Konami's first installment into the survival horror genre is also one of the greatest looking PS1 games out there.
Released on January 31, 1999, Silent Hill was more than just a survival horror game. It was also somewhat of a riddle-solving game. The game is about a man named Harry Mason, who has taken his daughter Cheryl to their favorite vacation spot. One problem, though. His car goes out of control, as a mysterious girl was in the road, and Harry does his best to avoid her. Because of this, he was knocked unconscious. When he woke, his daughter ended up missing. It's up to Harry to find and save his daughter from the evil ghost town of Silent Hill.
The game has points where you have to run around Silent Hill to get where you're supposed to go. For example, after gathering enough clues, you have to head to the elementary school. Problem is, a lot of the roads are blocked, preventing you from going there. If you manage to get there, you will notice that it is almost pitch black inside the school, and you'll have your handy flashlight to help you. You'll also find a map that you can use to find open rooms and find out which ones have jammed locks. At times, you will encounter riddles, making you think about what you should do in order to progress. Again, this is also somewhat of a riddle-solving game. While exploring, you will encounter monsters that will attempt to kill you. If you manage to kill the monsters quickly without getting hurt, you won't worry about dying. There are also items like health drinks and first aid kits that can help you along the way if you do get hurt. In the start menu, you'll notice that behind Harry's head is a color background. Green means healthy, and red means danger. Use your health drinks and first aid kits wisely to heal yourself.
The gameplay in general is what you'd expect out of a survival horror game. You use the up and down buttons to go forward and backward and you use left and right to turn, you know, like Resident Evil. To attack, you hold the R1 button down and press the square button to attack or shoot your equipped weapon. So, obviously, the gameplay is similar to RE, and it does work here.
The graphics are unlike any other PlayStation game I've ever seen besides Final Fantasy IX. Fully rendered backgrounds, and well designed characters are here throughout the game. It also shows that even though this game is almost 11 years old, it never loses its shock factor, and is still quite graphic. This is definitely not something for the kiddies.
What really shines here is the sound. Haunting sound effects and spooky music makes this game thrilling and all-around enjoyable. In fact, the music style is a staple for the franchise, and it never gets old.
If you have enough experience with the franchise, this game should take you at least 10 hours to complete. 15 if you spent most of the time thinking on each riddle. Overall, horror fans should really check this game out, and if you own this game, and haven't played it for a while, have at it. It's also available for $6 on the PlayStation Store, and it is a bargain deal. Props to Konami for creating one of the greatest survival horror franchises in the industry.