Anyone who knows me knows how much I love the Silent Hill games — quite a lot, too, considering I am about to platinum Silent Hill f for a third time, just like I did with Silent Hill 2 Remake. These games are important not just to me, but to many horror fans, with many horror game developers pointing to the franchise as a key inspiration behind their scares.
In these horror games, not only are they similar to Silent Hill in terms of atmosphere over jumpscares, but they’ve also got similar story beats, emphasis on puzzles, and other gameplay mechanics. The inspiration clearly shows.
Plus, all of these games have the same thing in common: Silent Hill was their muse. In one way or another, this horrific series gave life to all these other entries.
While Silent Hill fans are being blessed with so much new and exciting content, players are looking for something to satisfy their craving until Townfall drops. These games would not only scratch the itch, but leave players on the hunt for more.
10 Visage
A P.T. Copy With Dizzying Puzzles
Visage was born from the ashes of the tragic loss of P.T., which Konami unceremoniously canceled over a decade ago. It was devastating, but Visage was there to pick up the pieces.
Not only is the game atmospheric and spooky, but the puzzles are so immensely difficult. You will genuinely be stuck for some time. There’s no context thrown in your direction, so you have to pick apart every single detail and figure out the solutions on your own — or just pull up a walkthrough.
But the ties to Silent Hill (or in this case, Silent Hills) are unmistakable. Being trapped inside a home with hostile entities crosses the first checkbox, but the game takes it a step further with the puzzles and limited gameplay, making players feel powerless as they creep around the dark corners.
It’s a wonderful “What If?” for those who wanted to get their hands on P.T., and hopefully, it won’t become a rarity on a PS4.
9 The Medium
They Even Got Akira Yamaoka Involved
When people think of Bloober Team’s games, the Silent Hill 2 Remake comes to mind front and centre, as well as their iconic horror titles — one of them being The Medium. In fact, The Medium is the reason why Konami agreed to let Bloober Team do the Silent Hill 2 Remake, since they were so impressed with the work.
Akira Yamaoka, the notorious sound designer for the Silent Hill games, also worked on the soundtrack for The Medium, really pushing those Silent Hill vibes to players worldwide. We just hope that they keep his music for the upcoming movie.
True to the title, you play as a Medium, between the spirit world and the real, material world, in a presentation that’s equal parts moody as it is disturbing. Not to mention, the gameplay is unique and really cool, especially as players are able to navigate both of these worlds at the same time.
If anything, this makes me wonder how they’re going to tackle this gameplay in the movie, while still capturing the awe-inspiring magic the game itself gave players.
8 Signalis
Have You Seen My Wife?
In an interview with VICE, the developers of Signalis made it very clear that Silent Hill 2 was a massive inspiration for the game, but at the same time, they wanted to carve their own identity out of these building blocks.
In Signalis, you play as a Replika (a clone, essentially) named Elster, looking for your wife. True to the Silent Hill 2 formula, everything starts to go wrong in this search, forcing players to delve into the characters’ psyche and traumas. It’s got the same ambiguity that Silent Hill is known for, but in space rather than anywhere on Earth.
And, continuing the Silent Hill 2 ties, the game shares many spoilers as its inspiration. The delivery of these themes, metaphors, and atmosphere is one-to-one with SH2, but it’s just as refreshing and impactful as it was on the PS2 in 2001.
It’s a genuinely gut-wrenching endeavor from start to finish, and it’s going to linger in the players’ minds for an exceptionally long time after beating it.
7 Cry of Fear
A SH-Flavoured Half-Life Mod
Cry of Fear is a Half-Life mod that’s set in Stockholm, Sweden, pulling a ton of influence from the classic Silent Hill games in New England. Some players even say that it’s essentially Scandanavian Silent Hill; yet, it’s a game that players either love or hate (especially due to its insane difficulty), a Cult Classic in every sense of the word.
The game, at its core, is about loneliness and isolation, and those are the exact themes that Silent Hill thrives on. It’s a deep dive into psychological turmoil, going over mental illness and trauma just like the classic Team Silent games had.
And, of course, there are puzzles — most of which are fine, but the Platforming one will frustrate you into pulling your own hair out of your scalp. Even still, the story is simple enough to follow, more than making up for the overly complicated gameplay.
It’s worth a shot, even if you end up not liking it.
6 Layers of Fear
Bloober Team’s Iconic Walking Sim
Another colossal reason that Bloober Team was selected for the Silent Hill 2 Remake was due to how they tackled the genre of psychological horror with their breakout hit, Layers of Fear. While the original games changed the horror genre, players wanting to experience it would have a better time with the 2023 Remake, which combines all the best aspects of the games so far, just with better graphics and mechanics.
In Layers of Fear, you play as a tortured artist trying to paint your Magnum Opus — but there is something deeply, mentally unwell with you. Your ending is determined based on your decisions throughout the game, leaving the artist’s fate in your hands.
Not to mention, Layers of Fear is the game that helped popularise the infamous walking simulators, especially in horror gaming. While players at the time complained about the simplistic, almost nonexistent gameplay, the rest of us who focus on story and experience will find that Bloober Team certainly knows how to handle psychological horror.
With such a good track record with horror games and remakes, it gives me so much hope for the original Silent Hill Remake.
5 Lost in Vivo
Have You Seen a Little Dog?
Perhaps the closest indie game that could capture the magic of the original Silent Hill, without a doubt, is Lost in Vivo. Except, instead of asking everyone if they’ve seen a little girl (just turned seven last month; short, black hair), you’re instead asking if they’ve seen your dog, who was swept away into the most cursed sewer system in the world.
Not only that, the description pegs Lost in Vivo as being “a game about claustrophobia,” and let me tell you, it absolutely is. I don’t even suffer from claustrophobia, but I was feeling it in these sewers.
The monster design is also reflective of the Silent Hill monsters, especially with its PS1-style graphics, with mouths where they shouldn’t be and horrific sound design. It’s outright terrifying.
It’s an incredible, horrifying game where you’ll find yourself hiding in the Pause Screen, especially when things start to feel even more suffocating than they had been.
4 Detention
Red Candle Games Knows Horror
Detention is a horror genre-hybrid, being both parts a horror game and platformer. While the gameplay is distinct, the tone and story pull a significant amount of inspiration from the Silent Hill games, and Red Candle Games doesn’t shy away from that fact.
Taking place at Greenwood High School (those of you who live with me in Greenwood, Indiana, it’s not the same) during the White Terror in 1950s Taiwan, the game is packed to the brim with ambience and terror. Pulling from ancient, societal fears and folklore, this historical horror is equal parts eye-opening as it is terrifying.
Silent Hill has consistently contained commentary on societies and their fears, especially if it pertains to religion, and Detention captures that exact same vibe with ease. Yet, it’s an entirely unique story, concept, and experience.
If you were a fan of the classic Silent Hill games, Detention is going to easily creep its way up to your Peak List.
3 The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
Chew On It Until the Silent Hill Remake
The Dark Pictures Anthology is a collection of Choose Your Own Adventure horror games, with each title in the series being a complete, stand-alone story. Of all the different games, however, Little Hope is clearly the most inspired by the Silent Hill games.
Little Hope takes place in a creepy, abandoned, and desolate town by the same name, thick with fog and monsters. Surely, this sounds familiar — but in Little Hope, your decisions have a far heavier impact on your experience than simply changing the ending. Who lives, who dies, who leaves horrifically scarred and traumatised; that’s all in your hands.
Plus, the town of Little Hope has a shattered, dark past, brimming with secrets and evil waiting to be discovered, just like in the Silent Hill games. Between the atmosphere and characters, the suspense can be cut like cold butter with a warm knife, especially since you won’t get a solid look at the monsters for a while.
You don’t have to play any of the other Dark Pictures games in order to get the full picture, but if this is your first one in the series, you’ve been spoiled with one of the best entries.
2 Hollowbody
All Classic Inspired
Many horror games take inspiration from the classics, but none take it in Silent Hill’s direction as fast and as intensely as Hollowbody does. While it’s not in New England, it takes place in England itself — complete with dreary weather and darkness in the streets.
Plus, the entire environment is a big puzzle, requiring players to solve each one in order to progress, similar to the Silent Hill games separating their levels by puzzles. Describing itself as tech-noir, it takes on a more distinct vibe, making Silent Hill seem like a clear inspiration rather than a foundation.
Not only does it have the survival horror staples such as fixed camera angles and inventory management, but fear is seeping into every corner of the fictional depiction of London. It’s like a futuristic Silent Hill in that regard, but it’s still grounded.
If nothing else, that soundtrack was clearly Akira Yamaoka-inspired.
1 Siren
Made by the Same Director
Siren (also known as Forbidden Siren in the PAL region) was created by the same director as the first Silent Hill game, but takes place in Japan. In a sense, it’s Silent Hill f before Silent Hill f was born. Is it cheating if it’s the same director? Probably, but it’s so good I don’t care.
Siren revolves around a group of characters as their town is overrun with monsters and thick fog, but with a unique twist through the Sight-Jacking mechanic, which lets you see through other peoples’ eyes. This will reveal secrets and hidden details that didn’t otherwise exist, and it’s genuinely cool to see (no pun intended).
Atmospheric, moody, dark and disturbing, Siren hits several Silent Hill staples, such as the puzzles and emphasis on the characters and story. Just don’t get frustrated with the intense amount of trial-and-error, but the scares make it well worth it.
It’s the pinnacle of J-Horror, setting the foundation that Silent Hill f clearly takes inspiration from in return. It’s a beautiful circle of life and creativity, continuously inspiring the horror genre and everyone who plays it.
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Author: 360 Technology Group
