Highlights

• Silent Hill pioneered psychological terror in horror games with gripping narratives and innovative monster design, captivating new players.
• The series is on hiatus, with canceled projects leaving fans uncertain about its revival. Recent releases have fallen short of expectations.
• Silent Hill 2 stands out as the best entry, pushing the survival horror genre to new levels with its disturbing narrative and creature design.

Genuinely terrifying horror games are few and far between, but Silent Hill was one of the first franchises to keep people awake with its psychological terror stemming from the gripping narratives and innovative monster design present in each entry. The early entries are timeless classics still being discovered by legions of new gamers.

The series is currently on hiatus after Konami canceled the promising Silent Hills, a collaboration between famed horror director Guillermo del Toro and Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima. While a revival isn't in sight, let's take the opportunity to look back on the series by ranking all games from the worst game in the series to the best Silent Hill game.

Updated on April 16, 2024, by Jason Wojnar: Konami does not make it easy for fans of their storied series like Metal Gear, Castlevania, and Silent Hill. It seems like the company is making some real moves to bring back the latter, but it is too early to know if the upcoming projects will really bring Silent Hill back from the brink of oblivion. The updated version of this list includes a couple of the recently released projects from this attempted comeback. If the recent releases are any indication of the future, fans have reason to be worried. However, it just takes one great new game for the series to really turn around.

15 Silent Hill: Ascension

• Release: 2023
• Developer: Genvid
• Platform: IOS

Being the first of several returning Silent Hill projects, it is easy to say that this proposed renaissance did not come out of the gate swinging. Silent Hill: Ascension is a streaming event where viewers' votes influence the way the plot unfolds. Overall reception has been negative, with many wondering why the series even takes place within the Silent Hill continuity.

It is a novel idea, but the frequency of episodes makes it hard to believe that choices really matter that much. If anything, the decisions will not come to fruition until later on down the line. Ultimately, it is one more lackluster piece of Silent Hill media to add to the pile.

14 Silent Hill: The Short Message

Metacritic Score: 52

In the spirit of P.T., Silent Hill: The Short Message was announced at a Sony State Of Play and quickly released at the same time. As the name implies, The Short Message is a quick horror experience that mostly revolves around a growing narrative and a few quick puzzles.

Players will not find intense combat encounters or labyrinthine maps like in the older games. Its story tries to go back to the roots of the series as it explores similar themes of psyhchological trauma and guilt that older games like Silent Hill 2 tackled. It is difficult to complain about a free game, but it is also impossible not to compare it to P.T., a standard that, by all accounts, it fails to live up to.

13 Silent Hill: Book Of Memories

Metacritic Score: 58

• Release Date: 2012
• Developer: WayForward Technologies
• Platforms: PlayStation Vita

If Book of Memories hadn't been Silent Hill, it might not have been as big of a success. A dungeon crawler for the PS Vita wasn't what people wanted from the survival horror series. While most appreciated the nods to the franchise's history, many felt the gameplay lacking when compared to its contemporaries in the genre.

It is also by far the longest Silent Hill game, so anybody prepared to leap better strap in for a lengthy experience. In terms of popular franchises spanning more than two decades, one could do a lot worse than the weakest game in the series. Fortunately, it is all uphill from here.

12 Silent Hill: Downpour (2012)

Metacritic Score: 64

• Release Date: 2012
• Developer: Vatra Games
• Platforms: Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3

After a couple of entries took the series slightly off track, Downpour tried its best to recapture some of what made the classics so iconic. Most reviewers acknowledged this effort, praising the more open areas encouraging exploration, but lobbied complaints at other facets of its design like combat, enemies, and performance.

While it managed to succeed in one area, it failed where the originals soared above expectations. Silent Hill 2 and 3 were particularly masterful games in terms of technical performance and Dounpour's frame rate is poor enough to interfere with players' enjoyment.

11 Silent Hill HD Collection (XBOX 360)

Metacritic Score: 69

• Release Date: 2012
• Developer: Hijinx Studios
• Platforms: Xbox 360

The next entry goes into further detail regarding the collection's problems, but it is worth noting that the Xbox 360 version never received any post-release patches to address any of the issues. Anyone who played the PS3 version is probably in bewilderment at how much worse this port can actually get.

Konami dropped the bomb twice on significant HD collections. The remaster of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner on the PS3 was so bad that another studio had to fix it. At least the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection from around the same time was a prime example of how to do a remaster correctly. That remaster was done by Bluepoint Games, who went on to remake Demon's Souls.

As sad as it is to read about this port's poor release, Xbox 360 owners at least had other great horror games to choose from, like Condemned, Dead Rising, and Left 4 Dead

10 Silent Hill HD Collection

Metacritic Score: 70

• Release Date: 2012
• Developer: Hijinx Studios
• Platforms: PlayStation 3

While a compilation, it deserves to mention how wrong porting old games to modern hardware can go. Silent Hill 2 and 3 manage to run significantly worse on the PS3 and Xbox 360 than on their original platforms. The developers received an incomplete source code, meaning bugs fished out and fixed by the original developers were once again present.

With the limited development time available to them, there was no way for them to fix all the flaws, leading to the compromised final release. Even after patches, the HD collection is largely inferior to the original versions. One should only play it if they have absolutely no alternative. Unfortunately, it is not so easy to grab older copies and play them in an optimal manner, since they all come from the pre-HD era.

9 Silent Hill: Homecoming

Metacritic Score: 70

• Release Date: 2008
• Developer: Double Helix Games
• Platforms: Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3

Silent Hill: Homecoming was Double Helix Games' first project and the first mainline entry in the franchise to be tackled by a Western developer. The results were mostly positive.

Though it didn't rack up magnificent scores, it did decent enough to prove a non-Japanese developer could handle the property. It was also the first in the series to feature a fully controllable camera. Some violent scenes caused the game's delay in certain territories due to the offending sequences needing edits.

8 Silent Hill 4: The Room

Metacritic Score: 76

The fourth numbered entry in the franchise was a large departure for the series. Though it bears the franchise's name, it doesn't actually take place in the titular town. Additionally, the gameplay puts a larger focus on combat rather than puzzle-solving.

Don't mistake it for an action game, however, since the world is still brimming with tension and unease. This change in direction was appreciated by some and loathed by others. Though far from the most celebrated entry on the PS2, one could do a lot worse when it comes to horror games on the console.

7 Silent Hill: Origins

Metacritic Score: 78

The prequel to the first game marked the first time a game directly connected with another's events. Translating popular franchises to Sony's first handheld was difficult, considering the PSP's single analog stick, but Origins did its darnedest to make it work.

Most reviewers were pleased with how it handled the property on a portable device, though some pointed out several faults in the combat. The story, on the other hand, was praised as a treat for fans of the series due to its connections to the premier entry.

6 Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Metacritic Score: 79

Shattered Memories' main draws were the questions and tests taken in a doctor's office between chapters. The player's answers and performance in these sections would affect the following chapter.

This was the most praised aspect of its design, along with its utilization of the Nintendo Wii's motion controls, something which many third-party developers never quite got right. The low sales number prompted a PS2 and PSP port, which removed the motion controls while keeping the rest of the experience intact.

5 Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams

Metacritic Score: 84

• Release Date: 2001
• Developer: Konami
• Platforms: Xbox

The Xbox was more powerful on paper than the PS2, yet certain games ran notably worse on Microsoft's debut console. Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams looks smoother, but some of the effects take a step down. As explained by John Linneman of Digital Foundry, the Xbox version suffers from worse fog effects, CG cinematics downgraded from 60 frames per second to 30, and lower audio quality.

The light from James' flashlight is more impressive, however. Ultimately, one should stick with the PS2 version. The PC release has similar issues, but at least fan patches remedy some of these. Though it is not the ideal way to play Silent Hill 2, it is still infinitely better than the version found on the HD Collection.

This is not the only case of a video game performing worse on the Xbox versus the PS2 despite its beefier hardware. Metal Gear Solid 2 also runs better on the PS2 than the Substance release on Xbox.

4 Silent Hill 3

Metacritic Score: 85

The third numbered entry in the franchise had some big shoes to fill. While it does not match Silent Hill 2, Cheryl Mason's terrifying journey still manages to live up to the franchise's name.

The graphics pushed the limits of what people thought was possible on the PS2 and the story was also compelling, even if it was not as psychological as its predecessor. The only real complaint fans had was its lack of gameplay innovation. At the same time, why try something radically different if it already works?

3 P.T.

Playable Teaser For A Game That Never Was

P.T. was a demo for a mysterious game, shadowdropped and free to download. The game was obtuse, made no sense, and mostly consisted of walking down creepy hallways and being assaulted by strange sounds and scary images. Upon beating the demo, players discovered that the experience was a teaser for a new Silent Hill from Hideo Kojima and director Guillermo del Torro.

Unfortunately, the game known as Silent Hills was canceled and P.T. was delisted and made unavailable for download to those who already put the game in their library. Nobody knows what the final game might have been, but P.T. remains a fascinating historical artifact and an ingenious way to announce a video game.

2 Silent Hill

Metacritic Score: 86

The original Silent Hill is a compelling game that is worthwhile spending some time playing, regardless of age. Outdated graphics can still scare the living daylights out of players if the tension is executed perfectly, and Silent Hill has the ability to haunt gamers more than twenty years after its release.

Unlike other survival horror games on the PS1 like Resident Evil, Silent Hill is set in a completely 3D environment. The draw distance is extremely limited, but it is still impressive to realize the developers make this environment on Sony's first console.

1 Silent Hill 2

Metacritic Score: 89

Silent Hill 2 not only brought the survival horror genre to a whole new level, but it also elevated the entire medium to new heights. Its graphics were unlike anything people had seen before and the narrative following James Suderland's search for his deceased wife is a terrifyingly personal journey about guilt.

It makes sense in some ways, though. The game is uncomfortable all the way through, from the implications of its narrative to the disturbing creature design. While it is a phenomenal experience, it could prove too much for some. It is exactly this confrontational and unrelenting tone that makes Silent Hill 2 the best game in the franchise. There is currently a remake of the classic title in development from Bloober Team, known for titles like Layers of Fear and The Medium.