Silent Hill 2 ~ review

And so I continue my journey through this legendary video game series with Silent Hill 2. I know I was a bit left behind (Silent Hill Homecoming was already released and the remake of the first Silent Hill is currently in development) but it did not make me any less excited to finally get my hands on Silent Hill 2 since I heard and read a lot about it on the web. It is arguably the most popular and, some would say, the best game in the series.


Players will take control of James Sunderland, a lonely man desperately looking for his late wife, Mary, in the eerie town of Silent Hill after he received a letter from her stating that she will wait for him in their 'special place'. Along the way, James will meet various other characters; the depressive Angela; the naughty young girl Laura; the mysterious and seductive Maria; and the bully-victim Eddie. And of course James will also experience the surrealism and madness of the town as he stumbles upon monsters, corpses, and the mysterious and ever popular villain Pyramid Head. Players will have to navigate James through various creepy locations such as graveyard, apartments, hospital, and prison.



I'm impressed by the atmosphere present in the game as it gives me the sense of creepiness but also eagerness to explore more of the twisted locations. The foggy street, the I-don't-know-where-it-came-from noises, the decaying buildings; all that contribute to a great atmosphere for the game. Combine that with twisted-looking creatures and Pyramid Head, and you will get an awesome horror game.

The scariest place for me in the game was at the bloody underground prison. My heart almost stopped when there's a loud banging or when the monsters suddenly appeared on screen. Definitely one of the worst place to explore in the game.



In terms of plot / story of the game, it didn't continue on with the storyline from the previous Silent Hill game but present a whole new story for the gamers. But I must admit, the story is a bit confusing for my obviously-slow-than-your-average brain. I get the part that James is looking for his dead wife, and the background stories of the minor characters, but there are parts that I got confused especially when it involved the psychological twists. Maybe I need to get all the endings and the guide book to understand more of the game (I currently only achieved 1 ending; there are all about 4 to 5 different endings). I do appreciate more of the game and the psychological twists once I read more about it on the web. But if you do not like spoilers, than I suggest you play the game and get at least 2 to 3 different endings before you search the web about it.

Overall, Silent Hill 2 is a satisfying game for me. Like what I wrote before, although I was a bit confused, but I still get the whole picture of what had happened in the game. I found the story to be sad since it revolves around the themes of loneliness and the sense to belong. The story was well-written and very well played-out in the game. Silent Hill 2 was highly praised by critics and was a commercial success, so it's worth a game to own.



Images courtesy of IGN.