Silent Hill Appreciation Topic :-)

[Dr Kain]

It has been a long time since I have had any discussions about the Silent Hill series. Are any of you here fans of the series? If so, which games have you played? Did you like the movie? I played the first game when it first came out, loved it, as it was similar to Resident Evil, but took its own spin onto things and came out great. Then things kind of just died on my SH wise until the movie came out, which I absolutely loved and went out and bought the second and third games for the PS2. I really enjoyed the second came, but my backwards compatible PS3 died before I ever got the chance to play the third one, and I never got the chance to dig the PS2 out to play it. As such, I am super excited for the HD Collection that comes out this week, as I not only get to replay the second game, but I finally get to play what is supposed to be the best in the series. I did give Homecoming a try several years back, but I just wasn't interested in the series at the time to really give it a try, so I sold it. Now I picked up Downpour, but haven't opened it yet.

[vertigoink]

It has been a long time since I have had any discussions about the Silent Hill series. Are any of you here fans of the series? If so, which games have you played? Did you like the movie? I played the first game when it first came out, loved it, as it was similar to Resident Evil, but took its own spin onto things and came out great. Then things kind of just died on my SH wise until the movie came out, which I absolutely loved and went out and bought the second and third games for the PS2. I really enjoyed the second came, but my backwards compatible PS3 died before I ever got the chance to play the third one, and I never got the chance to dig the PS2 out to play it. As such, I am super excited for the HD Collection that comes out this week, as I not only get to replay the second game, but I finally get to play what is supposed to be the best in the series. I did give Homecoming a try several years back, but I just wasn't interested in the series at the time to really give it a try, so I sold it. Now I picked up Downpour, but haven't opened it yet.

One of the finest pieces of video game canon and storytelling ever- it's always been a nice companion to Resident Evil's more western horror vs SH more eastern horror. A word of warning about Downpour...don't go into it expecting oldschool Silent Hill and you'll enjoy it ten times more. The HD collection is amazing though except for the voices they re-recorded on 3.

[Dr Kain]

I already know about the new voice acting, and honestly, I do not care. I had a nice conversation with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn back in Sept at my local anime convention and she told me everything that was going on about that. And honestly, I like the new voices in SH2 better. I just feel the lines are better acted and better translated. The only one I would say that does not sound better is Eddie, but since he lines sound more natural, I can deal with that. As for 3, since I have never played it before, I will not know the difference. However, I think the most disgusting thing about this whole ordeal is that they were receiving death threats over the new voices. It's not like they wanted to do brand new voices for the games, but they had no choice due to legalities.

[wolfsfang]

I really liked the movie, it was creepy and gory and had some good special effects and is probably one of my fave movies based on a video game.

The games not so much. I have played 2, 3, 4, Orgins and Homecoming and to be honest none of them really interested me, in fact if you were to ask me seconds after completing any of the games what the story was or to name any of the characters (including the ones you play as)...I have no idea as nothing about any of the games is memorable to me

So

Silent Hill film = GREAT

Silent Hill games = Meh, playable but nothing to get excited over

[Megalodon]

I really liked the movie, it was creepy and gory and had some good special effects and is probably one of my fave movies based on a video game.

The games not so much. I have played 2, 3, 4, Orgins and Homecoming and to be honest none of them really interested me, in fact if you were to ask me seconds after completing any of the games what the story was or to name any of the characters (including the ones you play as)...I have no idea as nothing about any of the games is memorable to me

So

Silent Hill film = GREAT

Silent Hill games = Meh, playable but nothing to get excited over

True movie did bring out more of the game element and made it better more eerie....

[wolfsfang]

Now to be clear this is not to say I "hate" the games. I do find them kinda enjoyable to play and they do pass a couple of hours away if I am in the mood to play a creepy survival horror game all I am saying is that the stories / characters in these games are largely forgettable to me

[vertigoink]

I already know about the new voice acting, and honestly, I do not care. I had a nice conversation with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn back in Sept at my local anime convention and she told me everything that was going on about that. And honestly, I like the new voices in SH2 better. I just feel the lines are better acted and better translated. The only one I would say that does not sound better is Eddie, but since he lines sound more natural, I can deal with that. As for 3, since I have never played it before, I will not know the difference. However, I think the most disgusting thing about this whole ordeal is that they were receiving death threats over the new voices. It's not like they wanted to do brand new voices for the games, but they had no choice due to legalities.

Yeah I agree that part 2 sounds BETTER and as for threatening death...that's disgusting and makes all pop culture type enthusiasts all get a bad name.

[Riddle of Steel]

Never played the game, but thought the movie was REALLY good. Really under-rated IMO as you never here squat about it and I always see it flung around in some $5.00 bin at Walmart.

FAR better movie deserving of a sequel rather then some of the other crap out there. For what it is, defiantly one of the better well told, visually grabbing, freaky game based movies out there.

[Dr Kain]

Never played the game, but thought the movie was REALLY good. Really under-rated IMO as you never here squat about it and I always see it flung around in some $5.00 bin at Walmart.

FAR better movie deserving of a sequel rather then some of the other crap out there. For what it is, defiantly one of the better well told, visually grabbing, freaky game based movies out there.

Actually, there is supposed to be a sequel coming out around halloween. It is going to be based off the third game, which makes sense since the third game was a sequel to the first game.

[mightybuck]

i own and have beaten the first four games. i also have shattered memories on wii, which is a reimagined version of the first game, but i have not beaten that one.

the second game is easily my favorite. the characters, the story, the music, it was all top notch. that's not to say the other games were lacking, i just think the second one was a step above the rest. the third game is pretty cool too. i like that it revisits the first game's story. i'll always love it for that sailor moon style transformation you get after beating the game. i didn't care much for the fourth game. it has some neat ideas, but it just felt too different from the previous games.

i like the direction that shattered memories took, at least from what i've played. the exploration aspect was well executed, as well as the interactions with the psychologist. i get frustrated when the world ices over and the monsters come out, but that's just because i get turned around easily! if you haven't played shattered memories and you have a wii, i'd recommend checking it out.

i thought the movie was cool, but i didn't care for having all those people in the other world. i prefer the small cast of the games. it makes the nightmarish scenario feel more personal for the protagonsit. overall i think the movie is the best film adaptation of a video game, and i can't imagine any other video game movie topping it visually.

[Dr Kain]

I am trying to forget Shattered Memories exists...

[mightybuck]

aw, c'mon. it's cool!

what didn't you like about it?

[Dr Kain]

aw, c'mon. it's cool!

what didn't you like about it?

The fact that it wasn't Silent Hill.

[Darkspecter]

I haven't played the games, but I watched and liked the movie. Most of it was filmed in Brantford, Ontario (the creepy town scenes), which I lived near at the time. Everyone in the theatre laughed really hard at the one scene where the girl is colouring under the tree with her mom...because one guy yelled out "I know that tree!"

I was a really creepy movie. I really hope the sequel comes out! It definitely needs it based on the ending.

[Dice]

When the first game came out I happened to live in a big empty house with a buddy of mine. We both worked nights and our off nights were usually different. I played that game alone in a big dark house and it freaked me out. I loved it.

To this day I think the music and sound effects for that game/series are some of the best horror sounds of all time.

[Dr Kain]

Well Ijust beat the HD version of 2 and what a great game it remains. It makes little sense at times, but it is well done and fun. Tomorrow I start SH3, which is supposed to be the best of the series.

[Blue Jester]

BIG fan of the series since day 1. Played everything US released except Downpour.

Well, by now Revelations is out, any talkback? I'll have more to saw when I'm rested.

[Dr Kain]

I have mixed feelings on Revelations. For what it did well, it did extremely well. However, it lacked the camera angles of the first movie and games, which was one of the things that made the first Silent Hill movie great. They also edited the movie horribly. It felt like they decided to spend their budget on 3D over storytelling.