Nothing Has Captured The Spirit Of Classic Silent Hill Like Indie Horror Game Detention

thegamer.com:

The original Silent Hill is still terrifying. That's something I was surprised to discover when I replayed it earlier this year. The tech may have aged—it is a 23-year-old PlayStation game after all—but the pure artistry of its horror makes up for it. The oppressive atmosphere, grimy textures, monster designs, eerie soundscapes, and masterful use of light and shadow transcend the primitive foundations it's built on. A lot of games have been influenced by Silent Hill over the years, but not many have come close to matching its very distinctive brand of terror.

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One that does is Detention. Released in 2017 by Taiwanese studio Red Candle, this stylish indie horror game is the closest anything has come to capturing the singular essence of the original Silent Hill. It's more of a point-and-click adventure than a third-person survival horror, but the haunting atmosphere, downbeat tone, slow pace, nerve-shredding tension, and focus on exploration and puzzle-solving are straight out of the Team Silent playbook. However, it's also more than just a Silent Hill homage. It has plenty of ideas of its own too.

Detention is set in Taiwan in the 1960s during a period known as the White Terror, when the island's inhabitants were persecuted and politically repressed under martial law. This rich historical backdrop underpins the story and immediately sets it apart from other games in the genre, accompanying the genre staples of ghosts and monsters with an uncomfortable undercurrent of real horror. Detention also incorporates interesting aspects of Taiwanese culture rarely featured in games, including funeral rituals, religious practices, and folklore.

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