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Silent Hill Series
Chosen by Gracie
After writer Harry Mason wakes up from being unconscious due to a car crash, his daughter Cheryl is missing. Harry sets out on a journey into the eerie town of Silent Hill to find her.
Developer: Team Silent
Publisher: Konami
Silent Hill is available on Playstation and the PSN
“Surprise, surprise right? But! It’s the last day and the finale of our Halloween Countdown so, in honour of one of my favourite game series of all time I bring you not one, not two, but all nine Silent Hill covers. Even Homecoming.”
Gracie
Silent Hill 2
“Silent Hill 2 is widely considered one of the best survival horror games with one of the best stories and it really showed what video games could be capable of story-wise. It still holds up to this day and really shows that graphics aren’t everything. Even if the HD Collection tried to knock its teeth in.”
Gracie
Silent Hill 3
“Silent Hill 3 is a perfect wrap-up to Harry and Cheryl/Alessa/Heather’s story. Funny story, Silent Hill 3 was the first game in the series that I played so I was kind of confused because I basically walked in in the middle of the story. Then I played the second game. By the time I got around to playing the first Silent Hill I was hooked and was all caught up in time to pre-order Silent Hill 4: The Room when it came out.
Gracie
Silent Hill 4: The Room
“I was somewhat disappointed in The Room. I thought it was a pretty cool idea but the monsters weren’t quite up to the other games. The Killer Whhelchairs get a lot of flack but what killed the scares for me were the Burping Nurses. It also leaned heavily into the cult aspect instead of the psychological depths that it had already shown it could reach with Silent Hill 2.”
Gracie
Silent Hill: Origins
“I know this isn’t a popular game in the series but it’s arguably better than Homecoming. One of my only issues is that you can really tell how the movie has started influencing the series. Alessa looks like the typical Evil Little Girl instead of the victim. It really feels like it could have been a far more successful game if it had dropped the Origins story and just focused on Travis more. I also was not crazy about the voice acting, at all. It’s not bad, Tracis is pretty decent, but some of the side characters (like Travis’ mom) really brings it down as a whole.”
Gracie
Silent Hill: Homecoming
“Homecoming is my least favourite game of the series and I don’t think I’m alone in that. It came out during the PS3 era when almost every game was a shooter and even most horror games were more action-oriented. It also has fake Pyramid Head. Oh, pardon me, the Boogieman. At least most of the monsters are fairly cool looking (except for the two-legged Hammerhead Sharks), especially the bosses.”
Gracie
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
“Shattered Memories is a reimagining of the first game. It has no fighting but rather the run for your lifestyle of gameplay. I really like the ice aesthetic. The psychological quizzes were interesting (however, it got a little awkward hitting the question about intimate matters when you’re trying to play it with your family watching). There are four different endings (not including the iconic UFO ending) that are really, really well done.”
Gracie
Silent Hill: Downpour
“Downpour could have been so much better with the themes they were dealing with. It had the real potential to dig deep but it only skimmed the surface. I did like the side-quests but it felt like they were having a hard time balancing the open-world environment with the horror. The monsters were a huge disappointment. Generally, they are symbolic of the area, character, or story at large. Even Homecoming managed to do this properly. But the monsters in Downpour are generic humanish monsters. I suppose you could make the argument that that’s how Murphy sees people in general but it feels like an unfinished thought. Murphy himself seems a little on the bland side. He doesn’t comment on much so he feels like he doesn’t have a whole lot of personality. I am giving it another playthrough soon so I will let you know.”
Gracie
Our Halloween Countdown has come to an end. We had a lot of fun sharing our favourite horror covers with you guys this October. We hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween however you’re choosing to spend it this year!
Happy Halloween from Sci-Fi & Scary!!
GracieKat was the first co-host of Sci-Fi & Scary, Lilyn’s partner-in-crime, and sub-head of the Kali Krew. She reviews horror books, movies, and games for the site. She also does a weekly Focus on the Frightful feature, and is the site list-maker. She is also in control of the Sci-Fi & Scary podcast which will relaunch soon.