Silent Hill, Sony PlayStation, £39.99
The unfortunate Harry Mason regains consciousness and stumbles into Silent Hill in darkness. His young daughter Cheryl, with whom he had planned a holiday, has gone missing. It doesn't take Harry long to realise that Silent Hill is the last place on earth to spend any quality time, but he must find Cheryl.
This content of this action/horror adventure game from Konami ruffled a few feathers prior to its release. It is rated over-18, like most horror films - and the violence and certain images within the game justify that rating. While Resident Evil fans wait for the third instalment of that series, Silent Hill offers something to fans of the genre. Indeed, Resident Evil and now Silent Hill have an unusual selling point - scaring people into playing them. A fourth instalment is also expected from the Alone in the Dark series which was the pioneer of the horror genre. Silent Hill pulls out all the stops to make the player uneasy. Music gradually builds the tension before some creature jumps out from nowhere. A particularly nice touch for "dual shock" controllers enables the player to feel the thumping of Harry's heart. Electronic "fog" is often added to game graphics to conserve processing power by avoiding having to draw distant objects in detail. In Silent Hill, however, this is used extensively to prevent the player seeing very far. The limited visibility racks up the eerie atmosphere another notch.
To add even more tension, the player can tell when a creature of the night is in range, but it is impossible to know their whereabouts. As in Resident Evil there are items that must be found and puzzles to solve, but in Silent Hill the player doesn't get to pick up powerful weapons. With a very limited supply of ammo, running away is often wiser than confronting enemies. In the atmosphere the game creates, running away comes pretty naturally. It's thoroughly enjoyable, but certainly not for the squeamish.
Syphon Filter, Sony PlayStation, £39.99
GABE Logan and his partner Lian Xing have a lot on their plate. Terrorists are planning to unleash the deadly Syphon Filter virus on the US. They must be eliminated, of course, and the player is sent into action as Gabe. The story lines get worse but the game in general doesn't. Like lots of modern games Syphon Filter draws on other successful releases for inspiration. Tomb Raider has influenced more than its fair share, but while there are elements of it here, Syphon Filter is more inclined towards the recent classic Metal Gear Solid.
Gabe has certain objectives to complete in each mission. Lian Xing often makes a call and kindly adds a few more objectives to the list during missions. Just when it seems there is only one more objective, the dreaded call comes "Gabe go to the. . .". To be fair, it does make the game a little more exciting.
Among the more unusual weapons available is the taser, which electrocutes enemies. Alternatively, using the sniper rifle (as in Goldeneye) to pick them off at a distance can be very gratifying. The game encourages head shots to save ammunition, but this also demands more accuracy.
The playing environment is not purely static. In the subway, for instance, trains race by every few minutes. Subtle touches like this reveal how much thought has gone into the game.
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