ESRB rating: Mature - Blood and Gore, Violence
Awards:
Best PlayStation 2 Game of 2010 (Silent Hill: Shattered Memories)
Description:
You are Harry Mason, father of a little girl named Cheryl. You start the game in your car, at night, heading out on vacation. In the dark you see a girl in the road and swerve to miss her, crashing your car. When you wake up your daughter is missing.
The rest of the game is spent investigating the town you have arrived in - Silent Hill - trying to find your daughter.
Each edition of Silent Hill involves new characters that somehow tie back to the town and, in some cases, Cheryl and her father. The popularity of the Silent Hill series is in part due to the complexity and richness of the storyline, which requires players to get deeply involved in the psychology of their character. Specifically, in Wired’s 15 Most Influential Games of the Decade list, writer Chris Kohler credited Silent Hill with tackling taboo subjects rather than just relying on cheap scares.
You are Harry Mason, father of a little girl named Cheryl. You start the game in your car, at night, heading out on vacation. In the dark you see a girl in the road and swerve to miss her, crashing your car. When you wake up your daughter is missing.
The rest of the game is spent investigating the town you have arrived in - Silent Hill - trying to find your daughter.
Each edition of Silent Hill involves new characters that somehow tie back to the town and, in some cases, Cheryl and her father. The popularity of the Silent Hill series is in part due to the complexity and richness of the storyline, which requires players to get deeply involved in the psychology of their character. Specifically, in Wired’s 15 Most Influential Games of the Decade list, writer Chris Kohler credited Silent Hill with tackling taboo subjects rather than just relying on cheap scares.
Trailer:
Why the library should carry it:
I was recently on a streetcar when I overheard a little boy (who seemed to be around four- or five-years-old) talking about a video game he plays with his mom. He was saying that in the game he has to shoot zombies: "...but they aren't real people so it's OK," he said. He also made note that his mom is really good at shooting zombies.
This exchange shows that very young children are able to tell the difference between values in reality and those in fictional video games. It also indicates that they are able to handle games that are sometimes deemed too scary for little kids.
I was recently on a streetcar when I overheard a little boy (who seemed to be around four- or five-years-old) talking about a video game he plays with his mom. He was saying that in the game he has to shoot zombies: "...but they aren't real people so it's OK," he said. He also made note that his mom is really good at shooting zombies.
This exchange shows that very young children are able to tell the difference between values in reality and those in fictional video games. It also indicates that they are able to handle games that are sometimes deemed too scary for little kids.
As The Telegraph’s Tom Hoggins notes: "In games where violence is more central to the gameplay mechanism rather than a throw-away element, killing often sparks a sense of revulsion in the gamer. This is especially true in videogames where your decisions dictate the story of the character you are playing. Senseless killing is rarely the gamer's purpose, or his best course of action."
Silent Hill isn’t just about running around and shooting weird creatures, either. It is a highly crafted game that pays attention to cinematography and uses filmic techniques to heighten suspense. Unlike other more gore-focused horror games, Silent Hill also contains a number of detailed puzzles, including lining up Shakespeare stories in a book store.
