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Great game if its' unique flavor is indeed your cup of tea.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I got SH 2 years ago. For its' time the graphics were great and the story was definetly something original no other game developer team had tried before. If you were to ask which I found more scary..being attacked by flesh eating mutants or receiving a genuine letter from a deceased loved one written AFTER they had died I'd be inclined to say the later.

Regardless that is the Dilehma James is faced with. His dead wife has lured him back to Silent-hill and you know THAT is not going to be a happy walk in the park.

First of all let me say I think this game really made people "re-think" the survival horror genre. It tried being witty, intelligent, and chalked with macabre symbolism as opposed to zombie arms that broke through windows. Even the side characters were more than simply devices to move the plot along. Eddie and Angela have their own interesting inner demons too and Maria looks just like James's deceased wife though her personality is drastically different. If that is not enough to sell you on this premise I could simply say "Oh yeah this game introduces Pyramid-Head". That alone will have people lining up in droves.

Now putting everything good about the game aside I'm going to be brave and talk about why I think while it deserves "praise" it still is not all that and a side order of extra big fries. Yes, I know this is the game the elite Silent Snoots put on a pedestal. The one game no other SH can compare to. The Holy Grail of team silent. Is it that earth shattering? For me anyway it was not.

As with the other games there is a suspenseful build up. First it is sounds. Then it is fleeting shadows. Finally it is full blown creatures. The only problem is often there are not enough monsters and instead you are forced to aimlessly wander around trying to collect keys or pieces of an obscure puzzle. Now I admit sometimes its' fun to run around an enviorment without fear of dying to see those little details. However in a survival horror game you should never begin lulling into a calm sense of security and that's the biggest flaw of the game. In most areas I felt "safe" and that the monsters were easy to manuever around. Every once in awhile an eager lurching Pyramid-Head made my heart race a bit but besides for the beloved apron adorned big guy no other creatures instilled in me any amount of dread.

The true disturbing factor comes from interacting with Eddie and Angela. I will not divulge why they are so psychologically unstable but talking with them alone requires a few steel nerves. These are normal people that "snapped" and you get the feeling you are a participant in their horrorifying delusions. Things get stranger when you meet Maria, the sultry Dopple-ganger of Mary who embodies all Jame's sexual fantasies given flesh. Is she Jame's wife's ghost? Sadly Silent Hill never makes an explaination that easy so you have to keep playing to find out.

As the game slowly drags on it picks up when we find out James has his own dark secret. When you finally get that revelation everything comes together and you know why Silent Hill's foggy streets beckoned to him.

Now there is one thing I like to make clear to the fans. Pyramid Head pursued James because James subconciously wanted to be punished for his past misdeeds however a few references from the other games prove the executioner has been apart of the town history for a long time. PH was not manifested from James, he was merely drawn to James. This is why it is OK PH was in the movie and ok he is in SH V.

Examples

1. In origins the gillespie house had a picture of PH. Origins took place way before Jame's arrival.

2. The Room talked about "the red devil" and Jimmy stone. This story ties into PH if you read it carefully.

3. Another document in Origins talked about "the executioner" as well.

4. In SH 3 there is a picture of one of Alessa's past goddess incarnations with PH in the background amongst a few other people. You can view it in the cathedral.

I just wanted to clear that up because there is a HUGE DEBATE raging PH should be confined to only this game which I find to be a waste of breath.

As you can expect the music in this game is haunting and very befitting of Jame's sad tale and descent into madness to find his redemption. If there is one thing SH 2 gets right it is estabalishing a powerful thought provoking mood.

Combat is what you expect from SH. You are not going to be able to fight like a marine. A plank with nails in it is your first weapon. That should tell you something right there. Eventually you get a few guns and a few other melee weapons besides your buddy "Plank-zorz". Aside from stomping on monsters when they're down you are not a golden glove brawling champion. Perhaps it is for this reason it is good why most of the monsters are so gosh darn pathetic. Besides for the acid spewing of the patient monsters and the sheer size of the abstract daddies nothing made me feel over-whelmed that often.

So in the end I'll say this game is great for atmosphere and a brilliant story. If you can stomach a horror game with more emphasis placed on wandering around, solving puzles, and talking to crazy lunatics to glean disturbing revelations you can likely over look the fact the combat engine is uninspired and the monsters are more scarce than the items in your inventory.

Silent Hill 2

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

When the playstation began to rise in popularity, it released a game known as Silent Hill. This game impacted many with its disturbing sense of horror. Silent Hill 2 was then released for the PS2 with amazing graphics and great replay value. This game is barely tolerable to play in alone in a dark room, but it is possible. I recommend this game for anyone who wants a horrific threal and great gameplay included.

A nightmare I will never forget.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: April 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is a Brilliant game and one of the best games I have ever played. A master peace from start to end

The most horrifying entertainment experiance ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 20, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The title may not seem right at first, as there are certainly other works in a whole range of mediums. For a video game example look at the remake of resident evil. That game features a ever present enemy which cannot be killed, zombie which come back stronger, and other frightening creatures which jump out at you. By contrast the initial hour or so of this game may seem boring. But sooner or later you start to notice how uneasy you've become. You'll have your heartbroken, and then be forced to watch it happen again. You will question the reality of the game, and ultimately you own. This game grows on you long after your finished playing. It's in these questions that the strongest horror comes.

Also this game is one of the most interesting to disect, almost every object, enviroment and creature serves as an alegory. Add an eleborate set of allusions to other interesting works (david lynch, jacob's ladder, house of leaves, etc.) and you find yourself not only a gamer, but a investigator into a mystery. good luck

BEST SURVIVAL-HORROR GAME EVER!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: June 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Silent Hill has become something of a cult sensation over the last few years and This game, in addition to being conisered by many to be the best of the series, has added tremendously to the mythos.
Our story starts at a Bathroom shed in the woods outside of the town, and our protaganist, James Sunderland is staring at himself in a mirror. Aparently, he has recieved a letter from his wife Mary saying tht she is in there 'special place'(a hotel room) in Silent Hill. The problem is that James' wife past away three years prior to him recieving the letter. As he enters S.H. he quickly relizes that the town has been 'distorted' by something unknown. As he searches the town for clues, he runs into a women named Maria who in addition to being aloof to the situation of the town, seems to be a dead ringer for his wife. As James continues his search for his wife, He learns about the history of the town and what might have happend to his wife.
Silent Hill 2 is my personal favorite out of the series(so far). It combines elements of gore, psychological fear, disturbing imagery in general, and a haunting children's score. Visually, the game has a dark gritty look about it that adds a certain creepiness,and thank god for a flashlight. The story is about painfull repressed memories and how a person's actions effect others. One thing about Pt.2 is that it strays away from the 'cult' storyline that all the other games share, and it also serves as a reference point for the 4th game.
There is also a bonus 'game' that explains(to an extent) Maria's story, but It is recomended that the main game be played first. AS with all S.H. games; there are different dificulty settings as well as puzzles settings. There are also numerous different endings(like all the games). Depending on what difficulty settings you choose, As well as your actions in the game, will determine the outcome. In addition to the different endings, upon replaying added weapons(like a chainsaw!!) are available.
Silent Hill 2 is a dark disturbing venture into one man's pain and torment, and after just a few minutes of playing, one will forget that this is a video game as they are caught up in the nightmare.
A MUST HAVE!!

A Game can be Scary?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: May 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

"A game can be scary?" This is undoubtedly the first question that comes to mind to someone who is new to the survival horror genre. Not only can games be scary, but in many cases, they can be far more terrifying than popular Hollywood frightfests. If you play the right game, that is. The survival horror genre has been around for quite some time, the first notable entry being Dave Lebling's The Lurking Horror. Capcom revolutionized the art with Resident Evil, the 1996 playstation classic that pits a special ops police force against denizens of the macabre in an old, zombie infested mansion in the rural countryside of Raccoon City. This scary good series is known for zombies popping out of nowhere, thus creating a "boo!" type of scare that quickly subsides as you blast the offending flesh eater away. The Silent Hill series, however, revolutionized the genre's ability to create and market fear. Konami approaches horror with Silent Hill in a more subtle, psychological fashion. Sure, monsters appear at unexpected times and places (who expected Pyramid Head?? and who expected Pyramid Head to be doing THAT??), but the true terror of Silent Hill stems from a myraid of different factors that blend together to create the most memorable horror experience in gaming history.

Lets take a look at the different factors that make the game what it is.

THE STORY IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THE EXPERIENCE

The story introduces a one Henry Townsend, a thirtysomething man who has lost direction and value in his life. What brings him to Silent Hill, an unexpicably deserted, fog-entrenched town, is a strange letter sent by his wife inviting him to join her at their "special place," in the resort town of Silent Hill. What's intriguing about this letter is the fact that Henry's wife passed away three years prior. But that handwriting is distinctively her's; Henry has no doubt about it. Could his wife really be alive? Henry enters Silent Hill despite a warning of possible danger from someone he meets outside its gate in the cemetary. Without spoiling anything, I can say that impeccable character development and a deeply mature plot bless this cinematic narrative.

Not only is the story centered on a man whose subliminal fears manifest themselves in reality for the purpose of self-punishment, the player is in effect practicing self-punishment for playing the game. Influenced by the works of Soren Kierkegaard, Clive Barker, Dean Koontz, and films like Jacob's Ladder and Session 9, the game is so extraordinarily horrifying that willing yourself to continue tramping through its pitch black, claustrophobic, decaying, rusting, demon-infested, and forboding locales is a form of self punishment in itself. Personally, the game is so intense that I can no longer play it without a friendly wingman at my side. I simply won't do it! There came a point when I was walking through the hallways of a decrepit hospital, and as I walked pass a room, (my radio was not buzzing with static at this point so I wasn't expecting this) I heard a desperate wail from inside the room and a clatter of fallen objects. This so scared the crap out of me that I immediately dropped my controller and turned the console off.

GAMEPLAY THAT CLOSELY RESEMBLES REAL LIFE

The gameplay fumbles with clumsy controls and awkward camera angles, a convention not unknown to the genre. It works with the timorous nature of the game. In real life, in a creepy situation your mind will flood with fear and your responses will be muddled. This translates to the game perfectly. The learning curve is probably thirty minutes to an hour, depending on your gaming skill. Fighting with monsters is difficult to say the least. Most of the time Henry uses a wooden plank to blugeon the monsters with (the player should conserve his ammunition for sticky situations and boss battles). The best option is to run right past most obstacles, unless they are swarming the area and there is no way out. The aiming is difficult too, since there is no reticle to help the player configure his line of shot. In all, this game contains a lot of fighting and violence, but the action is not the focus of the gameplay, nor should it be. The puzzles are intricate and relevant to the game's mythology and story. Clues and puzzles riddle the game's locale and help drive the story along. Many of them are really creepy. For example, in a small garage, there is a spray painted message on a hollow wall that reads: "there was a hole here but i fixed it for now." There are arrows on the ground and other related messages that add to the game's creepiness. It is like there is an unseen presence that is leading Henry through the town. Could it be Henry himself?

AH YES, THE GRAPHICS...

The graphics are beautiful. The character models, the locations, and the lightening all make what is arguably one of the best looking games on the playstation. Most of the locations in the game are poorly lit, or not lit at all. The flashlight that Henry carries in his shirt pocket illuminate his surroundings with convincing detail. In all, the graphics truly stand as a test to the Playstation's computing power. You just have to see it to believe it.

The most notable improvement on SH2 from SH besides the graphics are its monsters. Sure, the dogs and bats from the first game were weird, but I didn't exactly freak out when I saw them. SH2's monsters are provacative extensions of Henry's torturous regrets, manifested to reality by the town's mysterious curse.

THE QUIRKS

One thing that adds immense value to the game is its openness to interpretation. The game is based on a wealth of ficticious, biblically derived mythology that is subtely reveiled as the game progresses. There are numerous fan sites to the series promoting fan interpretations, offering deep insight and thought relating to the game's subject matter. Without revealing too much of the game's mystery, the town of Silent Hill is essentially a purgatory located somewhere between reality and Hell...much closer to Hell. The main character's worst fears and regrets manifest themselves into reality and serve as reminders to past sins. Guilt is obviously a major theme in this game. For example, the nurse monsters in the game represent Henry's sexual attraction to the nurses while he stayed with his dying wife in the hospital. Pyramid Head is Henry's alter ego. He is the mirror image of Henry, one who fulfills his desires and haunts the town with a facist conviction. There are many more such interpretations that place Henry in the throes of self-punishment.

THE LONG-HATED SURVIVAL HORROR CAMERA ANGLES RETURN

The camera is for the most part not a problem thanks to the L2 button which places it directly behind Henry. Even with this contrivance, the camera is still slightly far enough behind Henry so that when you enter new rooms in tight spaces with your radio interferences scratching so loud that you KNOW there is going to be something awful just a couple feet from you, around that tight corner, but you can't quite see it

MUSIC: A JOURNEY THROUGH SOUND

The music is a topic to be discussed all by itself. Skillfully done by the artist Akira Yamaoka, the music is so unique that it is available as a soundtrack for seperate purchase. It mostly consists of industrial beats and odd, melancholy tones. It gives a harmoniously warm feeling with certain underpinnings that still somehow say "something is not right." The music also employs traditional Japanese instruments that give a nod to the game's strongly Japanese mythical influences. A good portion of the soundtrack features a myraid of postmodern sound that intentionally jars the listener and sets an odd feel that perfectly compliments the gameplay. It is especially creepy in key moments of the game; it interacts with the player in that when Henry approaches an area of interest, a certain theme will fade in or out depending on the direction in which you are going. The most memorable example of this is the infamous room in the apartments in which a dead person is watching a static television. As Henry walks towards the corpse a deep, foreboding bass guitar delivers a blood chilling pulse, similar to the heavy throbbing of a person's heart when they see something horrifying. The sound effects are well done too. The thick and heavy fog that envelops the town limits visibility, so the game toys with the player by adding some rustling leaves or wet, sloppy footprints that come and go near the character. There will be parts in the game when you are walking in a hallway and you can hear someone crying off in the distance. These subtle conventions heightenthe intensity of the game magnificently.

IS IT WORTH IT? DUH!

In all, this work proves that games are indeed scary. Is this the scariest game of all time? Quite possibly. Fans of the horror genre should be sure to pick this masterpiece up. I can't play it without a friend to support me, but it fascinates me so much that I keep coming back to it. Definately not one for the kiddies.

In my restless dreams, I played that game....Silent Hill 2

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: May 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I played Silent Hill 2 in one sitting. It was the dead of night, I was at a friend's house, and I am not the kind of person who plays video games for hours on end. At around one in the morning, right around the time I unexpectedly ran into Pyramid Head in an underground labyrinth and nearly had a heart attack, I realized that I couldn't stop playing even if I'd wanted to. That's how immersive, addictive, and jaw-droppingly GOOD this game is. The first Silent Hill broke major ground in the survival horror genre of video games and generated a devoted cult following. The sequel could have been a retread of the same material, but instead, the wonderful people at Konami took the bold move of branching off in a totally new direction with a unique and self-contained story. The result is one of the best game experiences I've ever had.

In Silent Hill 2 you play James Sunderland, a formerly happy man who's existed in a melancholy haze since his wife, Mary, wasted away and died of a terminal disease. James is only snapped out of his unhappiness by the unexpected appearance of a letter that seems to be from his dead wife. "In my restless dreams, I see that town....Silent Hill." That's how the letter begins, and it urges James to come to Silent Hill and meet Mary at "our special place." James remembers Silent Hill; he and Mary had a peaceful vacation in that quiet, serene mountain town some years ago. Unable to believe that the letter is a hoax, he drives to Silent Hill, then continues on foot when the road into town is blocked. With this premise, the player is drawn into the sinister and strangely beautiful atmosphere of the game.

Something is wrong in Silent Hill. James has an odd encounter with a woman who warns him away from the place. The walk to town is deliberately overlong, creating a sense of isolation, loneliness, and paranoia. (And are those another set of footsteps James keeps hearing?) The town itself lies dead and abandoned, shrouded in impenetrable fog. The inhabitants seem to have vanished into thin air, but something else has taken their place -- as James discovers when he is attacked by a ghastly humanoid creature that seems to be trapped in a cocoon of its own skin. As you begin to explore the town, with its maze of streets and dark windows, the aura of dread becomes intoxicating. The fog never lifts, and the building interiors, with their endless hallways, pitch-black shadows, and claustrophobic rooms, are even worse. However, as he hunts for some sign of Mary, James meets other people who, like him, have been drawn into the trap of Silent Hill. There is Angela, a haunted and suicidal woman whose vague personal demons become hideously clear as the game progresses. Eddie, a miserable lout of a man on the run from the police. Laura, a bratty but enigmatic little girl who seems to know something about Mary. Most mysterious of all is Maria, a blond, sultry sex bomb who's a dead ringer for James' dead wife. Each character seems trapped in their own private hell. And speaking of hell, the town itself becomes progressively more and more surreal and nightmarish. Yes, something is wrong in Silent Hill, but more importantly, something is wrong with James. Therein lies the brilliance of the story; although many hints are dropped regarding the town's sordid history, the game is really about James -- what he went through with Mary's death, what he is still going through, and how his anguish is connected to (and perhaps even influencing) the horrors of Silent Hill. All that stuff about cults and sacrifices and eldritch gods from the first game is set aside in favor of one man's quest for self-redemption -- or is it self-damnation?

This is not a bright or colorful game. Everything is hazy, muddy, murky, grimy, shadowy, or bloodstained (though most of the gore is implied rather than shown). The environments you explore seem rotten and unclean, as if the town itself has cancer. (When James has to stick his hand into a foul toilet to find a useful item, you'll pray he finds some Handi-Wipes.) Believe it or not, the so-so graphics actually help the game; the graininess, rough edges, and unhealthy colors are far more effective in creating an atmosphere of horror than sleek, polished visuals (as Silent Hill 3 proved later on). The soundtrack is spot-on, with unconventional music that's both lovely and ominous at once -- and what a good idea to give James a radio that crackles with static when monsters are nearby, forcing the player to pay close attention to the game's freaky noises. The monsters are terrifying in appearance and unsettling in their twisted resemblance to human beings. Unpredictable movements and queasy, jittery sound effects help with the horror, as does the simple fact that James is no fighter. Being an average guy who can't run very far without tiring and who is often reduced to swinging desperately at demons with a lead pipe makes the game a thousand times scarier. And has there ever been a more vivid adversary than Pyramid Head? With his bloodstained apron, lurching walk, and jagged, painful-looking metal headgear (or is that his actual head?), he is both horrific and strangely pitiful. Whether he is a demon, a god, or a reflection of James' own tormented psyche is left up to the viewer. Indeed, the question of what exactly is going on in this game is never clearly answered, although there are many clues and some devious plot twists that help explain things. (If you're stumped, try thinking in psychological terms, with an emphasis on Sigmund Freud.) There are several possible endings based on your gameplay decisions (hint: how you interact with the character of Maria is crucial); I managed to secure the happiest possible ending, though not everyone will be so lucky. Playing through the game on "hard" mode will also unlock a couple joke endings, although it seems almost sacrilegious to break the game's bleak atmosphere with humor.

Silent Hill 2 does have a few flaws. The voice-acting is a bit weak (though the actress voicing Mary and Maria is amazing), and some of the big dramatic scenes are lessened as a result. The puzzles could be a bit more engaging; most of them merely involve finding a certain item for a specific task. There are only three different creatures you'll encounter on a regular basis, so combat gets a little tedious and predictable after awhile. And around the 50th time you try to open a door and find that the lock is broken, you'll start to wonder why the denizens of Silent Hill couldn't find themselves a decent locksmith. However, these are just minor qualms. At three in the morning, when I finally finished the game, I was amazed that I'd been so caught up in it -- but I didn't regret it for a second. I believe that Silent Hill 2 really does work best in one sitting, a claim which few games can make. (Shadow of the Colossus is the only other one I can think of.) Beyond the fear and the dread, this would provide an incredibly rich and satisfying gaming experience for anyone, even those who hate horror. If you have a PS2 and you haven't tried Silent Hill 2 yet.....please, do yourself a favor.

Brutally Honest Meditation on Moral Decay

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: January 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This Konami game, which has become a new classic since its 2001 release, is tied with Square's Final Fantasy Tactics, Silicon Knights' Eternal Darkness, and Konami's own Shadow of Destiny, for the distinction of being the most literary video game of all time.

The foggy atmosphere and desolate aura of the New England resort town of Silent Hill, which has inexplicably become a ghost town by the time that protagonist James Sunderland visits it in desperate hopes of discovering a reincarnation of his dead wife, reflect the foggy confusion of James' own mind, and the curse lingering over the town allows it to conjure personalized avatars to haunt those who enter its boundaries with a guilty conscience. In trying to discover the truth about his wife's death, James will therefore encounter physical manifestations of psychological phonomena related to his regret over how their relationship unfolded while she was still alive, along with four other travelers who are lost in their own nightmarish versions of the town. If this summary seems to place the plot dangerously close to horror cliche, the execution of the story, realization of the town's creepy atmosphere, and final resolution of the plot prove that this game is an original work of art. Inspired less by Stephen King than David Lynch, whose film "Lost Highway" featured a defeated man creating an alternate self-identity which allowed him to become the hero of his own story, until the dangerous re-invasion of reality, Silent Hill 2 is a character study masquerading as horror, and the true horror is not the grotesquery of its monsters or grimy corridors, but the reality, and the commonality of the profoundly oppressive and inhumane events which haunt the characters' backstories.

This might be the only game that is painful to play by design rather than as a biproduct of ineptitude. The arduous, repetitive combat, slow-paced "action scenes" and excessive empty distance between places of significance combine with the headache-inducing dissonant soundtrack to make the player every bit as anxious as the protagonist, and if one is to accept that any form of stimulation, not just positive stimulation, validates the quality of a work of art, then it follows that Silent Hill 2 is an incredible success. Form echoes content, as the game itself is as sadistic as its characters. Its goal is not to challenge the player to overcome its trials, but to challenge the player to experience it, and one ultimately walks away from a day in the life of James Sunderland with a newfound appreciation for one's own life. Unless, of course, one has just lost a spouse.

Silent Hill is such a treat

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: October 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

A scary, delightful treat. I never would have guessed a video game would be able to bring such uncontrollable fear over me. I can't control myself after I play this game. I'm so obsessed with my love of horror stories and fear of dying that it's not really surprising how much I happen to love Silent Hill. I'm just surprised I can't keep myself from shaking during and after I play the game.

If you can't control your fears and emotions when you see a horror movie you will NEVER be able to play this game. I hope to God you are aware of the dangers this game may bring to your head.

Hauntingly detailed, mentally unsettling, but just a bit too short...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: September 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

My initial fears that this was just an overhyped Resident Evil clone were quickly put to rest - although the two games share a genre and pieces of a control scheme, their personalities couldn't be further apart. Where the first three Resident Evils focused on the cheesier, blood-n-guts style with a hint of puzzle solving in the name of variety, Silent Hill 2 concentrates much more on the unknown, the unexplained and the psychologically disturbing. Where Resident Evil 2 is horror in the vein of Dawn of the Dead, Silent Hill 2 is more along the lines of The Ring or The Shining.

It's that establishment of potential horror, not the actual moments of battle where the monster lies revealed, that are most successful in Silent Hill and, honestly, in most of the better films within the genre. To say that this game is lacking in real scary moments would be both unfair and untrue... I jumped more times than I'm comfortable to admit while playing through this one in the dark... but it properly uses such moments as an accent, rather than a crutch. It's been said that the most horrific monster in the world can never be captured on film, because it resides within the collective imaginations of the audience. Hollywood can never frighten you as badly as you can frighten yourself. It's this kind of mentality that I see reflected in Silent Hill 2 from the very get-go. Sure, they do eventually show you the monsters, and they're significantly horrific on their own, but they're all little more than pawns in this scheme, even the bosses. They're just around to nudge your mind in the right direction, so that the little shadows you'll catch darting around at the edge of your field of vision can be more effective and more relative to the story.

In terms of atmosphere, there's very little that this game does wrong. It's learned all the right lessons from the progression and evolution of cinematic horror and applied them to the incomparably personal experience of a quality video game. It's established a unique style, a great cluster of settings, and a wonderful premise (the lead character, James, receives a letter from his wife three years after her death, pleading with him to visit the town of Silent Hill) but the actual follow-through of the story and the accompanying character interactions are lacking. This reminds me of Eternal Darkness in a way, in that a lot of the strange occurrences and developments seem completely random and are never connected to the story itself. Almost universally, the cast is detached from reality, lacking in personality and in emotion, which works within the confines of the plot but results in the player never being fully drawn into the game's world.

I came away from this game feeling as though I'd read a short story that had been padded out and enlongated thanks to the inclusion of a dozen different unrelated asides. It's a fifty page story stretched over the course of a three hundred page novel. You'll meet five non-playable centric characters around the city, but only two of them have a real bearing on the plot, which is itself little more than a series of vague insinuations. It's a real shame, too, because all of the pieces have been set in the right place to accommodate for a much more striking, intriguing tale.

Controlling James as he explores the city is fairly easy, if not entirely ideal. Several elements of the Resident Evil control scheme have surfaced with Silent Hill 2's configuration, most notably the "boat steering" movement controls. If you didn't like standing in one place, pivoting and then running directly forward or backward in Capcom's zombie-fest, you aren't going to like it here. Personally, I've grown used to it and the steering doesn't seem to get in my way any more, but I can certainly see why some players would have developed a bitter hatred for it. One thing that differs from Resident Evil's traditional setup, however, is a fully polygonal environment and a free-roaming camera. What that means is less cheap scares and monsters hiding in plain sight, and a much more interactive experience.

I'll come right out and admit to savoring every last bit of the visual direction and graphical representations of Silent Hill 2. If there's one area that this game absolutely nails, it's this: everything from the character designs to the environments to the simple, yet undeniably successful, film grain texture that overlays every moment of gameplay... it's all an unbridled success. This is among the most thought-out, fully realized visual productions I've ever seen in a game, and even the hardware limitations of the original Xbox are addressed in a concise, effective manner that works within the confines of the big picture. The dreamlike state of your visit to the town explains away the boundaries around the playable area... you don't run into an invisible wall, there are just mysterious tarps or bottomless pits sealing off certain parts of town. You'll accept it at face value because, hey, you just fired three rounds into a set of animated mannequin legs.

Another noteworthy visual innovation is the complete lack of any kind of heads-up display or on-screen indicator. With the multitude of potential actions and inventory items that seem to have completely overtaken the industry, it's a nice change of pace to see a game with just a character and an environment on the screen at any given time. It not only keeps the playing field open for some of the more subtle effects, but also makes the experience even more akin to that of watching a movie.

The appearance of the monsters remains among the most successfully frightening I've ever seen. It's easy to throw sharp teeth, bumpy skin and red eyes onto something, call it an enemy and commence with the cheap scares. What's not so easy is introducing a baddie that's horrifying if just because you have no idea what in the living hell it really is. The bad guys of SH2 are, obviously, the latter. They don't always look so much like they're attacking you out of anger, so much as they're lashing out because they're constantly in pain and see anything that moves as a possible cause. I almost felt pity for these things, their existence is so pitiful, so filled with tragedy.

I can't rightfully discuss the visuals of this game without giving some love to the incredible lighting effects, either. I'd truthfully rank this game ahead of the original Splinter Cell in that category, and Sam Fisher's first romp was released almost specifically to show off everything the Xbox could do in that respect. In Silent Hill 2, you travel the entire city with just a flashlight, which (needless to say) is handled magnificently. Everywhere you go, that single light source is playing with your surroundings to cast all sorts of bizarre, frightening, downright malicious shadows throughout the room

I adored the majority of my experience with Silent Hill 2. The story, while thin at times, is generally workable and never really insultingly self-indulgent. The length of the game bothered me a bit, as the main game map is quite elaborate and seemed to have a lot of unrealized potential, but that goes back to the weakness of the basic plot and the lack of any major side stories of consequence. If you've got a weekend to kill and want to be emotionally shaken, this is exactly the game for you. It features one of the best all-around identities in the history of the industry, takes dozens of hints from the lessons learned by its predecessors in film, and is truly horrifying on several levels. If the story had been a little thicker and the cast had been fleshed out a little further, this would've been close to perfect.

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