14 'Genius' Video Game Features That Were Total Accidents

13. Silent Hill's Iconic Fog

What you think: Horror-maestros Konami (before they went off the deep end and cut MGS V in three) saw the potential in the West's lack of a truly horrifying, atmosphere-first game, and set about putting together something that would connote the best parts of Japanese fright-fests Ringu, Tetsuo and everything else.

The end result was Silent Hill, a game that would end up being so popular it easily went toe-to-toe with Resident Evil's finest, alongside in the second game especially, had one of the best plot twists in the medium.

What actually happened: The franchise's initially most obscuring-yet-effective element; the pea-soup fog that blankets the city, was entirely a product of its time. The first PlayStation's draw-distance was incredibly short, leading to Konami having to include a ridiculous amount of fog down every street just to cover up the fact the game couldn't render what was behind it.

Turns out, it was something every review pointed to as a defining aspect, and one that heightened the tension in every encounter tenfold, especially against those window-smashing Air Screamers. Most annoyingly for fans, on the HD re-release the tech limitation was lifted and the fog was removed, exposing the dilapidated town for what it always was.

This thoroughly proves that sometimes the happy little accidents give their respective creations the identity they need to succeed.