Silent Hill 1: Konami’s Forgotten Masterpiece

Silent Hill is one of the most famous and memorable franchises in the survival horror genre, and anyone who lived through the series’ golden age knows exactly what that means. It’s no wonder that many fans spent years waiting for a new release that could bring the franchise back to its glory days, after the last lukewarm title: Silent Hill: Downpour . Recently, all eyes have turned to Konami , giving it back its prestige and profits thanks to the release of Silent Hill 2: Remake — without a doubt, one of the most memorable titles in the franchise. However, when it comes to the pure psychological horror experience, Silent Hill 2 doesn’t come close to the first game. This raises the question: why does the producer continue to ignore Silent Hill 1 ?

The Birth of a Legacy

The first Silent Hill was born out of Konami ‘s desire to create its own survival horror game. To this end, a small team of employees who felt left out of the company was created. Thus, Team Silent was born , the team responsible for bringing the franchise to life. The key point is that each member of Team Silent had a strong personality, and disagreements over ideas often compromised the progress of the work. When the team finally had a clear vision of what the first game would be like, Konami began to prune the main ideas. What the company really wanted was for the game to resemble the Resident Evil franchise too much , but this approach was not acceptable to the team, who wanted Silent Hill to have its own identity. In the end, the team completely ignored Konami’s guidelines and created the game the way they envisioned it. The result could not have been more successful. Despite using some gameplay elements already present in Resident Evil , Silent Hill brought something completely new: psychological horror .

“Fear of Blood Tends to Create Fear of Flesh”

The first Silent Hill is a game deeply marked by its themes. It brings psychological, supernatural, religious and even philosophical issues, addressed masterfully, exploring traumas, the concept of heaven and hell, life and death.

The story features Harry Mason , a writer who, while traveling with his seven-year-old daughter, Cheryl , ends up getting involved in an accident. Harry wakes up confused and injured, and, upon realizing that his daughter is missing, begins to search for her in a city that slowly reveals its horrors.

From the beginning, the game’s atmosphere is one of pure tension. The deserted streets covered in fog, while the character follows clues to find his daughter, create a unique feeling. Even 26 years after its release, it is impressive how the transition in the alley, the first tense moment of the game, still has an impact. There, Harry finds stretchers with bloody sheets and comes across a charred body hanging by barbed wire. The change in the soundtrack and the darkness that takes over the environment are chilling. This moment culminates in the end of Harry’s first nightmare, who wakes up in the diner and is introduced to a new character: Cybil Bennett .

From there, we face grotesque creatures and inexplicable events, in an increasingly disturbing environment, making Harry question whether it is all real or if he is trapped in a nightmare.

Unique Elements

In addition to its engaging narrative, the game features sound elements that intensify the player’s sense of fear. (I recommend playing with headphones, as some subtle sounds are only perceived this way.) The soundtrack, which mixes industrial rock with soft and melancholic tracks, is a gift from the brilliant composer Akira Yamaoka , who, by the way, did not only participate in the soundtrack of Silent Hill: Downpour .

Silent Hill plays with the player’s mind at all times, whether through changing environments into dark versions, through intriguing puzzles or through Harry’s strange nightmares. Let me highlight one particular moment, which occurs in Alchemilla Hospital , in an area called “Nowhere” . There, we find a bloody and rusty cage, from which we can hear the sounds of bird wings flapping, but, strangely, no bird is there. Scary, right?

Inspirations

It is worth mentioning that Silent Hill was inspired by several films and literary works, but mainly by the film Jacob’s Ladder . In it, the protagonist, Jacob , suffers from the trauma of the Vietnam War and begins to have hallucinations, seeing strange creatures while searching for answers to the horrors he is experiencing. The film is a psychological study, full of biblical and supernatural symbolism, which addresses the fear of death and the internal struggle of the human being. In the film, there is even a quote from a book by Meister Eckhart that says: “The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that does not want to let go of life. Your memories, your attachments. They burn all of that. But they are not punishing you. They are freeing your soul. So if you are afraid of dying and… are holding on, you will see demons ripping your life away. But if you are at peace, then the demons are really angels, freeing you from the earth.”

This sentence makes complete sense when we analyze the game’s plot and, mainly, an important connection regarding the bad ending, in which we see that, in fact, Harry is dead in the car, making everything that was experienced throughout the gameplay, in fact, the struggle of his spirit, which did not want to let go of life, suffering several hallucinations.

Some of the direct references to the film are: the same anti-drug poster from Jacob’s Ladder , which can be found in the texture files of the first game.

The “distortion” that many monsters make with their heads, in several titles in the franchise, was inspired by the film; among several other visual inspirations.

A Forgotten Legacy

While Silent Hill 2 is often remembered for its imposing and terrifying figure, Pyramid Head , and is an incredible game with a perfect and moving story without losing its horror elements, Silent Hill 1 also deserves to be remembered. Whether through a faithful remake or even a remaster, the horror experience of the first game is unmatched. It is no coincidence that Silent Hill 1 became a watershed for the survival horror genre.

Don’t get me wrong: as a fan of the franchise, I have a great deal of love for Silent Hill 2 . However, its plot, despite having horror elements, is much more dramatic and moving than truly scary or disturbing. The first game, on the other hand, brings symbolism, terrors and disturbing elements that make the second game seem almost like a walk in the park in comparison.

Silent Hill 1 was already ignored once, when the HD Collection was released, bringing only the games Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3 (which is a direct sequel to the first one). And now, in the remake of Silent Hill 2 , the first game is once again left out. Furthermore, on February 23rd , the 26th anniversary of the franchise, Konami made no mention of the game that represents the pinnacle of psychological horror in games.

It’s sad.