Silent Hill is synonymous with psychological horror. This series produced some of the scariest and most traumatic games of all time, filled with well-written stories, unforgettable characters, and utterly disturbing monsters that reflect distorted visions of the human psyche like no other.
But what if the horrors haunting this foggy town didn’t come from a corrupted spiritual power, but from beings from another planet?
Of course, this is just a joke, one that started with the very first Silent Hill, released in 1999, when the UFO ending tradition was born. Since then, most mainline entries have honored this tradition, some brilliantly, others… less so.
And today, I’m skipping the foolish idea of ranking all Silent Hill games (search your feelings, you know the second or third one would top the list anyway) and jumping straight to what truly matters: ranking all the UFO endings.
If you’ve read my Silent Hill f review, you know I teased this post as a way to explain why that game’s UFO ending was so dissapointing. But unlike most alien conspiracies, I’m back to deliver the goods. So let’s celebrate these fully realized, absurd, fourth-wall-shattering cutscenes featuring little gray aliens, abductions, comic-strip aesthetics, and dogs.
But first, a few ground rules:
Only UFO Endings: That means aliens or flying saucers must appear in some form. Sorry, SH2 Dog Ending fans, you’ll have to sit this one out.
Plot over Power-ups: I'll judge these by how creative and enjoyable they are. Unlockable weapons or New Game + goodies can help boost a game’s ranking, but they’re not essential.
Subjectivity alert: This is just my ranking. If you disagree, feel free to argue passionately in the comments section like a true Silent Hill theorist. Bonus points if you find a way to hack Substack’s code to post it in Comic Sans.
Also, needless to say that a spoiler warning is in place here. We are talking about game endings after all, so this is kind of expected.
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Now, without further ado, let's start our ranking. You might expect me to begin with Silent Hill f since I promised to be very harsh about it, but while I do have issues with it, the worst offender is still...
The Twist: Nick Lachey and his blonde girlfriend get abducted. That’s it.
The Reward: The Deputy Alex costume and a Laser Gun that is directly inspired by Konami’s Justifier lightgun for the original PlayStation.
UFO Endings in Silent Hill are the very staple of inventive and crazy ideas. They are perfect to give developers an excuse to stretch their imagination and craft the most ludicrous interpretations of the lore. The best ones go the extra mile, giving fans comic relief and meme-worthy moments as a reward for enduring all that terror.
And that’s exactly why Homecoming's UFO ending, rendered in engine with a "meh" script, seems so watered down, just like everything else in what I consider one of the weakest Silent Hill games to date.
At least, I have to commend it for being consistent. This mediocre ending matches the game’s overall mediocrity. If you’re going to do something so uninspired due to lack of ideas, at least have the decency to scrap it entirely like the SH4 devs did.
The silver lining is getting the laser gun as one of the post game unclockables. It has infinite ammo and absurd damage levels. Plus, kudos for being inspired in the iconic Konami Justifier lightgun. However, since you have to replay Homecoming to enjoy it, I don't see it as a big reward (hence my rule of the ending counting more than the New Game + goodies).
Actually, the real silver lining is the fact that Double Helix went on to deliver the excellent Killer Instinct years later. As fighting-game devs, they were among the best. As Silent Hill devs, though…
The twist: Turns out everything was part of a therapy session where Cheryl claims Silent Hill is a giant spaceship before turning into Mira the Dog from SH2, and Dr. K reveals he’s an alien. Oh, and James Sunderland makes a cameo because, of course, people love SH2.
The reward: absolutely nothing, which makes sense since you never fight in this game.
This is definitely an upgrade from Homecoming’s take and checks all the boxes. Stylized comic visuals? Check. Cameos from other SH characters? Check. A little gray creature with big black eyes chatting with the protagonist? Check.
Still, this is a confusing one. It’s not a bad ending per se and these UFO endings don’t have to be coherent anyway, but Cheryl turning into a dog and Dr. K becoming an alien out of nowhere feels forced, just to justify the gag.
Not bad, but I honestly think Climax did a better UFO ending before this, as we’ll see later.
The twist: It’s revealed through an old manga that Shu’s meddling attitude made him the real enemy all along.
The reward: The PP-8001 lightsaber. You can even make it red as if Hinako’s embracing her "dark side". Get it?
This is the reason I wanted to make this list in the first place. But… to be completely honest, I don’t hate this ending. The accurate art direction and anime-style voice acting are superb, and it did make me chuckle a few times. However, this feels more like a joke ending than a proper UFO one and, the biggest offender of all, it completely ruined my expectations.
You think that a game with a protagonist constantly rambling about the Great Space Invasion, a child’s play that she enjoys playing with her crush, will have an absolute killer UFO finale... but no, the aliens don't even show up. The whole thing revolves around Sakuko’s Alien Identifier robot shutting down while everyone awkwardly shares embarrassing secrets to prove they’re not disguised ETs, which none of them are since Ebisugaoka's neighborhood watch took care of the aliens off screen. What a bummer! At least, Mira the Dog piloting the UFO in the end is cute.
I wish I could say the reward was any better, but the PP-8001 still has some caveats. I expected it to follow the long tradition of game-breaking UFO weapons in the series, but this is far from the case. The fact that this lightsaber gets shorter with usage and required toolkits to regain its original lenght is the very definition of disapointment.
As I said in my review, the f in the title stands for frustation.
The twist: Travis talks to the moon, then gets approached by an alien with Mira the Dog in a flying saucer. They inform him his truck is on their planet, and he offers to drive the saucer there.
The reward: the Tesla Rifle, another overpowered alien gun with infinite ammo.
As someone who has the original SH as his favorite game in the franchise and one of his favorite games of all time, I have mixed feelings about Origins due to how it butchered the first game's backstory. But even I have to give credit to its adorable UFO ending.
It marks Mira’s first appearance in a UFO sequence and features Travis piloting a flying saucer, all told in a mid-2000s cartoon style. Weirdly enough, it’s kind of heartwarming, which is not a word usually associated with Silent Hill.
The reward isn’t particularly special, though. Even Homecoming was more creative with their interpretation of an infinite ammo alien gun. But hey, at least Travis was able to drive an UFO, so there's that.
The twist: Aliens come to Earth to abduct Harry. It’s straightforward as that.
The reward: The Hyper Blaster, an infinite ammo pistol with laser target, auto aim, and over the top power that inspired many others in future entries.
This is the UFO ending that started it all and established the basis for every other that came after. It’s awkwardly written, crudely drawn, capped with a Star Wars-style credits crawl, and accompanied by a bizarre upbeat tune... and that’s why it’s so memorable.
It feels like an afterthought, yet it perfectly balances the original game’s revolutionary horror with some welcoming self-aware humor. Not only that, the ‘90s vibe makes it both amazing and wonderfully dated.
Yeah, being the first one doesn’t mean it’s the best. This idea would get better executions later on, but the Hyper Blaster makes it all worth.
The twist: the original James Sunderland from the PS2 version of SH2, now called Space James, abducts the remake version of himself, echoing the original SH2 UFO ending.
The reward: Nothing special. The remake follows the original’s ethos of having new weapons and items being unlocked under certain conditions unrelated to a specific ending.
I love the irony here. It borrows the 1950’s sci-fi asthetic and even the same music from the original SH2’s UFO ending, but it adds a clever twist: every dialogue card is written in Comic Sans! If you know about the infamous “Silent Hill Ranch” board fiasco from the HD Collection, you’ll get the joke.
It’s cute, self-aware, and only ranks lower than its predecessor because it’s more of a retread… though, to be fair, that’s exactly the point of it.
The twist: In a direct sequel to SH's UFO Ending, Harry Mason comes back to Earth to ask James if he’s seen Cheryl. Unsatisfied with his lack of answers, Harry helps the aliens abduct James.
The reward: Like I said before, nothing in particular.
This was the first UFO ending to get the full deluxe treatment. Everything here screams effort: the 1950's space-horror homage, low-poly Harry faithfully recreated from SH1, the continuation of this ridiculous “alien conspiracy” lore... absolute cinema!
This ending fueled the fan theory that Silent Hill’s nightmares are part of an alien plot orchestrated by Harry Mason himself. And the next every on our list only solidifies this madness…
The twist: Heather returns home after a strange day and recounts her story to Harry and his alien friend over tea while James hides behind a curtain. Harry karate-kicks a plank held by James, the alien gets annoyed with what happened to “poor little Cheryl”, and decides to nuke Silent Hill.
The reward: this game follows a similar unlockables system like SH2, so there’s nothing in particular when you reach this ending.
I mean... what can I say? This plot is pure genius.
The Sunday-comic aesthetic is perfect, and the fact that it implies Harry’s been working with aliens since the first game is hilarious. But the cherry on top is the Japanese joke song that plays in the credits, an all-time fan-favorite meme.
This is why so many fans consider SH3 the best in the series. If even the UFO ending has this level of quality, that speaks volumes about the game as a whole.
For the longest time, I thought this was the ultimate UFO ending… But then, thanks to the advent of modern emulation, I found my holy grail…
The twist: The entire game is revealed to be a Gradius prequel played by someone wearing a Robbie the Rabbit costume.
The reward: You just watched the best UFO ending in the whole series. That's more than enough!
I know, after all that praise for SH3, it might sound crazy to put Silent Hill Arcade at the top, but hear me out.
It starts innocently enough: Eric meets his great-grandfather, who reveals that his new ship is an UFO and tasks him and his friend Tina to chase him “to the end of the universe”. The exaggerated script, kitschy old-movie visuals, and comically eerie soundtrack would already make for a respectable UFO ending.
But since this game was developed by the Konami arcade division, they thought that it would be a great idea to pay homage to the rich history of the company, so the whole thing scales up to a new level: Tina dresses like a Contra character, she and Eric board the Vic Viper to chase their captain, and the whole thing turns out to be a prequel to the first Gradius, being played by Robbie the Rabbit with the Gradius’ first stage theme blasting in the background with off-key recorders.
It’s an ending so epic and so amazingly absurd that I forgive this game for not giving me new weapons or other incentives to put another credit.
I really wish to be able to play SH Arcade in a real arcade cabinet in the future. I would gladly give it my hard earned money and play this a hundred times so I can see this thing in a bigger screen. The absurdity, the art direction, and the sheer amount of references makes this my favorite and my favorite Silent Hill UFO ending of all time.
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