LaughingTarget's Full Review: Silent Hill 2 for PlayStation 2
Silent Hill was the underdog back in 1999 when it decided to release the very same day as Final Fantasy 8. Without having to check to make sure, Silent Hill didn't get the attention it so deserved, especially compared to the unimpressive FF8. Well, this time around, Konami did right and released Silent Hill 2 no where near any major games (closest ones are Ico and NHL 2002, which were a bit embarrassing to play), so they now have the right attention. But, is that attention really good at this point?
Mmmmm, Volumetric Fog
Silent Hill 2 uses pretty much all of what the PS2 has to offer. Volumetric fog gives the outdoors a stunning look. Instead of walking toward an ever-receding wall of fog, you are now walking THROUGH it. Better to hide the monsters that way. Lighting is also another impressive feat. Walking around with your flashlight gives us real time lighting and shadows. Walk around that chair, and the shadow moves accordingly. A few flaws, though, are shown in the PS2 hardware limitation in terms of jagged edges and limited earth tone textures. All in all, though, visuals are nice, even though the characters still have that mannequin feel (which some say is actually part of the Silent Hill feel).
Wait, What is Going On Here?
The story is just as convoluted, and ultimately as interesting, as the first one. Sure, you spend most of your time trying to piece together puzzles, and are always seeming to be missing a few and when you look back, the pieces have just changed shape. That is what makes it so INTERESTING. You never know what is going to happen next. It is just impossible to predict the story without having read one of those pitiful "reveal all" previews or using the strategy guide. One moment you are thinking something, then five minutes later, that idea is gone, and an opposite one takes its place, just to have it go back to the original idea again later on. Enemies are friends then are enemies then friends again. Knowing where the wheel will stop is just as hard as predicting the right lottery numbers.
So, not to give away anything more than the opening movie, I'll go ahead and give you some back-story. James Sutherland, our main character, is standing in a restroom outside of south Silent Hill, a part which we did not see in the first game, time period in relation to the first one is not made clear, though I believe it is at the same time because you never track into familiar territory. He had received a letter from his wife, Mary, that told him to come to their "special place" in Silent Hill. Nothing odd on the surface, but of course, Mary had been dead for three years. Even knowing this, James decided to trek to Silent Hill and investigate. He found it nearly inaccessible, empty, and full of a weird fog. From there, this part of the review stops, and the game gets interesting.
Plays Like the First One
Excellent...sort of. There is still that cumbersome 3D-movement method. The one where all actions are in relation to the character, not to the screen. Face the main character toward the screen, and press up, James walks toward you. There is a 2D version, which is player-centric, but that is even harder to work around with. Still, nothing has been changed from the first game. All the buttons are the same, so if you played #1, then 2 will be a snap to get into and play.
Puzzles are just and quite difficult. The impossible mode, which I started out on, gives a set of cryptic, and mostly useless, clues and in many cases won't give you a clue at all. Just figure things out on your own, and hope you manage to get the right lock combination or whatever. There are easier modes, one that gives you ample clues but is still hard, and one that pretty much gives you the puzzle answer right from the start.
Combat is also set up in a similar way. From Impossible to Beginner modes. Impossible mode makes James as good a sharpshooter as a blind, paralyzed man and takes a full clip to take down simple creatures. Beginner mode makes everything so easy to kill that it takes maybe one shot or so from the handgun to kill a major boss. Enough modes for all walks of players.
It's Over...Already?
Even in impossible mode, it only took me about 15 hours to beat. There are 5 total endings (score screen only informs you of 4), so you can keep coming back to see what you had missed and what you could do differently to get a new ending. Later, after my first completion, I had discovered I got the "best" ending. Could be because I am a seasoned player. If you have played the first game, try to play #2 as if you had never heard of Silent Hill before in your life.
Oh, Look, A Walking Mannequin
With the enhanced graphics, we do lose a lot of the fear factor. Monsters that are well rendered and easy to look at are simply not all that scary. Even late at night with all the lights off and minimized gamma, the game just lacks that fear effect. A few other reasons are the background sounds are not quite up to the level of the first one. "Scary" music is more reserved for actual encounter areas, so being shocked is not easy. Ambient sounds are also missing. No laughing of children, no strange noises, no wailing. Just silence. The radio has also been toned down a bit, in hopes that it would work better as a shock method, but it only helped me know that something was near by. The first game had a long range for monster radio static. That kept me guessing as to where, how far, and if at all I would see the enemy. Now, I know its right there, because the radio doesn't go off until I am on top of the creature.
Using harmless creatures is also gone. In the first game, spectral ghost children were used to set the radio off, but were unable to hurt you or be hurt themselves. SH2 doesn't do this, if the radio goes off, it’s something that can be killed and can hurt you. No guessing here.
Fog was also misused. It could have been a great hiding tool, but since the rest of the factors listed above killed the overall ambiance; the fog lost its full effect.
Bottom Line
Silent Hill 2 is for die-hard fans of the first game only. You will see some nicer graphics, though still suffer from the earth tone textures and jaggies of the first game, interesting gameplay that is intuitive for fans, and the same convoluted story. Just don't expect to be scared or expect a long sit in front of the tube. I'll give it a reccomendation based on the fact fans will enjoy it, but newbies won't.
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