The menu is an interactive, DVD-styled interface which places you in the Midwich Elementary School and gives you the ability to navigate about using a compass of sorts. If one of the 4 arrows is colored red, you know that you can proceed in that direction. If it is colored yellow, you can scroll through several choices in that area. It’s a nice way to handle it and the scenery is dark and grim, as would be expected. Nice little touches like flickering movie and TV screens are present, along with the creepy spinning of the wheels of a tipped-over wheelchair, do a lot to immerse you in the Silent Hill environment. Any fan will quickly recognize elements of the series.
So on to the meat of the UMD. Contained within this twisted little disc are interviews with the director of the upcoming Silent Hill movie, Christophe Gans, as well as the series' producer and composer, Akira Yamaoka. It's quite clear that both are big fans of the Silent Hill video games and I found their insight interesting. You’ll also find several music/CG videos (some hidden), along with game trailers for Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, Silent Hill 4: The Room and the Silent Hill movie. You’ll also find a hefty selection of Silent Hill theme music from the games, including the particularly moving "Silent Hill 2: Theme of Laura" and the original "Silent Hill 1: Silent Hill" Theme. These haunting melodies are sure to bring memories of the games rushing back.
You’ll also have the opportunity to view a number of game stills, plus Alternate Game Endings, another hidden feature. I must say I was a little disappointed with the alternate game endings. I was hoping it would be the actual CG endings of all the games, since it is possible to get different endings depending on your behavior in the games. Instead, it was drawings and such, done in a graphic novel style. Well, ok, the "Dog" ending was in CG and was a hoot, complete with barking dogs to the tune of the Silent Hill music. Odd indeed.
Speaking of graphic novels, there are two included here. Neither follows any of the exact Silent Hill game storylines we are familiar with, but rather are new stories with a Silent Hill theme. Thematic music plays while you view them and there are slight animations that give them that “alive” feeling. The storylines are very adult in nature, containing lots of strong and graphic language and situations, so this UMD is definitely not for the kiddies. However, if you want to kill about 45 minutes each, they are interesting. "The Hunger" is a stand-alone lasting about 45 minutes and "Dying Inside" is broken up into 5 parts, lasting 10-20 minutes each.
All in all, I do applaud Konami for collecting together a nice assortment of goodies for fans of the series. The interface was well-done and its clear that a good bit of time was put into making this a faithful representation of Silent Hill goodness. I am disappointed that more CG stuff wasn’t included, but perhaps that was a size limitation. Including hidden features that you have to explore to find was a cool extra, although upon finding one music video, I was almost sorry I did. If you have ever wanted to see an orgy of sorts with Silent Hill creatures, here’s your chance ((shudder)). If you are a fan of the series, you will probably enjoy this collection. If not, then it’s not anywhere you’ll want to start with the series as you will be quite confused and you might just feel a little dirty afterwards.
