Despite being eight years old this game still stands up as being one of the horror genres best.
The gameplay manages to stand the test of time and is just as involving as many more recent horror titles. The gameplay is split up into exploring the town, comepleting puzzles and killing monsters. The puzzles are very intelligent and will take some time to complete, though not as obscure as some of Resident Evil's puzzles and the combat, while a bit clunky by today's standards is still great. Also, your character is not some super mercenary to tough guy, he is just an average joe and will sometimes miss enemies when you fire at them with a ranged weapon (though strangely he can do some simple actions that apparantly S.T.A.R.S. fail to teach as you can move while attacking). The sound is great and creates some great tension, with the static emitting radio being a cool addition. The music is very creepy and is a master stroke by music composer Akira Yamaoka. The graphics also stand the test of time and look amazing for the PS1, with the otherworld areas pushing the ageing PSX hardware to its limit. The only gripe I have with this is that the monster designs are somewhat uninspired compared to later entries in the series.
Overall this is a great game that is only ever matched by the second installment and should be played by any Silent Hill fan, surival horror fan, adventure game fan or even anyone that saw the movie and enjoyed it.