Pyramid Head is a freaky dude.

I love video games. Mind you, the older I get the more "older" I am becoming and I am clinging to the things I know and love. I've always been an early adopter and usually had every console on the market, but I can't stand the latest batch of next-gen stuff. I admit, I am stuck somewhat in the 16-bit age, but I am primarily into niche games, such as Japanese arcade titles and shooters [shmups] which I keep a very healthy collection of. That said, one of the few games that has always kept me buying the latest consoles just to play is the Silent Hill series. It has had it's fair share of ups and downs but remains a very distinct flavor in the over crowded gaming universe. I want to take a stroll down the dark alley of Silent Hill's past and what the future for the franchise looks like.

I came into the series a little late in the PSOne's life cycle. Probably somewhere around 2000. I had a friend recommend the game to me, describing it as "scary as fuck". I had tried the Resident Evil series and outside the PC version of Quake, didn't believe a game could be frightening, especially on the shitty playstation.



Just the intro had me intrigued. Even the pre-rendered CG characters had a weirdness to them. Just in the first 5 minutes of playing you are thrust into a bizarre scenario where your car has wrecked and your daughter is missing. You get out of your car only to be surrounded by fog and to make matters worst there is some seriously messed up "things" walking around. At about 4:27 in the above video was the exact moment I realized that camera angles could be creatively used in a games and I was immediately hooked on Silent Hill. It was a long night and into the next day as I played through the game in it's entirety. I couldn't get over how incredible the game and it's bizarre narrative were. Not only that, but the tone of the entire experience while played with the volume up and the lights out left me genuinely uneasy. Never before had a game kept me in such a continuous nervous state for so long and at the same time so engaged and anxious to find out what the hell was going on.

Shoot forward to 2001. The Playstation 2 is just getting started and I see a trailer for Silent Hill 2.



This is how Silent Hill should look! I immediately buy it upon release and call in sick to work, what would become a Silent Hill release tradition. I really can't say enough about Silent Hill 2, it is often revered as the best in the series. I completely agree. Not only is it one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had, it's also one of the best narrative cinematic experiences I've ever had. It went above and beyond a game for me. It is a deeply rich and engaging experience that is also disturbing and emotional. It sticks with you. The gameplay is similar to the first chapter, but with the added horsepower of the new hardware it was now more realistic and horrifying than ever. Where Silent Hill 1 shined, Silent Hill 2 melted the paint off the walls. The sights and sounds were so bizarre and so disturbing.



SH2 introduced us to "Pyramid Head". The ultra-scary guy carrying a massive sword and wearing a kitchen sink for a hat. You run into this guy a handful of times throughout the game and he is intimidating to say the least. The story in SH2 really shines. I was left with my jaw open for at least 3 days after finishing it. It is superb on so many levels. I don't want to say any more about it, as if you've never played through it [only takes about 6 hours] then please, for the love of God, do it! You will be a better person for it. The Silent Hill series has always been known for it's multiple endings, most of which are very bizarre. UFO's, dogs and other things that make absolutely no sense are there if you dig hard enough.

2003 brought Silent Hill 3. This one looked to be more of the same, but with a female protagonist this time around. I have to be honest, the first time I played through it, I was a little disappointed. It didn't feel as cerebral as SH2. It had more of an emphasis on the action and I felt the creature design was less disturbing than the last game. I will say though, that it got better with age [playing Silent Hill 4 also made me appreciate it more, A.K.A: the Batman Forever Effect] and actually is pretty great in retrospect. It also happens to have one of the BEST visualizations of crossing over into another realm/dimension/void/whatever you wanna' call it I have EVER seen:



The sound design in SH3 was also stellar, which has always been a staple of the series thanks to the brilliant Akira Yamaoka. Yamaoka is not only a producer of the series but is responsible for all the music and sound design. He is 75% of what makes Silent Hill so incredible. SH3 introduced vocals into some of the music which was new to the series and eerily sang by Mary Elisabeth McGlynn. Yamaoka's music in the series is haunting and distincly "Silent Hill" and plays an itegral role in the series' mood and vibe. It sets the tone incredibly and parts will stay with you long after you've played.

One year later, Silent Hill 4 had hit the shelves. The concept sounded incredible, and was supposedly a proper sequel to the events in SH2. I was excited, so excited that I imported a Japanese system just so I could get my hands on the game 4 months or so early. It centered around a guy who was trapped in his apartment but found a hole in his bathroom that he enters different worlds through. "Okay, let's do this! This sounds awesome!" Sadly, the game is not that great. It introduced some new things such as first-person controlled sequences while in your character's apartment and was just flat-out boring, to be honest. Thumbs down, and a somewhat-crappy chapter in a very impressive series of games. It's still better than a lot of games in the genre, it just doesn't measure up to the high standards set by the others. Thankfully, it's worth visiting if for no other reason than the music.



In 2006 Christophe Gans of Brotherhood of the Wolf fame and writer Roger Avary bring Silent Hill to the big screen. I was skeptical for a number of reasons. Most video game to movie projects never, ever work. I don't know what it is, but they always suck. They tend to be the equivalent of a bad copy or something. Most popular games are copies of some movie in some form or fashion anyway. May Payne is a bad mish-mash of John Woo films, House of the Dead was a fucking light gun game and Hitman is a similar mish-mash of assassin movie cliche's. So, it makes some sense why they have all sucked. Silent Hill, however is a somewhat unique property that is an excellent example of using the medium creatively to tell a story. Would that story translate into such a literal and linear medium as film? It definitely had the right people behind the wheel. I personally, loved the film. It wasn't without it's fair share of flaws. I did not care for the explanation of the place "Silent Hill", giving it such real and literal roots. I also didn't care for the seemingly tacked-on use of the "film damage" synonymous with the game series. It did, however, PERFECTLY capture the essence of the series. It managed to string together elements from the plots of the first 2 games and add the touch of the third by using a female protagonist. It's dark, violent and bizarre, just as it should be. It also manages to not feel like a horror movie in the traditional sense. There is a sequel in the works, but neither Avary nor Gans are involved...so, be afraid [and not in the good way].



What's next for Silent Hill? There is a 5th game in the works and is being developed by a UK company, Climax. They also made last years' Silent Hill Origins for the PSP [and PS2] which actually was pretty good and served as a prequel to the film. The next-gen sequel is looking okay, but only time will tell. Konami also released a light gun arcade game in Japan, creatively named "Silent Hill: The Arcade". My gut tells me the series peaked with Silent Hill 2 and it's just a slow ride downhill from there. I will probably end up dropping the cash on a next-gen console to try my hand at SH5 because I am a sucker for the series, so as long as they keep making them I'll keep buying them.