To clarify this is not a series of reviews. This is partly my experience with a couple of them I played. I seen both live action movies with very different effects on me. I haven't got to play Shattered Memories and Downpour. I do know a great deal about them despite that. To me, it's not personally or anything Silent Hill isn't exactly my thing.
1. Silent Hill (1999)
Harry Mason is searching for his daughter in a strange town called Silent Hill. There he finds out about this out worldly presence and a mysterious cult. This is often considered to be the scariest game on PS1. Silent Hill 1 turned what could've been their biggest criticism into one of their biggest positives.
Silent Hill brought a lot of great things to the table. Some interesting boss creatures with depending on things determine which final boss you'll face. Both of them are similar to a degree with some clear differences. Alessa is more likely to hit you while Samael does fly a lot. There's a couple endings with clear conditions how to get them.
You feel bad for Harry going through Hell. You doe get some crazy hidden weapons like an chainsaw. Many SH games has an chainsaw but here you have a decision to make. You can use fuel on it or on a rock driller instead. You can also get a blaster for getting UFO endings. Possibly the one joke ending in most SH games.
You get to explore a lot of Silent Hill. Harry has a great story of rescuing his daughter. It turns out Cheryl in her past life if you call it that was originally another girl named Alessa. Whose the daughter of a crazy lady. This game also started up the belief of different gods for Silent Hill. Silent Hill is truly an unique game in many ways.
Silent Hill 2 and 3 borrowed a hidden option from SH1 to increase your ammo increase up to a few times. This game can be bought on PS3 or if you still own PS1 disc, you can play it. Honestly this game was able to scare people often even by today's standards. Silent Hill is one of those master pieces you truly can't recreate no matter how hard you try.
2. Silent Hill 2 (2001)
Silent Hill 2 is often considered to be the greatest horror game on PS2. To me it is also the greatest Silent Hill game. You play as James Sutherland searching for your wife in Silent Hill. There's a lot of endings including those added in Greatest Hits version. In some versions, you get Born from a Wish where you play as Maria.
Silent Hill 2 is truly amazing in every sense of the word. I played the hell out of it oddly enough in Silent Hill HD Collection. This game had the best of everything imaginable with the possible exception of voice acting. Silent Hill 2 allows you to explore a lot of Silent Hill. Some weird parts I love like suddenly while in the elevator with Maria.
You are taking part in a game show that's directly to James. Some puzzles do randomly change but some of my favorite puzzles in the series. They even have an extra riddle level that's kinda frustrating. Not in terms of being the hardest to complete. But the way they set it up makes even experienced players not sure if they're playing it or not.
Hyper Spray requires you to do everything perfectly including having a good time. Depending on your final rank determines how strong it will be. It is rare for people to get it up to max being green. Silent Hill 2 is also done by two different casts in HD Collection. I would even go as far to say the scariest of Resident Evil fails in comparison to this.
I should mention Eddy being a boss. He still remains the only person not altered in any physical way by Silent Hill to be a boss. Surprisingly his revolver does the most damage yes even more than Pyramid Head's great knife. I really like how they went about this concept. I felt this is hands down one of the greatest horror games I ever played.
3. Silent Hill 3 (2003)
Silent Hill 3 to me was the last good Silent Hill game. A lot of people complained about SH2 not being a sequel to the original. Honestly if I was running this franchise I would make each entry their own stories. Why does it even matter folks? I will say Silent Hill 3 has some great things going for it. One of the absolute best Konami soundtracks on any console or PC of it's time.
You play as Heather aka Cheryl aka Alessa who really cares. She is the adopted daughter of Harry Mason the protagonist of SH1. I felt they might've made SH3 a little too easy. Well oh ok they did go way over board with so many difficulties. Like the first two SH games, you can change the difficulty of the puzzles.
This is the best sequel SH game ever made. You get a lot of unlockable costumes where you enter in passwords. Some of these couldn't come to Silent Hill HD Collection due to an agreement they had. There's only three endings by default you will get the normal ending during your first play through. Why they made Possessed Ending so frustrating to get is beyond me.
There's some interesting hidden weapons in the game. A beam saber an obvious reference to Star Wars. An infinite sub machine & infinite flame thrower that's not much different from their regular counterparts. There is a part where you throw in a steel pipe. If you answered this mysterious being honestly, you will be awarded with gold & silver pipes.
You also get Heather Beams that's similar to Superman's heat vision. But after putting on Princess Heart costume a reference to Sailor Moon. You can transform it into Sexy Beam possibly the strangest hidden weapon of any SH game. I rather have the great knife Pyramid Head instead. Silent Hill 3 has some amazing voice acting as well.
4. Silent Hill 4: The Room (2004)
The last entry by Team Silent is mixed received. Many fans say it's one of the absolute SH games. Many people including myself felt this isn't a good game. Silent Hill 4: The Room has two major game play styles. In your apartment room you have first person view. Trust me Resident Evil VII nailed that better.
In majority of it, you play it similar to previous Silent Hill games. To me the enemies came off uninspired & boring. I could even go a step further with the bosses. Only one boss is slightly worth mentioning but he sucks too. Most of them you have to run away. Although it is stated to use the dagger on Andrew's spirit.
Keep in mind it predates Resident Evil 4 by roughly a year. Everyone knows how damn good RE4 was. It not only destroyed chances of getting ported to other consoles. It also inspired the game industry with some changes & mechanics. I felt the complete opposite about SH4. The only save area is in your apartment.
Which later on in the game, that becomes dangerous due to being haunted. Unless you know how to deal with it, you can get damaged often. It doesn't help some areas beyond your apartment takes awhile before coming back. There are some variations of the game as well as hidden weapons. This is the first time when Silent Hill failed to get my interest with any of the endings, they all suck.
5. Silent Hill: Origins (2007)
Silent Hill: Origins takes place a couple years before the original Silent Hill. I felt this went about it the wrong way. You play as a truck driver named Travis that ends up getting involved with Alessa. By now you probably know a lot about her confusing story. Most weapons are breakable forcing you to keep changing them out.
Let's be honest Resident Evil 0 may be mixed received by many people. I always felt that was a great prequel. To me Origins is more of a spin off game than anything else. It just doesn't quite come together to fully become a true Silent Hill game. Honestly this game is simply a huge disappointment. This so happens to be the only main entry to be on handhelds not counting Play Novel: Silent Hill.
6. Silent Hill: Homecoming (2008)
Silent Hill: Homecoming aka Silent Hill 5 is not exactly a Silent Hill game. In fact you could even say it's technically a Resident Evil game. Alex was more like most Resident Evil characters you play as in campaigns than any previous Silent Hill ones. Oh okay this game didn't do me any favors. Attacking some enemies is incredibly unbalanced.
For example there is an enemy you should attack with your flash light turned off. However one wrong move and good luck trying to escape. The story to me is incredibly boring. Travis from Origins cameos during the beginning. Oddly Homecoming is the only Silent Hill game on Steam. This game focuses on the wrong things.
Although it had more horror elements than Resident Evil 5. Let's be honest it just doesn't work here. There is only four bosses with a major connection to Silent Hill's past. You also get unlockable costumes including one with a code. The endings are surprisingly boring for the most part. Silent Hill: Homecoming is not a party but rather someone being drunk while high on other stuff imagining things.
7. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (2009)
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a remake of Silent Hill 1 set in another universe. You can't attack the enemies instead run away. Which by itself is strangely similar to Clock Tower series. You can use a cell phone similar to real life. They did make it confusing how to determine which ending you could end up getting.
Parts of the game is you being asked to answer several questions. I think this was clever in how they went about the concept. This is a very different game from Silent Hill 1 possibly more than Resident Evil 1 remake. This is often to be considered by many to be the best Silent Hill game by another team.
8. Silent Hill: Downpour (2012)
Often nick named Silent Hill 6, Silent Hill: Downpour was developed by Vatra Games. Who went out of business following the release of this game. I will say this for a game I haven't got to play. Usually in similar cases, the games end up being among the worst on their consoles. Silent Hill: Downpour is probably one of the exceptions.
For one it had a great story with some multiple choice parts. Like most Silent Hill games, there's several endings. Silent Hill: Downpour did nail many things especially the visuals. Sadly due to being rushed out, it lacked new game+ feature. You know after beating a game & don't want to restart from scratch.
How could they suddenly screw that up? Most weapons are breakable after hitting enemies & walls a few times. Some areas due to being rushed are very likely to die fast. Silent Hill: Downpour is one of the better games based on several things. I can't say it's on my recommended list for sure until I get to play it.
Now I want to talk about the movies. Both of these movies are mixed received. Although I felt the first one was much true to the games. Sure it isn't exactly a master piece itself but way better the second movie. Pyramid Head doesn't even belong in either movie. I still liked that fight scene with him.
Obviously the first movie made some questionable choices like having Harry's wife being the main character. Originally she was already dead, her husband Harry would search Silent Hill for their daughter. Oddly the name of the cult changes between both movies. I felt a good amount of things worked for the first movie.
Silent Hill: Revelation is very loosely based on Silent Hill 3. Despite the few things in common, this simply wasn't a good movie. They made very bad calls with this garbage. For example why is Vincent not only young but also the love interest of Heather. Originally he was a older guy she didn't like with similar view on things.
I am just going to say it there really isn't anything worth talking about Silent Hill: Revelation at all. The first movie actually felt like they turned the game into a movie. The second one felt more like a nightmare than anything else. Silent Hill: Revelation surprisingly worse than Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.
At least it did end things despite leaving itself open for a new series of movies. Also that movie did nail characters from the games a lot better. Let's be honest, both of them are among my most hated game movies of all time. I might recommend the first movie but avoid the second one at all costs.
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