Resident Evil vs. Silent Hill

Okay folks. Resident Evil vs. Silent Hill. This is a fairly long-standing debate, seeing as these are two of the most well-known series of games in the Survival Horror genre. So I'm interested on hearing all of your view points on this. Some people prefer Resident Evil because of it's jump-out-of-your seat scares, zombie plot-line (I myself am a HUGE zombie movie and such fan, so that's a big plus to Resident Evil for me), and awesome, destructive weapons and kills available. Yet, still, others prefer Silent Hill for it's more subtle scares on a subconcious level, it's eerie and grotesque environments, it's terrifying monster design, and it's use of sound effects and industrial noise to induce fear on a more primal level.

So, including these examples and/or your own (if these don't sum any of the game up for you) examples, tell us which series of games if your favorite and why?

As I said before, I'm a HUGE fan of zombie films, so Resident Evil gets huge bonus points in that area. But, all together, I'd have to say that I prefer Silent Hill over Resident Evil. Silent Hill is just so much more unsettling. While Resident Evil has it's great scare moments (anyone remember the dogs jumping through the window in RE or the Licker jumping through the two-way mirror in RE2?), those are simply "boo" scares, meant to get you when you least expect it. But, Silent Hill constantly leaves you on your toes. One second, you may be travelling through a fog-enshrouded town with strange creatures wandering about, a very limited amount of ammo on you and only a steel pipe as a reserve weapon. Then the next second, the world will transform into a hellish nightmare with terrifying monsters, grotesque, gory environments with broken wheel chairs lying around and rotting cadavers decorating the walls. You'll hear breathing noises coming from a room with nothing in site or you'll be walking through a narrow hallway holding a steel pipe to protect you and nothing but a dim flashlight to light your way through the darkness. All the while, monsters are moaning, hiding in the darkness and loud, industrial noise and clanking and banging overwhelm you.

I just love this series. I can't think of a time when I was playing and wasn't at least slightly scared or disturbed by something happening. I still think the scariest place I've ever been in Silent Hill was the alternate Brookhaven Hospital in Silent Hill 3. That place is just sickening scary.

So yeah, some of you will agree, others won't. I wanna know your opinions. :)

I'm going have to go with Silent Hill. The SH series has always had nice atmosphere (kind eerie and creepy). Also the whole concept of the series and the stories in each SH title were pretty good IMO.(except for SH:Homecoming it was way to predicable and shallow for an SH title) Also I forgot to mention the SH series always had great soundtracks in the series.

Silent Hill is scarier, better storyand better atmosphere. Resident Evil has better gameplay

Silent Hill is scarier, better storyand better atmosphere. Resident Evil has better gameplay

bigboss1203

I like resident evil more becuase everything has a reason behind it, it also felt more "real" to me as if this could really happen.Plus i could never really get into Silent Hill games i played 2,3 and 4 and beat 2 and 4 but i was never really into them, sure they were really creepy but it gets a little perdictable like in silent hill 2 you always hear creepy noises but its always that same monster, But I guess resident evil is too:P

also i like resident evil more becuase i have all the games:P

Silent Hill is my favourite series and Resident Evil a very close runner up but not by a large margin.

I consider Silent Hill to be Horror-Survival and Resident-Evil to be Horror-Adventure...two very similar genres.

In RE you have more advanced weapons and more ammo to kill the zombies easier and in SH you use more stealth in the "dead" area trying to evade the monster/zombies.

ALSO there are things like Pyramid heads, Double heads, bobbleheads, Lurkers, Slurpers, Insane Cancer, Nurses, Pedulums, Sewer monsters in SH.

it is a matter of taste and personnal perference. I like them both but myself have replayed the Silent Hill games more often.

Especially at night with the lights off during stormy weather8)

RE easily. Silent Hill can't even come close to how hard RE has made me laugh.

Well I like Resident Evil more but that's only because I haven't played that much of Silent Hill. Resident Evil Is the best horror franchise I know but it has gone to more ''Action style'' instead of the good and awesome horror.. But well as said I go for RE.

From what I've seen, Silent Hill definitley wins in the scare factor.

RE series is better overall, but SH series is scarier!Citrus25

Silent Hill games are very creepy but i still like RE moreJuarN18

Silent Hill scared the crap out of me way more but it couldn't hold my attention past the first game. I felt like once I finished it I was done and didn't need to go back. RE has always had me wanting to play each one to progress the story and find out what happened to the characters.

I'm not a fan of Silent Hill game although I've played some of the SH games. I liked RE series more especially RE4