Eerie music and a bleak atmosphere make the backbone for this exceptionally chilling macabre game.
Opening with an ominous quote over a faded sepia toned photograph of a young girl as theme music starts playing; the game sets an immediate eerie tone which will continue throughout and grows ever more sinister with each twisted plot turn. Dissolving past the initial part of the opening movie with its footage of various characters, a car is seen speeding along a highway, being driven by the games protagonist Harry Mason (voiced by Michael Gough) with his daughter Cheryl (voiced by Sandra Wane) sitting happily beside him. A police woman on a bike speeds past and soon the bike can be seen abandoned at the side of the road; our first sign something is amiss. Soon after a shadowy figure steps out into the road in front of the car; harry swerves to avoid a collision and subsequently crashes. Upon waking Harry realises through the haze of pain Cheryl has apparently disappeared; now the real fun begins. Fog drenched echoing deserted streets leading to shady narrow alleyways and abandoned decayed buildings are the staple core of this game and are crucial in creating a terrifying experience. Some unusual camera angles are achieved when running frantically through said streets and alleyways which really add to that out of your depth panic sensation.
Silent Hill is made up of three realms to navigate; the Fog world, the other world and nowhere. Nowhere is by far the strangest realm; full of fragmented parts of buildings and rooms found elsewhere in the other world. You encounter nowhere near the end of the game. The town itself seems to be greatly influenced by famous horror writers and horror films; this is evidenced around areas of the town proper with street names based on authors like Bachman St (a pseudonym of Stephen King) Bradbury St (Ray Bradbury) and Shelley Rd (Mary Shelley) and of course Midwich St which more than likely takes its name from book The Midwich Cuckoos, turned later into a film titled Village of the Damned. Many other references to films and authors can be found throughout the game.
Along the way you find cryptic clues as to Cheryl's whereabouts which lead you to some pretty disturbing areas such as the MidWich Elementary School where you encounter enemies such as Grey Children; or Mumblers in the UK and Japanese versions. (Grey Children are exclusive to the North American version of the game), and Alchemilla Hospital Which houses Puppet Nurses and interestingly Doctor enemies referred to as Puppet Doctors; the first Silent Hill game is still to date the only one to contain male versions of the Nurses.
Many puzzles are used throughout Silent hill which you must solve in order to progress. Usually you have to find the answers through clues dotted around the environment. You can spend many a frustrated hour trying to work some of the puzzles out when in fact often the answer is so sublimely simple you will kick yourself for not working it out sooner.
Silent hill was unusual for its time in that you have five endings to choose from and your actions within the game determined what ending you receive. On your first play through there is a total of four endings that can be achieved; good +, good, bad and bad+. On a second play through using your saved game not only do you get a few new weapons but you can unlock a special ending if your first play through achieved the good + ending. The special ending is titled UFO and is considered a bit of a joke ending, another explanation to the bizarre events in Silent Hill. All in all Silent hill is a fantastic game and importantly has staying power within the market. It is a rare quality gem than can be enjoyed again and again and I'm sure it will be enjoyed by gamers new and old alike for many years to come.