Look behind you...........too late, somethings gonna get ya! (Silent Hill 2 (PS2))

Member Name: sparkymarky1973

Product:	Silent Hill 2 (PS2)
Date:	04/01/09 (43 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Scary, atmospheric and very tense in places- also has multiple endings for replay value

Disadvantages: A very easy end of game baddie and a nonsensical plot climax let this down ever so slightly

Silent Hill 2 is the bestselling sequel to the original PSone game and the first of four episodes in the series to appear on the PS2 console. Although it doesn't carry on directly from the first game, SH2 does return the gamer to the same mist enshrouded American town chock full of eccentric characters and scary, twisted creatures eager to tear you limb from limb.

Three years ago, James Sunderland tragically lost his wife to a mysterious illness. Today, he has returned to Silent Hill after supposedly recieving a letter from his dead wife asking him to meet him there at their "special place". Arriving at the outskirts, he finds the town all but abandoned, covered entirely in mist and frequented by bizarre and dangerous monsters whose presence is signified by the sound of static that breaks out on a portable radio that James shortly discovers abandoned in some ruins.

The whole game basically covers James journey across the town of Silent Hill; a journey that is fraught with danger and various obstacles that he must find his way around. Often some kind of puzzle is concerned and the difficulty of these is determined at the beginning of the game along with the difficulty level of the monsters. First time through, you may want to set these both to normal because some of the creatures can afflict a fair bit of damage especially the nurses that frequent the halls of a darkened hospital that James finds himself exploring later in the game. If you have seen the film, then the nurses will be familiar to you as will the Pyramid Head creature that seems to stalk your every move. But be warned, in this game just turning out your torch only makes you a harder target for them to find. Unlike the movie, these nurses will hunt and hunt you until you finally resort to physical; violence and cave their bloody heads in!

It's fair to say that there is something very psycholgically scary about walking through a fog covered enviroment only able to see a few yards ahead of the character you are playing. When the monsters come stumbling out of the fog in front of you with very little warning, and when you start encountering them in the darkened hallways of some of the buildings you enter, it is difficult indeed not to feel a little heavy in the pants department. The blood and gore is not excessive but is there and those who are squeamish or of a nervous disposition should probably avoid.

My only complaint is that, at times, the game is a little easy even on normal setting. Playing on hard however can be a major challenge and should only be tackled by those brave enough to go around the town with little health packs or ammo or by those replaying the game to get one of the multiple endings. There are three endings you can get depending on your actions throughout the game and whether or not you have played the game before and have a save on your memory card. There are also two joke endings- one which features the UFO and aliens from the joke ending in the first game and another known only as the "dog" ending. I'll leave that to you to discover what thats all about but both these are triggered by certain actions you can perform in the game at set locations throughout the town. There is even a bonus mini-game prelude that can be played once the main story-thread has been completed.

Overall this is something of a classic game and one of the best entries in a series that has spawned several manga comics, a highly rated film and which has a new installment due to hit next-gen consoles sometime this year. Directed by a new team however, it remains to be seen whether or not it can live up to the reputation that Silent Hill, the franchise, really started gathering from this moment onwards....

Be afraid, be very afraid.......theres something in the Dark and it's coming to get you Barbera.......

Summary: A great game to whet your Silent Hill appetite if you enjoyed the film.....live the movie!!