Silent Hill 2 Remake has been out for a while and, against what a lot of people expected, both critics and fans alike are saying it’s pretty good. Somehow, Konami and Bloober Team did an admirable job remaking this classic horror game.
So, with all of the hoopla, it was very predictable for some Silent Hill fans to hope and pray Konami would get to work on developing remakes for the other games in the franchise. I am not one of those fans because, as someone who’s played all of the canonical games in the series, some of them don’t really deserve a remake. With that in mind, let’s go check out and rank all of the canonical Silent Hill games that are out there, shall we?
I do have to clarify that, when I say, the “canonical” games, I mean the ones that follow the “survival horror” type of gameplay. This would exclude the mobile games like Silent Hill: Orphan and Silent Hill: Escape, dungeon crawlers like Silent Hill: Book of Memories, weird television hybrids like Silent Hill: Ascension as well as cancelled projects such as PT. I’m also not including Silent Hill: The Short Message because, one, I haven’t played it and, two, I don’t believe it’s a canonical entry anyways.
With that out of the way, let’s go start ranking!
In Silent Hill: Downpour, you take control of Murphy Pendleton, a criminal whose prison convoy gets wrecked near the titular town. He makes his escape and decides to find refuge in Silent Hill only to realize the town isn’t exactly going to offer any respite for those with a guilty conscience.
I will be honest and say the main reason why this is my lowest ranked Silent Hill game is because I have only the vaguest memories of playing it! In fact, I had my doubts if I played it at all for a good while. But while doing research for this list, I looked at some of Downpour’s cutscenes and endings and, yeah, I do remember these moments. I just don’t remember playing it! That’s a testament to how unremarkable Silent Hill: Downpour is!
While I don’t remember much from the game, I will say, after looking up what the story is, I will say Murphy’s tale, or the concept of his background, is interesting. The reason for his incarceration and his motivations for committing the crime which got him imprisoned, does tie into Downpour’s endings. Still, the mere fact I don’t remember anything about the story is proof that this entry in the Silent Hill series deserves to be left out in the rain.
In Silent Hill: Homecoming, you take control of Alex Shepard, a man who returns home to the town of Shepard’s Glen after serving in the Special Forces and finds that his father and brother are missing. Alex discovers that other children in the town are missing and, as the clues lead to the neighboring town of Silent Hill, decides to go there in the hopes of finding his other family members.
Unlike Downpour, I do remember some things about Homecoming and those memories are both good and bad… mostly bad. On the good side of things, I will say the storyline twist in Homecoming is pretty good. It’s not the greatest and, if you’re paying attention and you keep in mind that every Silent Hill game has a twist, you’ll probably figure it out.
On the bad side of things, this is the game where the series started to not feel like a Silent Hill game. The monster designs are just a mess and unmemorable. The combat also felt very stiff, which is weird because Alex is supposed to be a Special Forces member (hint, hint). The thing that really got to me was the change in the type of scares here. The horror came off more on the gore factor rather than the psychological type. As such, Homecoming isn’t all that terrifying, which is a big no-no in a Silent Hill game. Overall, this is just okay but a step down from the other entries in the series.
Silent Hill: Origins is a prequel to the original game and puts you in the shoes of Travis Grady, a trucker with a troubled past. During one of his shipping trips, he spotted a burning house and rescues the woman inside before collapsing. Years have passed since that event and Travis, realizing he’s near the town where he rescued the girl, decides to take a detour into the town to find out what happened to that woman.
Silent Hill: Origins was originally made for the PlayStation Portable and it definitely shows! It was eventually ported over to the PlayStation 2 but it retained all of the jank from the original version. Meaning the controls were clunky and the game was very short. The graphics were also a noticeable step down from the other Silent Hills games that came out on the PlayStation 2. The combat is also very weird as Travis main weapons are his fists! All of the other weapons have limited use as melee weapons will break after some time and you can’t find any ammo for your guns.
How much you enjoy Origins will be tied to how well you remember the first game. After all, it is a prequel so it’s practically giving you multiple opportunities to point at the screen and yell “I understood that reference!” If you didn’t play the original then the story is still fine but not mindblowing. Still, I will say, if Konami does decide to remake Origins, I can’t say I wouldn’t mind.
In Silent Hill 3, you take control of Heather Morris, a teenager who, during one trip to the local mall, runs into a private investigator who was hired to find both her and her father. After evading the PI, she runs into a woman named Claudia who says she has big plans for her. It’s after this point when Heather finds out how she’s tied to the town of Silent Hill.
That’s a pretty lame summary, isn’t it? Well, unfortunately, I have to keep things very vague as, in all honesty, the twist in Silent Hill 3 is pretty amazing. I can honestly say I was caught off guard by it and I rarely get surprised by twists! Speaking of things that are amazing, longtime Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka really outdone himself with the soundtrack in Silent Hill 3! Not only did he once again nail the atmospheric background music but he also added some songs with vocals this time around! And some of these some are legit bangers! Sure, they’re pretty emo but, if you’re feeling that way, songs like I Want Love and You’re Not Here hits perfectly with the mood.
While Silent Hill 3 is still an excellent survival horror game, I do have some big gripes with it. One, the game feels short. Not because it actually is but because you don’t get to explore a huge town here. Instead, the game is divided into sections, with the first major half set in one area and the second part in a rather closed off section of the titular town. Because of this, the pacing comes off as rather disjointed and slow. Unlike the other games in the series, Silent Hill 3 can be said to be an actual sequel to the first game. While Origins feels like it’s dropping Easter Eggs and references focused on the original, Silent Hill 3 is a continuation of that story. It’s still an excellent game but the other games I’m about to mention are just a tad bit better.
#3 Silent Hill
While driving with his adopted daughter Cheryl, Harry Mason swerves to avoid hitting a girl standing on the road. When he comes to, Harry discovers her daughter is missing and enters the foggy town of Silent Hill to find her.
It’s amazing to think the first Silent Hill was created because Konami decided to dump all of the people who weren’t working too well with other teams into one group. This team became Team Silent and, because the higher ups at Konami weren’t really focused on what these “losers” were making, Team Silent was given all the freedom in the world to develop a game they wanted, focusing more on psychological horror rather than visual horror. The result was the first Silent Hill game and it was a great game!
The story was unlike anything Western gamers were used to as, while there were monsters to fight and all of that, it was definitely more story focused, even giving us multiple endings depending on actions you’ve done throughout the game. While the controls do feel clunky by today’s standards, this was pretty normal during that era. I will say some of the “acting” comes off as really cheesy but, if you think of the game having more of a B-movie aesthetic, then it’s fine. The only real problem is the game does feel rather easy as most of the monsters don’t really cause you much trouble and you can avoid most fights in the streets.
Henry Townsend wakes up one morning in his apartment and finds himself trapped within. The door is chained tight and all of the windows are sealed shut. He tries calling for help but no one seems to hear his screams. Days later, a hole appears in one of the walls of his apartment and Henry crawls through it in hopes to finally escape his nightmare.
I know The Room is a divisive entry in the Silent Hill franchise as it does diverge from the classic Silent Hill formula. But, for me, it is one of the best games in the franchise precisely because it does change things up. It’s also one of the more disturbing games I’ve ever played as it does play into some of my own personal fears, such as being trapped in a room all by myself. The story is also pretty wacked out as, while it only has some superficial connections to the town, it still follows the same kind of insane “logic” the previous games have established, making me buy into it.
I also love how Henry’s apartment is supposed to be this safe haven at the start but, as the game progress, will start actively trying to kill you later on. Weapons and supplies are scarce and some enemies near the end of the game are essentially immortal so trying to kill them would just be a waste of time and valuable supplies. Speaking of the enemies, they are super freaky once you understand their symbolism.
Honestly, I love Silent Hill 4: The Room a lot but I just can’t put it on the top spot because, well, you know what’s taking the highest honors, right?
James Sunderland received a letter from his wife Mary. The letter says she’s waiting for him in the town of Silent Hill. The only problem is James remembers Mary dying from an illness a whole three years prior. Still, something drives him to see if Mary is indeed alive and he goes to Silent Hill to find out.
There’s a reason why Silent Hill 2 is fondly remembered by survival horror fans and that’s because it’s not only good, it’s fantastic! Team Silent did a great job in adding a lot of symbolism and psychological horror in the first game but, in Silent Hill 2, they truly outdone themselves. From the depressing and oppressive atmosphere to the monster designs down to the ultimate twist in the story, Silent Hill 2 surprised everyone who played it the first time. This was “Rated M for Mature” in all the right ways as it does take a mature mind to take these heavy topics and digest them in the proper way.
Sure, the combat is janky and not at all fluid. But what do you expect from an everyman such as James Sunderland? Some of the line readings and the dialogue can come off cheesy but it actually adds to the charm! There’s a reason why people were concerned about Konami deciding to Remake Silent Hill 2 and that’s because the original was almost perfect. People were worried they would tarnish the game’s memory. That’s how much stock fans such as myself have put in Silent Hill 2.
What are your ranking for the Silent Hill games? Let me know in the comments section below!
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