Silent Hill

Silent Hill (Japanese: サイレントヒル, Hepburn: Sairento Hiru) is a horror media franchise centered on a series of survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four main games—Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill 4: The Room—were developed by Team Silent, a development staff within the former Konami subsidiary Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo from 1999 to 2004.
The franchise is primarily set in the fictional town of Silent Hill, a place plagued by supernatural events, and follows various characters drawn to the town, where they encounter horrifying creatures, psychological torment, and mysteries tied to their own pasts.
The next three mainline games—Origins, Homecoming, and Downpour—were developed by other, mostly Western, developers and released between 2007 and 2012. The Silent Hill franchise has expanded to include various print pieces, two feature films, and spin-off video games. As of 2013, the game series has sold over 8.4 million copies worldwide. Since 2022, Konami has embarked on a series of projects in the series including games Silent Hill: The Short Message, the 2024 remake of Silent Hill 2, and the upcoming Silent Hill f, with various spin-offs releasing during the two periods.
Most games are set in the fictional American town of Silent Hill. The series is heavily influenced by the literary genre of psychological horror, with its player characters being mostly "everymen".
The first installment in the series follows Harry Mason as he searches for his missing adopted daughter in the mysterious New England town of Silent Hill. Stumbling upon a cult conducting a ritual to revive a deity it worships, Harry discovers his daughter's true origin. Multiple game endings are possible, depending on the in-game actions taken by the player. The game was released in 1999 for the PlayStation. In 2009, it became available for download from the European PlayStation Network store for the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable, and later, in the same year, from the North American PlayStation Network store.
The second installment in the series follows James Sunderland as he searches for his deceased wife in Silent Hill after receiving a letter from her, informing him that she is waiting for him there. After searching and exploring the mysterious town, he ultimately realizes the true nature of her death. The game was released in September 2001 for the PlayStation 2. An extended version of the game was released for the Xbox in December of the same year as Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams in North America and Silent Hill 2: Inner Fears in Europe, and for the PlayStation 2 in 2003 as Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut, with a port of Director's Cut to Microsoft Windows released in February 2003.
The third installment in the series follows a teenage girl named Heather as she becomes caught in a conflict within Silent Hill's cult and discovers her true origin. It was released in May 2003 for the PlayStation 2, with a port to Microsoft Windows released in October of the same year. Silent Hill 3 is a direct sequel to the first installment in the series.
The fourth installment in the series follows Henry Townshend, who finds himself locked in his apartment as strange phenomena begin to unfold around him and the other residents of the building. It was released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows, and it also marked the end of Team Silent's contributions to the series.
The fifth installment in the series is a prequel to Silent Hill that follows trucker Travis Grady, who becomes trapped in Silent Hill after rescuing a girl from a burning house. During his quest to discover the fate of the burned girl, he encounters characters from the first game and is forced to face his own past. It was developed by Climax Studios and released in 2007 for the PlayStation Portable, with a port for the PlayStation 2 released in 2008. This was also the first Silent Hill title developed outside Japan. It is known as Silent Hill Zero in Japan.
The sixth installment in the series follows Alex Shepherd, a soldier who has returned from a war overseas. Upon his arrival, Alex discovers that his father has gone missing, his mother has become catatonic, and no one can provide the whereabouts of his younger brother, Joshua. The game chronicles Alex's search to find his missing brother. It was developed by Double Helix Games and released in 2008 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and in 2009 for Microsoft Windows.
The seventh installment in the series follows Murphy Pendleton, a prisoner who becomes stranded in Silent Hill after his prison transport vehicle crashes. Announced in April 2010 and developed by Vatra Games for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the game was released on March 13, 2012. It is the only game in the series that can be played in stereoscopic 3D.
A new mainline game, entitled Silent Hill ƒ, was announced in October 2022. It is being developed by NeoBards Entertainment , with creative contributions from writer Ryukishi07, character designer "kera," and producer Motoi Okamoto. The game is set in the rural Japanese town of Ebisugaoka during the 1960s and follows high school student Shimizu Hinako. The story is being written by Ryukishi07, who also wrote the When They Cry visual novel series. It is in development for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Shattered Memories is a reimagining of the first installment, developed by Climax Studios for the Wii and released in December 2009, with ports for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable released in January 2010. The game retains the premise of the original—Harry Mason's quest to find his missing daughter in the American town of Silent Hill—but is set in what appears to be a different fictional universe, following a different plot, with characters from the first game appearing altered alongside new ones.
Gameplay takes place in two parts: a framing, first-person psychotherapy session with an unseen patient, and an over-the-shoulder perspective of Harry's journey through Silent Hill, which is periodically interrupted by environmental shifts where he is pursued by monsters.
Shattered Memories' gameplay focuses on the completion of psychological tests, which alter in-game elements in the first setting, and exploration, puzzle-solving, and monster evasion in the second setting. The game's developers avoided integrating combat into the second setting's gameplay, centering instead on a weaponless player character attempting to rescue himself from powerful opponents, as they considered this to be more fear-inducing. The game received generally positive reviews, with its graphics, storyline, voice acting, soundtrack, and use of the Wii Remote as the controller for the Wii version praised by reviewers. However, Shattered Memories' chase sequences were criticized by some reviewers, who deemed them potentially frustrating and short.
A remake of Silent Hill 2 was announced in October 2022 for the PlayStation 5 and PC. It will be a console exclusive on the PlayStation 5 for the first 12 months but will also be released for PC. Akira Yamaoka, the original composer, returned to write the score. The remake was released in October 2024.
Play Novel: Silent Hill is a visual novel adaptation of the original Silent Hill, released exclusively for the Game Boy Advance in Japan on March 21, 2001. It has been fan-translated into English.
Silent Hill (mobile game) is a mobile adaptation of the original Silent Hill. It was released in Japan for the FOMA phone on July 5, 2006, and for Java on January 17, 2007.
The Silent Hill Collection is a re-release of the first four mainline video games in the series for the PlayStation 2. The European release contains Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill 4: The Room, while the Japanese release also includes the first Silent Hill.
Silent Hill HD Collection is a high-definition re-release of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, featuring high-resolution visuals, new sounds, new voices, and Trophies/Achievements for both games. Silent Hill 2 includes the option to use both the old and new voices; however, Silent Hill 3 features only a new voice track, as the old voices were unavailable for legal reasons. Silent Hill 2 also features both the main scenario and the Born from a Wish sub-scenario, as seen in later re-releases such as the Director's Cut.
This collection marked the first time Silent Hill 3 was playable on an Xbox console. The collection received mixed to negative reviews due to severe issues with both games, such as significant framerate problems, lockups, and more. While the PlayStation 3 version was patched, the Xbox 360 patch was canceled, and Konami offered refunds to all Xbox 360 owners of the game.
Silent Hill: The Arcade is an arcade game that follows two characters, Eric and Tina, who have entered the town of Silent Hill and must battle monsters while uncovering the mystery behind Eric's nightmares about a girl and a steamship. The game has a multiplayer element, where each player can choose to be either Eric or Tina. A second player can join the game at any time.
Silent Hill: Orphan is a mobile game set in an abandoned orphanage, featuring first-person, point-and-click gameplay.
Silent Hill: The Escape is a mobile game released in Japan for the FOMA phone on December 19, 2007, and internationally for iOS in 2009. The goal of the game is to guide the player through ten stages by finding a key and opening the locked door. It is played from a first-person perspective. The game received mixed reviews due to its lack of storyline and poor execution.
Silent Hill: Orphan 2 is a mobile game and a sequel to Silent Hill: Orphan.
Silent Hill: Orphan 3 is a mobile game and a sequel to Silent Hill: Orphan 2.
Silent Hill: Book of Memories was released for the PlayStation Vita. Book of Memories utilizes an overhead isometric view, follows a different storyline, and features returning creatures from the series' fictional universe, as well as cooperative gameplay. The game is the first installment in the series to feature multiplayer gameplay, apart from The Arcade. According to series producer Tomm Hulett, Book of Memories' gameplay is largely different from that of previous installments, focusing on cooperative multiplayer action rather than traditional psychological horror.
During Sony Computer Entertainment's presentation at Gamescom 2014, an interactive teaser titled P.T. (initialism for "playable teaser") was released on the PlayStation Store for PlayStation 4. The teaser revealed a new Silent Hill game entitled Silent Hills, being developed by Kojima Productions using the Fox Engine, in collaboration with Hideo Kojima and film director Guillermo del Toro, featuring actor Norman Reedus. On September 1, Sony revealed during its pre-TGS press conference that P.T. had been downloaded over a million times and viewed over 30 million times across platforms. P.T. was pulled from the PlayStation Store and is no longer available for download. Numerous remakes of P.T. have emerged due to the game's extremely limited availability; it remains unavailable on the PlayStation Store and has since been blocked from running on the PlayStation 5.
An interactive media experience known as Silent Hill: Ascension was announced in October 2022. It was developed by Genvid Technologies, Bad Robot Games, and Behaviour Interactive. Silent Hill: Ascension is a Choose Your Own Adventure-style interactive game where viewers can vote on the direction of the story in real time, giving them agency in how the singular canon progresses, similar to other horror contemporaries such as Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and the 2020 continuation of Ben Drowned. The first episode was broadcast on October 31, 2023, serving as the "series premiere" of the interactive series. The series was broadcast daily at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT for "the next several months," with the last episode airing on April 24, 2024. The title won an Emmy for Outstanding Innovation In Emerging Media Programming in 2024.
Following messages from her friend Maya, Anita finds herself at a crumbling apartment block, infamous for rumors of suicides. Drawn inside, Anita soon finds her sense of reality shattered as she encounters bizarre, otherworldly spaces haunted by a twisted monster. Maya's message was clear—"can't leave til you find it"—but what is it that Anita is really looking for?
A new game, Silent Hill: Townfall, was announced in October 2022 with a reveal trailer. It will be developed by No Code and published by Annapurna Interactive.
Initially planned for release in November 1999 by publisher Com.x, a 70-page original graphic novel adaptation of the original game (ISBN: 978-1903286005) was written by Jon Murphy and penciled by Neil Googe. Com.X founder Eddie Deighton explained in 2008:
Googe was assigned six months to finish the full-color art for the graphic novel. Although it was completed and an advertisement was featured in a European catalog, the adaptation was never released by Konami. He took an experimental approach to the comic layout, but due to his inexperience and lack of planning at the time, he felt that not everything he tried worked.
The original plans for Silent Hill 3 were much different from what was eventually released. The story was initially intended to continue the "inner fears" concept used for James Sunderland, Angela Orosco, and Eddie Dombrowski in Silent Hill 2. However, due to the slower-than-expected sales of Silent Hill 2, Konami pushed Team Silent to turn the game into a more commercial arcade-style rail shooter spin-off. This plan was rejected by the team, but the process wasted much of the budget and development time for Silent Hill 3. At the time, Silent Hill 2 was also criticized online for not focusing on Alessa Gillespie and for having a different art style, characters, and creatures compared to the first game. As a result, Team Silent decided not to move forward with their original plans for Silent Hill 3. Instead, they chose to conclude the Alessa storyline from the original Silent Hill and tie up loose ends to appease fans. Not every member of Team Silent agreed with this decision, though Akihiro Imamura noted that they also did not want to use a similar template for two games in a row.
After Silent Hill 3 was released, Team Silent expressed interest in creating a sequel.[1] In reality, Silent Hill 3 and Silent Hill 4: The Room were developed around the same time, "almost simultaneously".Video Game News, Reviews, and Walkthroughs
Contrary to popular belief on the Internet, Silent Hill 4: The Room was always intended to be connected to the Silent Hill series, at least as a "spin-off." An interviewer once asked:
In response, Masashi Tsuboyama and Akira Yamaoka stated:
It is false to say that the original concept, Room 302, was a completely separate horror game unrelated to Silent Hill. For example, the notion that halfway through development, Room 302 was turned into Silent Hill 4, with developers merely sprinkling in some Silent Hill references late in the process, is incorrect. It is likely that before even 5-10% of the game's development, it was decided and finalized that Room 302 would be a proper Silent Hill game.
Some of the different gameplay mechanics and changes, such as using Room 302 as a hub world, were intentional because the developers wanted to focus on "change" and "new" elements. There is no evidence that features like invincible ghosts, the absence of a flashlight, or not visiting the town of Silent Hill for much of the game were due to Room 302 being a spin-off or the idea that "Silent Hill 4 was never meant to be a Silent Hill game." Similarly, the first half of Silent Hill 3 isn't set in the town of Silent Hill.
As Masashi Tsuboyama explained:
Confusion likely arises from an interview that said "*SH4 was not originally supposed to be a Silent Hill game."Interview with Akihiro Imamura and Akira Yamaoka (Game World) This probably refers to the very early stages of Room 302, when the developers were uncertain if they wanted Room 302 to be an official Silent Hill game. It likely does not refer to when the actual development of the Silent Hill 4 project seriously began.
Before Silent Hill: Origins was made, Team Silent was tasked with working on a fifth installment in the Silent Hill series, simply titled Silent Hill 5, with development starting as early as during Silent Hill 3. The game was delayed due to demand from fans who wanted proper closure for the first game. The planned story of Silent Hill 5 was to focus on a damaged human being summoned to Silent Hill for a specific reason. Akira Yamaoka described the story as "the darkest story we have come up with".
Another unique feature of the game was that it would start in Silent Hill as an everyday town with people going about their lives, which would slowly begin to rot away as players progressed through the game.
Before Climax Studios began working on what would later become Silent Hill: Origins, they originally pitched a different game idea to Konami in 2006. Intended to be a PlayStation 3 exclusive, the proposed game would have taken place in Arizona and starred a protagonist named Father Hector Santos. The priest would have utilized water, a major motif in the game, to perform "holy rites and rituals." The proposal never received a green light from Konami, and it was reimagined as an original title called Broken Covenant, but that too was eventually shelved.
The original plan for Silent Hill: Origins was to remake the original game for the PSP. However, after realizing how much work it would take to redo the graphics from the ground up, Climax Studios decided it would be better to create something new instead. In July 2019, Masahiro Ito of Team Silent was asked if he would be willing to work on a remake of the original game. He declined, stating, "It will take about 3 years to build that. And you only live once. So repeating the same thing is just only a waste of time. Also, I get bored easily."
When Silent Hill: Origins was being developed by the LA subsidiary of Climax Studios, it was originally conceived as a dark comedy inspired by the TV show Scrubs, using the RenderWare engine and an over-the-shoulder camera system. The game featured monsters such as the Straightjackets and Butcher, along with new creatures like the Miners, Afflicted, a wheelchair monster, Piercer, and Meat. Players could place barricades to protect themselves from threats. Instead of using a radio to alert the player of enemies, the initial version of the game employed a more visual cue: "chilled breath." If many enemies were nearby, the edges of the screen would freeze over. Much of the map was altered in the final version of the game. Locations included a burned, debilitated hotel, the Doyle Asylum for the mentally ill (which once housed Dahlia Gillespie), the Orphium movie theatre, a meat packing plant, catacombs, and the Order's lair.
The opening scene was similar to the final game's, except Travis Grady (modeled after Norman Reedus during development) pulls his truck over to stop Mister Twilight instead of Alessa. Mister Twilight flees at the sight of Alessa, who then transforms the town into its Fog World state. Travis loses consciousness and wakes up in a hospital room, trapped in the Otherworld. Alessa makes a deal with Travis: if he helps her obtain the Flauros, she will help him escape the town. Meanwhile, Michael Kaufmann, who works at the hospital, is studying a drug called White Claudia and believes it is linked to the strange events occurring in Silent Hill. Mister Twilight acts behind the scenes, manipulating events. Travis must navigate his way to the cult's lair, survive traps and otherworldly threats, and separate the Real World from the Otherworld. His plan succeeds, but it unleashes Alessa's nightmare upon the town. Mister Twilight is eventually revealed to be Michael Kaufmann. In a bad ending, Travis goes insane and becomes Pyramid Head.
Climax was not satisfied with the direction the game was going, citing mismanagement and fearing that it might be a disaster. The game was subsequently transferred and overhauled by Climax's UK studio.
WayForward Technologies, developers of Silent Hill: Book of Memories, worked on a series installment for the Nintendo DS in 2006. They developed a one-room prototype demo using the lead character and assets from Silent Hill 2 before the game was canceled.
Renegade Kid pitched their DS title Dementium: The Ward as a Silent Hill spin-off title. It was rejected by Konami for various reasons, including Konami not wanting to trust a small company with the Silent Hill license. Renegade Kid later pitched a modified version of Dementium II, which was also rejected, this time because Konami simply did not want to enter the DS space with a horror title at the time.
Silicon Knights announced the titles in production when the company ceased development in 2012. One of these games was called Silent Hill: The Box but later became known simply as The Box. This could have been the codename for the title after a publishing deal fell through, given the company's financial status. Some early conceptual screenshots from the game can be seen on the Silent Hill Memories website.
After creating Silent Hill: Origins, director Sam Barlow and his team at Climax Studios wanted to create a new Silent Hill game for the PSP. However, Silent Hill's US producer suggested developing a first-person shooter for the Nintendo Wii set in the universe of the series. Climax began a project called Brahms PD, a spin-off to the main franchise, featuring an amnesiac police detective searching for his partner as the protagonist. In addition to the shooting gameplay, the game was to include transition sequences featuring sessions with a police psychiatrist, making it "the world's first truly interactive psychological horror." This project did not receive Konami's approval and was ultimately abandoned.
Silent Hill: Cold Heart was the originally planned version of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. The game would have followed a female protagonist named Jessica Chambers, who decides to take a trip to visit her parents. However, she becomes trapped in an enormous snowstorm. To save herself, she follows an ambulance in hopes of finding a safe place, which leads her to suddenly end up in Silent Hill. Unlike Shattered Memories, where running is the only way to avoid enemies, Cold Heart would have retained the use of melee combat from previous games. These combat moments were intended to take advantage of the Wii controller to create a real and intense experience using improvised weapons.
In 2013, Masahiro Ito was involved in developing a direct sequel to Silent Hill 3. Ito was displeased with how the character Pyramid Head was used in later installments of the series and wanted to reintroduce the antagonist Valtiel. An opening scene in the Otherworld was envisioned, involving a baby carriage in which Valtiel would slaughter Pyramid Head. The game was eventually canceled, but as late as 2017, Ito stated that if he ever makes a new game, he would carry out his plan to kill Pyramid Head or simply not use him.
During Sony Computer Entertainment's presentation at Gamescom 2014, an interactive teaser titled P.T. (initialism for "playable teaser") was released on the PlayStation Store for PlayStation 4. The teaser revealed a new Silent Hill game entitled Silent Hills, being developed by Kojima Productions using the Fox Engine, in collaboration with Hideo Kojima and film director Guillermo del Toro, featuring actor Norman Reedus.
During the 2015 San Francisco Film Festival on April 26, del Toro revealed that he would no longer be involved in the project with Kojima, presumably due to Kojima leaving Konami. Konami later released a statement confirming Reedus's departure but clarified that the series would continue to be developed, with no mention of the current status of Silent Hills. Days later, Konami confirmed that Silent Hills was canceled but was open to future collaborations with Reedus and del Toro.
The cancellation of the game was met with significant backlash from fans, who later started a petition on Change.org asking for Konami to continue the project. The petition has received 194,651 signatures as of August 11, 2024.
Konami began soliciting pitches for new Silent Hill titles in 2018, including for an episodic series. Supermassive Games were among the developers to pitch a title, but Konami ultimately turned them down in favor of collaborating with Annapurna Interactive. Supermassive's Silent Hill proposal was repurposed as the framework for their Dark Pictures Anthology series.
Despite interest in the Silent Hill franchise within Konami, it remained dormant for years due to internal disagreements on the direction it should take. Motoi Okamoto, who left Entersphere in 2018, subsequently joined Konami and became the series producer in 2019. The film Return to Silent Hill, developed by Christophe Gans, ultimately served as the catalyst for Konami's decision to revitalize the brand.
During its absence, many independent and third-party horror games took inspiration from Silent Hill. Konami's staff, including Okamoto, felt they needed to reaffirm the core identity of the series to stand apart from other titles. They concluded that what makes Silent Hill unique is its embodiment of "true psychological horror," and chose to reboot Silent Hill 2 for that reason. Some staff members disagreed with this decision, lobbying instead to remake the first installment, which had previously been reimagined as Shattered Memories in 2009.
Konami originally reached out to HexaDrive about potentially porting the Silent Hill series to current-gen consoles, specifically Silent Hill 2, but HexaDrive opted to remake the game instead. Konami invited HexaDrive to a meeting around 2019, alongside several competing studios, asking them to create a pitch demo for a Silent Hill 2 remake. Ultimately, HexaDrive's proposal was turned down in favor of collaborating with Bloober Team.
HexaDrive later shared additional development with Konami for a PS5-exclusive Silent Hill spin-off titled Silent Hill: The Short Message.
In June 2022, in an interview with the French gaming website JeuxVideo.Com, Christophe Gans (director of the 2006 Silent Hill movie) confirmed that he had completed a script for a third Silent Hill film and was aiming for a 2023 release. He later reiterated this in an interview with JeuxActu, elaborating that the third film project would be part of a "relaunch" of the Silent Hill brand, accompanied by new video game.
In October, Gans spoke again about the upcoming relaunch and his third film, stating during an interview at the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival, "I know a bit about the [next Silent Hill game]. I work with Team Silent, the original creators. I work in collaboration with Konami," suggesting that members of the original development team, Team Silent, are involved with the upcoming game(s). On October 19, Konami released a video revealing a new film, Return to Silent Hill, and several new Silent Hill games: a Silent Hill 2 remake, Silent Hill: Townfall, and Silent Hill f. Both Akira Yamaoka and Masahiro Ito are confirmed to be returning for the Silent Hill 2 remake—Yamaoka as composer and Ito as the lead concept artist.
The plots of the installments in the Silent Hill series, except Shattered Memories and The Room, share a common setting: the foggy, rural American town of Silent Hill, which is a fictional location set in the northeastern United States. Some games specifically state the town as being located in Maine, whereas in the film, the town is set in West Virginia. The town in the first three games was inspired by the concept of a small town in America, as depicted by various media from different countries. While some of the development planning is more reminiscent of a Japanese village, indirect influence comes from two factual American towns in particular: Cushing, Maine and Snoqualmie, Washington. However, the town from the film series was inspired by Centralia, Pennsylvania. In Shattered Memories, Silent Hill is depicted as a heavily snow-covered town in the midst of a blizzard, while the events of The Room primarily occur in the fictional neighboring city of South Ashfield, with the player venturing to smaller locales around Silent Hill.
The series' player characters experience an occasional dark alteration of reality called the "Otherworld." In this reality, physical laws often do not apply, with varying forms but most frequently ones whose physical appearance is based on that of Silent Hill. Characters in the series experience delusions and encounter tangible symbols of elements from their unconscious minds, mental states, and innermost thoughts when present in it, manifested into the real world. The origin of these manifestations is a malevolent power native to Silent Hill, which materializes human thoughts; this force was formerly non-evil but was corrupted by certain events that occurred in the area.
Some recurring monsters include the Nurses, who appear in almost every Silent Hill game, typically due to the sexual frustration or health conditions many of the protagonists experience during the course of the game's events. Pyramid Head, another recurring monster who became the series mascot, has had his canon appearances contested. Robbie the Rabbit, an amusement park mascot, is another recurring figure. Additionally, a dog named Mira is featured in many joke endings. Another recurring plot trait in the Silent Hill series is a fictional religious cult known only as The Order. Certain members of the organization act as antagonists in most of the series' installments (such as Dahlia in the first and prequel, Claudia in 3, Walter in The Room, and Judge Holloway in Homecoming). The Order operates the "Wish House" (also called "Hope House"), an orphanage for poor and homeless children, run by a charity organization called the "Silent Hill Smile Support Society."
The religion followed by the Order is focused on the worship of a chief deity, named Samael in Origins but simply referred to as "God" in the previous games. The group's dogma is derived from a myth: the deity set out to create paradise but ran out of power during the process; she will someday be resurrected, thus becoming able to finally create paradise and save mankind. The town's cult repeatedly engages in illegal acts: ritual human sacrifices intended for the deity's resurrection, illegal drug trade, and the kidnapping and confinement of children in a facility to teach them its dogma through brainwashing, while presenting the facility as an orphanage. The series also features various religious items with magical properties, which appear widely throughout the games.
Three thematic elements consistently drive the narratives of Silent Hill games: the theme of a main protagonist depicted as an "everyman" (with the exception of Homecoming, where the protagonist is thought to be a soldier and the game's mechanics operate as such), and the everyman's quest, either a search for a missing loved one or a scenario where the protagonist wanders into the town apparently by accident but is actually being "summoned" by a spiritual force in the town.
Multiple endings are a staple of the series, with all installments featuring some, the realization of which often depends on in-game actions performed by the player. In all but three of the series' games, one of these endings is a joke ending in which the main protagonist encounters unidentified flying objects: there is no joke ending in Silent Hill 4: The Room, and the only joke ending in Downpour is a surprise party for the player featuring characters from previous installments of the franchise, with a similar joke ending in Book of Memories.
The installments in the Silent Hill series contain various forms of symbolism. The symbols are images, sounds, objects, creatures, or situations that represent concepts and facts, as well as the feelings, emotions, and mental states of the characters.
The installments in the Silent Hill series primarily use a third-person view, with occasional fixed camera angles. Visibility is often low due to the alternating fog and darkness. All of the series' player characters, except Henry Townshend of Silent Hill 4: The Room, are equipped with a flashlight and a portable device that warns the player of nearby monsters by emitting static. This device varies across the games: a transistor radio in Origins and the first three installments, a walkie-talkie in Homecoming and Downpour, and a mobile phone in Shattered Memories.
The player characters in every Silent Hill game have access to a variety of melee weapons and firearms, with Origins and Downpour also featuring rudimentary hand-to-hand combat. Shattered Memories is the sole exception; it is designed without combat and focuses on evading creatures. Another key feature of the series' gameplay is puzzle-solving, which often results in the acquisition of an item essential to advancing in the games.
The development of the Silent Hill series began in September 1996 with the creation of its first installment, Silent Hill. The game was created by Team Silent, a group of staff members within the Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo studio. The new owners of its parent company, Konami, aimed to produce a game that would be successful in the United States. For this reason, a Hollywood-like atmosphere was proposed. Despite the profit-oriented approach of the parent company, the developers of Silent Hill had significant artistic freedom because the game was still produced in the era of lower-budget 2D titles. Eventually, the development staff decided to ignore the limits of Konami's initial plan and to make Silent Hill a game that would appeal to the emotions of players instead.
The scenario for the first installment was created by director Keiichiro Toyama. The story of the second installment, Silent Hill 2, was conceived by CGI director Takayoshi Sato, who based it on the novel Crime and Punishment, with individual members of the team collaborating on the game's actual scenario. The main writing was done by Hiroyuki Owaku and Sato.
The first game, Silent Hill, utilizes real-time 3D environments. To mitigate the limitations of the hardware, developers extensively used fog and darkness to obscure the graphics.
Sato estimated the budget of the first installment at $3–5 million and Silent Hill 2's at $7–10 million. He said that the development team intended to make Silent Hill a masterpiece rather than a traditional sales-oriented game, opting for an engaging story that would persist over time—similar to successful literature.
The games are known to have drawn influence from media such as Jacob's Ladder, Phantoms, Session 9, Alien, Stephen King's The Mist, and the art of Francis Bacon, largely through cultivating a technique of inducing fear through more psychological levels of perception. Many sequences and tropes from these films share identical concepts. The films and television series of American filmmaker David Lynch are also acknowledged to have influenced Team Silent during the production of the initial games, especially Silent Hill 2.
Another major influence is Japanese horror, with comparisons made to classical Japanese Noh theatre and early 20th-century fiction writers, such as Edogawa Rampo. The town of Silent Hill is a small rural American town imagined by the creative team. It was based on Western literature and films, as well as on depictions of American towns in European and Russian culture. The version of the town from the film adaptations of the first and third games is loosely based on the central Pennsylvania town of Centralia.
The Order's religion is based on various characteristics of different religions, such as the origins of Christianity, Aztec rituals, Shinto shrines, as well as Japanese folklore. The names of gods in the organization's religion were conceived by Hiroyuki Owaku, but they have Aztec and Mayan motifs, as Owaku used pronunciations from these civilizations as a reference. Certain religious items appearing in the series were conceived by the team, and for others, various religions were used as a basis. The evil spirit-dispelling substance Aglaophotis, which appears in the first installment and Silent Hill 3, is based on a herb of similar name and nature in the Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism). The name of the talisman called the "Seal of Metatron" references the angel Metatron.
The installments in the Silent Hill series feature various sound effects, some of which are ambient, as well as periods of silence. These sound effects are designed to induce certain emotions and feelings in the player, such as urgency, discomfort, or a sense of psychological disturbance. According to the series' former sound director, Akira Yamaoka, atmosphere is a crucial element of the series, and without it, the series' production would have been impossible. The games also feature soundtracks scored by Yamaoka.
The musical pieces range in genre from industrial to trip hop to rock, with some tracks featuring vocals by voice actress Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. The music of Silent Hill 3 and Silent Hill 4 also includes performance and songwriting contributions from musician and voice actor Joe Romersa. Downpour and Book of Memories feature soundtracks scored by composer Daniel Licht; Downpour includes music in the industrial genre, with vocals by McGlynn as well as by Jonathan Davis of the band Korn.
The Silent Hill franchise has been praised for its graphics, atmosphere, and narrative. While the first three installments received critical acclaim, and the fourth game received general praise from critics, later games in the series were less well-received.
The first installment in the series, Silent Hill, received a positive response from critics upon its release and was commercially successful. It is considered a defining title in the survival horror genre, moving away from B movie horror elements toward a psychological style of horror that emphasizes atmosphere.
Silent Hill 2 received critical acclaim. It was named the fourteenth-best game on the PS2 by IGN, which noted that "it preserved most of the original game's what-might-be-out-there fear, but with major advances to the graphics and sound, the game was able to deliver a far more immersive, frightful, and compelling storyline". Silent Hill 2 is considered one of the best horror games of all time by many, as it features on several "best games ever" lists by critics.
Praise for Silent Hill 2 was particularly aimed at its dark, cerebral narrative and storytelling, its exploration and handling of mature themes and concepts such as mental illness and domestic abuse, its sound design and musical composition, and its atmospheric and frightening tone and direction. Additionally, the fear-inducing and tense gameplay, along with the graphics and the symbolic nature of the monster designs, contributed to its acclaim. Silent Hill 2 is widely considered to be the best installment in the Silent Hill series and is regarded by many as a masterpiece of the horror game genre.
Silent Hill 3 was well received by critics, especially for its presentation, including its environments, graphics, and audio, as well as the overall horror elements and themes continued from past installments. The game received praise for its story, which was a continuation of the first game's narrative.
In comparison to the previous three installments, Silent Hill 4: The Room received mostly positive reviews, though its reception was lower than that of its predecessors. Many reviewers disliked the increased emphasis on combat, which lessened the focus on the horror aspect of gameplay. However, the game was praised for its atmospheric tone and direction, sound design, graphics, and storyline. The changes from the series' conventions received mixed responses, varying from positive to negative. 1UP.com stated that Konami went "backwards" with this game, though reviewers such as GameSpot still praised the game's atmosphere.
Origins received positive reviews despite some criticism. It was praised for returning to the old gameplay formula—according to IGN, Origins does justice to the series as a whole. However, some critics pointed out the series' increasing predictability, with GameSpot stating that "this old fog needs to learn some new tricks".
Homecoming received mixed reviews. It was praised for its graphics and audio, but the horror and gameplay received mixed reactions. Some critics, such as GameSpot, felt that it lost "the psychological horror factor that the series is so well-known for". Some critics were harsher; IGN called the game a "letdown".
Shattered Memories received more positive reviews. GameSpot praised the game's effort at reinventing the first game's plot, rather than being a simple remake.
Downpour received mixed reviews. While certain critics praised the soundtrack and story elements, the game was criticized for "sluggish combat" and "occasional freezes".
HD Collection also received mixed reviews. Critics criticized the collection for many technical issues plaguing both games and the artistic changes made to the games. Book of Memories, while receiving mixed reviews, has been the least well-received game in the series, with most criticism regarding the game's shift in genre.
The Duffer Brothers have cited Silent Hill as an influence on their 2016 television show Stranger Things. They noted that it inspired the Upside Down, a parallel dimension in the series.
Print media of the Silent Hill franchise includes a series of comic book adaptations; the novels Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, and Silent Hill 3 by Sadamu Yamashita, which are novelizations of their eponymous video games; the guidebook Lost Memories; and the art book Drawing Block: Silent Hill 3 Program.
Spin-off video games based on the series include the arcade game Silent Hill: The Arcade and the mobile games Silent Hill: Orphan and Silent Hill: The Escape.
Konami has announced Silent Hill-themed pachinko machines, one in 2015 and another two titled Silent Hill: Return and Silent Hill: Escape in 2020.
Downloadable content for the video games Dead by Daylight and Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals was released in June 2020 and March 2021, respectively.
A film adaptation of the first game in the series, Silent Hill, was released in 2006. It was adapted and directed by French film director, producer, and writer Christophe Gans, who is a big fan of the Silent Hill game series.
A second film, titled Silent Hill: Revelation, written and directed by M. J. Bassett and based on Silent Hill 3, was released in 2012.
In a 2020 interview, Gans expressed interest in making a third film, stating that a script was being developed centered on puritanism. In October 2022, a sequel to the first film was announced to be in early development, referred to as Return to Silent Hill, with Gans returning to direct. This film will be based on Silent Hill 2.