Perron - Silent Hill: The Terror Engine

The way is the goal.

Theravada Buddhist proverb

The typical starting point for any discussion about Silent Hill is a comparison to Resident Evil. Given that Capcom's big hit console series (1996) was introduced before Konami's Silent Hill (1999), it was and still is the obligatory reference. However, as the Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine stated on the cover of its issue of March 1999, SH1 are caught up in the evil plan of a religious cult known as The Order and have to battle monsters and other humanoid creatures that spring forth from the supernatural power of tortured minds. These narrative frameworks eventually gave birth to two different games. Resident Evil is more Page 2 action-oriented, focusing on quick thrill jumps, scares, and gory images, while Silent Hill is devised to be more psychological in nature, more about character and atmosphere, intending to convey a tone of dread, anxiety, and helplessness.

Since playing games can become a passion, discussing Silent Hill with specific reference to Resident Evil (or vice versa) often leads to inflamed debate. Various fan sites and discussion forums are the theater of such clashes. Reviewers also frequently refer to one game or another to express their opinions. For example, Michael Riser's web review of SH3 (2003):

Stretching aesthetically beyond the confines of the genre, the first two Silent Hill games occasionally felt more about experience and reflection than actual gameplay, but they have enjoyed a large cult following since their inception. Whilst I loathe making this completely inevitable comparison, there are still many who continue to hold Resident Evil's zombie-blasting mediocrity in higher regard simply because the game-play can feel a touch more focused. These are the same people who don't really understand what the Silent Hill games are all about, either because they don't try very hard, don't want to, or simply don't (personal taste plays a part in all things, no less here than anywhere). This isn't to make fans of the series sound like elitists, for all the Silent Hill games have had their share of flaws, but this is more to show that it takes a certain kind of person to enjoy a trip to the Hill. No matter how much the games are praised or chastened, there will always be those who hate or love them for various and completely valid reasons. But if you're one who's willing (and brave enough) to spend some time in thought about the series' demented subject matter, you may find yourself wallowing in a deeper experience than you bargained for.

These remarks illustrate an ongoing polemical mode of inquiry that I will forego. I will however, use a portion of Riser's comments as my point of departure. The extraordinary power of Silent Hill, as many reviewers have noted, lies in the fact that the series isn't simply a game but rather a uniquely powerful emotional experience. It is for this dimension that millions of copies of the Silent Hill series have been sold to date. Therefore, although I'll be discussing SH: 0rigins (2007), SH: Homecoming (2008), Page 3 and SH: Shattered Memories (2009), as well as talking about SH4: The Room (2004) in the conclusionand explaining why I do it at this late point, this book will deal primarily with the emotions inherent in SH1, SH2 (2001), and SH3, the three games that set the core game mechanics that make the series what it is. I will not focus on the induced stress common to all video games, but instead investigate the specific fears survival horror games are designed to provoke.

My recollection of the beginning of SH2 This was such a great relief.

We can all agree that there is a big difference between the search I've just described and its alternative, where, for example, we know the flashlight is in Room 205 (and we know that at one point we will find this flashlight from our previous playing of