Alchemilla is a Silent Hill mod for the Source engine

What do you think of when you think about Silent Hill? Is it the psychological tension of exploring a hostile and malicious environment? Is it the perverse Freudian imagery of scantily clad limb monsters? Or is it trying to hit a thing with a lead pipe?

Probably the first two, right? Which is why, despite being a first-person Half-Life 2 mod, Alchemilla does successfully evoke shades of Konami's infamous town of fog and gore. Set in the low-visibility anytown of Silent Hill, you play as a man confused by the unusual nature of the town and assaulted by creepy happenings. There are no monsters or combat, rather your job is to survive the town's torment by completing a series of tasks and puzzles.

I spent a few minutes wondering around its creepy buildings, and it seems well constructed. If there's a downside, it's that you're quickly tasked with scouring environments for various objects. It's hardly the most horrifying way to encounter the mod's reimagining of the town.

If you'd like to visit Silent Hill: Alchemilla, head over to ModDB. You'll also need to install the Source SDK 2013 through the Steam Tools library.

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.