Silent Hill: The Escape

Silent Hill: The Escape

AKA

The Escape

Developer

Konami

Publisher

Konami

Release date

December 17, 2008 (Japan)
December 23, 2008 (North America)

Platforms

iPhone / iPod Touch

Silent Hill: The Escape is a Silent Hill spin-off game, featuring first-person shooter-style gameplay, for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Gameplay

The Escape is a simply designed shooting game, where the player walks through hallways in a labyrinth trying to find the exit to the level they are on. The player can look around (limited to a certain range) by tilting the device, and movement is controlled by sliding the player's finger across the screen. Turning is limited to 90 degree turns.

The game's mechanics utilizes the gyroscope, in which players can tilt the phone to look around their current position. The protagonist's firearm is a revolver, and as such requires reloading after 6 shots have been spent. Instead of reloading each bullet individually, the protagonist carries a speed-loader, which replenishes all 6 bullets at once. The gyroscope is utilized here as well, as the player must align the speed-loader against the bullet's chamber accurately to reload all 6 shots; inaccurate alignment during reload means less bullets will be replenished in the chamber.

Enemies die by one gunshot to their weak spot, aside from the monsters that appear to be something of a Butcher/Pyramid Head hybrid, who take multiple shots and are protected by a moving shield. Once the player's bullet count has reached zero, they will no longer be able to use the gun. The player then has to attack by using a steel pipe. When using the steel pipe, the player must touch the screen in order to build up strength. When the screen is touched, a gauge will appear, building up strength. Once the gauge is full, the player can then release to attack. The game ends once the player is touched by a creature.

Characters

• Human - An unidentified person who wakes up in Brookhaven Hospital (in Otherworld) without remembering how they got there. Now they seek a way out of the crowded maze of deadly creatures. At the end of the game, they escape the maze and are captured by a UFO, but they survive and leave the town, without remembering what the aliens did to them during the abduction.

• Alien - A grey alien investigating the cause of the abnormalities in the town of Silent Hill. It uses a raygun with infinite ammo. Completing its scenario unlocks Mira.

• Mira - She is also stuck in the maze looking for a way out. At the end of the game, Mira finds Robbie, who congratulates the player for having finished all the game's extras. This character is unlocked after finishing the Alien scenario and is the last extra of the game.

• Robbie the Rabbit - Robbie only appears in the tutorial level, and at the end of Mira's scenario when he congratulates the player.

Monsters

• Nurses: The Nurses walk at an average human pace, but with a slight limp that becomes noticeably heavier as the game progresses. Their weakness is the headshot, enabling a one-shot kill. However, at higher levels, it becomes more difficult to fire accurately at the head as their limp forces the head to sway back and forth.

• Wheelchairs: The Wheelchairs are far slower than their Silent Hill 4: The Room counterpart, and pose very little threat. Shooting the object just about anywhere will ruin it, but it is typically best (to achieve the highest accuracy rating) to shoot a Wheelchair towards its center.

• Frog-like monsters: The frog-like monsters are red in coloration, with something that appears to be a large, unearthly tumor growing from their backs. They hop up and down in a rather predictable pattern, but can dupe the player into believing they aren't moving due to their extremely slow pace; the only true way to tell that one is hopping towards the player is how they will appear larger when nearing in proximity. Shooting the frog-like enemy anywhere will kill it, but the player must first anticipate when it will jump to avoid a decrease in accuracy.

• Ceiling monsters: The ceiling monsters appear to be influenced by the Mandarin in terms of navigation, albeit looking nothing like the beast and instead having two front arms attached to the ceiling, a head, torso, and a curved bottom representing a stinger. Its pace is slow, but nevertheless they pose a threat to the player. Strangely enough, its weakness is its "tail", and is the best target to achieve a one-shot kill. Firing at its head takes multiple shots to defeat it.

• Flying insects: These flying bugs are the least-dangerous of the featured monsters, considering they will not actually approach the player and instead hover in place, therefore becoming a hindrance if passing a certain corridor is needed. They can prove a challenge to shoot however, as their position alters in a roughly diamond-like shape. They will hover briefly in one position before bolting to the next, making shooting them very aggravating if one is not conscious of ammo (if human) and position. It is best to keep the target in one position the player knows the monster will pass, as "chasing" the insect with the target is usually fruitless thanks to its swift changes in location. Occasionally it will appear in a corridor the player has no need to pass, albeit if the player desires to achieve a high "monster" grade, taking out these insects will help.

• Monsters that resemble a Pyramid Head/Butcher "hybrid": The Butcher/Pyramid Head monster is undoubtedly the most treacherous of adversaries and first shows up in stage seven. Its appearance is quite synonymous with both the Butcher's and Pyramid Head's in various aspects: It is huge, muscular, garbed in a dark "skirt", and has a completely featureless face that almost seems to be covered in some sort of mask. Its weapon is a blade that is very similar to Pyramid Head's Great Knife. This beast has a very slow pace and can therefore be quite easily avoided (momentarily, at least), so long as the player doesn't get trapped between him and a corner. He can also easily be identified as being nearby as an excerpt from Sepulcher's fight theme will begin to play. Unlike any other monster, this beast cannot be killed via one shot, instead taking multiple, accurate shots to be defeated. It is also important to note that a translucent, circular "force field" will be rotating around him, its circumference altering constantly; shooting him in this area will cause no damage. The Butcher/Pyramid Head "boss" has a weakness in its chest or head region, but the player must watch for these areas becoming protected. If careful, the player may be able to successfully get behind the boss, where the force field will not appear. The monster is also unable to turn around in a corridor, making this the easiest way to kill him.

Gallery

Human character in a game cutscene.

Robbie in the instruction stage.

The Silent Hill nurses appear in The Escape.

A lumbering figure with heavy Pyramid Head connotations.

A Ceiling Monster which is unofficially named "Crawler".

The player must avoid the monsters to survive.

The player is killed by a Nurse.

To beat the game, find the key and get to the exit.

Learning how to shoot objects in the introduction stage.

Reloading the revolver.

The Butcher/Pyramid Head monster lumbers towards the player.