This article has been edited to reflect discussion following the release of the original version.
March is a good time to visit Silent Hill. Gamers will be able to return to the nightmarish resort town a total of four times in March, according to Konami’s list of upcoming game releases. The Silent Hill HD Collection, which features remastered versions of the Playstation 2 classics Silent Hill 2 and 3, will hit shelves March 6th. Silent Hill: Downpour, the latest title in the series, will be released on March 13th. Silent Hill: Book of Memories will round off the month on March the 27th, with its top-down multiplayer action. Yeah, we wish Book of Memories wasn’t coming, too.
The downpour (hah) of Silent Hill games in March gives us an excellent opportunity to discuss the state of the survival horror franchise. Recent Silent Hill titles have shown fans two drastically different styles of gameplay that have diverged from the original formula.
Recent Silent Hill games have diverged in two different stylistic directions
The first style is the one introduced in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. Shattered Memories was a “re-imaging” of the original Silent Hill title, with the story and layout of the original Silent Hill game switched around dramatically. What made Shattered Memories particularly interesting was the prey-predator relationship between monsters, and the protagonist, Harry Mason. Mason is a writer and a family man. He is unlike the gruff, stern, military men found in so many first person shooters. As a result, he is completely inexperienced at fighting. Unlike his Silent Hill 1 alter ego, the Mason of Shattered Memories doesn’t try to fumble his way through battles with the monsters that he encounters. Instead, the only thing Mason can do is run and hide from his pursuers. The only means of temporarily fending off the monsters is a signal flare that will earn Mason a few extra seconds of breathing room. Shattered Memories was a game that gave added a new dimension to horror, simply by the inability to confront one’s enemies.
The flip side to the coin is Silent Hill: Homecoming. Released in 2008, Homecoming was one of the first Silent Hill titles to be built by a Western game developer. Many critics claimed that the psychological horror of the Silent Hill series was mostly absent, replaced with macabre backgrounds and stomach-churning monsters. It was universally agreed upon by fans and detractors alike that Homecoming was heavily focused on combat, unlike previous Silent Hill titles. Homecoming featured a melee system far more advanced than the rudimentary system found in traditional Silent Hill games, making fighting monsters much easier and more feasible than simply running away. This is in direct contrast to Shattered Memories, where evasion was the only solution.
There is no “right” way to design a game. But arguably, Silent Hill would benefit more from the “evasion” style than the “combat” style. Traditionally, Silent Hill has relied on psychological terror to frighten players. This is similar to the way classic horror cinema did not show audiences what exactly was scaring the characters. Rather, the audience members’ own imagination was used against them. In the same way, older Silent Hill titles used fog and radio static to instill a sense of fear in the player. The Homecoming combat style removes that base sense of terror, since the unknown is hardly frightening when you’re well equipped and skilled enough to destroy a small legion. This isn’t to say that fighting off the occasional monster is bad. It’s just that the player character shouldn’t be too skilled at combat, lest the game devolve into a third person shooter/slasher with horror elements thrown in on the side.
Silent Hill isn’t Resident Evil, which in recent years, has practically become interactive gun porn. The terror of Resident Evil is that of an inability to properly defeat enemies before you’re killed. The terror in Silent Hill is that of not knowing what will come next, and the dread of knowing that you’ll likely have trouble fighting it even if you did. Silent Hill draws heavily on the atmosphere to induce a sense of terror, and it’s hard to be scared by your surroundings when you’re driving around in a metaphorical tank.
Current signs are that Silent Hill: Downpour is going to be a serious departure from the established series, and potentially a disaster for fans of the franchise. Series composer Akira Yamaoka has not been involved in the composition of the game’s music, a crucial part of every Silent Hill title. A different Western game studio has been assigned to develop the game. In addition, Konami has announced that the plot of Downpour will have little to do with the established series mythos. It seems to me that the game will take the direction of the combat-heavy style rather than the evasion-style.
Are we headed towards the death of survival horror games?
As pointed out by several commentators, sources have indicated that those developing Downpour plan for the game to be heavily based around puzzle solving and evasion, rather than direct confrontation. I remain skeptical of this claim, since Downpour would appear to have a large variety of weapons available to the player. This is likely a reflection of the fact that many weapons are now breakable, and some of the weapons can even be used as utilities to navigate the environment. The over-present nature of weapons seems to indicate to me that the player will always be ready for combat. Will evasion be possible? Hopefully. But running away from monsters was somewhat difficult in Homecoming. Hopefully Downpour’s enemies will be more accommodating towards that end. In addition, it would appear that other horror franchises are increasingly favouring action over true evasion. It’s difficult to take a developer’s word at face value in the changing climate on the genre.
Which direction is the Silent Hill series heading towards? Downhill, it looks like. It looks as though the series is following the example of rival Resident Evil, focusing more on combat and direction confrontation rather than psychological horror. We’ll be able to get a better glimpse of the future of the Silent Hill series in when Downpour is released in March. But until then, it seems safe to assume that the death of the traditional survival horror game is upon us.[S2]
*In response to several comments that were posted after the release of the original article, I would like to add that my stated opinion might not necessarily reflect that of the finished Downpour game. Nor am I attempting to attack Downpour. I firmly believe that what is “horror” differs from person to person. That said, my current belief is that Downpour will not be as horrifying as Shattered Memories, since I personally believe that the inability to fight is much more terrifying than having the ability to fight, and being rather ineffective in combat. My position is a cynical one, which doubts that Downpour will focus primarily on puzzles, despite official statement. I could be wrong. Hopefully, I’m wrong. But with the current state of horror games, I believe it’s wise to take things with a grain of salt. If any of the above comments beyond the release dates were misinterpreted as fact rather than opinion, we apologize.*
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“focusing more on combat and direction confrontation rather than psychological horror.”
That’s why it’s confirmed the game is 30% combat, 70% exploration. It helps to research these things.
I’m going to have to respectfully disagree. The news out there suggests that, like older Silent Hill titles, it has a separate difficulty selection for both types of gameplay. The game seems to emphasize the fact that combat will be more realistic, in that you can only carry or much, or that weapons make break. However, the video and picture material still seem to indicate to me that the game will be heavily combat based. But hey, those are my thoughts, not hard facts. We’ll have to wait to see.
Both Tomm Hulett and Devin Shatsky have said over and over again that Downpour will play more like Silent Hill 1 and 2 with emphasis on exploring the foggy town.
“Konami has announced that the plot of Downpour will have little to do with the established series mythos. It seems that the game will take the direction of the combat-heavy style rather than the evasion-style.”
What they meant is that the game plot will not focus on the cult like SH1, SH3, SH0 and SHH. It will be more like SH2 where the focus is on the protagonist’s own journey through the town. Also the emphasis will be on puzzles and exploration not combat. Like Redrum has already pointed out it’s been stated that it will be only 30% of the game. You can hear Hulett state that in this dev walkthrough:
http://www.gamesradar.com/silent-hill-downpour-guided-video-tour-through-new-town-silent-hill/
They’ve also stated that it’s better to run and not fight which is just like the older games.
The videos have been from the linear opening levels, so you’ve been limited to seeing Murphy basically heading somewhere. The reason they weapons break is to make it more terrifying when they break, it’s like Origin’s system, but 10x better
I, for one, did not find Origins all that scary. You had dozens of weapons at the end, including some really powerful guns, and you could lug around an absurd amount of melee weapons.
I’ve now sourced a video with gameplay, and some commentary that does say what you mentioned in your first comment. Based on the way the game looks so far, I’m still rather cynical of the idea that it’ll be 70% exploration. Admittedly, I would rather enjoy it being that way, but I’m rather reluctant to believe they can pull it off, just because of the ever-present weapons in hand. If it’s anything like classic Silent Hill, (and they do seem to suggest that they tried to mimic the style where you can wander the streets), then there will be monsters around almost all the time. Obviously, whether you fight them or not is your own choice.
Monsters only appear when it starts to rain. It will be an evolution of the town exploration of Silent Hill 1 and 2–I can’t wait!
But will the game do that thing in 1 and 2 where there are different “layers” of fog, and monsters start appearing all the time halfway through the game?
You should try the game for yourself. I’m not a fan of “non hands-on previews” because misinformation happens. Combat is made more realistic as in only 2 weapons, not an arsenal. Enemies are way more powerful though and it’s heavily recommended to avoid confrontations. In fact, more so than I expected.
These things may be more grounded in realistic combat, but that’s simple because it makes sense to stress survival. Weapons break fast: that’s not an action game feature.
Good gawd. Silent Hill 2 as overrated as it is suffers horrendously from poor combat. I mean I can get bored of the unoffending monsters. At least Shattered Memories had more threatening monsters in terms of having to figure out how to survive, hence the survival horror. It’s not hard to survive 2. 1 and 3 are different. 3 is probably the best balance of action and psychological horror having a plethora of extras, weaponry, and harmful monsters than the other game.
Yeah RE has not been as scary. Though 4 is definitely a horror title and is not “interactive gun porn”, Code;Veronica is a challenge to even survive in that game and has little ammo and a lot of enemies, and the REmake was something you had to think/count bullets with too. Zero was also a survival/thinking game. So I suggest you re-evaluate.
There are other horror titles out there. Rule of Rose is arguably as good as Silent Hill 2 in terms of story, but the combat is shitty. Parasite Eve 2 was more psychological and the most scientifically accurate game I’ve ever played, yet it also like RE, focused more on combat and had a huge arsenal on top of your “magical” skills. These are good games. Especially the PE series, (Maybe not 3rd Bday so much.) and they actually followed RPG’s a tad more in their horror and there was a lot of thought provoking and good combat in both PE games, so I am failing to acknowledge your peppered “preview” of a game you have never played. I’m assuming you’re looking to find something wrong with it.
basically, I find having to “survive” using what I have to be scary and I like my monsters to be scary. if I have to have a machine gun to take it out so be it. Take Nemesis, he remains supreme in horror games because he was so hard to kill and so relentless even with a lot of weapons. That’s a lot scarier than the Pyramid Head. Something that can’t die, even with great weapons. I also think this is psychological in a way and it adds to the game. if i want to play a game with no combat, all running, and lackluster monsters I’ll find something else.
You don’t like Silent Hill 2? I generally rate it as the scariest game I’ve played, except for Amnesia.
I’m of the “RE4 is not survival horror school”, which is a can of worms I don’t wish to open up, since it’s been debated to death. I have to disagree with the gun porn thing, though. RE5 had a ton of guns.
As for REmake, I consider that my all-time favorite game, period. I know from experience that it’s not difficult to survive, unless you play with all the new game plus difficulty stuff stacked on, and even then, it’s not too difficult, since you know the way you’re going. I’ve always finished REmake with more ammo and weapons than I can ever bring to the final Tyrant fight. As an experiment, you can try this out yourself, and I’ve already done it, try killing everything in the game, with the exception of Lisa. You have way more than enough ammo. Use the Beretta on the zombies, the shotgun on the hunters, and whatever you want on the spiders. As long as you’re not wasting the magnum ammo on zombies, it’s more than possible.
Parasite Eve reminded me a lot of Resident Evil, but with Square-style combat. It really pissed me off after a while because the random encounters really stalled the game. It wasn’t really horrifying at all. Sure, you were alone for most of the game, but I wasn’t exactly scared or worried at any point. You get an absurd amount of bullets by the end.
Finally, this isn’t a preview. This is more like “What I think Downpour will be”, if that’s okay with you.
No, I don’t hate Silent Hill 2. But being a SH theorist and having played it multiple times every year of my life since I was 15, among other things…. I consider 1 and 3 to be far more superior and suspenseful, with a more interesting story. (3 can actually still scare me. 2 does not.) Probably four as well. I think 2 is overrated and if one puts it on beginner, one will never even die.
Not sure with REmake, I will replay it soon because I can’t remember. last time I replayed I was conserving ammo, because I would run out. But I did recently play CVX again and that game is HARD. It has the least AMMO and a lot of baddies. So it is very “survival” and very worth finishing.
You’re only talking about Parasite Eve 1. The 2nd game, which is mostly what I was talking about, plays with tank controls and does not have random battles. In fact it’s more like RE than the first game. You can kill everything in the game, but there are calculating factors and you have to play it right with your mind. As well, as having various difficulties that are worse than any hard difficulty on SH or RE. There’s even one setting where you start the game with poor health. So despite everything you receive, there is still a survival issue with the combat. There’s also a psychological issue with Aya. It is horror, although I only found the beginning to be real scary.
I’m sorry, I assumed from the tone and the comments it was a “preview”. Especially since you were talking about in game demos.
Silent Hill 3 is pretty scary stuff, I’ll admit. The ultimate scare in the SH series for me, has been when Heather walks into that room near the end, and the room starts becoming covered in blood really quickly. Apparently you can actually die there if you don’t leave fast enough.
I’ll admit, Silent Hill 2 isn’t exactly hard. It’s very generous in all respects, so James is basically a tank. But this is a problem across all Silent Hill titles except for 4 and Shattered Memories. I like what Homecoming did with the atmosphere, and I’m certainly not hating on it, or Downpour, but I just feel Shattered Memories did a better job. What Silent Hill 2 had is atmosphere, as well as the advantage of being the first SH title on the PS2. I especially love the parts after you go below the museum into that creepy prison. I don’t share the hospital-lust that so many SH fans seem to have. After Origins, I decided I’d had my fill of hospitals.
CVX on the PS2 isn’t particularly difficult if you can figure out all the logic puzzles that get you more ammo, such as figuring out where to get Chris the magnum revolver, or how to milk the SPAS-12 for maximum effectiveness. CVX is my least favorite RE title simply because something about the way the camera works really turns me off about it.
I think what I’m getting at here is that the genre is a little different for everyone. For me, not being able to fight something is way scarier than having a poor ability to. Thus where this editorial is coming from, since I really liked that Shattered Memories didn’t let you fight, not that I had a beef with Alex being a tank in Homecoming.
Okay, so this was meant to be a editorial article, for those of you who seem to think it’s a preview. I’m sorry if you were mislead, but this is basically a “what I think Downpour means for the future”, etc. kind of article. I’ll have the editorial tag placed on it. Sorry I neglected it.
“A different Western game studio has been assigned to develop the game.”
If by ‘Western game studio’ you mean Eastern European then you are exactly right! This “editorial” is riddled with innaccuracies and comes across as another hater without any clue as to what he is talking about. People like you are part of the reason that SH is dying a slow death. Formulating opinons about something you’ve never even seen or played is ridiculous.
I will keep this in mind IF I ever read another one of your “editorials”.