Konami may get a bad rap for having squandered the Silent Hill franchise in the years leading up to the recent series renaissance (which is set to culminate in both a big budget remake of Silent Hill 2 as well as a new Christophe Gans film), but there was a time when the company was criticized for releasing too much Silent Hill media in an attempt to keep the IP fresh in consumers’ minds.
While some of these franchise expansions were obvious cash-grabs, others experimented with the cursed town in ways that we’ve yet to see again. And in honor of the new Silent Hill experiences set to grace consoles and cinema screens in the upcoming year, today I’d like to look back on a collection of forgotten spin-offs from the 2000s that I think (mostly) deserve more love.
The idea of visual novel ports and primitive mobile game tie-ins might seem absurd to modern gamers, but this was actually standard practice for most popular gaming IPs throughout the 2000s. Main entries would be found exclusively on PC and home consoles, but franchises like Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil would also promote cheaper offerings through alternative media meant to appeal to die-hard fans in need of an extra fix.
With that in mind, the first Silent Hill spin-off I’d like to revisit is the Japanese exclusive Play Novel: Silent Hill, released for the Game Boy Advance back in 2001. Developed by WILL.co, the Play Novel was meant to tide gamers over while they anxiously awaited the release of SH2, making this odd mix of text puzzles and choose-your-own-adventure narrative the first interactive Silent Hill experience since the original game’s release.
Following in the footsteps of other (barely) interactive Play Novels from the time, the game functions like a low-res slideshow containing heavily compressed images and music from the PlayStation game as it retells that title’s narrative with the inclusion of occasional branching story paths.
Game. Play.
While the game features a couple of unique puzzles and incorporates several fun “what if” scenarios into the story, I’d argue that this is more of an oddity for die-hard fans rather than an essential experience. That being said, if you’re interested in trying out a weird little bit of retro storytelling, I’d highly recommend seeking out Toby Normoyle’s excellent fan translation of the first Silent Hill on a Nintendo console.
It would be six years before we’d see another attempt at a Silent Hill spin-off, but by then we’d get a whole bunch of them at once. From 2001 to 2007, the franchise had expanded into a multi-part saga that no longer had any affiliation with its original creators, and with the success of the Christophe Gans’ 2006 movie adaptation, Konami soon unleashed a whole new wave of licensed spin-offs meant to keep the series alive while they worked on the next big game.
The first of these 2007 releases would be Silent Hill: The Arcade, an ill-advised rail shooter that takes the House of the Dead approach of solving every problem with bullets instead of relying on the slow-burn puzzles and psychological horror that made the SH franchise iconic in the first place.
To be fair, this isn’t a bad game by any stretch of the imagination, functioning as a fun SH-themed novelty that even had members of Team Silent working on its poorly-voice-acted story (which followed a duo of college students who become trapped in the town after investigating a series of nightmares about a little girl and a steamship accident), but not even the excellent atmosphere could make up for the fact that this felt like an action-packed parody of the series.
That same year, we’d see another action-heavy shoot ‘em up in the form of Silent Hill: The Escape. Developed internally at Konami, Escape was a gimmicky dungeon crawler that barely bothered to come up with an original narrative to justify its repetitive gameplay. Again, in pure mechanical terms, this is not a bad game, only really stumbling due to its insistence on using motion controls for aiming, but the reduction of Silent Hill into an even more arcade-y experience than the actual Arcade makes this a disappointing venture despite the legitimately impressive sound and visuals.
Looks more like the film than the original games.
This “new” era of Silent Hill media was heavily criticized by fans, with even mainline releases like Homecoming and Origins (which I actually like) being lambasted by critics as poorly made reproductions of what was once a survival horror titan, but there was a certain European endeavor developed by Gamefederation Studio that I think shouldn’t be lumped in with the other ill-fated projects.
Released for mobile phones in November of 2007 (with a revised American version coming out a year later), Silent Hill: Orphan was a point ‘n click horror adventure that made brilliant use of tiny phone screens and number pads as it forced players to navigate the claustrophobic corridors of an abandoned orphanage.
Offering up complex puzzles, item collection and even monster battles, the gameplay here was actually reminiscent of the main series despite the obvious technical limitations of late 2000s phone hardware. However, the main attraction here was Orphan’s in-depth narrative, with the minimalistic story incorporating more nuance and genuine dread than any of the previous spin-offs combined.
Tackling uncomfortable subject matter like child abuse and even suicide, the game followed a group of survivors returning to their abandoned childhood home three decades after a mysterious event ended the lives of nearly all the residents of Sheppard’s Orphanage.
Featuring some clever bits of retro game design and even a handful of musical cues lifted from the main games, this was one of the best horror experiences you could have on your phone back in the day – and I’m clearly not the only one who thinks so. This odd little mobile experiment was so successful that it was soon turned into a trilogy, with the first follow-up releasing in 2008.
This looked amazing by 2007 phone game standards.
Appropriately titled Silent Hill: Orphan 2 (though it was also released as Silent Hill: Mobile 2 in some territories), the second game follows two parallel storylines as opposing survivors Lucas and Vincent attempt to escape Silent Hill’s infamous hospital. Featuring improved visuals and more complex puzzles, Orphan 2 was just as popular as its predecessor despite ending on an anti-climactic to-be-continued notice leading up to the third game.
Releasing in 2009, SH: Orphan 3 would be Konami’s last officially licensed Silent Hill spin-off – but it was also the very best. Boasting greatly improved graphics and interactivity (there was even a touch-screen enhanced version!), as well as a solid conclusion to the narrative arcs that preceded it, Orphan 3 proved that the patented Silent Hill formula of combining adventure game mechanics with psychological trauma can work fabulously well regardless of hardware limitations.
And with how easy it’s become to emulate pre-smartphone-era mobile games, I’d highly recommend seeking out the entire trilogy and emulating it on your phone in a dimly lit room. Trust me, even the first one manages to leave modern mobile games in the dust with its gloriously pixelated atmosphere.
In the year of our lord 2024, it seems unlikely that Konami will decide to fund a new wave of Silent Hill inspired spin-offs. While I always love it when smaller teams are given the chance to experiment with familiar IPs, I’m pretty sure that the time for retro mobile ports and flashy arcade tie-ins has come and gone. However, while we wait for new Silent Hill adventures to trap us in our restless dreams, I think both fans and developers would do well to look back on the more obscure side of the series history.
Hell, at least these games are better than the licensed Pachinko machines!