Do you think you’re a man (or a woman)? You aren’t until you have played Silent Hill 2. This video game proves again to non-gamers that movies aren’t the only masterpieces in the world. A couple of games have proven better than movies (with Silent Hill adding up to that list of great games like Final Fantasy 10 and Grand Theft Auto 3). This is the best survival/horror (if you call it that, but I call it a unique game that isn’t one. I think it’s a puzzle game.) I’ve played in…months. This game is also the scariest. No game has had me as frightened as I was with SH2. This game is scarier then most modern horror movies today (another Jason movie? WTF?). Even though all of these complements are appearing, I’m sort of disappointed. All the hype that generated around this title to make it appear to be great and then once I rent it, it’s good but short? Oh, whatever, I’ll tell you in my review right now why I like, but hate this scary game known as Silent Hill 2.

STORYLINE: 3/5

The story can be gripping at times, but can also be sort of boring and can wander off a bit. Here goes:

A man named James Sunderland mysteriously receives a letter from his late wife, Mary (who died of a disease three year prior) asking him to go see her in a town called “Silent Hill”, which he’d met her. So as lonely and depressed as James is, he goes back to the town that started it all and finds it inhabited (I wonder how…) by monsters…creatures of the night looking for human flesh…zombies…things like that. Armed with a broken radio that can detect creatures and your first weapon, a piece of plywood with nails on the end (which happens to be my favorite weapon in the game), you go on an adventure to find you long lost wife.

Sure, it sounds good, but just wait until you play it; you’ll find out the story is lacking a special ingredient…

In Silent Hill 2, in order to find your wife, you must solve puzzles (according to your experience. In the beginning of the game, you can choose if you want the puzzles to be easy or whether they should be challenging) to get special information, keys to help unlock doors, and various other things of the sort.

I rented this game a week ago (after reading someone’s opinion on the game on this website) and played it. Yesterday I beat it. I haven’t played the first game and I was a beginner and I still beat it under 8 hours. That’s freaking fast for a gamer like me. And I though Onimusha was short…

THE CHARACTERS:
The characters in SH2 are great! They are believable too. The first character I’ll reveal is (as you know) James Sunderland. He is crazy, yet sane. In some parts of the game you will think that he’ll go ballistic. He’s a cool character. The second character is the mysterious Angela Orosco. You meet her in the cemetery when you first begin. I can’t tell you much about her, but she’s also a cool character. There’s also Maria (who looks like James’ wife, but isn’t), Laura (who is a bratty little girl who I despise), and Eddie Dombrowski (who is scared of everything and useless).

ESRB RATING: M for Mature

Let’s go on to the dreaded ESRB rating of Silent Hill 2. In case you haven’t noticed already from my review, this game is rated M because of gore, graphic murders, and incredibly real creatures. This game will give you days of nightmares. The other thing is that in some parts of the game, there are bizarre sexual themes. The sexual themes are very graphic and disturbing at times. This game is no better than a regular rated R movie today. If you thought Texas Chainsaw Massacre was scary, play Silent Hill 2 and be amazed. This is dark and twisted. Don’t let kids (like me) near this one at all!

THE GRADING: 1-5

THE SOUND: 5/5

The sound and music in this game are some of the best in ANY game I’ve ever played. Unlike most games where if you walk on water, it’s makes the same sound as if you were walking on concrete, there are many sounds in SH2. When you’re walking on gravel, it sounds like you’re walking on gravel, when you walk in a tunnel you hear your echoing footsteps in the darkness. The dark music also adds to the atmosphere which makes you come to your senses and make you alert. The characters’ voices sound realistic and are full with emotion. When a character is crying or screaming, you believe it.

THE GRAPHICS: 5/5

These are no doubt, some of the best graphics on the PS2. In the cut scenes, they are done uniquely as if you are seeing the game from a static, fuzzy haze coming from a grainy VHS camera which makes it frightening. The cinematics are also nice. Each character is done well and look very life like. The fog that Konami put into the game is great and sweep over you like flies. In some places, it’s hard to see because of the fog.

THE CONTROLS: 3/5

This is certainly the draw back in SH2. Now, I’m not saying SH2’s controls are as bad as Resident Evil’s or any other game in the genre, but it can sometimes become frustrating when monsters are swarming you, and you don’t know which way to move. The camera angles can sometimes get you mixed up and messed up which is not a very good thing. When you play a couple hours of the game, you learn them steadily.

THE FUN FACTOR: 4/5

This game is fun while it lasts. The puzzles are fun to do (if you are on beginner, but if you are on Hard like I am, it gets frustrating and can make you discouraged) and it’s surprisingly fun to kill monsters. I often found myself awake at night wondering what’s going to happen to James next. This is a great game.

REPLAY VALUE: 2/5

This game is great while it lasts. Once you beat it in all of the difficulties, it’s old. I’ve beaten it on Beginner and Easy and I’m on Hard now (I skipped Medium) and I’m sort of tired of seeing the same cut scenes over again. This game is a definite rent for any gamer (except minors)!


OVERALL:

This game is great, minus the shortness and controls of it. Once you beat it, you will say “Wow! That was fun!” and go and play another good game. What made me not give SH2 3 stars was because I think that Konami (being the company who did the Metal Gear Solid series) deserves it for making another great game. I’ve heard from some of my friends that Silent Hill 2 is almost the same as the first one. It probably is, but I won’t know since I’m not going to EVER play it (I read the bad reviews on it). So until next time, boys and girls! Now, I’m going to go play Super Monkey Ball. Peace!

So Until My Next Review on Nintendo Gamecube (“Going from SH2 to a kiddie system like Gamecube? WTF?” Don’t ask, peeps.), I Remain

JiggyJay


Recommended: Yes