Silent Hill 2

PlayStation 2 (Konami 2001)

The big G-S-G-S-G

General opinion: One of the best horror games
Story: Slow at first, but quite good
Graphics: Great
Sound: Awesome
Gameplay: Good

Total:

The Review

Silent Hill 2 is, in my opinion, one of the best horror games ever made. Like all the games of the series, it relies on a truly eerie atmosphere created by grotesque scenery and freaky, ambient sounds. Unlike many other horror games, it relies less on action and shock effects, although these are still present. The game belongs to an already long tradition of "survival horror" games, begun by Alone in the Dark, made hugely popular with Resident Evil, and finally perfect with the Silent Hill series. These games combine adventure, action and gruesome story told from a 3rd person, 3D viewpoint with dynamic, movie-like camera angles. This is a game you should play alone in a dark room, preferably with a set of headphones, and let the eerie atmosphere absorb you...

Silent Hill 2 is an entirely original story, which has very little to do with the plot of the original. The game is set in the same town of Silent Hill, but in a different area, so the locations are all new as well. The visual style and gameplay, though, remain very much the same. The story begins as James Sunderland receives a letter from his wife, Mary, who supposedly died of an illness three years ago. According to it, she is waiting for him in Silent Hill, the small town they once visited on vacation. James, of course, has to find out the truth and sets out to find Mary, but upon arriving discovers a ghost town, empty exept for strange, unhuman monsters prowling the streets. He runs into Maria, a girl who looks very much like Mary, but is... different. The story progresses slowly, at first, and the first couple of hours might even seem boring, if it weren't for the amazing atmosphere. But, all in all, it is very good. The story is quite mysterious, though, and may well leave you with more questions than it answers. Some people might not like that kind of stories. I do. Out of the four Silent Hill games to date, I think this has perhaps the best story and characters.

Gameplay closely resembles the first Silent Hill. You go around the town looking for clues about what you're supposed to do, solve puzzles that hinder your progress, and kill or avoid monsters that get in your way. The puzzles are mostly simple, use the right item at the right place kind of puzzles, and often obvious, but include some that are clever as well. One of the biggest problems of the first game was its controls, a problem which has, in my opinion, plagued survival horror games from the start, and is probably the most important reason I still haven't played Resident Evil. These games feature a method of movement which is relative to the character: push forward and the character walks into the direction he is facing, push left or right and the character turns on his heels. I find this method very clumsy, especially in combat situations. Silent Hill 2 still retains this method, but also offers an optional, more standard, screen relative movement method. I think this makes combat much easier.

A great feature of this game is that there are many difficulty levels, from Beginner to Hard. This means that players who aren't very keen on action may also enjoy the atmosphere and story. Even on Easy level, the second lowest, the monsters don't pose much of a threat. Bosses aren't the most impressive I've seen (though the final boss is quite cool). Also, at least on Easy level, they're much too easy... I've yet to try harder difficulties, but it's clear that the emphasis in this game is on atmosphere and psychological horror rather than action. The "director's cut" version of the game also includes an additional scenario where you play as Maria. This is quite short and simple, but is still a nice addition. The game itself is not very long, perhaps ten hours. But, since the gameplay is pretty simple and would perhaps become too repetitive after a while, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. The game has several alternate endings, which naturally adds to replay value.

Technically, the game is well made. Graphics are quite good, although no longer quite state of the art. The town of Silent Hill is large and detailed, yet wonderfully claustrophobic due to constant fog and darkness, which add well to the atmosphere. And Akira Yamaoka's soundtrack is simply awesome. There is very little actual music in the game, but rather the world is filled with freaky, ambient, industrial sounds, which go a long way in creating the whole atmosphere of the game. The more melodic tunes that accompany cut-scenes are often beautiful and melancholy. The soundtrack album of this game is one of my favourite game soundtracks, and certainly the best of the series.

In a way, the Silent Hill games are perhaps a little simple and repetitive. Still, they have much to make up for this, most importantly the eerie atmosphere, grotesque style and sounds, and some freaky plot twists as well. A must for horror fans, and, as it is (plotwise) mostly unrelated to the other games, it is also a good introduction to the series.

Ben B. Bainton, 2 November 2005