THE SCARIEST VIDEO GAME

Silent Hill
is a survival horror video game franchise developed and published by Konami. As of 2007, most installments have been created by Team Silent with the exception of two upcoming titles, Silent Hill: 0rigins, which is being developed by Climax Studios, and Silent Hill V being developed by The Collective from Foundation 9 Entertainment.[1]
There are currently five Silent Hill games available with three under production (although one title, Silent Hill: Play Novel, was released exclusively in Japan), all of which were released to strong sales and critical acclaim.[citation needed] The success of the series has generated several comic books, one movie adaptation (with a second release under development), and novelizations.
The gameplay includes frequent horror elements, action, various puzzles, detailed and disturbing environments, chilling background music provided by composer Akira Yamaoka, and a complex storyline revealed through numerous cinematic cut scenes and in-game documents and notes. Each game unfolds like a movie with several possible endings; the player's choices during the game determine which ending is shown.

The games' visual design is centered around fog-shrouded, dilapidated environments. The dense fog/pitch black settings found in the majority of each game limits visibility to about a ten foot radius around the character. The atmosphere of uneasiness and dread while in the Otherworld is enhanced by pitch-black, claustrophobic interiors. Some sound effects seem to have been included simply to frighten and alarm rather than cause actual physical harm in the game. Composer Akira Yamaoka has provided atmospheric and emotional music for the series, which ranges from the first game's post-industrial noise music to more traditional melancholy piano solos to heavy rock pieces