In an attempt to give people the "complete" experience of Silent Hill once people watch the movie, fans can get the anthology of Silent Hill games to compliment the experience. It’s not a cash-in. Honest.
As cinema-goers await Christophe Gans’ big screen interpretation of Silent Hill, Konami of Europe – the publisher of the renowned horror series – has announced it is to release The Silent Hill Collection: a special limited box-set featuring the three PlayStation 2 games that inspired the new movie.
Due for release in April to coincide with the Silent Hill movie’s debut, The Silent Hill Collection comprises Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill 4: The Room, offering a massive overview of the games that redefined the horror genre. Each game is linked to the mysterious town of Silent Hill, a mist-covered and deserted place where misshapen creatures lurk in the shadows and abandoned buildings. It was first visited in the PSOne title of the same name in 1999, before the three sequels made the leap to PlayStation 2 and added larger play areas and more grotesque imagery to the game.
Each Silent Hill title follows a central character inextricably linked to the town. In Silent Hill 2, James Sutherland is a man haunted by visions of his late wife who tells him in a dream to go there. However, James is involved in a car crash as he nears the town, and wakes to find his daughter no longer in the car. Silent Hill 3, however, begins with a young girl called Heather innocently shopping in a sprawling mall, only to find herself transported to Silent Hill for reasons to tied to her childhood. Silent Hill 4: The Room is a more claustrophobic entry to the series. A young man called Henry Townshend finds himself trapped in his apartment and unable to contact anyone outside. A large portal has also appeared in his bathroom and inevitably leads him to Silent Hill – and a terrifying plot that could see the town’s inhuman denizens invading our dimension.
The games all use a potent mix of puzzle-solving, exploration and combat elements, while beautifully-realised cut scenes reveal new twists in the plot as the mystery of Silent Hill is developed. The three games also boast unique elements, too, with Silent Hill 3 featuring the gradual transformation of the shopping mall into the rotting locations of the town, while Henry’s flat in Silent Hill 4: The Room is also affected by the grime and visible decay as the town’s evil seeps through the portal.
The Silent Hill Collection marks the first time the three games have been released together and is perfectly complemented by Christophe Gans’ realisation of the series. "The Silent Hill Collection is a stunning compilation of arguably the most ground-breaking and renowned horror games for PlayStation 2", commented Martin Schneider, European Marketing and PR Director for Konami of Europe. "With interest in the film certain to be huge, we felt it was right to remind fans of the gaming beginnings of the mysterious Silent Hill and to introduce the games to a new audience ready to enter at their own risk."
The Silent Hill Collection will be released for PlayStation 2 in April 2006, priced 44.95 Euros.
I note that the original Silent Hill game is somehow absent from the collection, despite the PS2’s "Backwards Compatability". Worrying, really.
