Of Course I’ll Help You, Silent Hill

Knock, Knock

Be right there.  Just a sec.

Oh, it’s you, Silent Hill.  What a surprise.  Of course you can come in.  I’ll always have time for you, even if the inverse hasn’t been true for a while now.  Sorry, I didn’t mean for that to sound so spiteful. 

Please sit down. Can I get you something?  A glass of water maybe?  You look worn out. 

What made you decide to drop by for a visit after all this time?

Oh, you’ve lost your way and now you want my help to get back on track?  Well, of course, old friend!  Of course I’ll help you retake your rightful place among console video gaming’s most innovative and atmospheric titles.

I remember when we first got together.  It was over a decade ago.  Haha, can you believe that?  I was a sophomore in high school, and you’d just released Silent Hill 2.  I was absolutely unprepared for your mature treatment of such adult themes and your challenging plot that forced me to question what I was seeing on the screen.  For the first time in my life, I encountered something that blurred the line between game and art.  I was in way over my head, but I couldn’t put you down from the moment I entered the Woodside Apartments all the way through your heartrending revelations in room 312 of the Lakeview Hotel. 

You were beautiful and melancholy and perfect.  And I was in love.

But things changed. Didn’t they, Silent Hill?  Yeah, I saw the preview for that multiplayer dungeon-crawl sequel.  I think you know deep down that you’re making a mistake.  You don’t have to say so. I can see it in your eyes.

I mean, I hardly even recognize you anymore.  When the next generation of consoles hit, you moved on with the times.  Your original developers turned their attention to new products.  There was a prequel and a reimagining of your classic original story.  You experimented with new combat systems and inventory schemes.  There were some successes but way more failures.   We’ve known each other a long time, Silent Hill, long enough that I’ve got to be honest with you.  You don’t look so good anymore.

But I’m glad you’re here.  That means we can start to put right everything that’s gone wrong between us.  There’s still time if you’ll just listen to my advice, Silent Hill.

First of all, you have to emphasize atmosphere over everything else.  Every design decision – graphics, audio, and gameplay – has to reinforce that gripping sense of horror and tension.  Your best tool here is creating the feeling of isolation that pervades all the best Silent Hill titles. That means plenty of fog and plenty of time early in the game where the protagonist is completely alone (think of the first 15 minutes of Silent Hill 2).  But listen to me:  Resist the temptation to go multiplayer, even at a time when everyone else in the industry is enamored with it.  Any kind of multiplayer is antithetical to the feeling of isolation that’s necessary for the atmosphere to work.  It shatters the illusion that you’re alone in an abandoned town teeming with unseen evil.

Next, let’s go back to the original map that you used in the first Silent Hill game.  That was a full two console generations ago.  Every time a game adds a new and previously unseen section of Silent Hill, it strains my ability to believe that all these games are taking place in the same small resort community.  Trust me on this.  New players won’t recognize the original map, and old-school fans will appreciate the chance to revisit the old haunts.  Set your next game in Old Silent Hill for the entirety of the game (but don’t do a reboot of the first classic game).

While we’re at it, leave something to the imagination.  Too many of your most recent iterations have told straight-forward and literal stories that leave no room for interpretation.  Half the fun of the first two Silent Hill games was piecing together the story through subtle symbolic clues and ambiguous  bits of dialog.  Let’s go back to a time when every monster and every location held symbolic meaning that enhanced the story.  It’s not enough for the monsters to look scary, they also have to say something about the characters, their darkest secrets and their greatest fears. 

Finally, here’s my most controversial bit of advice for you:  Shamelessly rip off Heavy Rain.  No, please don’t leave, Silent Hill.  I’ll explain.  Just hear me out.

You’re in a really tough spot when it comes to combat, especially melee encounters.  Put too much of an emphasis on polished combat, and your players will feel too powerful and you lose a lot of the fear.  But no one in this day and age will accept the rudimentary and clunky combat controls of your first several titles.  Some of your most recent offerings have forced players to just run like hell from every monster they encounter, which was sort of thrilling at first but quickly loses its appeal if that’s the only option.  It’s really difficult for you to find that sweet spot that allows for compelling melee encounters without relieving the tension of feeling helpless and alone in a city of nightmares.

So go with quicktime melee encounters like the ones in Heavy Rain.  You could have intense melee fights that would actually reinforce the sense of desperation and weakness that make Silent Hill games more effective.  Remember that scene in Heavy Rain where you’re the hot reporter and those masked guys are invading her apartment in the middle of the night?  Now imagine the attackers are Silent Hill monsters.  The scene pretty much writes itself.  You could implement a similar combat system without changing any of the exploration and puzzle-solving elements that are more important Silent Hill hallmarks. 

So I’ve told you want I want from your next game.  Here are a couple things you need to stay away from.

Don’t use characters from previous installments.  Especially Pyramid Head.  Additionally, don’t take any visual cues from the Silent Hill film either.  I admit, the visuals from the movie were really high quality, and it’s tempting to lift a couple of its design elements.  But you should be setting the tone for the movies, not vice versa.  Finally, don’t focus on the Order in the next game.  You can reference the cult and offer some glimpses into its inner-workings, but it works much better when it remains a mystery.  Too much exposure just bogs down the plot of the game. 

So there you go, Silent Hill.  I’m really glad you came to me for help.  My door will always be open to you.  If you can get the help you need – finally get your act together – we might be able to love each other again. 

If not, we’ll always have Silent Hill 1-3.  We’ll always have our memories.