Nero Vista

The game is shown from a third person perspective, with various camera angles for different areas of the map in contrast to simply always having the player view the game from behind the back of the playable character. The main screen does not feature a heads-up display, so exact information on ammunition and health can only be checked by pausing to view the item menu screen; however, limited information on James' health is conveyed in-game through increasingly frequent controller vibrations as his health becomes lower. There is also no mini-map, and consequently, maps have to be checked through a separate function. Maps must be collected throughout the game like other items, and can only be read if there is sufficient light or when the flashlight James finds is working. James will update relevant maps to reflect locked doors and obstructions, and during the labyrinth will actually draw a new map himself while the level is being navigated if the flashlight is on. James will also write down the content of all documents in a notebook for future reference. This gives the player a very simple view of the way the map is used, as the maps in Silent Hill are likely to become your closest ally.

Much of gameplay consists of navigating the town, with less focus on killing enemies and more on finding keys or other items to bypass doors or other obstructions. Occasionally puzzles will be presented, often with riddles left for the player to interpret. The difficulty levels of the enemies and the puzzles are determined independently, giving players the option of having weak enemies while being faced with extremely cryptic riddles or vice-versa.

There are two control types for the game. The default control is called 3D mode. In 3D mode, James will move in the direction he is facing when the player tilts the analog stick upwards. For instance, if James was facing the bottom of the TV screen, and the player tilted up on the analog stick, James would walk towards the bottom of the screen. This control type confused some players since most of them were used to having the character go to the top of the screen when they tilted the analog stick upwards. The second control type is called 2D mode. In 2D mode James will walk in the direction the player tilts the analog stick.

The atmosphere of the game was presumably designed to be as grim and unsettling as possible; many of the locations that James has to navigate are places that few people would want to go: these include the burned-out shell of a bar, a bloodstained padded cell, a prison morgue full of decayed corpses, a slaughterhouse, a pantry full of spoiled food, and a succession of filthy bathrooms (at one point, he even needs to fish something out of a toilet). The unsettling atmosphere is further enhanced by occasional unidentifiable but vaguely menacing sounds in the background. There is also a rather unique option to change the color of blood in the game, the colors besides red included are green, violet, and black.

Like the original game, James keeps a radio with him which alerts him to the presence of creatures by emitting static, allowing him to detect hostiles even through the thick fog. The sound of the static will change slightly depending on how many creatures are approaching and how far away they are. There are a total of six weapons available, three melee weapons and three firearms, with another two unlocked during replays: a wooden plank obtained from a construction site, a steel pipe embedded in the hood of a car, an oversized knife wielded by Pyramid Head, a small pistol in a shopping cart in the Apartments, a shotgun found in a locker in the hospital, and a hunting rifle found in the prison; the special weapons are a chainsaw and a spray can that deals different damage to different enemies, depending on the rank the player received in the previous playthrough. While combat is not necessarily the focus of the game, there are six boss fights. Nearly all the enemies use short-range attacks save one, who is armed with a gun, and the final boss, which can launch a swarm of black moth-like creatures at James.