Silent Hill (Franchise)

Silent Hill

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Silent Hill is a survival horror game franchise that revolves around the tourist town of Silent Hill; its dark link with the occult and its co-existence with its two other-dimensional forms, "Otherworld" and "Nowhere".

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Overview

The creator of Silent Hill.

The Silent Hill franchise begun on the PlayStation (Platform) in 1999, created by Keiichirou Toyama. During the development of the first Silent Hill game, developer Konami (Company) was looking to mimic the success that Capcom (Company) had gained with the Resident Evil (Franchise) series, which is quite evident in the franchise's first installment, but Silent Hill quickly evolved into something dramatically more emotional and moving.

The series has become well known for its haunting music and gripping stories, and these very factors have set it apart from other horror franchises.

Storytelling

The stories often revolve around the main characters' conflicted emotions of guilt, portrayed as perverse creatures, blood stained walls or horrifying environments, and the torture of the twisted residents of Silent Hill (Location). Silent Hill has always relied heavily on moving storytelling, and the stories told in each game are much more of a core element of the games rather than something hastily added to the graphics and gameplay. Unlike many game franchises, the Silent Hill games rarely make overt connections between its different installments, and there is no obvious overarching story that progresses through the sequels, though a variety of small and large connections can be made between the different games' plots.

Gameplay

Silent Hill has stayed close to the traditional survival horror game make-up which relies heavily on fixed camera angles and engrossing puzzles instead of fast paced combat. Melee combat or pure evasion of enemies have been dominant gameplay mechanics in all of the Silent Hill games, and in combat the available weaponry usually consists of more commonplace items such as baseball bats, golf clubs and metal pipes. As in most survival horror games, strategy, as well as item conservation, play a large role in Silent Hill, and both are concepts which complements the slower ace and thought-provoking storytelling. With the exception of Silent Hill 4: the Room, all of the games take place in the actual town of Silent Hill. The fourth game strayed slightly from the staple gameplay and location of the series in an attempt to innovate the franchise, but there are still strong connections to the eponymous town with in the plot. Early reviews praised the game for its first person elements and haunting settings, but it was eventually seen as a setback for the series when compared to the success of Resident Evil 4 (Game).

The fifth game of the franchise, Silent Hill: Homecoming, was developed by the American based team The Collective, that merged into Double Helix Games, instead of the usual Japanese development team Team Silent (Company). Homecoming was an attempt at returning to the original Silent Hill formula, but was at the same time attempting to advance the combat mechanics. This installment also gave the player the opportunity to select responses in conversations during certain encounters in the game.

Game Developers

The first four Silent Hill games were developed by Konami's Team Silent (Company), but after the completion of Silent Hill 4: The Room, the team dissolved and the members moved on to other projects. Akira Yamaoka (Person) was the only Team Silent member who continued with the franchise as the series' composer, but in 2009 he left Konami to join Grasshopper Manufacture. In response to the dissolution of Team Silent, Konami announced that they would appoint other companies to develop the succeeding Silent Hill titles, while they remain as publisher for the franchise. This was when Konami stopped numbering the newer games.

Silent Hill: Origins and Shattered Memories were developed by Climax, Silent Hill: Homecoming by Double Helix, and Silent Hill: Downpour by Vatra Games (Company). These new titles were not as well received as their predecessors and they continued to decline in sales and popularity. Many fans criticized these games for not having the same visual style and feel as the first four Silent Hill games.

Film Adaptations

Silent Hill

A movie adaptation of Silent Hill was released in 2006 and had Akira Yamaoka listed as one of the producers. The film incorporated elements from the first three games, but then remained closest to those of the first game. One major change was changing Harry Mason as a parent-figure for a female protagonist named Rose da Silva (played by Radha Mitchell). Christophe Gans, the movie director, stated that he felt that the Mother and Daughter relationship was more compelling than the father/daughter connection of the original game. English actor Sean Bean also stars in the movie.

The film received some praise for its visuals, but generally got mildly positive to bad reviews. In spite of this, it grossed quite well at the US box office, and is arguably considered one of the better examples of a video game film adaptation.

Silent Hill: Revelation 3D

A new Silent Hill movie is scheduled for release at some point during 2012, and it will once again feature both Radha Mitchell and Sean Bean. The game will however follow Heather Mason (Character), who will be portrayed by Adelaide Clemens and will mostly follow the events seen on Silent Hill 3.

Soundtracks

Apart from Silent Hill: Downpour (the upcoming installment in the series), for which the music will be composed by Dan Licht, all the music for all the previous titles in the Silent Hill franchise was composed by Akira Yamaoka (Person), in conjunction with a couple of guest composers and musicians for certain songs. However, while the soundtrack for the first two games was mainly composed of a series of short ambiance tracks and compositions, the remaining titles in the series were given a more thought-out approach, and they bear resemblances to actual movie soundtracks, bringing a more cinematic feel to the narrative of the game. Considering that the film adaptation had no original tracks made for it whatsoever, all of the music in the film was taken directly from the games, this could be seen as a successful attempt.

The music tracks in the first two Silent Hill games were mostly instrumental, but for Silent Hill 3 Akira wanted to incorporate vocals to the soundtrack. He wanted a female vocalist that had a sound comparable to that of Garbage and PJ Harvey. He flew to Los Angeles and auditioned about fifty candidates, until he heard the voice of Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Person). Mary Elizabeth has since worked with Akira on several other Silent Hill soundtracks, along with lyricist Joe Romersa.

The soundtrack compositions are varied and range from post-industrial to alternative rock, from pop to trip-hop.

SILENT HILL

Track No.	Title	Running Time
01	Silent Hill	02.51
02	All	01.32
03	The Wait	00.09
04	Until Death	00.51
05	Over	02.04
06	Devil's Lyric	01.26
07	Ris ing Sun	00.56
08	For All	02.39
09	Follow the Leader	00.52
10	Claw Finger	01.32
11	Hear Nothing	01.33
12	Children Kill	00.19
13	Killed By Death	01.25
14	Don't Cry	01.29
15	The Bitter Season	01.26
16	Moonchild	02.48
17	Never Again	01.01
18	Fear of the Dark	01.13
19	Halfday	00.38
20	Heaven Give Me Say	01.47
21	Far	01.14
22	I'll Kill You	02.52
23	My Justice for You	01.21
24	Devil's Lyric 2	00.25
25	Dead End	00.17
26	Ain't Gonn a Rain	01.12
27	Nothing Else	00.51
28	Alive	00.33
29	Never Again	00.45
30	Die	00.56
31	Never End. Never End. Never End	00.46
32	Down Time	01.38
33	Kill Angels	01.16
34	Only You	01.16
35	Not Tomorrow #1	00.48
36	Not Tomorrow #2	01.38
37	My Heaven	03.17
38	Tears of...	03.15
39	Killing Time	02.54
40	She	02.36
41	Esperandote (composed by Rika Munaraka)	06.26
42	Silent Hill (Other Side)	01.38
43	UFO Ending (bonus track) *	02.29
44	Untitled (bonus track) *	01.33

only available in special editions

SILENT HILL 2

Track No.	Title	Running Time
01	Theme of Laura	03.26
02	White Noiz	01.25
03	Forest	01.45
04	A World of Madness	01.49
05	Ordinary Vanity	01.41
06	Promise (reprise)	01.47
07	Ashes and Ghosts	03.10
08	Null Moon	02.52
09	Heaven't Night	02.06
10	A lone In the Town	02.21
11	The Darkness that Lurks	01.18
12	Angel's Thanatos	03.19
13	The Day of Night	01.39
14	Block Mind	01.14
15	Magdalene	01.54
16	Fermata In Mistoc Air	02.18
17	Prisonic Fairytale	01.56
18	Love Psalm	04.28
19	Silent Heaven	02.15
20	No One Loves You	01.34
21	The Reverse Mill	03.35
22	Laura Plays the Piano	01.57
23	Terror In the Depths of the Fog	04.33
24	True	03.09
25	Betrayal	02.32
26	Black Fairy	01.14
27	Theme of Laura (reprise)	01.53
28	Overdose Delusion	04.33
29	Pianissimo Epilogue	01.39
30	Promise	04.42
31	UFO Ending (bonus track) *	01.52

only available in special editions

SILENT HILL 3

Track No.	Title	Running Time
01	Lost Carol (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	00.37
02	You're Not Here (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	03.46
03	Float Up from Dream	01.22
04	End of Small Sanctuary	01.42
05	Breeze - In Monochrome Night	04.14
06	Sickness Unto Foolish Death	03.06
07	Clockwork Little Happiness	03.24
08	Please Love Me... Once More	01.54
09	A Stray Child	05.28
10	Innocent Moon	01.38
11	Maternal Heart	03.02
12	Letter: from the Lost Days (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	03.54
13	Dance with Night Wind	05.21
14	Never Forgive Me, Never Forget Me	02.19
15	Prayer	01.40
16	Walk On Vanity Ruins	02.44
17	I Want Love (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	02.45
18	Heads #2	01.13
19	Memory of the Waters	01.46
20	Rain of Blass Petals	03.39
21	Flower Crown of Poppy	02.13
22	Sun	01.47
23	Uneternal Sleep	01.00
24	Hometown (performed by Joe Romersa)	06.04
25	I Want Love (studio mix)	04.40
26	Rain of Brass Petals - Three Voices (bonus track remixed by Interlace) *	04.55

only available in special editions

SILENT HILL 4: THE ROOM

Disc ONE

Track No.	Title	Running Time
01	Tender Sugar (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	05.32
02	Waverer	02.54
03	Fortunate Sleep - No One Disturb Her Dead	02.07
04	Melancholy Requiem	03.53
05	Confinement	02.27
06	Drops of Silence	02.49
07	The Suicidal Clock Chime	01.10
08	Silent Circus	02.55
09	Traversing the Portals of Reality	02.03
10	Into the Depths of Self Discovery	02.55
11	Cradel of Forest (performed by Joe Romersa & Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	06.30
12	Resting Comfortably	00.51
13	Nightmarish Waltz	03.09
14	Pulsating Ambience	03.04
15	Your Rain (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	04.42
16	The Last Mariachi	01.37
17	Wounded Warsong	03.12
18	Underground Dawn - Never Come	02.11
19	Fever Child	02.28
20	Remodeling	02.54
21	Room of Angel (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	07.08
22	Waiting for You - Live at Heaven's Night (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	06.19

Disc TWO

Track No.	Title	Running Time
01	Ichikotsu	07.18
02	Tangin ( instrumental)	01.37
03	Hyoujou	08.47
04	Shozetsu	05.35
05	Shimonu ( instrumental)	02.19
06	Soujou	04.26
07	Fushou	04.38
08	Oushiki	07.07
09	Rankei	02.54
10	Banshiki	03.39
11	Shinsen	04.36
12	Kamimu	04.08

This second disc features mostly just in-game dialogue, which is something quite popular in Japan, and a trend that spreads across various game titles, as well as to anime.

SILENT HILL ZERO: ORIGINS

Track No.	Title	Running Time
01	Shot Down In Flames (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	03.59
02	Meltdown	03.13
03	Evil Appetite	02.05
04	Wrong Is Right	02.25
05	Not Tomorrow #3	01.42
06	Monster Daddy	02.26
07	King of Adiemus	02.28
08	Don't Abuse Me	01.39
09	Underworld #4	03.06
10	Acid Horse	02.10
11	O.R.T. (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	04.23
12	Insecticide	02.11
13	Raw Power	01.16
14	A Million Miles	01.31
15	Battle Drums	02.17
16	The Wicked End	02.17
17	Blow Back (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	03.13
18	Real Solution	02.55
19	The Healer	02.52
20	Snowblind	02.00
21	Behind the Wall of Sleep	02.19
22	Drowning	02.25
23	Murder Song "S"	03.04
24	Not Tomorrow #4	02.15
25	Theme of Sabre Dance	01.33
26	Hole In the Sky (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	04.10

SILENT HILL: HOMECOMING

Track No.	Title	Running Time
01	One More Soul to Call (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	06.05
02	Homecoming	02.51
03	Dead On Time	02.48
04	Cold Blood (theme of Josh)	03.13
05	Mellow	02.09
06	Old Friend (theme of Elle) (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	05.28
07	Witchcraft	03.57
08	Stillness In Shepherd's Glen	01.30
09	Soldier's Orders (theme of Alex) (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	04.55
10	Wandering	03.12
11	Shadows In Shepherd's Glen	02.16
12	Droning	01.27
13	Ghost Town	01.23
14	Hotel	02.02
15	Whispers	00.23
16	Sepulcher	03.49
17	Not Going that Way	00.14
18	Assault On the Police Station	02.28
19	Sewers	02.59
20	Hell Descent	04.27
21	Scarlet	04.12
22	Journey to Silent Hill (theme of Elle - instrumental)	06.27
23	Shores of Silent Hill	01.12
24	Dark Times	02.44
25	The Prison	05.26
26	Something Out There	02.09
27	Asphyxia	02.27
28	The New Order	02.55
29	Breakthrough	04.00
30	Underground Dawn #3	03.41
31	Amnion	02.24
32	The Sacred Line (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	04.40

SILENT HILL: SHATTERED MEMORIES

Track No.	Title	Running Time
01	Always On My Mind (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Person))	05:09
02	When You're Gone (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	03:11
03	Searching The Past	02:31
04	Selfish Thoughts	01:32
05	Creeping Distress	02:15
06	Hostility	01:55
07	Snow Driven	02:30
08	Hibernation	02:18
09	Devil's Laughter	01:52
10	Lost Truth	02:48
11	Angel's Scream	02:40
12	Another Warm Body	01:52
13	Forsaken Lullaby	01:52
14	Raw Shock	01:43
15	Lives Wasted Away	02:03
16	Blackest Friday	01:46
17	Endless Depths	01:30
18	Different Persons	02:30
19	Ice	03:00
20	Acceptance (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	04:04
21	Hell Frozen Rain (performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)	05:40