Does it matter which order you play the Silent Hill games in?

[Necron]

I was thinking of buying the Silent Hill series, as people have being telling me it is good, and watching the movie trailer made me really want to play the game. (I know it's not new, but I've never bothered in playing it :P)
But, I was wondering, does it matter which order you play the games in?

[Dreddz]

Hmmm, not really. You should play SH before SH3 as there are alot of references to the first in SH3. You can start SH2 knowing nothing. You can also do that with SH4 IMO, but probably best you start with one of the first three.

[Slothy]

You can also do that with SH4 IMO, but probably best you start with one of the first three.

You could do that, but SH4 also references the earlier games in some ways, so you'd get the most out of it by playing it last. I'd say playing them in the order of their release would be best. If not that then going SH, SH3, SH2, and SH4 wouldn't be bad either. Have fun playing these games. They're definitely the scariest games I've ever played.

[Necron]

Ok, thanks :)

[Pure Strife]

Just jump in at 2.

[Necron]

So, shall I play 2, 1, 3 then 4? It's just, I'm scared that the bad graphics on 1 will put me off playing the other games, so it might be best to start at 2.

[Dreddz]

I started with 2, then 1, then 3, then 4
I think starting with 2 is best, I had no problems...

[Erdrick Holmes]

It only matters if you play SH 1 and 3 since 3 is more of a direct sequel to 1 than 2. But I recommend you play 4, seriously.

[Dreddz]

4 is probably the weakest out of them all, I liked how your dream like adventures affect the outside world
Like when the women dies in one of your little outings to the subway, and later find out she did die in the subway, cooooool
But the whole first person thing put me off a little.

[kikimm]

I also started with 2, then I played 1, then 3, then 4. I think that's an awesome way of doing it. :D SH2 is a great place to start; I think it's better than SH, in terms of storyline, characters, music, locations...everything. But SH3 is absolutely amazing, and you cannot play it before SH. it won't mean anything. SH4 has got to be last; like someone else said, it does make quite a bit of references to the earlier games.

So yeah, if you're worried about the graphics putting you off, then start at SH2, which is right in the middle of all of them in terms of that. SH3 is the prettiest. :D But SH isn't so bad. It makes up for it in scariness anyways.

[Necron]

Thanks for the useful advice guys. :)

[Erdrick Holmes]

I don't understand why SH4 is concidered the weakest in the series. The story elements are extreamly strong and it's more action oriented than the rest. My personal favourite in the series.

[Dreddz]

SH4 May of been the most action oriented, but I just pegged it from Monsters like in SH3. Those ghosts annoyed the hell out of me though, DIE DAMMIT DIE !

[Erdrick Holmes]

The ghosts are actually more plot oriented if you think about it.

[Dreddz]

Yea, but when I first met one of those, I spent all my revolver ammo trying to take it down..........fool I was..

[Erdrick Holmes]

meh, I just beat them with my axe or pipe till the go down, then run.

[Dreddz]

Pretty cheap them Hurting you while not even touching you, or even being near you.

[Erdrick Holmes]

Ghost aura, gives you a headache. The only way to perminently take down a ghost is to knock him down and stick him with a Sword of Obedience.

[Dreddz]

The good side of that is that You know when there near as Henry will rub his head.

[kikimm]

The one thing that I really didn't like about SH4 was the lack of the usual puzzle-solving. I missed that. Oh, and there wasn't as much music, if I remember correctly. Otherwise, I liked it a lot.

Now I want to play them all over again.

[Dreddz]

SH3 had the best soundtrack....

[kikimm]

Definitley. A Stray Child = :heart: And I liked how they included it with the game. They should start doing that again.

[~SapphireStar~]

I played SH2 before SH1 because it was difficult to find a copy of SH1, then I moved onto SH3. I refuse to play SH4 because, IMO, it looks and handles so poor. So to me, it shouldnt matter.


SH3 had the best soundtrack....
Oh yes, indeed :D

[Necron]

Well, it sounds very interesting from all your points of views. :D

[Dreddz]

I refuse to play SH4 because, IMO, it looks and handles so poor. So to me, it shouldnt matter.
SH4 is just as good as the first three, Just the FPM ( First Person Mode ) while being in your room is crappy. But the story should get you through the game, Its on par with the First game IMO.

[kikimm]

I think its better than the first. The first one is the weakest, in my opinion. Just not as good on all the levels that the others are.

You'll have fun Necron. :D Just don't let anyone spoil it for you.

[Dreddz]

Best aspect of the SH series is the story, so be careful who you talk too Necron, You dont want the plot to be spoiled.
SH1 had the best story IMO, the really cool begining with the car crash and Cheryl going missing, slowly the story got more addictive, I needed to know what happened next, And the characters were the most memorable, And I loved the conclusion to game, so much so, I got all of them. SH2-4 didnt capture me as much.

[~SapphireStar~]

SH4 is just as good as the first three
Like I said IMO I dont like it as much as the first 3. Thats your opinion.

[Germ Hamee]

I'm going to jump off the bandwagon and declare SH3 the weakest in the series. Sure, it was a great game. I agree it had the best soundtrack, the visuals were amazing, and it was without a doubt the most crazily intense in the series. Storywise? It didn't impress me.

I never felt that Silent Hill needed a direct sequel. I loved that it had such a deep storyline, but at the same time they left it to the player to figure out and that was that. SH3, on the other hand, did absolutely nothing for the series but explain step by step EVERYTHING in the original game. As soon as it finished that, they threw in some final boss and then you go home. This ended up detracting from my enjoyment of SH quite a bit. I just felt that the game was completely unnecessary, and would have much prefered a completely original installment.

As for SH4? Great plot, I love that they're doing something new with the series, it's all very pretty... but why am I having such a hard time with it?! x_X The ghosts are driving me INSANE, I'm being randomly shot at... it's the only Silent Hill I haven't beaten in a couple of days. I've had it since it came out and I still can't do it.