IN SILENT HILL NO-ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM... (Silent Hill 2 (PS2))

Member Name: dlb74

Product:	Silent Hill 2 (PS2)
Date:	07/03/08 (67 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: An atmospheric and genuinely frightening game...

Disadvantages: Not really a game for anyone of a sensitive disposition...

I thought it was time to write up another game review. This time, I thought I'd back track to one of the older PS2 titles available:

SILENT HILL 2: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT

I've been a fan of the Silent Hill franchise ever since I played the original game back in 1999 on the humble Playstation. Despite the limitations of the original Playstation system, Silent Hill was a very memorable and to be honest, scary experience.

Silent Hill 2 was released on the then next-gen PS2 in 2001. With the prospect of better graphics and sound, I started playing Silent Hill 2 with some trepidation. Would this second game convey the same sense of out-and-out loneliness and horror of the first?

Read on (if you dare) and I'll tell you...


THE STORY

In Silent Hill 2, you control a different main character called James Sunderland. When the game begins, he's in a very grubby public toilet where he is looking in a mirror. As he steps outside, we see that he is on the outskirts of Silent Hill.

His reason for being there is that he has received a letter from his wife Mary - asking him to meet her at their "special place"... Silent Hill. Nothing too unusual about that - right? Wrong. Mary died three years before the time in which the game is set.

Knowing full well that dead people can't write and send letters, James heads to the town of Silent Hill. As he witnesses horrific creatures through the misty streets, he begins to wonder if perhaps Mary is alive in the town after all.

There are a few other people that James finds in the town. It appears that they too have been summoned to Silent Hill... but why... and by whom?

Among the people he encounters is a young woman named Maria. James is startled by her appearance - as she bears a strong resemblance to his long-lost Mary - although her clothes and hair-style are vastly different to that of Mary - along with her personality. Is this woman Mary or someone completely unrelated to her and James?

The only way to find out the truth is to venture into the desolate town of Silent Hill...


GAMEPLAY

The game is played in a third person perspective. Thankfully the in-game camera is generally unobtrusive to the player. You can walk around in the game - or run if you feel the need to (and believe me when I tell you that you WILL want to run).

As the game unfolds, James will encounter many terrifying creatures from which he will have to confront and attack - or run from.

As with the original game, James finds an old radio that appears not to work - but strangely gives off a static sound whenever a nightmare creature is nearby. This can be very unnerving when you know that there is something awful close to you that you can't actually see yet as it's shrouded in dense fog or dark, shadowy areas. In this sense, it's a game that will have your nerves jangling almost constantly. Whether or not you choose to play the game at night and with the lights off is entirely a personal choice of the player but suffice to say if they choose to play it in those conditions, they may wish to have some clean underpants nearby!

The good news is that James will find weapons that will even the odds somewhat when entering into combat against the terrifying creatures that inhabit Silent Hill. The first weapon he finds is crude but effective (a piece of wood with some nails in the end) but there will be other weapons that you will find as the game unfolds - including the likes of a steel pipe, pistol, shotgun and a rifle. It's worth mentioning that should you return to the game after having previously completed it, you will be awarded another great weapon to dish out an ass-kicking to the monsters... a chainsaw! Anyone who's ever watched the Evil Dead films will know that a chainsaw is more than capable of disposing of enemies. If it's good enough for Ash, it's certainly good enough for James!

Apart from facing scary beasties, there will be frequent sections of the game that will call upon the players' ability to solve puzzles and riddles in order to progress. Thankfully, this never gets in the way of the enjoyment of the game. If anything, it's quite good to get challenges set to give your old grey matter a work out.

Both the difficulty of the enemies and puzzles can be made easier or harder - which will make the game accessible to lots of players.


GRAPHICS

The graphics within the game are unsurprisingly a major step up from the original Playstation graphics. The degree of detail is far more impressive too - although a lot of detail is lost within the swirling fog. The fog no doubt serves as a means to the programmers of the game to ensure it runs at a premium speed without any slow-down.

The colour scheme and general appearance of the game conveys a real sense of dread and apprehension. Some of the areas that James must pass through on his quest are uninviting to say the very least. Some of the places unlikely to ever be tourist hot-spots include the like of a slaughterhouse and a prison morgue which is full of decomposing dead bodies. Certainly it's fair to say that a lot of this disturbing imagery will stay with you long after you've turned off the PS2 - even if you don't want it to.

The characters within the game are all convincing and pretty realistic all in all. This helps make the game a more realistic experience. Sadly, this is a double-edged sword as the credible graphics also mean that the nightmarish creatures found wandering around Silent Hill are also convincing enough to give you goose bumps, make your skin crawl and generally be a pretty good laxative...


SOUND

The sound of Silent Hill 2 is excellent. The voice-acting (and script) of the game is actually very impressive and flows well. All too often we have seen and played games where the voice-acting is so totally wooden and unrealistic that you can never get into the feel of it, let alone get immersed in the plot.

Thankfully, Silent Hill 2 doesn't suffer from this problem - and this allows the player to genuinely feel like they've been transported into this hellish other-world.

The music within the game is fantastic also. It ranges from some gentle guitar pieces to some genuinely unsettling sounds that comprise solely of droning noises and many other unidentifiable sounds. This also is reflected in the game when you often hear terrible sounds that make you wonder if they're being made by some terrible creature that is lurking nearby.


VALUE

The value of the game is increased in the Director's Cut of the game which has another section of the story that can be played after you complete the main part of the game. This extra section lets you play as Maria and adds a little more weight to the story.

Also the fact that the game has several different endings depending on how you've played the game increases the replay factor sufficiently.


MY CONCLUSION

Silent Hill 2 is a great game that may not be suitable for everyone given the disturbing scenarios shown therein. However, if you can stomach that element, you'll discover a great survival horror game. Although the combat isn't as fierce as in the Resident Evil series (which will always be compared with the Silent Hill series) the atmosphere of the game will have you on the edge of your seat - and without a shadow of a doubt have you jumping out of your skin at times too.

This is a brilliant part of the Silent Hill franchise and is a game I'd utterly recommend.

Perhaps one day I'll see you on the foggy streets of Silent Hill...

Thanks for reading this.

Derek.

Summary: I love this game and utterly recommend it!!!