Kairi QuirinoKonami, a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer has a long history of creating games that stand the test of time and have innovated the gaming world. Metal Gear revolutionized the stealth genre, while Castlevania inspired many young players to develop a genre of games dubbed Metroidvania. The studio rose to fame, becoming a well-recognized name worldwide. Soon enough, the general manager within Konami formed a team to create a game that would become a cult classic: Silent Hill.
Out With The Old & In With The New
The late 1990s was a period of change for the gaming industry. The 2D games became less favorable as 3D came about. Super Mario 64, Goldeneye 007, and more took the world by storm, showcasing the capabilities of a 3D environment. An entire 360 world could help expand several genres in ways unseen at the time. One genre that took advantage of the new technology was horror. The predecessor to this rise in horror genre is the game Resident Evil.
Resident Evil shaped the 3D horror landscape as we know it today. Players immersed themselves in a zombie-infested mansion while managing their resources. The game was a hit in Japan and USA, inspiring many studios to follow in the steps of Capcom. One studio seeking a game like Resident Evil was Konami.
Assembling Team Silent
Konami saw an opportunity to participate in the survival horror craze and form a team of developers in 1996 to take the chance of a lifetime. The horror team behind this title would be coined Team Silent. This team was spearheaded by Toyama Keiichiro, who served as director of the project. Toyama was still fresh at the company, working at Konami for only three years. Although uncertain about his role, Toyama and his team quickly researched what kind of horror they wanted to present.
Together, they shared music and watched horror films that would go on to inspire the game. To most people’s surprise, they derived a lot of inspiration from David Lynch’s films and Stephan King novels. Stephan King had so much influence in this process that Toyama seriously considered the game an adaptation of one of his novels. However, due to licensing issues that never came to fruition.
Brainstorming & Troubleshooting
From the beginning, Team Silent wanted to set the game in a rural American town, but none had yet to visit the country. So, the team asked for Konami for a trip to the United States but told them to wait for the perfect time. That ideal time would come in the form of a visit to the biggest gaming convention at the time: E3. Luckily, 1997’s E3 Expo occurred in Atlanta, GA, a state with plenty of rural towns. Toyama and his team took plenty of photos and videos as references to designing the town’s building and layout. All this research aided with the narrative of the game.
The story of Silent Hill follows a father named Harry Mason, who drives through the town with his daughter, Cheryl, in the back seat. A stranger walks up the road, which causes Harry to crash. Harry eventually awakens, with her daughter gone, missing in the town of Silent Hill. The plot derails into sanity, with the stranger revealed as Alessa, the soon-to-be birth giver of a God—the town’s Other World warping to represent Alessa’s trauma under disability after experimentations.
The game was in development for the PlayStation 1, and the processing power was limited. Team Silent needed to cut corners wherever possible to maintain the game’s playable state. One team member suggested surrounding the player in darkness, limiting their view, and therefore, the game didn’t need to load every asset at once. The idea of darkness restricting the player’s view changed into fog, a natural weather phenomenon that will forever be entwined with the Silent Hill franchise.
Development To Reveal
With the development now in full force, the artist focused on building the world of Silent Hill alongside its counterpart in The Other World. Toyama contributed heavily to mapping out plenty of levels in the Other World segments. The town was meticulously crafted by team members Takahashi Isao and Ito Masahiro. Both artists separated the workload of modeling Silent Hill. Takahashi would be responsible for the exterior levels, while Ito was in charge of the interiors.
Before long, it was the summer of 1998. It was time to showcase the game at E3. Even though 1998’s Konami booth was heavily marketing its upcoming title, Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill still left a mark in people’s minds. The FMVs (Full Motion Video) left a great impression on the attendees at the venue. Game journalists swarm the person behind the CGI cutscenes, Sato Takayoshi. The coverage of Silent Hill in magazines integrated readers. Particularly those in the West, who were excited to see something new in the gaming space.
Heading In The Quiet Town
After the continuous cover of small snippets of Silent Hill throughout 1998, Team Silent was in the late production stage. The team could now provide full-length demos to gaming magazines for review. Every publication had nothing but praise for Silent Hill. Several outlets claimed that it was the scariest game out at the time. Some even called the game the “Resident Evil Killer”. When the public got their hands on the game on February 23, 1999, in North America and a few months later across the globe, they understood why.
Silent Hill today is now well-recognized by many in the game industry as a cornerstone of inspiration for horror—a key example of how to portray the genre. The 1999 title became the groundwork for several series, spin-offs, remakes, and a feature film, with a second one on the way. Despite the team disbanding after the 4th mainline title in the series, the series marches on. The public consciousness will never forget their trip towards that quiet, foggy town: Silent Hill.
Works Cited
Richter, Jon. “The Complete History of Silent Hill.” Game Rant, 2 November 2021, https://gamerant.com/silent-hill-series-history-games-movies-pt-future/. Accessed 9 September 2024.
thegamingmuse. “The Making of Silent Hill | 25th Anniversary.” YouTube, 23 February 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoyMJSHW-jI. Accessed 9 September 2024.