Silent Hill[lower-alpha 2] is a 1999 survival horror game developed by Team Silent, a group in Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo and published by Konami. The first installment in the video game series Silent Hill, the game was released exclusively for the PlayStation. Silent Hill uses a third-person view, with real-time rendering of 3D environments. To mitigate limitations of the console hardware, developers used fog and darkness to muddle the graphics and the pop-ins, which in return helped set up the atmosphere and mystery of the game. Unlike earlier survival horror games that focused on protagonists with combat training, the player character of Silent Hill is an "everyman".[3]
The game follows Harry Mason as he searches for his missing adopted daughter in the eponymous fictional American town of Silent Hill; stumbling upon a cult conducting a ritual to revive a deity it worships, he discovers her true origin. Five game endings are possible, depending on actions taken by the player, including one joke ending.
Silent Hill received positive reviews from critics on its release and was commercially successful. It is considered by many to be one of the greatest video games ever made, as well as a defining title in the survival horror genre, as it moved away from B movie horror elements toward a more psychological horror style, emphasizing atmosphere.[3] Various adaptations of Silent Hill have been released, including a 2001 visual novel, the 2006 feature film Silent Hill, and a 2009 reimagining of the game, titled Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. The game was followed by Silent Hill 2 in 2001, and a direct sequel, Silent Hill 3, in 2003.
Gameplay
Harry's flashlight is the sole light source for the majority of the game.
The objective of the player is to guide main protagonist and player character Harry Mason through a monster-filled town as he searches for his lost daughter, Cheryl. Silent Hill's gameplay consists of combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving.[5] The game uses a third-person view, with the camera occasionally switching to other angles for dramatic effect, in pre-scripted areas. This is a change from older survival horror games, which constantly shifted through a variety of camera angles with the use of pre-rendered backgrounds. Because Silent Hill has no heads-up display, the player must consult a separate menu to check Harry's "health".[6] If a DualShock controller is used, a heart beat rhythm can be felt signifying that the player is at low health.[citation needed]
Harry confronts monsters in each area with both melee weapons and firearms. An ordinary man, Harry cannot sustain many blows from enemies, and gasps for breath after sprinting.[4] His inexperience in handling firearms means that his aim, and therefore the player's targeting of enemies, is often unsteady.[7] A portable radio collected early in the game alerts Harry to the presence of nearby creatures with bursts of static, although players can choose to turn off the radio if they want.[4]
The player is encouraged to locate and collect maps of each area as soon as possible, stylistically similar to tourist maps, to make navigating the game world easier. Accessible from the menu and readable only when sufficient light is present, each map is marked with places of interest. Visibility is mostly low due to fog[5] and darkness; the latter is prevalent in the "Otherworld".[8] The player finds a flashlight early in the game, the light beam illuminates only a short distance. Like the radio the player can choose to turn off the light if they want, making the game darker but in return the monsters have a more difficult time of finding the player.[4] Navigating through Silent Hill requires the player to find keys and solve puzzles.[5]
Plot
Silent Hill opens with a flashback, showing Harry Mason and his wife finding an abandoned child in a casket. It jumps forward to show Harry Mason driving to the town of Silent Hill with his adopted daughter Cheryl for a vacation. Along the way he sees a police officer driving towards the town also. At the town's edge, he swerves to avoid hitting a girl in the road, and as a result, he crashes and loses consciousness.[7] Waking up in town, Cheryl is missing and Harry sets out to look for her. Silent Hill is deserted and foggy, with snow falling out of season. He follows Cheryl through the fog but experiences bouts of unconsciousness, as well as encounters with hostile creatures. Harry witnesses his reality change to a dark metallic rusty environment and passes out.
As he wakes up he meets Cybil Bennett, the same police officer from earlier who came from the neighboring town to investigate the mysterious occurrences. She gives Harry a gun before leaving. Harry finds a clue that Cheryl is at the local school. Investigating it, he is transported back to the "otherworld" and has to defeat a creature before returning to the normal world. As Harry leaves the school, he hears bells ringing and follows it to an old church.
There he meets Dahlia Gillespie, a cultist. She gifts him the Flauros, a charm which she claims can counteract the darkness spreading through the town. Harry leaves the church and investigates the hospital. There he encounters its director, Dr. Michael Kaufmann, who is bewildered by the sudden changes in the town, and discovers a frightened, amnesiac nurse, Lisa Garland, hiding in one of the rooms. While investigating the hospital, Harry begins to question his own existence, whether or not he is already dead and everything is taking place in his head. Harry asks Lisa to come with him but she tells him she feels like she has to stay in the hospital.[9][10][11][12]
Harry can later rescue Kaufmann from a monster, discover evidence of his role in local drug trafficking, and stumble upon his hidden bottle of aglaophotis, a supernatural liquid that can exorcise demons.[13] Harry meets Cybil again and comes to believe that a darkness is transforming the town into someone's nightmare, which is why the inhabitants have mostly disappeared. Cybil says that Dahlia must be on drugs. Dahlia urges him to stop "the demon" responsible for it—the girl in the road who appears to him sporadically—or Cheryl will die.[14] Continuing his search, Harry is drawn into a fight with Cybil, who has become the host to a supernatural parasite; the player can choose to save her using the red liquid they found at the hospital.[15] The next time Harry sees the girl, the Flauros automatically activates and neutralizes her telekinetic powers. Dahlia appears and reveals that she manipulated Harry into catching the girl—an apparition of her daughter, Alessa. Harry passes out.
He awakens in the hospital, next to Lisa. Lisa explains that she experienced a sense of déjà vu while in the basement, and when he finds her again, she despairs that she is "the same as them". She pleads with Harry to save her and desperately grabs him, which causes Harry to instinctively push her away as blood starts to run down her face; horrified, he flees. As he blocks the door outside, he hears Lisa crying, which makes Harry re-enter the room. Her diary is all that remains and it reveals that she nursed Alessa during a secret, forced hospitalization. Alessa's never-healing wounds terrified her, as she fell deeper into a drug addiction fueled by Kaufmann.[16] Finding Dahlia with Alessa's defeated apparition and charred body, Harry demands to know Cheryl's whereabouts: he discovers that seven years earlier, Dahlia conducted a ritual to force Alessa to birth the cult's deity; Alessa survived being immolated because her status as vessel rendered her immortal, while her mental resistance to the ritual caused her soul to be bisected, preventing the birth. One half manifested as the infant Cheryl, whom Harry and his wife adopted. Dahlia casts a spell to lure Cheryl back, while Alessa was imprisoned within the hospital, enduring unceasing agony as a result of her injuries. With Alessa's plan thwarted and her soul rejoined, the deity is revived and possesses her.[17][18][19]
Endings
Five different endings are available, dependent on the player's previous actions:
In the "Bad" ending, the deity merges with Alessa and electrocutes Dahlia before attacking Harry. He defeats it, and Cheryl's voice thanks him for freeing her. Overcome by grief, Harry collapses, and the next scene is that of his corpse in his wrecked car, implying that the entire game was a dying dream.
The "Bad +" ending concludes with Harry defeating the deity, and Cheryl thanking him as she dies. Harry falls to his knees because he could not save his daughter. Cybil goes to Harry and slaps some sense back into him, tell him they must flee. The two stand in silence as fire falls from the sky.
In the "Good" ending, Kaufmann, now feeling betrayed by Dahlia, demands that she restore the town to normal and uses aglaophotis to exorcise the deity out of Alessa. Harry defeats the deity, and Alessa gives him an infant, the reincarnation of herself and Cheryl. She helps him escape from her nightmare realm before dying. Kaufmann is dragged away by Lisa.
The "Good +" ending is very similar to the "Good", except Harry escapes with both Cybil and the baby. In both "Good" endings, a bloody and vengeful Lisa prevents Kaufmann from escaping with Harry.[15]
Development of Silent Hill started in September 1996.[21] The game was created by Team Silent, a group of staff members within the Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo studio.[22][23][24]Konami sought to produce a game that would be successful in the United States. For this reason, a Hollywood-like atmosphere was used for Silent Hill. According to composer Akira Yamaoka, the developers did not know how to proceed with the Silent Hill project, either. As the time passed, the personnel and management of Konami lost their faith in the game, and the members of Team Silent increasingly felt like outsiders. Despite the profit-oriented approach of the parent company, however, the developers of Silent Hill had much artistic freedom because the game was still produced as in the era of lower-budget 2D titles. Eventually, the development staff decided to ignore the limits of Konami's initial plan, and to make Silent Hill a game that would appeal to the emotions of players instead.[25]
For this purpose, the team introduced a "fear of the unknown" as a psychological type of horror. The plot was made vague and occasionally contradictory to leave its true meaning in the dark, and to make players reflect upon unexplained parts.[25] Director Keiichiro Toyama created the game's scenario,[26] while programmer Hiroyuki Owaku wrote the text for the riddles.[27][28] Toyama did not have much experience of horror movies but was interested in UFOs, the occult and David Lynch films which influenced the game's development.[29] Toyama questioned Konami's decision to appoint him as director, as he had never been one prior to Silent Hill.[30]
The localization company Latina International translated the script into English.[28][31] The town of Silent Hill is an interpretation of a small American community as imagined by the Japanese team. It was based on Western literature and films, as well as on depictions of American towns in European and Russian culture.[25] The game's joke ending came out of a suggestion box created to find alternative reasons for the occurrences in Silent Hill.[32]
Artist Takayoshi Sato corrected inconsistencies in the plot, and designed the game's cast of characters.[32] As a young employee, Sato was initially restricted to basic tasks such as font design and file sorting. He also created 3D demos and presentations, and taught older staff members the fundamentals of 3D modeling. However, he was not credited for this work as he did not have as much respect within Konami as older employees. Sato eventually approached the company's higher-ups with a short demo movie he had rendered, and threatened to withhold this technical knowledge from other staff members if he was not assigned to 3D work. As a consequence, his superior had to give in to his demand, and he was allowed to do character designs.[33] Instead of relying on illustrations, Sato conceived the characters of Silent Hill while creating their computer-generated models.[21][25] He gave each their own distinctive characteristics, but made Harry almost completely neutral as he wanted to avoid forcing interpretations of the game on the players.[25][32] Creating the skull shapes for the faces of the American cast was difficult because he had no Caucasian co-workers to use for reference.[32] Although Sato was largely responsible for the game's cinematics and characters at this point, his superior still did not want to fully credit his work, and intended to assign a visual supervisor to him. To prevent this from happening, Sato volunteered to create the full-motion videos of Silent Hill by himself.[33] Over the course of two and a half years, he lived in the development team's office, as he had to render the scenes with the approximately 150 Unix-based computers of his coworkers after they left work at the end of a day.[21][33]
Sato estimated the game's budget was lower than the cost of Japan's biggest games at the time. He said the development team intended to make Silent Hill a masterpiece rather than a traditional sales-oriented game, and that they opted for an engaging story, which would persist over time—similar to successful literature.[25] The game debuted at the 1998 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, where the presentations of movies and in-game scenes garnered applause from the audience.[33][34] This favorable reception persuaded Konami to allot more personnel and public relation initiatives to the project.[25] Konami later showcased Silent Hill at the European Computer Trade Show in London,[35] and included a demo with its stealth gameMetal Gear Solid in Japan.[36]
The names and designs of some Silent Hill creatures and puzzles are based on books enjoyed by the character of Alessa, including The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle and Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.[37][38] The game contains several real-life references, particularly in characters' names. Cheryl Mason's first name is based on actress Sheryl Lee's first name, and Lisa Garland's surname is taken from actress Judy Garland.[9] "Michael Kaufmann" is a combination of Troma Studios producers Michael Herz's and Lloyd Kaufmann's first name and surname, respectively. Alessa's original name was "Asia", and Dahlia's was "Daria", based on the first names of actresses Asia Argento and Daria Nicolodi—Argento's mother.[39] Harry's name was originally "Humbert", and Cheryl's was "Dolores", in reference to the protagonist and title character of Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita. The American staff altered these names, as they considered them too uncommon.[9] Fictitious religious items appearing in the game have used various religions as a basis: the evil spirit-dispelling substance Aglaophotis, which is said to be made from a medicinal herb, is based on a herb of similar name and nature in the Kabbalah (Jewishmysticism); the "Seal of Metatron" (also referred to by Dahlia as the "Mark of Samael") references the angels Metatron and Samael, respectively; and the name of the "Flauros" was taken from the eponymous demon appearing in the Lemegeton, a book on magic said to have been compiled by writings of King Solomon.[40] Certain items and doors in the "nowhere" dimension of the game were given names based on occult elements in order to symbolize magical traits of Dahlia. The names of these doors were taken from the names of the angels Ophiel, Hagith, Phaleg, and Bethor, who appear in a medieval book of black magic and are supposed to rule over planets. This motif of giving names that suggest planets was used to signify that "a deeper part of the realm of Alessa's mind is being entered", according to Owaku.[38]
Music
Akira Yamaoka requested to compose the soundtrack for Silent Hill after the original musician decided to leave the development team.
The soundtrack for Silent Hill was composed by sound director Akira Yamaoka, who requested to join the development staff after the original musician had left.[41] In addition to the music, he was in charge of tasks such as sound effect creation and audio mastering.[41][28][42] Yamaoka did not watch game scenes, but created the music independently from its visuals. The style of his compositions was influenced by Twin Peaks composer Angelo Badalamenti.[43] To differentiate Silent Hill from other games as much as possible, and to give it a cold and rusty feel, Yamaoka opted for industrial music.[41] When he presented his musical pieces to the other staff members for the first time, they misinterpreted their sound as a game bug. Yamaoka had to explain that this noise was intended for the music, and the team only withdrew their initial objection after he elaborated on his reasons for choosing this style.[25]
On March 5, 1999, the album Silent Hill Original Soundtracks was released in Japan. The 41st track on the CD, the ending theme "Esperándote", was composed by Rika Muranaka. After Yamaoka had approached her to create a piece of music for the game, she suggested the use of bandoneóns, violins, and a Spanish-speaking singer. It was decided to make the song a tango, and Muranaka composed the melody for the English lyrics she had conceived.[42] When she arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to record the translated Spanish lyrics with Argentine singer Vanesa Quiroz, Muranaka realized that the syllables did not match the melodic line any more, and she had to recompose it in five minutes.[28][42]
On October 29, 2013, Perseverance Records released a "Best Of" album, which features 16 newly interpreted instrumental tracks composed by Akira Yamaoka and arranged and performed by Edgar Rothermich.[44] The 17th track on the album is the ballad "I Want Love" performed by Romina Arena.
Release
Silent Hill was released for the PlayStation in 1999, from February to July in North America,[45] Japan,[46] and Europe.[47] It was included in the Japanese Silent Hill Complete Set in 2006.[48]Silent Hill became available for download from the European PlayStation Network store of the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable on March 19, 2009.[49] Two days later, the game was removed due to "unforeseen circumstances".[50] On September 10, Silent Hill was released on the North American PlayStation Network.[51] It was re-released on the European PlayStation Network on October 26, 2011.[52]
A radically altered version of Silent Hill was released for the Game Boy Advance. Titled Play Novel: Silent Hill and released only in Japan in 2001, it is a gamebook-style visual novel. It contains a retelling of Silent Hill's story through text-based gameplay, with the player occasionally confronted with questions concerning what direction to take the character, as well as the puzzles, which are a major part of Silent Hill's gameplay. After completing the game once, the player has the option of playing as Cybil in a second scenario, with a third made available for download as a paid downloadable content on the Mobile Adapter GB[lower-alpha 3] device, once the second scenario has been completed.[53] When the game was exhibited, Western critics were unimpressed, and criticized the lack of any soundtrack as severely detracting from the "horror" factor of the game.[53][54]
A film adaptation, also titled Silent Hill, was released on April 21, 2006. The film, directed by Christophe Gans, was based loosely on the game, incorporating elements from Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill 4: The Room.[55][56] Gans replaced Harry Mason with a female main protagonist, Rose Da Silva, because he felt Harry had many qualities typically perceived as feminine.[57] When designing the film's visual elements, Gans was influenced by fellow directors Michael Mann, David Lynch, and David Cronenberg.[58] The film's soundtrack includes music composed by Yamaoka.[59] Although critical reaction was mostly negative, the film was a financial success and was praised by fans, especially for its visuals.[60][61]
A "reimagining" of Silent Hill, titled Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, was developed by Climax Studios and published by Konami Digital Entertainment. The game was released on December 8, 2009, for the Wii and on January 19, 2010, for the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation Portable, to mostly positive reviews.[62] Although it retains the premise of a man's search for his missing daughter, Shattered Memories branches off into a different plot with altered characters.[63] It features psychological profiling which alters various in-game elements depending on the player's response to questions in therapy,[63] lacks the combat of Silent Hill, and replaces the "Otherworld" with a series of chase sequences through an alternate frozen version of the town.[63]
Silent Hill received "generally favorable reviews" at the review aggregate website Metacritic.[64] The game sold over two million copies,[21] which gained Silent Hill a place in the American PlayStation Greatest Hits budget releases.[73] In November 1999, the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD) gave Silent Hill a "Gold" award,[74] indicating sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.[75]
Silent Hill has been compared to the Resident Evil series of survival horror video games. Bobba Fatt of GamePro labeled Silent Hill a "shameless but slick Resident Evil clone",[6] while Edge described it as "a near-perfect sim nightmare".[66] Others felt that Silent Hill was Konami's answer to the Resident Evil series[7] in that, while they noted a similarity, Silent Hill utilized a different form of horror to induce fear, attempting to form a disturbing atmosphere for the player, in contrast to the visceral scares and action-oriented approach of Resident Evil.[5] Adding to the atmosphere was the audio, which was well received; Billy Matjiunis of TVG described the ambient music as "engrossing";[76] a reviewer for Game Revolution also praised the audio, commenting that the sound and music will set players on edge.[5]AllGame editor Michael L. House praised Silent Hill, describing it as "a truly magnificent work of art" and "a genuinely terrifying experience combined with a unique, gripping story and immersive atmosphere".[65] Less well-received was the voice acting which, although some reviewers remarked it was better than that found in the Resident Evil series,[6] was found poor overall by reviewers, and accompanied by pauses between lines that served to spoil the atmosphere.[5][6]
Reviewers noted that Silent Hill used real-time 3D environments, in contrast to the pre-rendered environments found in Resident Evil. Fog and darkness were heavily used to disguise the limitations of the hardware.[4][6] Along with the grainy textures—also from hardware limitations[4][7]—most reviewers felt that these factors actually worked in the game's favor; Francesca Reyes of IGN described it as "adding to the atmosphere of dilapidation and decay".[7] In using 3D environments, however, controls became an issue, and in "tougher" areas, maneuverability became "an exercise in frustration".[7]
Edge selected it as runner-up for the Gameplay Innovation award. They stated that, whereas other games attempted to hide the PlayStation's visual inadequecies, Konami used its draw-distance deficiency to chilling effect by draping atmospheric fog about the place.[72]
The game's popularity as the first in the series was further recognized long after its release; a list of the best PS games of all time by IGN in 2000 listed it as the 14th-best PS game,[77] while a 2005 article by GameSpy detailing the best PS games listed Silent Hill as the 15th-best game produced for the console.[34] A GameTrailers video feature in 2006 ranked Silent Hill as number one in its list of the top ten scariest games of all time.[78] In 2005, the game was credited for moving the survival horror genre away from B movie horror elements to the psychological style seen in art house or Japanese horror films,[79] due to the game's emphasis on a disturbing atmosphere rather than visceral horror.[5] In November 2012, Time named it one of the 100 greatest video games of all time.[80]
Notes
↑ Team Silent was a group in Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo.
Silent Hill is a horror anthology media franchise centered on a series of survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four video games in the series, Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill 4: The Room, were developed by an internal group called Team Silent, a development staff within former Konami subsidiary Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo.
Akira Yamaoka is a Japanese composer and music producer. He is best known for composing music for several video games in the Silent Hill series by Konami, among other games. Yamaoka also worked as a producer on the series, as well as composing for the Silent Hill film and its sequel. Since 2010, he has been the sound director at Grasshopper Manufacture.
The survival horror video games series Silent Hill features a large cast of characters. The games' player characters are "everymen", in contrast to action-oriented survival horror video game series featuring combat-trained player characters, such as Resident Evil. The games are set in the series' eponymous fictional American town.
Silent Hill 2 is a 2001 survival horror game developed by Team Silent, a group in Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, and published by Konami. The game was released from September to November, originally for the PlayStation 2. The second installment in the Silent Hill series, Silent Hill 2 centers on James Sunderland, a widower who journeys to the town of Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his dead wife. An extended version containing an extra bonus scenario, Born from a Wish, and other additions was published for Xbox in December of the same year. In 2002, it was ported to Microsoft Windows and re-released for the PlayStation 2 as a Greatest Hits version, which includes all bonus content from the Xbox port. A remastered high-definition version was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012 as part of the Silent Hill HD Collection.
Silent Hill is a 2006 supernatural horror film directed by Christophe Gans and written by Roger Avary, based on the video game series of the same name published by Konami. The first installment in the Silent Hill film series, it stars Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Laurie Holden, Deborah Kara Unger, Kim Coates, Tanya Allen, Alice Krige and Jodelle Ferland. The plot follows Rose da Silva, who takes her adopted daughter, Sharon, to the town of Silent Hill, for which Sharon cries while sleepwalking. Rose is involved in a car accident near the town and awakens to find Sharon missing. While searching for her daughter, she fights a local cult and begins to uncover Sharon's connection to the town's dark past.
Pyramid Head, also known as "Red Pyramid", "Red Pyramid Thing", or "Triangle Head" is a character from the Silent Hill series, a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Konami.
Silent Hill 3 is a 2003 survival horror game developed by Team Silent, a group in Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, and published by Konami. The game was released from May to August, originally for the PlayStation 2. The third installment in the Silent Hill series and a direct sequel to the first Silent Hill game, it follows Heather, a teenager who becomes entangled in the machinations of the town's cult, which seeks to revive a malevolent deity. A port for Microsoft Windows was released later in November, and a remastered high-definition version was released as part of the Silent Hill HD Collection, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012.
Silent Hill 4: The Room is a 2004 survival horror game developed by Team Silent, a group in Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, and published by Konami. The fourth installment in the Silent Hill series, the game was released in Japan in June and in North America and Europe in September. Silent Hill 4 was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows. Its soundtrack was released at the same time. In 2012, it was released on the Japanese PlayStation Network. On October 2, 2020, it was re-released on GOG.com with patches to make it playable on Windows 10.
Silent Hill: Homecoming is a 2008 survival horror game developed by Double Helix Games and published by Konami Digital Entertainment. The sixth installment in the Silent Hill series, Homecoming follows the journey of Alex Shepherd, a soldier returning from war, to his hometown of Shepherd's Glen, where he finds the town in disarray, and his younger brother missing. As he continues on his search to find his younger brother, he discovers more about the Order, a cult, as well as the town's history, and his own past.
Silent Hill: Origins is a 2007 survival horror game developed by Climax Action and published by Konami Digital Entertainment. It was released worldwide in late 2007 for the PlayStation Portable, beginning in early November with the United Kingdom. A port for the PlayStation 2 was released worldwide in early 2008, beginning in March with North America. The fifth installment in the Silent Hill series, Origins is a prequel to the first game (1999). Set in the series' eponymous, fictional American town, Origins follows trucker Travis Grady as he searches for information about a girl whom he rescued from a fire. Along the way, he unlocks his repressed childhood memories. Gameplay uses a third-person perspective, and emphasizes combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving, similar to the previous installments.
Team Silent was a development team within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (KCET), responsible for the first four games in the Silent Hill franchise by Konami released from 1999 to 2004. Later titles were developed by non-Japanese companies such as Climax Studios, Double Helix Games and Vatra Games. According to composer Akira Yamaoka, Team Silent consisted of staff members that had failed at other projects and originally intended to leave the company before the first Silent Hill game turned out to be a success. According to a Silent Hill: Homecoming artist, Team Silent was ultimately disbanded by Konami itself, because Konami wanted Western developers to make the games. KCET was merged into the parent company in April 2005.
Heather Mason is a fictional character in Silent Hill, a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Konami. She is first introduced as a supporting character in the original Silent Hill (1999), and later returns as the main protagonist of Silent Hill 3 (2003). She also appeared in Dead by Daylight (2020) as a playable character.
Silent Hill: The Arcade is an arcade game spin-off of the survival horror video game series Silent Hill developed and published by Konami. The Arcade was first revealed at the 2007 Japan Arcade Operator's Union trade show by Konami.
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a 2009 survival horror game developed by Climax Studios and published by Konami Digital Entertainment. It was released in December for the Wii and ported to the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable platforms in January 2010. In April 2014, it appeared on the PlayStation Network in Europe.
Silent Hill: Downpour is a 2012 survival horror game developed by Vatra Games and published by Konami. Downpour is set in the series' eponymous fictitious American town and centers on Murphy Pendleton, a prisoner who enters the town, periodically entering the otherworld, leading him to unlock repressed memories. The game uses a third-person view and can be played in 3D. It was released in March 2012.
Silent Hill: Revelation is a 2012 supernatural horror film written and directed by M. J. Bassett and based on the video game series Silent Hill published by Konami. It is the second installment in the Silent Hill film series. The film, produced as a sequel to Silent Hill (2006), stars Adelaide Clemens, Kit Harington, Martin Donovan, Malcolm McDowell and Carrie-Anne Moss, with Deborah Kara Unger, Sean Bean and Radha Mitchell returning from the previous film. The plot follows Heather Mason (Clemens), who, discovering on the eve of her eighteenth birthday that her presumed identity is false, is drawn to the town of Silent Hill.
Silent Hill: Book of Memories is a 2012 dungeon crawler video game developed by WayForward Technologies and published by Konami. Released for the PlayStation Vita, it is a spin-off of the Silent Hill video game series. It features a player-created protagonist who receives the titular book on their birthday, which contains their entire life story, and makes changes to it with unforeseen and often unfavorable consequences. Book of Memories features gameplay elements from role-playing games: as the player character traverses the dungeons and defeats monsters there, they gain experience points and thus improve their respective abilities. The character progresses from each themed level by collecting pieces of a puzzle and then solving the puzzle. Five endings are available based on the character's alignment; the sixth is a joke ending in the tradition of previous Silent Hill games.
Silent Hills is a cancelled horror game developed by Kojima Productions that was to be published by Konami for the PlayStation 4. It was in development since 2012 until its cancellation in 2015. It was to be the ninth main installment in the Silent Hill series and was to be directed by Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro.
Silent Hill 2 is an upcoming survival horror video game developed by Bloober Team and published by Konami. It is a remake of the 2001 game of the same name, originally developed by Team Silent, a group in Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (KCET). It will be the first major installment in the Silent Hill series since Silent Hill: Downpour (2012). Like the original game, it follows James Sunderland, a widower who returns to the eponymous town of Silent Hill upon receiving a letter from his deceased wife Mary, who claims to be waiting there for him.
↑ Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, Inc (January 31, 1999). Silent Hill (PlayStation). Konami of America, Inc.Harry: It's not me. This whole town... it's being invaded by the Otherworld. A world of someone's nightmarish delusions come to life. Little by little, the invasion is spreading. Trying to swallow up everything in darkness. I think I'm finally beginning to understand what that lady was talking about.
1 2 3 "Silent Hill Character Commentary". Silent Hill 3 公式完全攻略ガイド/失われた記憶 サイレントヒル・クロニクル[Silent Hill 3 Official Strategy Guide / Lost Memories: Silent Hill Chronicle] (in Japanese). NTT Publishing Co., Ltd. July 31, 2003. p.24. ISBN4-7571-8145-0.
1 2 "Silent Hill Ending Analysis". Silent Hill 3 公式完全攻略ガイド/失われた記憶 サイレントヒル・クロニクル[Silent Hill 3 Official Strategy Guide / Lost Memories: Silent Hill Chronicle] (in Japanese). NTT Publishing Co., Ltd. July 31, 2003. pp.28–29. ISBN4-7571-8145-0.
↑ "Silent Hill Series – Characters Relation Map". Silent Hill 3 公式完全攻略ガイド/失われた記憶 サイレントヒル・クロニクル[Silent Hill 3 Official Strategy Guide / Lost Memories: Silent Hill Chronicle] (in Japanese). NTT Publishing Co., Ltd. July 31, 2003. pp.10–11. ISBN4-7571-8145-0.
↑ クリエイターズファイル 第127回 (in Japanese). Gpara.com. November 4, 2003. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
↑ Ito, Masahiro (June 14, 2010). "Nobu bbs: scenario writers". GMO Media, Inc. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved June 14, 2010. The first SILENT HILL is Keiichiro Toyama's original scenario. But Hiroyuki Owaku had charge of that riddle part.
↑ "Silent Hill Creature Commentary". Silent Hill 3 公式完全攻略ガイド/失われた記憶 サイレントヒル・クロニクル[Silent Hill 3 Official Strategy Guide / Lost Memories: Silent Hill Chronicle] (in Japanese). NTT Publishing Co., Ltd. July 31, 2003. pp.26–27. ISBN4-7571-8145-0.
1 2 "XVII: The Star – Motif". Silent Hill 3 公式完全攻略ガイド/失われた記憶 サイレントヒル・クロニクル[Silent Hill 3 Official Strategy Guide / Lost Memories: Silent Hill Chronicle] (in Japanese). NTT Publishing Co., Ltd. July 31, 2003. pp.106–107. ISBN4-7571-8145-0.
↑ "Silent Hill Character Commentary". Silent Hill 3 公式完全攻略ガイド/失われた記憶 サイレントヒル・クロニクル[Silent Hill 3 Official Strategy Guide / Lost Memories: Silent Hill Chronicle] (in Japanese). NTT Publishing Co., Ltd. July 31, 2003. p.25. ISBN4-7571-8145-0.
↑ "V: The Hierophant - Key Items". Silent Hill 3 公式完全攻略ガイド/失われた記憶 サイレントヒル・クロニクル[Silent Hill 3 Official Strategy Guide / Lost Memories: Silent Hill Chronicle] (in Japanese). NTT Publishing Co., Ltd. July 31, 2003. p.91. ISBN4-7571-8145-0.
↑ AdArchived November 8, 2021, at the Wayback Machine placed in French magazine Game On, issue 2 (July 1999), which reads (in French): "Silent Hill - Quand même la mort n'est plus une issue _ 16.07.1999", confirms July 16, 1999, as the official release date.
1 2 "Edge Awards 2000"(PDF). Edge. No.82 (March 2000). February 22, 2000. pp.54–63. Archived(PDF) from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
↑ Hand, Richard J. (2004). "Proliferating Horrors: Survival Horror and the Resident Evil Franchise". In Hantke, Steffen (ed.). Horror Film: creating and marketing fear. University Press of Mississippi. pp.117–134. ISBN1-57806-692-1.
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