Often ignored and pushed aside in the survival horror genre, Konami 's Silent Hill proves to be the true gem of the bunch, and its one true sleeper. In a genre dominated by Capcom, whose own mega-popular Dino Crisis series is surpassed (by far) in both critical and fanboy acclaim by the long-running Resident Evil series and its many tweaks and re-releases (Directors Cuts, Dual Shock versions, etc.), and where even sales leader Square comes in a distant second with its Parasite Eve series, what is poor Konami to do? Create possibly the best game of the genre, that's what. Sneaking in between the cracks of marketing-blinded game dealers and their legions of drone-like followers, Silent Hill was released to little or no acclaim, with little or no fanfare, and with a strictly average looking package.  Yet, it still managed to create quite a name for itself among hardcore survival horror gamers.

Unlike its more science fiction oriented cousins (Resident Evil, Parasite Eve, D2) or its more distantly related platform horror games (the Castlevania series, the horror/shooter hybrid House of the Dead), Silent Hill seems to stand alone in creating a more subdued, insidiously atmospheric and ultimately frightening gaming experience. Set up more like a 1970s European horror film than its sci-fi or slasher influenced cousins, Silent Hill shies away from the more obvious "boo!" effect and "terror of the visual" that dominates the genre, aiming instead for atmosphere, style, and occult-based instinctual shivers. This game is more about FEAR than any other survival horror, or for that matter, any other video game I can think of. 

Revolving around the average yuppie "hero" Harry Mason in his search for his missing daughter, Silent Hill features more hours of challenging, gooseflesh inducing gameplay in its single disc than the entire series of Resident Evil combined. Armed with only the most basic of weapons (a pistol which runs out of bullets all too quickly, a tire jack/lead pipe, a typically useless knife, and a flashlight) and a disturbingly low supply of health (an average fight with one monster can bring the wimpy Harry near to death - and that's not even talking about late-in-the-game boss types!), the daring gamer must lead Harry through a fog-enshrouded, apparently abandoned town, which is both strangely separated from the rest of the world (streets randomly end in giant crevasses, which you can not pass - effectively, you are trapped throughout the game, heightening the thick and heavy feeling of claustrophobia the game so masterfully induces) and infested with otherworldly, demonic monsters. And this is with a character that literally loses health when he falls off porches (which he does frequently, and with seeming relish and abandon)! Along the way, you meet a few (very few) residents of the town, all bizarre and more than a little creepy. Essentially, you're on your own here against dozens of monster dogs, flying demon-creatures, and later in the game some particularly chill-inducing demonic children, doctors, and knife-wielding nurses.

The first half of the game is spent wandering the streets of the eerily deserted, fog-enshrouded town of Silent Hill, slowly discovering the limitations of your ability to search, and for that matter, survive. Very gradually, as you find the many strange and hidden "shortcuts" that let you get around on the otherwise rather limited map, you will begin to find pieces to a puzzle you will not soon solve. The second half begins when you stumble across another, funhouse mirror version of the town during your sojurn through the schoolhouse, and this is where things REALLY get scary. 

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