Released: 20010925 Publisher: Konami Developer: Konami TYO Genre: Survival Horror

Review by: Omi-san

One thing is clear about Silent Hill 2, it's very similar to the original game. Therefore, those who hated the first Silent Hill will not enjoy this sequel. For the ones who loved the first game such as myself, Silent Hill 2 will be quite enjoyable.

For those who don't know about this serie; Silent Hill is a horror game which shares some similarities with the Resident Evil serie, but it's very different. While Resident Evil games are mainly about shooting enemies with powerful guns and cheap scares that make you jump out of your seat, Silent Hill is like playing through a nightmare. The game maintains a terrifying ambience from the beginning to the end that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

You play the role of James Sunderland. A single man whose wife, Mary, died a few years ago. He decided to go to Silent Hill after receiving a letter from Mary saying she was waiting for him in their special place! Who or what is waiting for James in the deserted town of Silent Hill?

Graphically, Silent Hill 2 is a little bit inconsistent. It looks fantastic when you are inside buildings, but not so good when you are outside in the town streets. The best example of this is in the beginning of the game when James has to walk in a forest, the graphics are pixelated and you can see jaggies everywhere. The fog is also annoying because it gets between the camera and the main character. It get worst when you are trying to search on the side of the town streets, the camera then zoom out and the fog gets thicker making it impossible to see anything. The characters look very good, their appearance and animation are realistic. Unlike Harry Mason from the first game, James can walk, run and aim weapons normally. No more clumsy looking animation that make the hero looks weirder than the monsters he fights. The short CG movies which appear rarely in the game are awesome. The transition between in-game cutscenes and the movies are also smoother than in the first Silent Hill. What really stands out about Silent Hill 2 graphics are the real time lighting effects and shadows. They are simply perfect. The game designers thought it would be a good idea to add a noise filter which makes the game look grainy as if you were playing on an old TV or watching old tapes. I personally don't like this and I wish we could turn it off on the first game. Unfortunately, it can only be done as a bonus option once you have beaten the game once.

The monsters in Silent Hill 2 are weirder than those found in the first game, and they look great. I was also very happy to see that the annoying flying demons are not there anymore. These pesky creatures made the first game a real pain when you tried to explore the town.

I found the sound effects average. Some of them are great, while others are very annoying. What bothers me the most are monsters footsteps which simply don't sound right. Some of them make "clacking" sounds as if they were walking with tap-dance shoes. Others make so many different noises that it makes you believe you are being attacked by a group of enemies while there's only one monster around. Subtle sound effects would have been appreciated. As in the first game, the main character as a radio which emits white noise when enemies are around. It can and should be turned off, it's annoying and useless since all monsters can be heard or seen the "natural" way. The voice acting in Silent Hill 2 has greatly improved since the first game. All characters talk normally and there's no more weird pauses. I thought it was good, but as usual, the majority of players find it bad, since everyone expectations about voice acting are ridiculously high.

Like in the first Silent Hill, the music is excellent. There's actually 3 types of music in the game, the relaxing, the spooky and the stressing tunes. The relaxing songs are the ones you hear while you are in a safe location or when characters are talking to each others. They are mostly instrumental and very nice to listen too. The spooky ones are heard while you are exploring places, they are usually minimalist and sets the mood of the situation you are in. The stressing music is the one you hear when things are about to get ugly, or when the game wants you to believe something terrible is coming. It's very messy and noisy and it gets louder as you approach the threat. Some remix melodies from the first Silent Hill can also be heard.

The gameplay is alright, but there's room for improvement. The controls are like in Resident Evil, pushing up makes your character move forward and you can then turn right or left. Of course, if the character is facing you, the directions are reversed which is why so many people don't like this type of controls. Silent Hill 2 offers them the option to have 2D controls. Instead of pushing up, you then have to push in the direction you want to go from your point of view. I personally prefer the first type of control. The character can also run or walk sideways using the shoulder buttons and make a quick turns. Like in the first game, there's auto-aiming so don't fire until James is directly pointing his weapon at an enemy.

Like in the first game, the camera is sometimes a problem. In large places, it remains behind James shoulders. In smaller ones or when James his back to a wall, the camera will switch to a front view. This can be problematic because you can't see what's in front of James. There's a view button that works in two ways; In large places, it switch the camera between front or back view. If you hold the button and move the right analog stick, James will look in the direction you push. This is supposed to help you, but you can't really see from James point of view, because the camera remains up above. I don't understand why Silent Hill designers won't simply let us look in first person view like all 3D games. I would love to look closely at all the details and the writings on some wall but it's impossible with the actual system.

The fighting in Silent Hill 2 is simple, you shoot or whack enemies until a pool of blood appears on the floor meaning they are finally dead. The weapon selection is completely unoriginal, a wooden plank, a handgun, a shotgun, a rifle and a steel pipe. The designers could have come up with something different for a change. When enemies are down, James can finish them up with a single kick. This is a little bit dumb because it makes kicks more powerful than any other weapons.

The items like health drink and ammunitions appears smaller than before and they can easily be missed in the fog or darkness, but at least James can see them and he will turn his head in their direction which makes things easier for you.

One of the best feature in Silent Hill is the interactive map which gets marked as you explore. Locked doors, open doors, blocked passages, unusual things, save points and special locations all appears on the map once you find them out. There is also a menu that gives you access to all the written information you accumulated earlier. This is very useful when you want to read clues a second time without going back to where you first found them.

Another unique thing in Silent Hill 2 is the difficulty level which is divided in 2, action and puzzle. Those who prefer the action can play with easy puzzles and not waste time solving them. Those who like to use their brains and fight less, can make the action easy and the puzzles harder to solve.

The game has a good replay value. There are 5 different ending and extra stuff to be found on the second game.

What bothers me about the original Silent Hill and this sequel is the lack of places that can be explored. You run in dozens of doors which can't be opened. Basically, only 5% of the town buildings can be entered. Giving us access to more buildings, even if they don't contain crucial items or information would have been a very nice touch.

+ Good story
+ Terrifying ambience
+ Amazing lighting effects

- Linear
- Not enough places to explore

Graphics: 7
Sounds: 7
Music: 9
Gameplay: 8
Story: 8
Overall: 8

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