The unsettling creature design and the deteriorated industrial Underworld were made to reflect the projections of a tormented psyche, allowing for a mutability to the enemy encounters and settings based on which character’s thoughts were being personified.
The game’s use of obscuring fog, initially implemented in lieu of draw-distance limitations, became the series’ trademark, and fostered an air of claustrophobia and anxiety with every step through the eponymous town. Instead, they created 1999’s Silent Hill, a PS1 exclusive that prioritised a brooding, industrial atmosphere with an emphasis on the psychological corner of horror rather than the survival-based action favoured by its contemporaries. Seeking to emulate the same blockbuster success, rivals Konami shuttered away its delinquents and underachievers into a small development crew later dubbed Team Silent, and tasked them with the job of doing so. James Sunderland’s everyman nature sets him apart from other action-hero horror protagonists of the era, such as Leon Kennedy of the Resident Evil series, pictured above. I pray I’m not the only one who thinks about this game every now and then, and judging by the acclaim and the legacy it’s created since its release on September 22, 2001, I’m certain it’s still skulking around in many people’s minds.įor all of the game’s innovations, it’s difficult to picture an era from which Silent Hill first emerged as a direct imitation to capitalise on the success of Japanese developer Capcom’s survival horror juggernaut Resident Evil, a series that gripped audiences with its tense action, B-movie zombie iconography and emphasis on item management. It transcends the average notion of what a videogame is, and contradicts the player’s perception of the world and of themselves, as all challenging art should do. It’s a game that probes at my subconscious every so often, and it serves as a constant reminder of what the human psyche is able to do to itself. Silent Hill 2 is a game that’s stayed with me since I first played it, always waiting in that dank crevice of my brain where I’m afraid to linger for too long. As the landmark psychological series’ sophomore entry turns 20, gaming editor Tim Bottams takes a look back at Silent Hill 2’s mist-shrouded streets and monstrous innovations
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