Silent Hill has been the name of my latest trend. I played the second game along time ago, and by played I mean embarrassingly clung to a friend of mine as he played and I squealed and squirmed at every noise in a dark room. For an unknown reason (perhaps a flaw in my design), even though I can watch any horror movie and be unphased, read almost any scary novel and emerge unshaken, even traverse the most horrific of haunted houses and be stoic and steady, I can't play a spooky game without turning into a frightened five year old. I still haven't beaten half-life (the first one) because I was too chicken-shit. Instead I bravely hid under my blanket on my bed as I watched my boyfriend work his way through my copy of the game. Silent Hill 2 was the very first horror game I ever saw; I somehow missed Alone in the Dark when I was growing up (or at least don't recall it), and it scarred me forever. Since seeing it, I have been unable to face others, even the most gentle ones, like Dead Rising.
I suppose I decided to conquer my fear, so my roommate and I have been acquiring as many of the different Silent Hill titles as possible, so far accumulating 5. The Xbox 360 one (Homecoming), the P.S.P. one (Origins), Silent Hill 3 (fortuitously discovered at Gamestop), Silent Hill 2 (kindly donated by one of my coworkers who no longer has a PS2), and our latest addition, the new Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.
I tried, oh how I tried, to play Origins (one of the 3 in the aforementioned list that are mine), and barely made any progress in the game, instead opting to hyperventilate and almost cry trying to get over a fear of nonexistent boogie-men in a virtual world as I sat there, headphones piping in the entire atmosphere of the game (which is very convincing in my 300 buck Sony headphones... ear orgasms I tell you. ear. orgasms.) in the dark of my room, cowering once more under my blankie. So, I decided to try again with Shattered Memories, and have made considerably more progress with this game. Something about the intuitive controls of the Wii makes me feel like I might have more control over the situation, but it also makes me more trepidatious. I've only encountered ghoulies once, and if the reviews online are to be taken as truth, then I am only in danger when the world "changes", unlike in most Silent Hill games. This gives me a bit more confidence in my exploring.
An interesting little tidbit about this game: It seems it builds a psychological profile about you as you play, by using "therapy sessions" to twist the game into a more tailored experience for you. I don't want to ruin anything if anyone reads this and hasn't played it yet, but the little things they do really mess with your head... in a good way. Silent Hill has always been more the psychological terror, and I think that is what makes it really effective. I played Resident Evil 5 (after much convincing), and seemed to conquer that one quite easily. It took more of a "House of the Dead" approach to the game style than, I have been told, the others in the series attempted. Maybe that is why I was able to actually beat it without going into hysterics.
I guess I'll just have to see what SH:SM has in store for me.
Meh.. maybe I'll update this blog about it in the future.. or maybe not.
I suppose I decided to conquer my fear, so my roommate and I have been acquiring as many of the different Silent Hill titles as possible, so far accumulating 5. The Xbox 360 one (Homecoming), the P.S.P. one (Origins), Silent Hill 3 (fortuitously discovered at Gamestop), Silent Hill 2 (kindly donated by one of my coworkers who no longer has a PS2), and our latest addition, the new Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.
I tried, oh how I tried, to play Origins (one of the 3 in the aforementioned list that are mine), and barely made any progress in the game, instead opting to hyperventilate and almost cry trying to get over a fear of nonexistent boogie-men in a virtual world as I sat there, headphones piping in the entire atmosphere of the game (which is very convincing in my 300 buck Sony headphones... ear orgasms I tell you. ear. orgasms.) in the dark of my room, cowering once more under my blankie. So, I decided to try again with Shattered Memories, and have made considerably more progress with this game. Something about the intuitive controls of the Wii makes me feel like I might have more control over the situation, but it also makes me more trepidatious. I've only encountered ghoulies once, and if the reviews online are to be taken as truth, then I am only in danger when the world "changes", unlike in most Silent Hill games. This gives me a bit more confidence in my exploring.
An interesting little tidbit about this game: It seems it builds a psychological profile about you as you play, by using "therapy sessions" to twist the game into a more tailored experience for you. I don't want to ruin anything if anyone reads this and hasn't played it yet, but the little things they do really mess with your head... in a good way. Silent Hill has always been more the psychological terror, and I think that is what makes it really effective. I played Resident Evil 5 (after much convincing), and seemed to conquer that one quite easily. It took more of a "House of the Dead" approach to the game style than, I have been told, the others in the series attempted. Maybe that is why I was able to actually beat it without going into hysterics.
I guess I'll just have to see what SH:SM has in store for me.
Meh.. maybe I'll update this blog about it in the future.. or maybe not.
SLATFATF
~Å~
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~Å~
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1 comment:
I'm the exact same way. No movie or book unnerves me in the slightest, but survival horror games freak me out. At least, they did back when I tried to play them. I haven't touched one in years, afraid that I'll be, well, afraid. I've had Silent Hill 2 sitting on my shelf for years, never finished. But I think I'll go for it again and maybe, just maybe, beat it for once.
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