BlueAlien.org

The Silent Hill Experience is a really interestingly laid out UMD Movie. That was something I was kind of unsure about when I heard about this title. I thought, “Is it some sort of interactive choose-your-own-adventure type stories?” Konami did make a game similar to this years ago for the GBA (Play Novel: Silent Hill) so I was curious if this title would be a similar style. Being an avid Silent Hill fan I was anxious to see some of things that had been rumored to be awaiting me on this wonderful UMD. Particularly I was interested in the “Rare video content from previous Silent Hill games.”

I load the UMD up… forgetting it will not show up under “game” (which proves how many UMD movies I've watched, oh yea, none), my Pyramid Head background on my PSP anxiously waiting to be overtaken by wonderful frights. The “story” of the UMD takes place as you explore Midwich Elementary school. Let me just say that the rendering Konami has done on the menu of this UMD is nothing short of extraordinary. This is the way all DVD's should look. You find yourself looking at the darkened hallway that is your initial menu… if you wait long enough making your decisions the ghosts of children can be seen while the only sound you hear is the beating heart of your character. The transitions as you zoom down hallways to other sections of the elementary school are excellent though they give you a feeling of disembodiment as a character in this world.

The content is all there… WAY more of it than I had imagined. I already have the Dying Inside comic books that are supposed to be on the UMD but I was thrilled that a new comic The Hunger was included. When they included this new story they didn't mess around… The Hunger is an animated comic-style movie with text bubbles and no voiceovers. I was a little bummed out that there are no voice-overs in the comics (as that would have been awesome). Konami more than made up for the lack of voiceovers by the fact that the new comic alone is almost 56 minutes in length! Each of the Dying Inside comics animated come out to about 15 minutes a piece in length totally well over the 2 hours of comics they promised. Not to mention that they're animated and set to music from Silent Hill (at least one or two pieces of which I didn't recognize off-hand and may have been new) which really does immerse you into the world of the comics.

Now as far as everything else goes… There's a lot Silent Hill 1&2 footage in this UMD. I didn't see too much footage from Silent Hill 3 or 4 anywhere except for one trailer and one extra (but we'll talk about that later). Even the main “Theater” area in the school shows a slideshow that is comprised entirely of Silent Hill 1 & 2 stills. If you're interested in “rare video content” as I was and you've already got “Lost Memories: The Art and Music of Silent Hill” then you've seen everything on this UMD before sans the interviews, the new comic “The Hunger” and the Silent Hill 4 trailer. Most people haven't really gotten a chance to see some of the "rare" video… in particular videos like Usagi, Ki-No-Ki, etc.

The interview sections were good but I felt some ran a little long… particularly the sections with Christophe Gans. It is really great to hear his dedication to the true nature of Silent Hill as a film series but it just seemed that his question/answer sessions went a bit long at times (15+ minutes). I'm a huge fan of Akira Yamaoka's work so maybe that's why I felt his interviews were a bit shorter than Mr. Gans. Regardless… you get some insight into the creative mind that's produced one of most frightening series in video game history. I mean, who would have guessed that Mr. Yamaoka's favorite character of the whole series is Lisa (the Nurse) from Silent Hill 1!?

Video content aside I think Konami did a great job with the audio on this UMD. They included some of the most memorable Silent Hill tracks from the mastermind Akira Yamaoka himself. One section allows you to play through around X of the songs from the series including some of my personal favorites such as: Fermata in Mystic Air, You're Not Here, Theme of Laura, and True. Basically this title contains most of the non-ambient Silent Hill tracks you'd care to listen to on your stereo at home. If you're a big fan of the series you already own the soundtracks and have them ripped on your PSP though. There is a brief interview with Akira Yamaoka where he discusses his music and musical influences in the series. No bit surprise that his favorite track is “Theme of Laura” from Silent Hill 2. He also says that he listens to “everything except for jazz and classical.”

The Silent Hill Experience has all the fun trailers you would expect with intro trailers for all four games as well as the Usagi video (a Silent Hill 3 extra). For those that don't know Usagi means “Bunny” in Japanese. Watch it and you'll see how it got its name. Usagi is actually one of my favorite extras in his UMD. The game also has the cinematic trailer for the Silent Hill movie coming to theaters in just a few weeks.

Now to talk about the fun stuff… the Easter eggs! Since it's almost Easter Sunday it seems appropriate to give a list of all the spots in the video where hidden content lies (All these are starting from the UMD first menu):

• Hit left. Highlight “Dying Inside #5” and hit “X” and you'll see a red “X” in the bottom right of your PSP screen as you fly towards the “Dying Inside #5”. Hit “X” as soon as you see this and you'll be taken to an area showing some of the “hidden/alternate” endings for some Silent Hill games.
• Hit up. Right after the camera goes through the double-doors you'll see the same red “X” as before. Hit “X” and it will take you to the Fukuro video.
• Hit right. You'll come to another menu selection. At that point hit up. As soon as the camera goes through the wall you should see the red “X”. As with before hit the “X” on the PSP to be taken to the video Ki-No-Ki (which like Fukuro was also featured on the Lost Memories DVD).

Overall I would say that the Silent Hill Experience UMD is a great buy for fans of the series. If you can't get your hands on a “Lost Memories: The Art and Music of Silent Hill” DVD off of ebay (and let me tell you right now, you can't) then this is the best thing out for a true Silent Hill fan. Plus it's portable so you can enjoy strange creepiness on the go. I would have liked to have seen some previously unreleased footage such as upcoming game concept art from the next Silent Hill title or something like that. The interviews with Christophe Gans ran a little long and a little dry for my taste… I think they could have been spiced up by some movie footage interspersed with his answers.

Really I'm just thrilled that a new group of Silent Hill fans can finally appreciate the awesome work of the Silent Hill team with videos like Ki-No-Ki and Usagi. With the excellent timing of this UMD to coincide with the release of the film in a few weeks I'm sure even more people will pick this up to check it out. One of the other nice points for newer fans of the series is getting to hear Akira's soundtrack without the pressure of being in-game; it gives you a lot more appreciation for the quality of audio work that goes into the Silent Hill franchise. If you're a fan of Silent Hill you'll pick this up without a doubt. If you're a new fan… you're lucky, there is probably tons of stuff on here you've never seen or heard before and you'll be thrilled by it. If you're an older fan of the series… well, you already know how good it is because you've already bought it. My only remaining thought is one that's been echoed around message boards all over the Internet… please Konami… please give us Silent Hill 1 for the PSP!