Review: Silent Hill HD Collection | Video Games, Reviews, Features ...

The Silent Hill series began in 1999, with the release of the eponymous first game for the PlayStation. This was followed by Silent Hill 2 and 3 for the PlayStation 2 in 2001 and 2003 respectively. These latter titles are widely considered to be the two best in the series, creating the strongest atmosphere, and, in the case of Silent Hill 2 in particular, telling the most engaging story. In 2004, Silent Hill 4: The Room marked the last title to be developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. The title also made a number of deviations from the established Silent Hill style, not all of them beneficial. It was at this point that both critical and fan reaction to the series began to dip. With the release of the Silent Hill HD Collection, it seems as though Konami is looking to re-establish interest in the series by providing updated versions of the series? strongest entries. While for the most part, the games hold up to their original standards, but that doesn?t mean the games are without their problems.

As far as story goes, neither game has seen any changes, and this is perhaps the most telling thing about this collection: the best parts of the games are those that did not need to be changed.

In Silent Hill 2, James Sunderland arrives in Silent Hill to search for his wife, Mary. Though she has been dead for three years as of the game?s opening, James has nonetheless received a letter in what he knows to be her handwriting, telling him that she has gone to Silent Hill to wait for him. It isn?t a direct sequel to the plot of the first Silent Hill. Aside from the town, Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 have no plot elements in common, but it was nevertheless seen to be a very strong story at the time, and the years have not dulled it. James Sunderland really is an?every-man, a characteristic all Silent Hill games seek to embed into their characters but were most successful here. In other games in the series, there is generally something stopping the protagonist from leaving the town. In Silent Hill 2, no such physical barricade exists. James simply refuses to leave until he?s found his wife. It make him out to be a rather tragic figure, love-struck, but not to the point where he becomes completely unrelatable.? The strength of his characterization clearly shows, as now, eleven years later, he?s still just as interesting as he was when the game released.

Silent Hill 3, conversely, continues the story set out in the first game. The protagonist is Heather, the adopted daughter of Harry Mason, who was the protagonist in the first Silent Hill game. When Harry is killed, Heather resolves to go to Silent Hill to avenge him by killing the woman who had him murdered. The characterization and story here are not as strong as they are in Silent Hill 2 ? revenge as a motivation is not as immediately relatable as searching for a lost loved one. Heather?doesn?t?hold the same appeal as a protagonist that James does, and this is further exasperated by the return of the cult that was present in the first Silent Hill game. Given the nature of the town, the presented atmosphere, and the existence of the ?light? and ?dark? worlds, the attachment of a human element to the evil is not as engaging. The story of Silent Hill 3 still has some interesting elements, but they are not nearly on par with those of its predecessor.

As with every HD update that has been recently released, the most noticeable improvement made to the games is the upgrade in graphics. The textures have been improved to remove the jagged edges that are inherent in the age of the games, and the characters are much more detailed than they would be if you were to replay your old copies. It isn?t perfect, though. The age of Silent Hill 2 means there are some parts that just can?t be updated, and as a result, the game really shows its age. Silent Hill 3 fared much better, since the two years between the games? original releases did a lot for visual upgrades. It definitely looks the cleaner of the two, and a lot of the atmospheric elements translated better than those of Silent Hill 2. Overall, while both games look nicer, Silent Hill 3 definitely made the transition to HD better.

Silent Hill 2 was also given some audio tweaks, as those who played the original will remember that the voice acting was extremely sub-par, even for the time. New voice-overs give an extra element of life to the game, but the sound effects from the original version are still in play. This leads to a couple of weird inconsistencies, the most notable of which is James? breathing. It didn?t sound natural at the time, and alongside the newly recorded voices, it?s even more jarring. Silent Hill 3 was also given new voice-overs, but unlike Silent Hill 2, you don?t have the option of listening to the original voices. I also had a couple of problems with Silent Hill 3?s audio.?There?s an odd audio loop in places that definitely seems to be a backlash of reworking the game, and once or twice, the audio cut out completely. I haven?t found much report of this by other players, so it may have been an isolated incident, but it?s definitely worth keeping in mind.

Both games also have some performance issues. They are more noticeable in Silent Hill 3, which features more open, heavily monster-populated environments, but in both games, when there are a lot of enemies nearby, the frame-rate drops. It doesn?t render the game unplayable, and the performance certainly aren?t as bad as they were in the recently released Silent Hill: Downpour, but they are definitely present.

The two other glaring issues with the Silent Hill HD Collection are common problems within the series: poor combat and a bad camera. In both games, you have to use the R2 button (on the PlayStation 3) to ready your weapon, and then press X to swing or fire. It was always an awkward control method, and time hasn?t made it any better. This means that fleeing is generally a more viable option than fighting. In a way, it adds to the tense atmosphere created by the games, since you spend so much time running for your life, but it still doesn?t excuse anything. It?s also not helped by the use of the fixed camera. It?s generally positioned to give you the best (or in some cases most cinematic) view of the room you?re in, but it also means that you?ll often find that entering a room changes which way is forward, which will cause you to walk right back out of the room.

There?s something to be said about the fact that the best parts of these games is what remained unchanged: the story and atmosphere in both games is top-notch, and they?re better examples of the survival-horror genre than a lot of what has been released recently. The graphical upgrades mean the games are relevant again, but players will still be left facing the same problems the games had when they originally released. Overall though, these are excellent examples of the genre. Fans of the original games will definitely need to pick these up, and those who missed them the first time around should definitely give them a try.

Pros:

+ Excellent atmosphere

+ Well told stories, especially in Silent Hill 2

+ Improved voice acting for Silent Hill 2

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Cons:

- Poor combat

- Unwieldy camera

- Minor performance dips in both games

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The Silent Hill HD Collection was purchased for the PlayStation 3. It is also available for the Xbox 360. Both games were played to completion in roughly 7 hours. Based on research, the minor performance issues exist on both consoles. The audio problems seem to affect only a small portion of players.

Source: http://www.gamingsurvival.com/2012/03/25/review-silent-hill-hd-collection/

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