[Scarlett.]

Because the strange nurses are drawn to light like moths, so the lamp is important when you want to avoid them.

Light play

Despite the new technical achievemens and the fighting system, it won't change the basic direction of the series. If anyone hopes for a cheap "the zombie jump out at me from the closet in a nudie-shock-scene" they will be disappointed. The horror of Silent Hill is not on the screen, but rather mostly takes place in the player's head. True to the motto "the less one recognizes, the the scarier it is" the designers stregthen the shadows, that flit around before you. One of the most effective scare-factors of the series is of course also here, the typical Silent Hill dim lights, the many dark passages, in which one can hardly see more than the circle of light coming from your flashlightg, one worries not only about the uncomfortable feel of the isolation, but also the player worries about their concentration and is subject to shoch scenes.

In SH5 the horror uses not only your fear, but also the player's ears. If you can remember the unholy shambling in the tunnel in SH2 of the goose-skin-causing sirens, that announce the shift to the otherworld. Thank Dolby Digital aned the sick sounds of Akira Yamaoka which allow all kinds of dimensional effects and nerve shattering noises.

Looks the same, only better!

The designers oriented the visual form on the previous games, to stay true to Silennt Hill and also to opticallt transport the washed out colors, which remind one of a grey winter day. In the Otherworld, strong reds dominate and there is rust everytwhere. To have a cinematic flair, important scenes are shown with long camera shots. Through the freely moving camera and the turning on its axis to get the classic Silent Hill look, there is also of course the noise filter. What is new is that different situations use different filters. In this way, the optical elements and colors (such as blood red) are brought out strongly.

captions: Even in the Gully, you can't be sure if it's safe, because the monsters also hide in the water.

some of the doors really take some getting used to.

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.. with which one will send the baddies to hell, in not yet known. Wehope for a return to the zombie-steps of the past. If one likes the visually appealing fights, one should be happy about the possibility of grabbing and kicking around the monsters. The new fighting system is important, because the bizarre creatures and mosters in SH5 aren't very cuddly. One meets them in the foggy streets and and there are some familiar monstrosities, like the sick nurses) and numerous other horrors, whose design the word "sick" serves well. Expect creatures with skulls made out of blades, deformed hybrid hermaphrodite entities, which strange combinations of male and female features. Or an almost human creature covered with disgustingly pulsing blisters that spits out gas. These beasts aren't ust ugly, they're also clever, thanks to the new consle systems and the designers who used their artful intelligence. If you expect the monsters to flit by like in the older games, you'd better check your calculations. The creatures follow you mercilessly, through doors and then desist. This way the fighting varies and the designers promise more endings than in any other SH game.

Interactive Nightmare

A further deficiency in the previous games should be corrected in part 5, the interactivity with objects. In the other games, it's not possible to throw around tables and chairs. With the "havoc object physics" are these things now in the past. The chairs, closets and bottles aren't just scenery, they can be used purposefully in the game. Example: you need to go through a large witing room full of monsters. Instead of fighting your way through, you can make a distracting maneuver to get rid of the bizarre brutes and slip away unnoticed on your way. Similar actions can be done with lighs.

captions:
Did the creator want to express his love of bananas with this monster?

Fresh colors bring life to the room. Alex ferrets out the artist.

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When Konami announced that SH5 would be made by the American studio The Collective, William Oertel and his team were faced with worldwide distrust. The fans feared that an American team would stray from the series' feel or that they would bungle it entirely. We feel that these fears are unfounded, and the Oertel and his team will make sure that SH5 will meet the highest expectations.

New hero, new possibilities

The protagonists of the other games were always average, harmless types who were brought into nightmarish Silent Hill not entriely through their own doing. Instead of fighting with large mouthed monsters the players steer the weak and fearful characters through a world that has become insane. The battles go on crazily in the earlier episodes: , awkward, slow fighting with iron bars and bits of wood as well as pistols and shotguns, which is exactly what you ould expect from heroes like James of Harry. Things are a bit different with Alex. As a soldier, he is experienced with weapons and also with hand to hand combat like no SH-hero before. The combat system in this installment will be very different from that of the previous games, which is quite necessary for the series., since it hasn't changed much since the series' debut on the PSOne.

until the soup sprays!

To make the game more dynamic, the designers worked on a combat system that reminds one of a horror title from Sega (which was not released in Germany). Instead of awkwardly running around the area and beating on the monsters, you can grab the enemy or power up your hit power to hit them mightily, depending on your current weapon and the enemy you're homing in on, it also opens up new combo-possibilities.

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The only person who still means anything to him is his younger brother Jacob.

Catch 22

While the 22 year old soldier was taken into a military hospital due to a serious injury, he was tormented more and more by mysterious visions. He realized that his brother maybe in danger and he left the hospital for New England, more specifically, his hometown of Shepard's Glen. When he gets there, he is greeted with a picture of horror: his mother shivers on the floor and stammers, there is no trace of his father or brother. It's as if the fog covering Shephard's Glen has swallowed them whole.

Veterans of the series will notice already that Shepherd's Glen has, the tradition of the toilets and weird malls, is simply the opening point of a journey that leads once again to a "Special place." To a place, where one finds oneself, where our fear and demons claw with sharp claws through the insanity like stringy black oil dropping in our souls.

Be careful what you wish for!

In the 2005 Leipzig Games Convention a somewhat frustrated William Oertel gave an interview about SH Origins (PSP) and said he'd rather work on a Silent Hill for a newer console system, instead of simply a pocket-sized version of the series. Two years later his wish was fulfilled.

Thanks to Nur_ein_tier of the www.silenthill5.net forums