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There is a thin line between good and bad horror. When you reach halfway through a game wondering when it will end is a good sign of general awfulness because lets be honest without the horror aspect most games of the genre are just boring walks through dingy abandoned buildings.

So what makes the best the best and the worst forgettable? It could be down to a number of things. Pacing, atmosphere but what becomes problematic is the issue of fear as not everyone is afraid of the same things (with the exception of clowns). To illustrate this it is good to look at Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill: Homecoming, two games of the same series where the former is much scarier than the latter despite the content remaining the same.

Both games feature copious amounts of fog, prolonged loneliness and bizarre nightmarish settings. Approach to horror differs slightly, ever so slightly, which is enough to turn Homecoming into a bog standard action game.

And Then There was Silence

The first time I ever played Silent Hill 2 I was too afraid to finish it. It had been a rental copy and I simply didn’t finish it within the week because the game creeped me out so much. I had to turn the background music off and play in a full lit room because it scared me so much.

I took a couple of years before I finally finished it. Even then I couldn’t play it alone. So then what made it scary for me? As mentioned above the sound was a major aspect or more simply the relative absence of sound. For the most part you’re wandering desolate streets surrounded by fog preventing you from seeing anything 20 foot away. The only source of noise happens to be your radio static except that also signals impending doom.

Near the start there is little worry – the only things you come across are the relatively weak leg mannequins. Naturally the stakes are raised when the static goes off in the presence of Pyramid Head. By associating him with the static you soon fear that noise.

At times when music does kick in the unique style amplifies the atmosphere. Tranquil and soothing music lulls you into a false sense of security which is then contrasted against harsh metallic sounds. In this case the serene symbolises the weird dream-like Silent Hill whilst the industrial sounds are the realisation that what you are stuck in is reality. This balance is essential for fear.

With Homecoming something went wrong in the music department. If Silent Hill 2 gracefully interweaved gameplay with music into a beautiful survival horror tapestry then Homecoming just ploughed straight through the tapestry and embedded itself in next doors bedroom.

The major issue with Homecoming’s music was the fact the music felt like an afterthought. The game was relatively noisy even with all the weapon fire and never gave you the feeling you were alone. In nightmare sections it sounded less like a descent into a nightmare world and much more like a trip to a handyman’s workshop.

This then leads onto another major point – cameras. Somewhere down the line developers decided to ditch the fixed camera angle for an over the shoulder third person camera. By doing so however it makes it harder to orchestrate horror moments as players have to be aware of their surroundings.

For Homecoming, as with many other games which utilise this camera, the simple way around this is to make a creature jump out to some loud noise, a jump scare. While this may catch you off guard anything that relies on them often lacks any real mood. A monster jumping out is no different to a target popping up in a shooting range.

Fixing the cameras is advantageous despite its limitations. Having a fixed camera means that your attention is drawn to points of interest making much easier to set up scares without the need for cutscenes or jump scares. Of particular note is the first encounter with Pyramid Head where the camera draws your attention to this dark figure on the other side of the bars. Because it makes you notice your expectations are built. Subtlety is important.   

On the other hand camera limitations can provide much of the atmosphere. When your radio is going off you know there is an enemy nearby not having a full view of the area makes you afraid. Afraid of the unknown, of which corner the monster is hiding. This works well with the enclosed areas in Silent Hill 2 with the camera adding to that sense of claustrophobia.

A final major difference between the two is also an obvious difference, weapons. Homecoming begins with you waking in a hospital roaming around in relative safety until you encounter a combat knife. Five minutes into the game and the game becomes about as terrifying as a Simpsons Halloween special. You can dodge blows and combo moves together to stun enemies. This just doesn’t work.

Giving the main character any technical ability with a weapon removes that sense of vulnerability. You become cocky thinking you can take on the world with your combat knife and the sad thing is the gameplay mechanics mean you can actually do that. With Silent Hill 2 you find a plank of wood. With a nail in it.

You can just about kill a leg mannequin though picking a fight with it can leave you a lot worse for wear. Cue the other enemies wielding 5 ft blades or even standard enemies such as the door monsters and you suddenly feel much more vulnerable. You fear for James’ life which is in your hands. You become so involved that if James dies you feel like you’re going to die.

These minor differences are all offshoots from an action orientated; gore obsessed gaming culture which is sadly damaging the genre. Homecoming plays more like torture porn especially the end Lair area which is essentially Hostel even right down to the saws and power drills.

But at the same time it is trying hard to be Silent Hill 2 through naming achievements after characters from it to appearances from Pyramid Head even though it has no relevance to the plot. If Silent Hill 2 evolved into Silent Hill Homecoming then what is to become of the horror genre.