Silent Hill 1

Mother of nearly a dozen sequels, Silent Hill is an established survival horror classic which has managed to thrive in an increasingly competitive horror market. By employing a unique fusion of exploration, puzzle-solving and combat, Silent Hill famously stood up to the dominant shooter of the time, Resident Evil, and asserted itself not as just another run of the mill shooter but a truly disturbing descent into madness.
We all know how it starts. The game begins with the protagonist, Harry Mason, stumbling dazed from a car crash and in a panicked search for his missing daughter. His attempts to save her only draw him deeper into the paralyzed town’s darkness. Throughout the course of the adventure, Mason is molested by a cast of nightmarish creatures, lost survivors and an ever-warping scenery; and eventually the bonds that hold the physical reality of the town itself begin to weaken, buckle, and finally, snap altogether.

 Silent Hill has an outstanding score and more. Never before has a soundtrack inspired so much sheer terror in video gaming. Yamaoka’s beautiful ambiance fills almost every step of the way, ranging from oppressive drone and ghostly soundscapes, to crushingly violent industrial. Its quiet moments are occasionally sad and melodic, but more usually an eerie drone, communicating a sense of desperate isolation. Coupled with the unstoppable advance of demonic legions and the ever-accelerating descent into Hell, the music is enough to push the player into a state of panic mid game – leaving them with even fewer precious chances of survival. Try playing the game by yourself, in the dark, with the music on full volume with your headphones. And just as if nothing had happened, the nightmare begins – again.