them so much.  But I can't.  I just scream.  And scream.  And scream.

Fucking great games.  I love them.

[Consignia]

//www.e-pimp.biz/Temp/Silent%20Hill%202%20-%20Fukuro.avi

There it is. Probably NWS, although not in the conventional sense.

Ahhh....that freaked me out that did. What was it? Was it fom Silent Hill 2? I didn't see much like that in the game, but then I only got up to Hospital.

[aboutlastnight]

I could go on, but ive bored the balls of you all enough.

Stop me now.

On the contrary, I found it interesting, thanks.
There's only 2 things that have genuinely scared me, The Woman In Black, and the SH games, so don't worry, I find it all interesting!
Because I'm not easily scared I cherish anything like this game.

I think I might just get SH4 for the fact it's Silent Hill. Fuck knows how I will get hold of SH1.

[Dark Sky]

I think I might just get SH4 for the fact it's Silent Hill. Fuck knows how I will get hold of SH1.

You can still get like urm..."Platinum" or whatever editions in high street stalls...  Or just get the proper original copy second hand either in second hand racks on the high street (usually at least one copy in every three shops you go into), or search on eBay.

[Cerys]

I've played them all, and loved them in a possibly unhealthy way.  Although I don't possess the original, and 2 has been borrowed by one of those really annoying people who borrow things and then don't return them, leaving you to forget who you lent them to in the first place.  Grrr.  One of the many things I love about the whole series is the multiple-ending thang.  Great for pissing off friends by getting to the end of the game and then instantly beginning again. Heh.

[Munday's Chylde]

Silent Hill is the only genuinely frightening horror game I have ever played, even to the extent that I point blank refused to enter the school in the first game when I was playing it late at night, choosing to wait for the safety of daylight before loading it up again.

I played a demo of "the room" and didnt think much of that thought (the fourth one isnt it?) I dont think i have played 3.

Speaking of survival horror, just bought haunting ground today - impressive so far, the graphics are gorgeous - the reviews though have been hit and miss. Seems to be a game that divides (rather like manhunt) some reviewers are giving it 8 to 8.5 whilst others are going as low as 5.

[Tom Rad]

Ooh, Silent Hill. I played the second one and I think would say it is the scariest thing I've ever played, watched or read. We played that game around the same time as we were playing GTA III and if we'd had a game of Silent Hill in the evening we had to have a little game of mindless car robbing after Silent Hill just to calm our nerves down so we could go to bed! But I still had nightmares sometimes, of Pyramid Head in particular...

[VegaLA]

I looked at the latest rel of Silent Hill - 'the Room' is it ? Tempted but i'm holding out for a RE Outbreak style horror game for the XBox. I'm still jealous of PS 2 owners in the US that will soon be getting Outbreak File 2. A 4 player online horror game for the Xbox would be a welcome addition to its collection.

[falafel]

The joke is, evidently, on me.

I've pointed it out before. I really can't bear Silent Hill. Tedious, unscary, repetitive, badly v-o'd rubbish. I just can't bear to play them, and genuinely can't see the attraction. This opinion is shared universally among the broad cross-spectrum of people to whom I have presented my rusty old copy of SH2. We appear to live in a tiny bubble of dissent. Bizarre.

[mcbpete]

Yeah. The Silent Hill series has been my favourite series under any format. The forth one is just as good as the others (at some points in the game I reckon it's probably better, probably to do with them able to get away with more disturbing features with the 18 certificate). My favourite overall has to be Silent Hill 3 however, I've lost count of the number of times that I've played through that one.

[chand]

The joke is, evidently, on me.

I've pointed it out before. I really can't bear Silent Hill. Tedious, unscary, repetitive, badly v-o'd rubbish. I just can't bear to play them, and genuinely can't see the attraction. This opinion is shared universally among the broad cross-spectrum of people to whom I have presented my rusty old copy of SH2. We appear to live in a tiny bubble of dissent. Bizarre.

I didn't really get anywhere on Silent Hill 3, it's quite strange, the opening is spooky but I got bored of it fairly quickly. You have virtually no ammo, so I ended up just running past things aand getting to bits where there are no monsters where I had to try dozens of doors until I found one that opens. Apparently SH4 has less of those pointless unopenable doors you're compelled to try until you get bored, but I dunno, the game didn't quite thrill me enough. Maybe I've changed because I liked the first couple of Resident Evil games which are basically the same style of play but the idea of playing these kind of sluggish survival horror games doesn't really appeal anymore.

[Cerys]

I play them mostly for the puzzles.  If I have the option I go for easy combat, difficult puzzles.  Then I go nuts trying to work out a riddle that is more fiendish than the giant pair of legs trying to eat my face.  The atmosphere is great, too - I don't find it particularly scarey, but it has a habit of making me jump out of my seat every so often.  Niiice.

[Macerate and Petrify]

I play them mostly for the puzzles.  If I have the option I go for easy combat, difficult puzzles.  Then I go nuts trying to work out a riddle that is more fiendish than the giant pair of legs trying to eat my face.  The atmosphere is great, too - I don't find it particularly scarey, but it has a habit of making me jump out of my seat every so often.  Niiice.

Were you one of those people who worked out the nightmarish keypad/face poem puzzle in SH3 without an FAQ? That puzzle was excellent.

Transcription from an FAQ:
IV-b-3. HARD
The "Hard" version of this puzzle may in fact be one of the most Difficult and
esoteric puzzles in the history of electronic gaming. The clue posted next to
the locked door now reads:

"Pure eyes, blue like a glassy bead---
You are always looking at me
and I am always looking at you.

Ah, you're too meek ---
beautiful, unspoiled:
thus I'm so sad, I suffer---
and so happy, it hurts.

I want to hurt you
and destroy myself
What you would think
if you knew how I felt.

Would you simply smile,
not saying a word?
Even curses from your mouth
would be as beautiful as pearls.

I place my left hand on your
face as though we were to kiss.
Then I suddenly shove my thumb
deep into your eyesocket.
Abruptly, decisively,
like drilling a hole.

And what would it feel like?
Like jelly?
Trembling with ecstasy, I obscenely
mix it around and around: I must
taste the warmth of your blood.

How would you scream?
Would you shriek "It hurts!
It hurts!" as cinnabar-red tears
stream from your crushed eye?

You can't know the maddening
hunger I've felt in the midst of
our kisses, so many of them
I've lost count.

As though drinking in your cries,
I bring my hopes to fruition:
biting your tongue, shredding it,
biting at your lips as if tasting
your lipstick.

Oh, what euphoric heights I would
reach, having my desires fulfilled
like a greedy, gluttonous cur.

I longed, too, for your cherry-tinted
cheeks, tasty enough to bewitch my
tongue.
I would surely be healed,
and would cry like a child.

And how is your tender ear?
It brushes against my cheek;
I want it to creep up to my lips so
I can sink my teeth into its flesh.

Your left ear, always hearing words
whispered sweet as pie ---
I want it to hear my true feelings.
I never lied, no...
but I did have my secrets.

Ah, but what must you think of me?
Do you hate me? Are you afraid?
As though inviting you to the agony
at the play's end; if you wish, you
could destroy me --- I wouldn't care.

As you wish, you may destroy me
--- I wouldn't care."

[Cerys]

Nope, the first time I didn't work it out - I was just mindnumbingly lucky.  I got fed up and started bashing the keys at random, and after about the twentieth time the door opened.  Unfortunately this meant that the second time around I hadn't got any idea what to press, so I looked it up online to get a clue.  Even when you know how to do it, it still takes a while.

[Jack Skellington]

What about the shakespeare puzzle in the bookshop at the start of SH3-hard riddle setting. I even went to my english dept to ask if they had a clue. Nope.
Insanely hard but i loved it.

As for the hardest GAME ever, that apparently belongs to Contra: Shattered Soldier. I can see why.

I must admit, one of the most appealing things aobut the Silent Hill series has always been the sound. I seriously advise ppl to wear a good set of headphones whilst playing it. It really adds to the atmosphere (a bit too much at times!). Akira Yamaoka is up there with Nobuo Uematsu, who does the music for Final Fantasy.

Going back to Jacobs Ladder a bit, ive just handed in my final mus tech coursework and its based on Jacobs Ladder/ Silent Hill. If anyone would like to hear some of it ill post it in the chowns thread.

Back on topic.....

[Cerys]

What about the shakespeare puzzle in the bookshop at the start of SH3-hard riddle setting. I even went to my english dept to ask if they had a clue. Nope.

I got the basics of that one but didn't realise there was a maths element involved.  Pity, as I was feeling quite smug about it.

[Jack Skellington]

If you like Silent Hill, you should maybe check out Forbidden Siren, or Project Zero. Forbidden Siren is kind of like a mix between Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid, and was made by some of the people who worked on the original Silent  Hill. Ive had it since christmas but have yet to play it as my PS2 finally croaked a while back.

[Maximash]

To whoever thinks Silent Hill is the only genuinely frightening horror game, try out Aliens VS Predator for the PC.. both the original and the sequel have me stop at a certain point because I'm just too shit scared of carrying on. Particularly funny was the sequel where I had to rescue someone from a hive of some sort, and I spent a good minute outside the place, picking up shitloads of activity from inside, unable to go in. I'd be okay I think if it wasn't for the facehuggers 'cause I hate spiders. Yeah even fake ones. Fake ones with a tail and balls.  Anyone who thinks they're hard should play either of the games at night with headphones strapped on, I just get too absorbed in it

[Rev]

is it worth buying 4? I've read mixed reviews. Is it so bad I should avoid, or is it still worth getting?

It's disappointing, but worth getting if you liked the previous games.  I absolutely love the way the plot sprouts from one of the scattered notes you can pick up in SH2, plus the meaning it gives to that mysterious 'there was a hole here' scrawling....  but the game itself is a bit ropey.  There are some fantastic creepy touches, but there's a huge amount of padding too.

Also I was toying with the idea of buying the very original PSOne Silent Hill, as of course the PS2 is backwards-compatible. Is it worth it, or is it too dated now?

I ORDER you to buy it at once!  Much as I love SH2,  the first one really is the best of the bunch, despite the clunky controls.  It looks like a PS1 game, so the graphics won't floor you, but it hasn't really dated at all.  It still shits me up.

[Still Not George]

There are some fantastic creepy touches,

Really. Big. Head.

[Smackhead Kangaroo]

PROJECT ZEROO!!!!!!! YAAARRGGHHHH DON'T OPEN THE CUPBOARD.

third one is coming out in spetember ohohohoho I'll be getting that. Silent hill 4 however was shit. With one or two genuinely creepy moments and an overall pitifully stupid plot and rubbish badguys.
babyfaced giant turkey? HIT IT WITH A STANLEY KNIFE till it dies YARGH
two headed monkey? is that meant to scare me? take THIS wonky golf club to the face
Pink dogs? HAh I've seen worse in the morning mirror ! have at ye with my handgun!

oh and there are no puzzles that I can remember. And the combat system is shit.