Info:
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/adventure/silenthill2/video/2814407/silent-hill-2-video-review?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;watch-review
Like the original (and superior) Silent
Hill, the entire game is set in the eponymous town. The streets, which
are constantly shrouded in a thick fog, are filled with potential
terror as you run around, wondering what may be lurking just out of
your visual range. The only respite from the haze is the many
ramshackle buildings of the town, and the decrepit apartment buildings
and hospitals adorned with broken lights, piles of refuse, and
arterially spray-painted walls don’t offer much solace. If Silent Hill
2 offered more scares to back up its impressive mood, it would be
easier to overlook its faults.
In the game, you play as James
Sunderland, a tortured young man who has come to Silent Hill after
receiving a letter from his dead wife. There, he meets several other
strange folk who have equally bizarre reasons for visiting. They all
speak in strange clipped sentences that would seem stylized if they
weren’t so awkward. Over the course of the game, Sunderland will solve
not only his own mystery, but those of the characters he encounters as
well.
Unfortunately, along the way the game
descends into total incomprehensibility. The original Silent Hill had a
point in which everything turned weird–what started as a somewhat
straightforward horror story became completely surreal. Not to be
outdone, Silent Hill 2 has two points at which everything gets weird.
At one point in the game, an otherwise run-of-the-mill ghoul-infested
hospital turns into a sort of pagan shrine, full of twisty roots and
autumnal artwork. The second point involves a series of descending pits
leading deep down into the bowels of the earth. While these pits may
seem to figuratively represent Sunderland’s descent into his own
psyche, in reality, it just seems ridiculous that anyone would build a
meat locker so far underground.
Silent Hill 2’s puzzles are typical for
survival horror games. They mainly involve finding some trinkets–a
music box or a clock key, for instance–that you use in a device to open
a door. There are ample “locked door” puzzles of every sort, and most
areas will require you to run back and forth as you find keys and
triggers that will open new areas.
Standing between you and the locked
doors are a small variety of creatures. The game’s creepy monsters are
one of Silent Hill 2’s real strengths. Among the creepiest are the
zombie nurses and a thing with four legs (and not much else). The
scariest of all is the monster known only as “Pyramid Head,” a creature
that looks like Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, bloody apron
and all, wearing an industrial sink for a hat. There aren’t many
different creatures in Silent Hill 2, but the few that are there are
unique and add to the general atmosphere.
The monsters look really great, as does
most everything in Silent Hill 2. Though the artistic design may seem a
bit too bleak and tend a bit too much toward the sadistic for some, the
game does have a distinct look, as far as games go. Unfortunately, the
graphics don’t compensate for the confusing camera angles, which from
the very beginning are problematic. In the very first room, you’ll be
hard pressed to find the exit door. Things get better when Sunderland
heads out into the open and the camera switches from static angles to
one that moves around him, but it moves at an occasionally slow pace
that takes some getting used to. Thankfully, the PC version of Silent
Hill 2 at least gives you plenty of graphic-tweaking options and even
lets you save the game anywhere.
Real-time lighting and shadow effects add to the creepiness.
Silent Hill 2’s sound adds a great deal to the atmosphere. The
industrial-influenced soundtrack is subtle, until something scary
approaches and the scary music kicks in. There’s nothing like someone
banging metal trash can lids, or Sunderland’s radio suddenly blurting
static whenever a monster is near, to add tension to a scene.
But the problem with Silent Hill 2 is
that it’s all atmosphere and no real scares. Though there are a few
good scenes–such as the first time you see Pyramid Head–it becomes
quickly apparent that there aren’t many startling, truly scary moments
to support the mood. Silent Hill 2 has repetitive puzzles and an
implausible story, and you need to play through it several times to get
the “good” ending. Not even the game’s foggy atmosphere is thick enough
to hide Silent Hill 2’s problems.
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