This is a psychological horror testing how long you can last mentally (Silent Hill 2 (PS2))

Member Name: ps2update

Product:	Silent Hill 2 (PS2)
Date:	06/01/02 (220 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Psychologically scarey, eerie visuals

Disadvantages: see text

Silent Hill is a strange town brought to you courtesy of Konami. Harry Mason has already experienced the horrors of Silent Hill where his battle to find his daughter Cheryl ended in tragedy. Now James Sunderland must go through the same horror. His wife Mary whom was supposed to have died three years ago has written to him asking him to go back to Silent Hill where they spent many a happy vacation and to visit their "special place". James is confused considering she was dead and is unsure what she means by their "special place". Puzzled James goes to Silent Hill but it is apparent as soon as he gets here that something is not right…

GRAPHICS

Silent Hill 2 has very intelligent visual effects. Fog and an eerie flashlight played a huge part in the original Silent Hill and the sequel is no different. Silent Hill 2 is constantly fuzzy throughout to give a horror effect, it is reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project when they are filming, the signal is so weak that it could cut out at anytime but luckily for the gamer it doesn't. As well as being distinctly fuzzy it is very dark, at night or in a room with no lights on it is particularly hard to navigate due to the sheer darkness. You have a dim flashlight to guide you through an abandoned apartment, this is grim at the best of times but when some fellow squatters whom happened to be hideous mutations inhabit the apartment it is somewhat grimmer.


The fuzzy graphics and the fog in outside scenes has been put there deliberately - not only is it there to create an atmospheric chiller but it is also there to hide small graphical errors. If you look closely the characters aren't exactly flawless and still appear very blocky at times but thanks to the fog it is there to hide these graphical flaws.


The settings for Silent Hill 2 have been created just like the settings of a real town, the hospital appears as if it has just came out of a Hollywood horror film and the prison rese
mbles death row.


Colours are mainly blacks and reds symbolising darkness and blood. It isn't unusual for you to see a trail of blood carelessly smeared randomly up a wall or on the streets of a town. A particularly chilling moment is when entering a room you hear a TV on, you look over and you see that there is no signal although a man appears to be sitting there, the horror unfolds before your eyes as you get closer and see that this man is dead, blood is splattered up the walls and over the TV, the man sits there motionless with the top of his head neatly cut off revealing a brain - simply put this is not for the squeamish PS2 gamers.
The enemies you encounter in Silent Hill 2 are nicely created, forms of flesh moving about in a horror like way. Konami have deliberately made something hideous to look at that moves in a way that makes you want to scream as they firmly believe in playing on your emotions and they do a tremendously good job of it.


The only real flaw are the actual characters, they don't look particularly solid in the cut scenes. When the characters stand there still it is easy to see small errors such as jagged bits of material and blocky features. Luckily when it cuts to an FMV scene Silent Hill 2 really excels and cannot be faulted at all, overall it is a very impressive outing. Just think if Silent Hill 2 looks like this how good will horror games look when the PS2 is coming to the end of its time?
18/20

SOUND

Sound is a vital part to the success of Silent Hill 2. A buzz of the radio, the sound of a skull cracking, a gun shot, a knife sliding across a concrete floor, the soft patter of rain drops, all of this and more is here. Sound helps set the atmosphere and give you an understanding of what's going on. Often it will just be the sounds of you exploring locations with perhaps a bit of light background music on but even so there are a lot of sound effects. A very disturbing effect is the high-
pitched squawk that some of the enemies give out as the crawl across the floor hell bent on disposing of you. These creatures almost look like humans stuck in a cocoon trying to free themselves, possessed souls trying to escape but they can't. If this is the case James Sunderland should feel bad about taking them out, after all a plank of wood with a nail in the end can hurt if you crack someone over the head with it!


When you assault the enemy you either get a satisfying splatter of blood or you get a scream that sounds very choral and hellish - it really is quite disturbing to hear a choral scream (then you think there are two people trapped in the cocoon trying to free themselves together!). Old classic sound effects are there like the footsteps on the floor, the creeks and bangs that happened for apparently no reason and the rattling of objects.


When there is background music it is usually one of two things; it is either peaceful because something tragic has happened or he has reminisced about his beloved Mary or it is hellacious because things have taken a turn for the worst. In either case it is not a nice experience. One instance of particularly chilling music is in the hospital, whenever you encounter a nurse loud music hits that sounds very similar to Mozart's requiem and at the same time your radio is going - do you wonder why people have been sent to asylum's after playing this?
The talking is done very well in cut scenes, each character with their own unique traits and mannerisms - it helps you develop a portfolio of the people of Silent Hill.
19/20

LIFESPAN

Silent Hill 2 is a game that will keep you going for a long time. The game first time through will take between less than 10 hours to 30 hours depending on the difficulty settings you put it on and the ability of the gamer. After completing it once it is only polite to complete it another threetimes to get the three alternate endings, baring in m
ind that there are extras to unlock such as chainsaws and the infamous turn off the fuzzy picture and get a clear picture mode you should be playing for a long time. As with all horror games it doesn't really last as long as the gamer would like but I would say it is at least as big as Resident Evil: Code Veronica X if not bigger. Will you actually replay it again to get the alternative endings? It depends if you can handle the emotional scarring from the first time around I guess!
20/25

GAMEPLAY

Silent Hill 2 isn't a game - it is an experience. It is a test to see how long you can survive, but this isn't a survival horror? This is a psychological horror testing how long you can last mentally. Grown men have broke down playing this game, teens have been referred to councillors and have just sat there cradling themselves in a room saying "I didn't kill him" occasionally muttering "It wasn't me!" and women have committed violent crimes of passion before being labelled as mass murders after one too many drinks at the local pub.


So surely with all these side effects it would be easier not to be scared witless, to avoid the game and to lead a carefree normal life. You would think that wouldn't you? When you have the chance to play Silent Hill 2 the easy option isn't an option because like an addictive drug Silent Hill 2 lures you into it begging you to take another dosage. You will give into the drug, you will cry, you will wake up at night in a cold sweat shouting "Get me out of this town" and "Help me", and you will certainly wonder at times why you are playing this nightmare of a game. Yet you will continue playing eager to find out what becomes of you, James Sunderland. The plot will grip you twisting and turning, you will wonder if there is light at the ender of the tunnel and if there is a happy ending to such a terrible, terrible game.


Alone In The Dark 4 was great, Resident Evil: Code Veronica X was superb but S
ilent Hill 2 is the epitome of horror games and is in a totally different league. Resident Evil is in league "gore-fest" while Alone In The Dark 4 opted to join league "chiller" but let me assure you Resident Evil did not contain the "real" Nemesis and Alone In The Dark 4 was not "the" new nightmare - at the time they appeared to be so but it is in fact Silent Hill that contains a Nemesis and Silent Hill 2 that is the new nightmare.


Silent Hill 2 contains a few puzzles and a fair amount of enemies but it concentrates more on psychologically breaking you down and expanding the storyline. Silent Hill 2 can torment you in so many different ways perhaps it is the fact that you are constantly stalked by Pyramid Head? Maybe it is the fact that you are getting letters from the dead or it could even be because you just watched a huge monster demolish the monsters that you were finding it really hard to defeat? Whatever breaks you down (as the old saying goes) there is something for everybody. Puzzles vary in difficulty, sometimes they can be "bloody" easy and other times they can be "brain teasers".


Silent Hill 2 is without a doubt a fun game - that is if you enjoy horror games because Silent Hill 2 accomplishes what it sets out to do so it is therefore a success. I would personally not recommend this to anybody for their first ever videogame because it has moments that could put people off for life but if you are an experienced gamer and you love the survival horror genre this is for you - it is undoubtedly the finest game that Konami has produced and the finest survival horror game produced (yes that included MGS and yes that included Resident Evil).


Like all good things there is always a downside (as well as being scared witless) and the downside in Silent Hill 2 has to be the storyline towards the end. Although Silent Hill 2 has a brilliant storyline it is not all explained clearly and the end storyline seems to be rushed and it
all happens too quickly - I have no doubt that the unexplained things at the end are deliberate but the last 30mins to 1 hour is all squashed together and would be best if it was spread over two or three hours, with that said there is nothing else that can be faulted gameplay wise.
23/25

ORIGINALITY

Silent Hill 2 adds many new innovative touches to the genre; the use of combining clever visuals with a truly gripping plot has never been pulled off to this degree of success before and the creatures that you come up against are pure genius. Konami have put a lot of time and effort into this game to decide what is really horrific and they have came up with the right formula. Although things like the torch, and the stalker have been used before I say this - why not reuse a good idea?
8/10

OVERALL

Silent Hill 2 is a game that will haunt you forever; it will play with your mind and leave you on the verge of a nervous breakdown - excellent!

88%

Summary: