It was about time I got my hand on a copy of Silent Hill 2. Not that it’s quite difficult to find, it’s just that I always had other games I was looking for and ended up skipping it. In the past, I had seen a lot of footage of Silent Hill games and heard many comments from players and developers alike on the Japanese horror series. I didn’t seem to care for it as I was more into the Resident Evil games. However, the second title of the game franchise titillated my curiosity as being referred to as the best of the Silent Hills. Last week, I popped it into my PS2 to see what the fuzz was all about.
Silent Hill 2 was created by Konami and was released in 2001 exclusively on the PS2. You haven’t played survival horror games unless you’ve played Silent Hill 2. The mood, the theme, the visuals and the audio are so beautifully crafted that it made me bow my head in shame for not having played it before. I don’t remember the last time when I was so immersed in a game’s world. I played several survival horror titles and always liked the direction the Resident Evil series took. Resident Evil games, the reference in the survival horror genre, can truly put you in the mood for horror but never as powerfully as Silent Hill 2. Right after starting the game, I felt alone, uncomfortable and anxious wondering what would happen in the abandoned, rotten, rusted, gritty, fog-filled world that is Silent Hill. Before I continue talking about the game, let me put you in the mood by telling you the overview of the story. You take on the role of James Sunderland who receives a letter from his wife, telling that she is waiting for him in their “special place” in Silent Hill. Nothing fancy here expect for the fact that his wife died three years ago. Sunderland decides to take a trip to Silent Hill and discover if it was his wife or just an impostor who wrote this letter. You take control of the protagonist as he prepares himself to walk down a small dirt road down to the hellish city.
The game controls are, like most games of this genre, difficult to get a hang of. Although the game does offer the option to adapt the control scheme to your liking, it still takes a few hours to melt into the controller. Once it’s done though, the experience feels smooth and enjoyable. The game also offers two level of difficulty, one for combat and the other for the puzzles, which I feel is quite a good idea for this kind of game. While some puzzles are straightforward and others can be tricky yet fun to figure out, some feel too illogical to be credible. For instance, pulling out something caught in a drain using three hairs and a bent needle just doesn’t make sense. Aside from these occasional bumps, the game is quite smooth. 
Combat is passive most of the time, focusing on dodging and running more than attacking. The melee attacks are slow and most range attacks can feel ineffective. However, the game is definitely not combat oriented so these issues do not spoil the experience. There are a few bosses and forced encounters but they can be easily defeated using basic combat skills. The game could have also beneficiated from a few more save points, especially in the city, but it is not a major issue. The rest of the experience is wonderfully crafted and the ambiance is the game’s most notable feature. The game is worth playing only to experience it at least once. The team behind the game did a superb job and created a world that breathes anxiety on the back of the player’s neck, like an invisible beast stalking, hovering over the player, waiting for the right moment to snatch and drag him into the darkness. The storyline is also interesting although I personally haven’t understood every detail of it yet. I only have seen one of the many possible endings so perhaps playing the game through a few times would help me shed some light on certain story details.
If you have a PS2, Silent Hill 2 is a must. Whether you like horror games or not, Silent Hill 2 is worth the try, if only to feel the atmosphere of the game at least once in your gamer’s life. The experience is about ten to fifteen hours long, depending on how much time you spend exploring and solving puzzles. It can be played through easily but I recommend having a guide at hand for some of the less logical puzzles or segments, such as when you are stuck in a well. It’s not that the solutions are difficult to find but sometimes it can be frustrating to search around for hours and then realize that the solution you thought didn’t make sense is the one you have to use, urging you to yell at the television set. Still, Silent Hill 2 is quite fun and worth playing through at least once.
Tags: opinion, Reviews, Silent Hill