--------------------------------
Silent Hill 10-Star Requirements.
--------------------------------
Author: Andrew Edward Davies
Version: 1.02
Date: Sunday 9th November 2003
E-mail: Withheld. My sincerest apologies to anyone who has tried to contact me
recently, but I just receive too much clutter and rubbish when my address is in
the public domain to make it worthwhile. So I ditched my old addy and got a new
(secret) one. Sorry!
Legal Posturing:
---------------
This document Copyright 2003 Andrew Edward Davies.
All rights reserved. For reproduction at www.gamefaqs.com only.
No making money from this guide. No dismantling or reconstructing of this guide.
No dispersing of this guide. No placing it here, there, anywhere or Nowhere. No
eating this guide. No sleeping with this guide. No running off into the sunset.
Linking is fine, subject of course to the GameFAQs rules and regulations. But if
anybody steals my work or passes it off as their own, they will feel the full
force of my wrath. Evildoers be warned! I've got a law degree and I'm not afraid
to use it! Grrr...
Credits:
-------
1) To all the contributors of Silent Hill 1 FAQs for PS1 posted at
www.gamefaqs.com, whose work I may have read and gained vital experience and
knowledge of the game. Seems to have been a lot of activity lately, so well done
to all involved!
2) ArcadeVelmistr of the Czech Republic started me off on this insane quest by
giving me much useful information (hope I spelled the name right).
3) Rogus Struko of Malaysia, who has contributed some good fighting tactics for
Version 1.01 of this guide.
4) Marshel Copple for galvanising me into further thought regarding the Shotgun
(Version 1.02).
Why now?
-------
Well I thought I had mastered this game a long time ago. But I found out
recently that my yellow Hyperblaster was not the best upgrade, and that there
was a green-beam version for getting a perfect 10 stars. So back I came, and
finally I have done it.
I have read all of the FAQs posted at this site for SH1, but still it seems to
me that the requirements for a 10-star finish remain very elusive, good as all
these FAQs are. I hope this guide can help bring it all together.
Assumptions:
-----------
1) The reader of this guide knows how to play the game more than a little bit.
He/She has played many times, can beat the game on HARD no problem, knows how to
unlock all five ENDINGS, where all the ITEMS are, which doors are forever locked
and where to go next, etc, etc. You get the picture.
2) I am playing the European PAL version, although I am not aware of any
practical differences in terms of getting a 10-Star rating on NTSC. So don't let
that put you off.
3) NO GAMESHARKS !!!
---------------------------
This is what you need to do:
BULLET ADJUST:
-------------
You know how to set this, press R1 or L1 on the OPTIONS screen to get the EXTRA
OPTIONS, where you should make sure that AUTO-AIMING is ON (why make it
unnecessarily difficult for yourself?) and that BULLET ADJUST is set as high as
it will go (you will need it).
The max BULLET ADJUST on the PAL version is x6, I will explain how: BULLET
ADJUST increases by x1 for each new ENDING that you unlock. My order was:
CLEAR 1: GOOD+ (to unlock the Channelling Stone)
CLEAR 2: UFO (to unlock the Hyperblaster)
CLEARS 3 through 5: BAD, BAD+, GOOD (in any order. You can use the Hyperblaster
on these clears, but chances are it will only have the Handgun-strength red
beam)
So I have gotten all five ENDINGS from the first five CLEARS. This means that I
can set the BULLET ADJUST to x6 at the beginning of CLEAR 6, the game does not
penalise you for using maximum BULLET ADJUST.
It may be that the US NTSC version does go up to x9 as I have heard, in which
case I suppose you would have to keep on playing more CLEARS. But on the
European PAL version, the BULLET ADJUST remains where it is if you get an ENDING
you have already seen, hence the max is x6: that is x1 to begin with (you can't
start on x0 or Harry would never have any Bullets!) plus an additional x1 each
time you see a new ENDING.
OK, unlike SILENT HILL 2, the first game does not save your GAME RESULT screen,
so I am not exact on some of my stats, but I remember them roughly. Anyway, I
played CLEAR 6 so many times trying to get that 10-star that I know the
requirements off by heart!
Basically you are trying to get a gold rating (instead of normal white) in
nearly all of the GAME RESULT facets, this is on your chosen final CLEAR, your
previous results do not affect this.
MODE:
----
This will always be HARD from CLEAR 3 onwards, and so is never gold. So you can
safely start CLEAR 1 on EASY if you want. The game upgrades your MODE with each
CLEAR until you are always playing on HARD (what a good idea!).
GAME CLEAR:
----------
Must be at least 5 to get a gold. But if like me you want the highest BULLET
ADJUST (this will help you in the game), then keep playing until you have got
the highest it will go. In my case CLEAR 6 was my final, ensuring I had seen
every ENDING at least once.
ENDING:
------
Must be GOOD+ (where you save Kaufmann and Cybil) to get gold. But you only get
the Channelling Stone from a GOOD+ ENDING, which means you can only get the UFO
ENDING (and hence the Hyperblaster) after you have seen the GOOD+ for the first
time. So you will need to get the GOOD+ ENDING twice over the course of all your
CLEARS, one to begin the process of obtaining the Hyperblaster in the first
place, and then again to get the best upgrade. You might as well get the first
GOOD+ on CLEAR 1 (on EASY if you want) so that you can have the Hyperblaster by
CLEAR 3 (thus making your first HARD CLEAR a bit easier). Then your final CLEAR
has to be GOOD+ again for 10 stars.
SAVES:
-----
You have 2 SAVES only, any more and you won't get gold. SAVE strategically
before the only two bosses that can really hurt you.
The first is the Lizard at the end of the alternate School dungeon, his big bite
causes instant death. When you have cleared the School, nip back to the 1F
Infirmary and SAVE, before going down into the Basement to face the Lizard. Then
if he eats you, you can resume from the SAVE you just made, without having to
use up a CONTINUE. My typical times at this SAVE range between 0h25m and 0h40m,
usually averaging around 0h35m.
After you beat the Lizard, try and play all the way through to the Child's Room
at the end of the Nowhere dungeon (I get there around 1h15m to 1h20m). Samael's
lightning bolts can kill you very quickly, and it would be a shame to blow it
all right at the end. If you can't get that far, try and SAVE as close to the
end as you can, so that you don't have to re-play too much if you get killed,
and thus avoid wasting your CONTINUE. For instance, Marshel Copple e-mailed me
saying he wasn't confident that he had met all the requirements for 10 stars
before the end, so he saved at the beginning of the Nowhere dungeon to give
himself a fighting chance at improving his kills or TIME etc, as necessary.
CONTINUES:
---------
Only 1 is permitted, any more and you won't get gold. If you make your SAVES
where I said, you shouldn't need to use any CONTINUES on those hard boss fights,
meaning you can use it elsewhere in the game if you make a drastic mistake.
However, I am not sure how CONTINUES affect your TOTAL TIME, so you really don't
want to be using any at all if you can help it.
TOTAL TIME:
----------
Must be below 1h30m0s for gold. I am pretty sure the in-game movies do not add
to TOTAL TIME, but you are going to skip them all anyway because you will be so
sick of watching them after the previous 4 or 5 CLEARS!
For a sub-1h30m finish, you have to be fast, do not waste any time! In the
dungeons (School, Hospital, Nowhere), only go in the rooms you need to go in,
namely the ones that contain objects which you require to proceed in the game
(such as Keys). If a room contains only ammo or an enemy, don't bother going in
there. A high BULLET ADJUST will take care of your ammo needs, so don't risk any
time, you can't spare it!
My typical GOOD+ finishes are between 1:20 and 1:25, or even closer to 1:30. You
really do have to race around! It will help if you map all the areas on an
earlier CLEAR and know where everything is (sounds nerdy, but it will help you).
I notice there are some good GIFs at GameFAQs, so check them out.
WALKING DISTANCE:
RUNNING DISTANCE:
----------------
Irrelevant, these two facets are never gold. But obviously you want them to be
as low as possible if you are to get a sub-1:30 finish. Run as much as you can,
and don't go anywhere you don't need to. Typically, my WALKING DISTANCE is below
1.0km, and RUNNING DISTANCE around 9.0km.
ITEMS:
-----
You need at least 150/204 to get gold and either +5 (so I have heard) or +6
special ITEMS. Personally I always get +6. None of them are particularly out of
your way, and you should have them all unlocked by CLEARS 5 onwards.
Like I said before, don't waste time entering unnecessary rooms in the dungeons,
you don't have the time. If you pick up every ITEM on the streets (make sure you
have planned your optimum route), and all the ITEMS in the dungeon rooms which
you have to go in, you should finish with around 178/204(+6), more than enough
for gold.
DEFEATED ENEMIES BY FIGHTING:
DEFEATED ENEMIES BY SHOOTING:
----------------------------
This is the one that stuck me for so long. I have to confess that I am still not
exactly sure of how many kills you need, but the rule of thumb "kill everything
you see" should see you through.
My Czech friend ArcadeVelmistr who gave me much information on the GameFAQs SH1
Board said you need at least 90 BY FIGHTING and 120 BY SHOOTING. Others have
said 75 of each, some have said 150 of each. Let me tell you what I do know:
Although DEFEATED ENEMIES are divided between FIGHTING and SHOOTING on the GAME
RESULT screen, I am pretty sure it is the total of both together that gets you
your gold (although it is possible there may be a lower limit that you have to
get in both). So you will only get both gold together, you won't get one and not
the other.
I was regularly making 200 to 250 kills but not getting gold. I thought I still
wasn't getting enough, so I aimed even higher for 300. But I discovered there
are other requirements to getting golden kills, it's not just about the numbers.
Read on...
The reason I wasn't getting gold was down to the weaponry I was using. Now we
all know that you can't use the Hyperblaster at all if you are aiming for a 10-
star, this gun will mess up your SHOOTING STYLE and nearly halve YOUR RANK. Well
the Katana (and quite possibly the Chainsaw and Rock Drill as well) have a
similar effect.
In short, do not use any of the special ITEM weapons that you find. I never
bothered using the Chainsaw and Rock Drill (but still made sure to pick them up
along the way), but was using the Katana against the slow-moving Doctors and
Nurses in the Hospital, making up to 40 or 50 kills with this weapon. At the
end, the game penalised me for using the Katana. Even though I assumed I was
making enough kills for gold, use of the Katana kept it white, and knocked off
around 3 to 4 big stars off my final RANK. This is why I was always getting only
between 7.0 to 7.9, even though I was apparently doing everything right for 10
stars. My recent communications with Rogus would seem to support this, in that
he said his RANK was a lot lower when he used the Katana (only 7.1).
So when I finally got my golds, I got some 80-odd BY FIGHTING and 220 or so BY
SHOOTING, for a total exceeding 300. Rogus sent me screen-grabs of his GAME
RESULT screens before and after he got golden kills. His first result was 0 BY
FIGHTING and 232 BY SHOOTING, but both were white. He then tried altering his
style and came back with 78 BY FIGHTING and 173 BY SHOOTING, both were gold.
With this information you might draw one of two conclusions:
1) You need at least 250 total kills.
2) You don't need as many as 250 (maybe only 150 or 200), but you do have to get
so many of each type (perhaps at least 40).
Personally, I reckon the first is more likely to be true.
But it is probably wise to keep a decent amount of both types of kills, just in
case there is a lower limit. You might achieve this by making mostly SHOOTING
kills, but then stamping on the enemies who still take more than one shot when
you have knocked them down. These are the headless schoolkids in the School
(take 2 Handgun rounds when they are down) and the monkey men (take 3 or more),
so just stamp on these guys when they're down. Once you have the Rifle, you
probably won't make many more FIGHTING kills.
So which weapons to use to ensure gold kills?
Basically, Handgun and Hunting Rifle only. Use the Handgun to shoot down
everything (stamping when necessary) until you get the Rifle, which you then use
in the same way until the end. Refrain from using the Shotgun except for the
Lizard in the School, and for the alternate Classrooms which are filled with
multiple headless schoolkids (see below for further discussion on his rather
enigmatic weapon).
For the Doctors and Nurses in the Hospital then ... use the Handgun. You can
take them down with 5 to 8 Handgun shots each (if they are still alive then
stamp on them), and can shoot them while backing up so they should never get
near you. In terms of extra time taken with the Handgun instead of the Katana,
don't worry, it's fairly negligible. I don't even use the Katana to break the
pad-lock to the Sewers, I use the Axe or Hammer instead.
I really don't know how much special ITEM weapon use is permissible without
affecting YOUR RANK, but why risk it? Just don't use them, you don't need to.
With a high BULLET ADJUST set, you will be just fine with the Handgun and Rifle
only. These are just about the only two weapons you can use to good effect
(forget about hand-to-hand weapons in my opinion) without being penalised by the
game.
SHOOTING STYLE:
--------------
Not as hard as you may have heard, I got gold every time once I knew how.
Firstly, you get all four facets gold together, or you get none. It is your
SHOOTING STYLE across the board that is rewarded.
Secondly, prolonged Hyperblaster use gives you 1.0 for NO AIMING SHOTS and 0.0
for the other facets, so just ignore this weapon. The red-beam version is no
stronger than the Handgun anyway.
Thirdly, yes it is true that the key to SHOOTING STYLE is to keep NO AIMING
SHOTS down below 0.10 if possible, typically around 0.07 or 0.08.
This means keeping Harry's missed shots down to a minimum. Now you may have
heard that the way to do this is to press and release R2 (aim) and X (attack)
for each round fired. In fact you do not need to do this, nor does it guarantee
you a hit every time. You can actually keep R2 pressed down while you fire many
shots in a row (especially with the Handgun), but make sure you only begin
firing when the enemy is quite close to you (i.e. SHORT RANGE only). Then back
away a bit if necessary. So SHORT RANGE shooting only, all the way with the
Handgun.
With the Rifle Harry has a much better aim, even by torch-light in the dark. He
can make a lot more MIDDLE RANGE SHOTS, but try getting close just to make sure.
Also note that you have a better chance of making a hit if you aim for longer
before firing (although this is seldom possible).
So these tactics will leave you with around 0.40 to 0.45 for both SHORT and
MIDDLE RANGE SHOTS (give or take depending on your style - you could be as high
as 0.60 or as low as 0.30, but don't worry about that). Hopefully your NO AIMING
SHOTS will be only 0.07 or 0.08 because you only fire from close up and so don't
get many misses. Rogus logged an impressive 0.03 NO AIMING SHOTS, making me look
positively cack-handed by comparison. But it just goes to show SHOOTING STYLE is
not as tricky as you might've thought.
So, you have not made any LONG RANGE SHOTS, right? Well you fix this in the
final boss fight against Samael. As soon as the fight begins, do a quick-turn
(R1 and L1 together) and run a couple of steps to the edge of the arena (it's
not far), quick-turn again and begin letting rip with the Rifle (hold L2, R2,
X). You are now shooting from LONG RANGE territory, and should finish with about
0.08 LONG RANGE SHOTS, about the same as your NO AIMING SHOTS. This should be
enough to get gold across the board. If not, you have a SAVE just before the
Samael fight so try again! You can use the Handgun if you think you need to
get your LONG RANGE SHOTS way higher (or if you run out of Rifle rounds, as
happened to me once), but beware you will need to heal more and may end up using
3 Health Drinks at a time if you run out of First Aid Kits.
As for healing, I use 3 Health Drinks before I even enter the boss arena (e.g.
in the Child's Room), to ensure Harry's health is at absolute maximum going in
there. Against Samael, use a First Aid Kit immediately when you feel Harry's
heart going (the Dual Shock), and use Health Drinks intermittently (i.e. when a
lightning bolt hits you but doesn't set off the Dual Shock). In between Samael's
barrages, Harry can let off 6 or 7 Rifle Rounds unanswered. Make sure to use the
quick-reload cheat by lowering the Rifle after the sixth shot (that is releasing
all the buttons on your controller). When Harry raises it again, he miraculously
finds it fully loaded! Blah ... Also, don't bother running around evading the
lightning, it's pointless and time-consuming, and you will most probably lose
your LONG RANGE stats.
You aren't penalised for Healing (unlike in SH2) so don't worry about using
Health Drinks when Harry's heart goes off, just make sure you save the First Aid
Kits 'til the end because you won't have as many as normal (only 12 or 13 I
think), and you may need them all against Samael if you run out of Rifle Rounds
and have to resort to the Handgun. As for those Ampoules, I don't think I have
even ever used one...
---------------------------
OTHER STUFF:
-----------
Ignore the documents that Harry can read throughout the game, they don't affect
YOUR RANK. Don't bother using the Channelling Stone either (we are not going for
the UFO ENDING here).
Remember to pick up the Bottle and Red Liquid in the Hospital to deal with
Cybil. When the Cybil fight starts, walk straight up to her. She will swing her
arm to strike you. You press SELECT immediately as she does this (before she
hits, obviously) to enter the menu screen and use the Red Liquid. Works a treat
every time, just familiarise yourself with the timing. Don't even contemplate
running around trying to avoid her shots, there's not enough time.
I didn't mention using the Red Liquid on one of those baby ghosts in the
Amusement Park because I couldn't get it to work. Rogus says it is the first one
you see, but you have to be fast or you will alarm it and won't be able to use
the Liquid on it. Alternatively, you can approach it with the Flashlight off,
then it won't notice you coming. In terms of time saved by doing this here
instead of against Cybil, well it really depends how good you are at navigating
your way through this area. If you get lost easily, you might be better off
trying to aster the baby-trick. If you know your way to find Cybil really well,
the time-difference will only be negligible.
As for Kaufmann, you have to witness the scenes in Annie's Bar and Norman's
Motel (with the motor bike) to get him to turn up at the end for the GOOD+
ENDING. This means visiting all the places in this area like the Indian Runner
and Kaufmann's Motel room. Don't mess about reading Newspapers or Diaries, just
pick up the ITEMS you need and move on. I'm not sure about using the Safe Key in
the Indian Runner, but it takes no time at all so I always do it, just in case.
THE KATANA:
----------
How to even unlock it in the first place? I have heard many different ways:
"It's random", "get the GOOD ENDING", "get the BAD+ ENDING" ... Nope.
I am pretty sure it works this way: On CLEAR 2, you can pick up the Gasoline and
use it to fuel the Chainsaw or the Rock Drill. On CLEAR 3, whichever one you
chose stays fuelled and you can use the Gasoline to fuel the other. At the end
of this CLEAR, you should see the Katana unlocked. This means that on CLEAR 4,
both the Chainsaw and Rock Drill are fully fuelled, and you can pick up the
Gasoline and not have to use it. The door to the Katana room will also be
unlocked. Hence this is the first CLEAR on which you have been able to pick up
and keep all (+6) special ITEMS, so the game doesn't bother unlocking the Katana
until this point (to keep you playing, you see). It always seems to unlock at
the end of Clear 3 for me, irrespective of which ENDING I have just seen.
ABOUT THE SHOTGUN:
-----------------
I had previously been told that the Shotgun increased NO AIMING SHOTS (misses)
as it sprays shot all over the place, but my recent communications with Marshel
have forced me to reconsider. He informed me that he could get gold for SHOOTING
STYLE despite frequent Shotgun usage, and his NO AIMING SHOTS were only 0.13,
not too high at all. So I went back to the drawing-board and reconsidered. My
revised opinion of the Shotgun is now thus:
It doesn't affect SHOOTING STYLE like the Hyperblaster does, meaning that
prudent weapon usage can still result in gold even if the Shotgun features
prominently. However, the Shotgun may have an adverse affect on DEFEATED
ENEMIES, in a similar fashion to the Katana. Marshel's kill stats were pretty
much all over the place. He recorded high numbers, low numbers, and none of it
seemed to make sense. Sometimes he got white for over 200 kills, other times he
got gold for less. Assuming that he had met all the other 10-star requirements,
I can only assume that the Shotgun is the culprit.
So why is this? Perhaps it's something to do with the way the weapon works. In a
crowded room, one Shotgun blast can hit multiple enemies. Therefore, you can
conceivably be making multiple kills from one round. Perhaps the game penalises
your kill rating when this happens. By the same token, taking down a single
target with this kind of ammo could be seen to be wasteful.
Anyway, whatever the reason, the Shotgun is a queer beast which seems to cause
more trouble than it's worth. My advice is to steer clear of it, apart from
those segments in the School. The proof is my 10-star ranking and loverly green
Hyperblaster. Nuff said ...
And lastly,
HOW TO KILL:
-----------
Regular screeching bird: 5 to 7 Handgun rounds, 1 to kill; 1 to 2
Rifle Rounds.
Alternate screeching bird: 2 to 3 Rifle Rounds.
Regular dog: 2 to 4 Handgun Rounds, 1 to kill; 1 to 2 Rifle Rounds.
Alternate dog: 1 to 2 Rifle Rounds.
Headless schoolkids (School): 5 Handgun rounds, 2 to kill (or stamp); 2 to 3
Rifle Rounds (Amusement Park). Ignore the ones in the Sewer segment just before
the Amusement Park, run past them instead. You want to get out of this section
pronto. The longer you hang about, the more enemies will be waiting for you in
that final tunnel with the holes in the ground. Also the headless schoolkids in
this Sewer segment are stronger and take more Rifle Rounds to down. Forget it.
Papa Roaches: 2 Handgun Rounds. It is worth switching to the Handgun in the
Sewers (even though you have the Rifle). It doesn't take up any extra time and
will increase the likelihood of your having enough Rifle Rounds right through to
the end.
Turtles (Sewers): 3 Rifle Rounds. Although you can't hear the radio underground,
give them three each to make sure (especially for the ones on the ceiling). You
can give them just two if you feel you're running out of ammo, but make sure
it's from closer range. The only problem is that two doesn't always kill them
outright, and then Harry can't run past their bodies in the narrow corridors. So
you may need to stamp on them to proceed.
Monkey men: 4 to 5 Handgun Rounds, 3 to kill (or stamp); 2 to 3 Rifle Rounds.
Nurses: 5 to 8 Handgun Rounds, stamp as necessary (Hospital); 2 to 3 Rifle
Rounds (Nowhere).
Doctors (Hospital): 8 Handgun Rounds, stamp as necessary.
Dark babies (Nowhere): Hold L2 and R2 to aim. Watch them get quite close, then 2
Rifle Rounds each. No misses. Easy. If two are coming, Harry will shoot one then
the other, one then the other. No sweat.
Lizard (alternate School Basement): use Shotgun. 10 to 15 Rounds to get him to
'open up' (depending on range). Then another 6 to 10 in his big gob.
Ugly grub (Shopping Centre, sandy Rifle Room): 8 to 10 Rifle Rounds
Beautiful butterfly (Post Office roof, opposite Hospital): many Rifle Rounds (I
lose count). Try and get behind him, you can sometimes give him a full clip from
the Rifle before he turns. Move behind him each time he spits or stabs at you.
Rogus says if you go up those stairs onto the top bit and stand slightly to one
side, you can do this boss with the Hammer without getting stung. I haven't
tried this though.
Cybil (Amusement Park): Red Liquid only for + ENDING.
Samael (Nowhere, final): plenty Rifle rounds! (even more with Handgun). If you
see Alessa for this fight instead of Samael, then you've not gotten the right
ENDING, and you won't be getting 10 stars. Samael only, please.
---------------------------
Anyway, practice all of these things I have said. Chances are you won't get all
of them first time, but you will be able to see how the mechanics of the game
has been affected by your playing style, and then adjust accordingly. If you are
having trouble keeping within the time limit, then plan some routes on the
streets that you can quicken up by avoiding certain ITEMS. Remember you have
some 28 or so which you could ignore if need be, but it's up to you to decide
which ones (I wouldn't neglect any First Aid Kits or Rifle Rounds though).
So at the end you have gold in all the facets I have said, and a nice 10 big
gold stars for YOUR RANK. Save, and at the beginning of CLEAR 7 your
Hyperblaster has a green-beam which is the same strength as the Hunting Rifle,
but with far better aiming and unlimited ammo. On the Game Load screen, the file
will say stuff like "Next Fear", "Data 1" (for example), "Time 0h0m0s" and
"Hyperblaster Powerup" with a bright green bar behind it. For 8 stars or better,
you will get the yellow Shotgun-strength Hyperblaster (with a yellow bar on the
Game Load screen), but we aren't interested in that poxy upgrade, right?
Keep this file and never wipe over it, because you will lose any upgrade if you
don't get another high score (and you won't if you use your new powerful
Hyperblaster all the way).
So that's it, as comprehensive as I can make it for now. The rest is up to you.
So practice, practice, practice! I can't even remember how many goes it took me
before I figured out that Katana-penalty thing. But now you know, so you might
be able to get a 10-star a lot sooner.
Only shame is the game doesn't save your GAME RESULT screen, so you might wanna
video it for posterity (if you're really sad like me).
Also Konami, why'd you make the two Hyperblaster upgrades yellow and bright
green? A colour-blind type such as myself can hardly tell the difference! But
it's ok, I got someone to check it for me (won't tell you who though) ...
grumble, grumble, grumble ...
