Horror Games Inspired By Silent Hill

Key Takeaways

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• Silent Hill continues to influence the horror genre with its twisted world and creatures.
• Now is a great time to pay tribute to the games that carried on the spirit of the franchise.
• Games like Lone Survivor, Hollowbody, Lost in Vivo, and others offer a unique horror experience akin to Silent Hill.

Silent Hill remains as one of the most influential horror game franchises of all games, thanks to its creative approach to the genre. Introducing the twisted grotesque and inspired ‘other world’ populated by rusted metal and fleshly abominations that barely resemble humans, Silent Hill is lauded by gamers and critics around the world.

With new Silent Hill games finally dawning on the horizon following the cancelation of Silent Hills almost a decade ago, now is the best time to pay homage to the games that kept the spirit of the franchise alive over the years.

Updated on October 2nd, 2024 by Mara Cowley: Halloween is fast approaching, but before that is the long-awaited release of the Silent Hill 2 remake, allowing fans to finally return to the fog-filled streets in search of the truth with improved graphics and gameplay. If gamers can’t wait that long, or finish it far too quickly and don’t know how to fill in the rest of the spooky month, they could always try their hand at games like Silent Hill to fill the void until it’s time for a replay, or the next Silent Hill game releases. This is exactly what this article aims to do, including even more Silent Hill like games that fans of the series are sure to enjoy.

16 Lone Survivor

Survive in a City Haunted by Monsters

This original psychological horror game features a silent protagonist trying their best to survive in a city that has fallen to the ravages of a disease, turning anyone infected into a shambling monster. Supplies are running low and the protagonists’ mental state is worsening as they cling to what little embers of hope remain in what seems like a hopeless situation, with no sign that things will change, and that this is what the rest of their life will be like.

Hallucinations, shambling monsters, a fragile mental state, and a sense of isolation in a city populated by creatures are all quintessential ingredients of any Silent Hill game, but Lone Survivor incorporates them without feeling too derivative. It’s a game with its own identity that will feel familiar but also new and exciting to any Konami horror fans.

15 Hollowbody

Captures the Essence of Old School Survival Horror Games with a New Concept

Many studios have set out to capture the magic of classic games on new hardware with fixed camera angles, inventory management and scarce resources. Hollowbody is one such game that manages this masterfully, resulting in a game that is certainly reminiscent of the golden days of gaming, which some players still long for.

In a futuristic dystopian world, Britain has fallen to a sickness that has resulted to parts of the country being walled off to stop the spread of infection, but in typical horror game fashion, the plucky protagonist bypasses the quarantine in search of someone, and finds herself trapped in a nightmare. All the accouterments of old school Silent Hill games are here: fixed camera angles, slow and clunky combat, environmental puzzles and shambling monsters that barely look human anymore.

14 Lost in Vivo

A Close Comparison to the First Silent Hill

Losing a dog is the owner’s worst nightmare, but it is even worse when the dog ends up inside a construct, which is what happens at the beginning of Lost in Vivo. During a storm, the protagonist’s dog ends up washing down a storm drain, and the owner must descend into the sewers in search of them. But rather than finding the generic underground sewer system, they find much worse things down there–creepy dark corridors, a sense of claustrophobia, and eerie monsters that defy explanation.

There are definite story parallels to the first Silent Hill, as Harry explores a monster-filled city while searching for his daughter, and just like Harry, the player will arm themselves with weaponry to defend themselves against the monsters they face.

13 Tormented Souls

Draws Clear Inspiration with its Gameplay

Tormented Souls was a truly unique experience, despite clearly taking inspiration from titles such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill. It offers a glimpse into an alternate reality where these games were developed by an independent studio rather than a triple AAA company. In this fixed camera horror experience, player character Caroline Walker finds herself immersed in horror as she investigates the mysterious disappearance of her sister in the hospital that once was a mansion.

While the basic premise sounds simple enough, the true draw of this game is its similarities to fan horror fan favorites such as RE and SH. Puzzles, terrifying monsters and an eerie environment, Tormented Souls is a must-play for any fans of Konami’s horror title, or even just horror fans in general.

12 Detention

Brave a Nightmare World Full of Monsters

Set during the 1960s White Terror period in Taiwan, this title blends together real life horror with more fantastical horror thrown into the mix. Students Wei and Ray find themselves trapped in Greenwood High School following a storm that separated them from the rest of the city, but things soon take a turn for the worst, and Ray must find a way to escape the school and the monsters that lurk there.

Similar to Silent Hill, Detention intermittently introduces a nightmare world, which is a dark and unsettling reflection of the real world infected by monsters. Though the gameplay widely varies from that of SH as players must stealth past the threats, this alternate world of horror and creatures is certainly a strong parallel.

11 Deadly Premonition

A Refreshing Horror Comedy Experience

Deadly Premonition is one of the most infamous games of all time, with its content often verging towards hilarious with its absurdity rather than creating a sense of fear and dread horror gamers expect. Yet in spite of this, it still stands out as a game worthwhile of gamers attention for the comedic relief it could offer amidst the oversaturation of horror that comes with the month of October.

Clearly inspired by some of Lynch’s work, it also takes inspiration from Silent Hill as the player wanders around a town that never seems quite right with monsters roaming streets the player can either bypass or take down with clunky combat gameplay.

10 The Sinner (Prologue)

Provides Some Moments of Suspenseful Horror

The Sinner (Prologue) lends some of its features to other famous titles such as Beyond: Two Souls, Resident Evil, The Evil Within 2 and Silent Hill. In fact, its so derivative of these titles it takes assets straight from the games to use without permission, as well as brands such as Apple. This, of course, landed the developer in legal trouble, and the game was subsequently pulled from Game Jolt.

The developer was attempting to deliver a haunted house experience in the vein of other such psychological game experiences that did indeed provide some gamers with enjoyment with its dark environments and scares, but the blatant copyright infringement cheapens the experience.

9 Dementium: The Ward

Originally Pitched to Konami as a Silent Hill Title

A hidden gem from the long-gone days of the Nintendo DS, Dementium: The Ward is a first-person horror game taking place within a hospital. The playable character, William Redmoor, awakens in its decrepit hallways missing his memories, and soon discovers he is not alone there. He must wander through the dark hallways and overcome the present dangers if he is to have any chance of escaping.

Dementium: The Ward is perhaps one of the games most inspired by Silent Hill, as the developers originally pitched it to Konami as a Silent Hill game. Konami rejected the proposal, but Renegade Kid were not deterred, and they released their project as an original title to great acclaim.

8 Cry Of Fear

The Terrifying Monster and Claustrophobic Corridors are Remiscent to Early Silent Hill

Crafted through the use of Half Life’s renderer, Cry of Fear is a psychological survival horror game owing its roots to Silent Hill. The player controls Simon Henriksson, a man who was involved in an unfortunate car accident, and finds himself in a waking nightmare. He must navigate the desolate streets of a city and its buildings, solve puzzles and combat enemies that populate the claustrophobic passageways, reminiscent to the first three Silent Hill titles.

Not only that, at certain points in the game the environment devolves into nightmare scenarios, similar to what happens when the siren rings out across the town of Silent Hill, awakening the nightmarish world of rust and flesh.

7 Layers Of Fear

A Mysterious Narrative Spun by an Unreliable Narrator

Bloober’s team infamous series Layers of Fear popularized the divisive ‘walking simulator’, the developer placing more focus on aesthetic and story-telling and little on actual gameplay. Players assume control of an artist plagued by troubles and a slow descent into madness that drives his wife to take her own life, after a terrible burn accident marred her beauty and made him lose all interest in her.

Though the story of a man losing his wife is hardly original, it does still harken back to the troubled Silent Hill 2 protagonist James Sunderland, who murdered his sick wife to be free of her. The protagonist being tortured by his own actions and sins definitely seems derivative of the city in Silent Hill 2 itself, as it pushes James to remember what he did and pay for his misdeeds. With Bloober now the team entrusted with the remake of Silent Hill 2, it certainly wouldn’t be a stretch to say they took inspiration from there.

6 The Mortuary Assistant

Masterfully Crafts a Smothering Atmosphere

As the title suggests, the game takes place in a morgue, and the player plays as a mortuary assistant, though the game will most see the player working alone which serves to further the frightening atmosphere. The player must perform necessary rituals one would expect when caring for the bodies of the deceased, while also performing rituals to identify which corpses are possessed by demons.

While it may not be a successor to Silent Hill titles like Cry of Fear and Infliction, The Mortuary Assistant features the eerie atmosphere and suspense found in Silent Hill locations such as the apartment buildings from Silent Hill 2, as well as leaning heavily into hidden story depths and psychological horror the Silent Hill franchise is known for.

5 The Evil Within 2

Explore the Sprawling City, But Beware of Monsters

Though there are arguments to be made that the first Evil Within took some inspiration from Silent Hill, the second game is where the true parallels lie, with slews of warped and dangerous creatures the player must contend with, as well as being set into the twisted, warped reality similar to the nightmare world Silent Hill is famous for.

In this title, Sebastian traverses into the world of Union through the STEM machine his daughter Lily was wired into to investigate why she has stopped responding. The world seems just like a dark and more dangerous version of reality, offering a sprawling city populated by buildings for the player to explore and monsters to defeat.

4 Alan Wake

Takes Place in a Fictional City not too Dissimilar to Silent Hill

Many cite Stephen King stories and Twin Peaks as the inspirations behind Alan Wake, and while these are fair comparisons to make, it feels like a disservice to not mention Silent Hill as another source of inspiration. Players take on the role of the titular Alan Wake, a best-selling thriller writer who tries to unveil the mystery behind his wife’s disappearance, and finds himself in a real-life horror/thriller situation.

Set in the fictional town known as Bright Falls, the city itself seems similar Silent Hill, and is just as festered with monsters that Alan must dispatch of. The combat mechanics aren’t too dissimilar from the blocky action of Silent Hill titles, featuring amateur gun work and slow, heavy swings with melee weapons.

3 Visage

PT was a Strong Source of Inspiration

In the first-person psychological horror, players assume the role of the recently deceased Dwayne Anderson following the murder-suicide of his family, as he explores the halls of a large suburban home haunted by ghosts and demons, all the while trying to maintain his sanity, or he will leave himself more vulnerable to their attacks.

Visage is one of the many horror games released following the success and immediate downfall of the widely anticipated PT, owing its conception to the claustrophobic and oppressive atmosphere, admitting to the playable teaser as the main source of inspiration in an interview with WCCFTech.

2 Infliction

Borrows Eerie Elements from PT

Often viewed as a spiritual successor to PT, Infliction is yet another psychological horror game set in small town suburbia, in which players control Gary Prout. Players will explore a house that definitely feels eerily similar to the one players prowled through in PT, while also exploring dark subjects. In this particular title, the dark heart of the story is domestic violence.

It builds up great atmosphere in dark, stretching hallways while borrowing other elements from PT to bring more horror to the tale, such as a creepy radio host delivering a very peculiar late-night talk show, the slow, creaking of a swinging lantern and the gargling choking sounds of an entity right behind the players shoulder. Infliction, while not wholly original in its premise or design, is still an impressive game for those who miss the days of PT.

1 Allison Road

An Anticipated Inspired Game That Never Saw the Light of Day

Perhaps the most infamous of all ‘PT clones’ is Allison Road, a Kickstarter project so derivative of Silent Hills it met the same fate. Sadly, the game was cancelled back in 2016, but not before delivering fans a 13-minute pre-alpha gameplay video showcasing the promise held within this independent project.

In the gameplay reveal, an unnamed protagonist awakens in a mysterious town with a painful headache as well as amnesia. They stumble into a house inspired by PT with its design, learning through the environment the tragedy that befell the inhabitants. The teaser ends with a ghostly woman attacking the player before the screen cuts to black, reminiscent of the ghost of Lisa that prowled the corridors of PT. While this game never came out, it is worth mentioning since it was so clearly influenced by the iconic Silent Hill series.