"IN MY RESTLESS DREAMS I SEE THAT TOWN, SILENT HILL..." (Mary's letter)
Hello and welcome back to Silent Hill!
I remember the first time I played this game—I was old enough to file my own income tax, and what did I do with the money, you ask? Lol. I bought myself a used original Xbox console from a pawn shop and two Xbox games to go with it. Those two games were Halo and Silent Hill 2 (and lucky for me, it was the Director's Cut edition that included the "Born from a Wish" scenario). To this day, this game freaks me TF out lol. Anywho, let's get into why this is one of the most loved games in the series.
Story
Silent Hill 2 is a survival horror game that came out on PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows in late September 2001. You play as James Sunderland after he gets a letter in the mail from his dead wife, Mary, asking him to come to the town of Silent Hill. He doesn't hesitate at all and makes plans to travel there ASAP.
The thing that James has yet to understand is that Silent Hill plays with the minds of those who enter it—it likes to manifest demons and monsters out of the guilt and grief in your heart and mind. The town itself is not just limited to physical beings, but the whole landscape that you walk in.
Music
I LOVE the music in this game—it's very melancholic and distorted. It plays with your mind and takes you places you've never been before lol. (Smokey the Bear says say no to drugs, kids!)
But seriously, the music in the game is fantastic. It's really depressing, but in a good way, if that even makes sense. The song "Promise" is one of the tracks that has stuck with me years later. My daughter basically knows how to play this on the piano!
As for the sound effects—it's gloomy, and the scary atmosphere really takes you into a very dark place. The game also uses plain silence to honestly just scare TF outta you... and it works perfectly. Trust and believe you will be on the edge of your seat.
Controls
It has pretty straightforward, easy-to-learn controls. It's the standard "tank" control type: when you press UP, he walks forward; pressing DOWN makes him back up. There is also an option where you can use the analog stick, and he moves in the exact direction that you're moving it. I prefer the tank controls because that's just what I'm used to (Resident Evil, anyone?) Other buttons consist of run, action, attack, and a camera reset button. When you knock an enemy down, if you stand over them and press the attack button, you will stomp on them.
Graphics
Just like the first game, there is a fantastic grime filter that they overlay on top of the game. It makes that feeling of dread come alive. You have fog, and when you mix that with crazy camera angles and silence, you're shitting yourself Lol! To me, this whole game felt kinda dreamlike and Uncanny Valley. It really makes the whole town feel very grimy and surreal when you're running from demons. The added symbolism does nothing but deepen the dread feeling that you most certainly will already have.
Creature Feature: Pyramid Head
"I was weak. That's why I needed you... needed someone to punish me for my sins... but that's all over now... I know the truth. Now it's time to end this." (James Sunderland)
To me, Pyramid Head is right on par with Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, or the Scream guy—any horror icon that kills, lol. In the video game world, he is an absolute beast, scaring and tormenting anybody that gets in his path. So without further ado... let's talk about this menace.
He calls himself Pyramid Head, but he is also referred to as the "Red Pyramid Thing" or "Triangle Head." He is an entity from the Silent Hill series and is a manifestation of people's deepest guilt and fears. He is essentially the second character that no one can play—an antagonist of sorts that terrorizes the main character until the very end of the game.
Pyramid Head is a psychological demon (a monster with a hidden face) and is well-known for his massive triangular helmet and his "Cloud Strife-style" giant sword, lol. He completely lacks a voice and has no visible face. Hell-bent on killing you, he will no doubt be your main cause of fear in this game...
Overall
Fantastic game to play anytime. Make sure when you play, the lights are either off or down low and the speaker is turned up to a pretty decent volume to get the full effect—or better yet, wear some headphones.
This game is a psychological masterpiece that delivers in the jump-scare department, as well as making you feel a personal guilt and repressed trauma for how the main protagonist treated his wife. Dealing with themes of terminal illness, mercy, denial, and killing—when you finish this game, you will most definitely feel some kinda way. Konami made a fantastic game, and I recommend you give it a playthrough whether you've played it in the past or never played it at all...
Hello and welcome back to Silent Hill!
Story
Silent Hill 2 is a survival horror game that came out on PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows in late September 2001. You play as James Sunderland after he gets a letter in the mail from his dead wife, Mary, asking him to come to the town of Silent Hill. He doesn't hesitate at all and makes plans to travel there ASAP.
The thing that James has yet to understand is that Silent Hill plays with the minds of those who enter it—it likes to manifest demons and monsters out of the guilt and grief in your heart and mind. The town itself is not just limited to physical beings, but the whole landscape that you walk in.
Music
I LOVE the music in this game—it's very melancholic and distorted. It plays with your mind and takes you places you've never been before lol. (Smokey the Bear says say no to drugs, kids!)
But seriously, the music in the game is fantastic. It's really depressing, but in a good way, if that even makes sense. The song "Promise" is one of the tracks that has stuck with me years later. My daughter basically knows how to play this on the piano!As for the sound effects—it's gloomy, and the scary atmosphere really takes you into a very dark place. The game also uses plain silence to honestly just scare TF outta you... and it works perfectly. Trust and believe you will be on the edge of your seat.
Controls
It has pretty straightforward, easy-to-learn controls. It's the standard "tank" control type: when you press UP, he walks forward; pressing DOWN makes him back up. There is also an option where you can use the analog stick, and he moves in the exact direction that you're moving it. I prefer the tank controls because that's just what I'm used to (Resident Evil, anyone?) Other buttons consist of run, action, attack, and a camera reset button. When you knock an enemy down, if you stand over them and press the attack button, you will stomp on them.
Graphics
Just like the first game, there is a fantastic grime filter that they overlay on top of the game. It makes that feeling of dread come alive. You have fog, and when you mix that with crazy camera angles and silence, you're shitting yourself Lol! To me, this whole game felt kinda dreamlike and Uncanny Valley. It really makes the whole town feel very grimy and surreal when you're running from demons. The added symbolism does nothing but deepen the dread feeling that you most certainly will already have.
Creature Feature: Pyramid Head
"I was weak. That's why I needed you... needed someone to punish me for my sins... but that's all over now... I know the truth. Now it's time to end this." (James Sunderland)
To me, Pyramid Head is right on par with Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, or the Scream guy—any horror icon that kills, lol. In the video game world, he is an absolute beast, scaring and tormenting anybody that gets in his path. So without further ado... let's talk about this menace.
He calls himself Pyramid Head, but he is also referred to as the "Red Pyramid Thing" or "Triangle Head." He is an entity from the Silent Hill series and is a manifestation of people's deepest guilt and fears. He is essentially the second character that no one can play—an antagonist of sorts that terrorizes the main character until the very end of the game.
Pyramid Head is a psychological demon (a monster with a hidden face) and is well-known for his massive triangular helmet and his "Cloud Strife-style" giant sword, lol. He completely lacks a voice and has no visible face. Hell-bent on killing you, he will no doubt be your main cause of fear in this game...
Overall
Fantastic game to play anytime. Make sure when you play, the lights are either off or down low and the speaker is turned up to a pretty decent volume to get the full effect—or better yet, wear some headphones.
This game is a psychological masterpiece that delivers in the jump-scare department, as well as making you feel a personal guilt and repressed trauma for how the main protagonist treated his wife. Dealing with themes of terminal illness, mercy, denial, and killing—when you finish this game, you will most definitely feel some kinda way. Konami made a fantastic game, and I recommend you give it a playthrough whether you've played it in the past or never played it at all...
Pros
- + Psychological Storytelling at its best
- + Freaky Atmosphere
- + Pyramid Head
Cons
- - Combat can feel Clunky
- - Puzzles can be Difficult at times
9
Gameplay
8
Graphics
9
Story
9
Sound
8
Replayability
9
out of 10
Overall
Awesome Survival Horror Game
