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Silent Hill

Started by aboutlastnight, April 29, 2005, 10:28:37 AM

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El Unicornio, mang

It looks like they've stuck quite close to the game, at least with the intro. They probably changed it to a woman to give a more heightened sense of peril and helplessness (not that women are helpless, of course, but it's slightly more frightening than having some big hunky actor like Sean Bean wandering about in the fog perhaps)

Dark Sky

Well I mean is anyone suprised she's a woman?  Most horror films tend to have female protagonists, and I'm sure psychologically more people generally empathise with a woman, etc, etc...

Guess there's no longer that will-they won't-they overbearing sexual tension thing with Cybil.

Or maybe there is...?!

Cerys

Quote from: "Dark Sky"ARGH DAMN YOU

I wasn't going to read the spoiler but then I decided to quote your post and it appeared in a large font and jumped down my pupil.  I hope that's not some big "end of game revelation" or I'll do that thing to your letterbox.  That'll show you.

No, don't worry - it's not a huge deal.  In fact I went and checked that it wasn't mentioned on the box before I posted, because I have a vague memory of it being made apparent fairly early on in the game.

If you're tempted to interact groinally with our letterbox, you should probably be warned that it's rather sharp and has been known to slice thumbs.

Edit to add an 'n'.  Bah.

Little Hoover

I'm not into horror movies at all but I got silent hill 2 for some reason, in fact I can hardly even remeber what made me want to get it so much, I guess the mysterious powers of silent hill really are something to behold.
It is fantastic though, not many games can inspire people to write essay's interpreting the meaning of the plot, but they do exsist on game faqs.

Dark Sky

Quote from: "Cerys"No, don't worry - it's not a huge deal.

So YOU say.  Actually I'm not upset at all...it's just made me want to actually play the game!

QuoteIf you're tempted to interact groinally with our letterbox, you should probably be warned that it's rather sharp and has been known to slice thumbs.

That's okay, I don't urinate with my thumbs.

Quote from: "Little Hoover"It is fantastic though, not many games can inspire people to write essay's interpreting the meaning of the plot.

Oh absolutely!  I mean, I really hate it when people compare Silent Hill and Resident Evil and try to make out that they're on the same level...  The brooding melancholy and twisting emotional narratives of Silent Hill are completely meshed with the entire structure and design aspects of the gameplay.  At first I was a bit disappointed with the monsters in Silent Hill 2 until I realised that every single one of them is a metaphor for some part of the characters' psychology and backstory.  How many horror computer games can attain to something like that?

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

QuoteAt first I was a bit disappointed with the monsters in Silent Hill 2
Funnily enough that's one of the areas in which I always thought SH2 beats the original. The creatures in the first game are generally just beasts, whereas the ones in 2 are more like mutated people which is altogether more creepy I think.

Consignia

Quote from: "Dark Sky"
Quote from: "Little Hoover"It is fantastic though, not many games can inspire people to write essay's interpreting the meaning of the plot.

Oh absolutely!  I mean, I really hate it when people compare Silent Hill and Resident Evil and try to make out that they're on the same level.

Well, there are massive essays that give detailed plot analysis of Resident Evil, as there is a lot to digest in most of the games, even if it is none too deep. Not that puts them on level headings, but I feel it's a little unfair just dismiss Resident Evil because it's light sci-fi (full of facts) as opposed to deep psychological (full of images).

Of course, there are also people who try extract some meaning from the non-sensical pseudo-philosophical ramblings of Metal Gear Solid (particlarly MGS2). Sometimes atempting depth in a game can give horribly embarrsing results.

Dark Sky

Quote from: "Claude the Lion Tamer"
QuoteAt first I was a bit disappointed with the monsters in Silent Hill 2
Funnily enough that's one of the areas in which I always thought SH2 beats the original. The creatures in the first game are generally just beasts, whereas the ones in 2 are more like mutated people which is altogether more creepy I think.

Hmm...that's an interesting point...  And I'd agree with you...  I think the main reason I was disappointed in the monsters in the second game was that there were only about four or five different kinds, and after a while it was like, "oh, there's one of them, there's one of them..." etc.  

Whereas in the first game it FELT to me like there were creatures lurking about in the shadows which I hadn't seen yet and didn't want to see.  It felt in Silent Hill 1 that anything could be lurking around the next corner.  

Of course if I played the first one again I possibly wouldn't view it quite like that again.

Quote from: "Consignia"Well, there are massive essays that give detailed plot analysis of Resident Evil, as there is a lot to digest in most of the games, even if it is none too deep. Not that puts them on level headings, but I feel it's a little unfair just dismiss Resident Evil because it's light sci-fi (full of facts) as opposed to deep psychological (full of images).

Mmm...I dunno.  I must admit that I have only played bits of RE1 and 2, but generally I see them as just basically being literally a 'survival horror game' where you go around with guns shooting zombies, etc.  I'm sure there is a lot of plot in the games to keep the interest, but ultimately I think they're aimed at a very different more trigger-happy demographic than Silent Hill, which is less about killing and more about...uncovering.

That's not to say that one game series is "better" than the other game series.  Just that I personally find Silent Hill has layers to it you can pick apart and ponder over...as well as genuine pathos, melancholy and emotion.  And that's really what draws me to the games.

Rev

Quote from: "Claude the Lion Tamer"The blind panic as those horrible little things close in on you in the dark alley is expertly managed. I hear that in the non PAL versions they were replaced by knife wielding children, which would have been bloody horrible.

Just to clarify this one:  the strange bear thingies were a replacement in the UK version (just the UK, not all PAL territories).  Originally, the giggling children with knives were the main enemy in the school, and you met them first in the alley right at the beginning of the game.  They were replaced by the 'least used' enemy in the game in the UK version because Konami decided that, after the Dunblaine massacre, the concept of shooting children in a school - even scary monster ones - would be distasteful.

As you were.

Dark Sky

Quote from: "Rev"They were replaced by the 'least used' enemy in the game in the UK version because Konami decided that, after the Dunblaine massacre, the concept of shooting children in a school - even scary monster ones - would be distasteful.

Oh really, because of that?  I just thought it was a "the Western world are too sensitive to fully survive our horrific Japanese horrorness!!!!"  That's interesting.

Is the German version any different, anyone know?  I know they're rather sensitive about violence in computer games...  Doesn't blood in German games have to be green?

TotalNightmare

Ive always wanted to delve into the Silent Hill world, but only affording one console and basically being a Nintendo file, the Gamecube has kept we away.

The Resident Evil games arent as gung-ho as i was expecting. Yes, its survival horror in the sense you are fighting for survival and to unravel the Umbrella Ind mystery but ive always loved the approach of RE in that you cant just go about gunning things down as ammo is in short supply and you must choose your battles carefully.

However, Resident Evil 4 blew me away. It was more like being dumped in the horror of Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets The Wicker Man and the emphasis of kill or be killed made it REALLY feel like survival horror in that it is a hectic, stressful and altra gory rollercoaster ride.
Im only halfway thru and its been one of the best gaming experiences ive had since Conkers Bad Fur Day.

Going back to Silent Hill, im very intrigued by the level of psychological menace and the tint of detective story about it.

And even though im not au fait with SH, im very much looking forward to the film.

Saying that, i liked the movie of DOOM, so what do i know?

Dark Sky

Quote from: "TotalNightmare"Saying that, i liked the movie of DOOM, so what do i know?

I haven't seen it yet but I really want to like that movie.  I don't care how stupid it is!

Quote from: "TotalNightmare"Yes, its survival horror in the sense you are fighting for survival and to unravel the Umbrella Ind mystery but ive always loved the approach of RE in that you cant just go about gunning things down as ammo is in short supply and you must choose your battles carefully.

I still think Silent Hill takes that even further, where emphasis really is on just running away rather than killing anything...  In Silent Hill, too, you just play ordinary people who've never held a gun.  You do get guns in the game but quite often they're not particularly effective.

I've heard only manic praise about Resident Evil 4, though, I must say!

ffogems

Quotecant just go about gunning things down as ammo is in short supply and you must choose your battles carefully.

Resident evil 4 is different though, and all the better for it I think. After the third resident evil I was just about done with all that endless running into and sliding across walls, the sound of your own footsteps amongst absolute silence as you back track through covered territory, and the flamboyant waving of the arms in the cutscenes.

Little Hoover

Well Resident Evil 4 took things to a new level for the series because it's the most perfectly paced and structured game ever, the moment you start to think it's getting a bit repetive shooting endless ganados you get a boss fight to freshen things up.
But still I don't think resi was ever really very scary and it's even less so with 4 where it's more of a straight action game.
The only thing that confuses me is people say in previous resi games that ammo was very scarce, but I never found that to be the case untill 4 where I often had to resort to  using the knive. But I guess the only reason it's a problem is in 4 battles can't really be avoided like they could in previous games.

Consignia

Quote from: "Dark Sky"
Quote from: "TotalNightmare"Yes, its survival horror in the sense you are fighting for survival and to unravel the Umbrella Ind mystery but ive always loved the approach of RE in that you cant just go about gunning things down as ammo is in short supply and you must choose your battles carefully.

I still think Silent Hill takes that even further, where emphasis really is on just running away rather than killing anything...  In Silent Hill, too, you just play ordinary people who've never held a gun.  You do get guns in the game but quite often they're not particularly effective.

I've heard only manic praise about Resident Evil 4, though, I must say!

Well, I've only played the first two Silent Hills, but I've always felt the fighting with monster was easy, and it was best to take down any nasties in an area before investigating. Especially since the melee weapons were so effective, I mean once I had the hammer in Silent Hill 1, I didn't use weapons except for what ever bosses were left.

Resident Evil 4 is totatly different kettle of fish though, it's not even worth putting in with the Survival Horror genre, because bar a few quick scares, it's not even remotely scary. You don't even play a vulnerable character, which is a staple of the survial horror genre, Leon is an ass-kicking, wise cracking, action hero. It's a great game in it's own right though, shows how action games should be.

Dark Sky

But urr...urm...Silent Hill has a...urr...cooler name, though...  Which proves that it's better, hurrah.

Cerys

*Bump*

Saw the film yesterday, and I absolutely bloody loved it.  The atmosphere carried across really well, they'd got in a director and cinematographer who went for camera angles which could have been lifted directly from the game, they kept the music (oh yes), and although there were changes from the game plot, they worked (and even got me thinking about elements of the original plot which I hadn't noticed or thought about before).

And Pyramid Head is in it.  Complete with big sword and a victim who should probably have worn armour, or at least several more layers of clothing.

Bloody fantastic stuff.  I was happy to see I was wrong about the heroine having contact with the outside world - that trailer tricked me.  Sneaky!

Mr. Analytical

Loved the design, shame it's about as scary as an episode of Bagpuss.

Frinky

Not to mention poorly written, too.

HERE COMES THE EXPOSITION

Cerys

Yeah, well you two smell.

Consignia

I tend to agree. The atmosphere was easily some of the best video game->movie transfer ever, However, the plot was less compelling, there was no fear, and it was too much of muddle of all the Silent Hills thus produced. For a start, Pyramid Head has no real meaning in it, since it's an orginal plot.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

I could live with Pyramid Head being in it, after all they'll probaby never get a chance top make another one so they want to chuck in as many iconic bits from the games as they can. What ruins the film for me is all the really needless changes. Why change the cult from drug dealing satanists to witch burning borg? It would have been a better film if they'd have stuck more closely to the plot of the first game with Dahlia popping up to give advice which turned out to be manipulative lies.

SetToStun

Quote from: "Dark Sky"
Quote from: "TotalNightmare"Saying that, i liked the movie of DOOM, so what do i know?

I haven't seen it yet but I really want to like that movie.  I don't care how stupid it is!

If you still haven't seen it, I can vouch for the fact that it's brilliantly rubbish - if it wasn't for the connection with the game (it should actually be called Doom 3, such are its influences), it would be laughable. But taken as a film-of-the-game, it's bad enough to be good, if you see what I mean. Casting The Rock in a major part was inspired naffness and it quite nicely violates the NERD principle on occasion.

Watch it with no expectations of a classic film and it's a good romp. Especially the combat bit towards the end. And - most impressively - they managed to cast a bloke who looks just like the little Marine-face from the status bar of the first two games. Top stuff :-)

Mind you, take what I say with a pinch of salt, I would suggest, since I personally believe that Mortal Kombat is a genuinely good film, regardless of the game tie-in. I love that film.

I liked DOOM too. Good fun.

Silent Hill was clucking brilliant - and I did find it scary - not to mention incredibly violent. Like Cerys said it had a love for the game, the music and the camera angles - theres an early on scene where the main woman is running down some winding little backalleys and the camera lifts up in the air to give us a shot that I swear is right out of the first game.

The little girl, like all american child stars, was a precocious little over actor though - I'm all for burning her.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

For once I regret buying a DS instead of a PSP. Still having said that, I bought SH3 ealier this year and I found it somewhat disappointing so perhaps the series used up it's good ideas in the first two.

Quote from: "Claude the Lion Tamer"For once I regret buying a DS instead of a PSP. Still having said that, I bought SH3 ealier this year and I found it somewhat disappointing so perhaps the series used up it's good ideas in the first two.

Oooh!

I didn't like 'the room' though, that never worked for me.

Frinky

The atmosphere was great, but it was still shit as a film.

An hour of ooo-eee-ooo bollocks and Sean Bean going "hrurmrmphhrur", 10 minutes of concentrated here-is-the-entire-plot-we-were-too-lazy-to-work-in exposition (lazy as fuck) and then some barbed wire rape to satsify the bloodlust of the scary, mal-adjusted unwashed video game fans.[/Kermode]

Credit due for concentrating on the look, which was really very good, but the rest of it was just lazy shite, right down to casting Alice Krige.

Like 28 Days Later, it's best enjoyed it if you watch it with the sound off.

Little Hoover

Well I doubt that, the music and sound is so crucial to Silent Hill.

yes, both films would suffer with lack of sound, what with the dialogue and everything.

Frinky

Quote from: "Munday's Chylde"what with the dialogue and everything.

Well I suppose you could take it off mute for that cack-handed 10 minute block where they explain the film away, yes. Who needs a plot when you can have a little girl voiceover?