Welcome to my review of a classic game from the survival horror genre. Silent Hill 2 was made by Konami, and developed by the infamous, Team Silent, back in 2001. This franchise is right up there with Resident Evil for me, as some of my favorite games ever made. Unfortunately though, Silent Hill hasn't gotten much attention lately.
There was the PT demo that took everyone by surprise, and that was supposed to be the precursor to a brand new next gen Silent Hill game. The fact that it had Norman Reedus as the protagonist was a huge bonus for a Walking Dead fan like myself, and it was going to have Hideo Kojima at the helm of production. But as we now know, Konami has canceled the next gen Silent Hill game, and I guess fans of the franchise are out of luck. I honestly don't understand why, a company like Konami who has the exclusive rights to some of the best games, Silent Hill, Castlevania, would let these IP's sit on the shelf and do nothing with them. I know a lot of people were so let down by the cancellation of the new Silent Hill, if Konami doesn't want to make games anymore, sell the rights to a company who will continue the legacy so fans of the franchise can enjoy them. We've gone way too long without a new Silent Hill game Konami, get your stuff together.
Luckily for us, we can always go back and play the games that made the series so special in the first place. The first Silent Hill game came out for the PS1, and I can't remember much about it. My experience started with the sequel, and I've played and owned, at some point, every other game in the series since then. This one has always been my favorite one though.
In Silent Hill 2, you play as protagonist, James Sunderland. One day James receives a letter in the mail, from his deceased wife Mary. She had died three years ago, so he thinks this is some prank. But some part of him thinks it might really be her, so he decides to go and see. In the letter, Mary says, "meet me in our special place." James knows that she must be talking about Silent Hill, at a spot near the lake. So he drives into the town, to try and find his dead wife. When he arrives the place looks deserted, and it's covered in some kind of fog, possibly smoke. James gets out and begins his search for who sent him this letter, completely unprepared for what he's about to experience.
As you take control of James and start exploring around the town, you discover that there are creatures roaming the street. Strange, twisted looking monsters, that look like something out of a nightmare. There's a relentless fog that covers the streets, so while running around getting to know the place, you could run right into one of them. You eventually find a small radio, that transmits a static sound whenever one of them is near. This gives you at least a warning, when something is close by that wants to kill you. All of this, the static, the fog, the lack of other humans, monsters in the streets. This all adds to the game's atmosphere, and creates something that will keep you on edge, creating tension. That's one of Silent Hill 2's best features, it's creepy atmosphere.
As you make your way through the game you eventually encounter the most iconic enemy of the Silent Hill franchise, Pyramid Head. He's a hulking man with a huge pyramid shaped metal helmet, who drags behind him a giant sword. He looks very disturbing, and when you see him coming for you it really gets your blood pumping. Pyramid Head has become so popular that he's been in the Silent Hill movies, as well as used in another Silent Hill game. All of the enemies in this are very well done, and all quite memorable. That's another one of Silent Hill's positives, the enemy design. All the enemies you encounter are part of James' unique journey, the nurses, Pyramid Head, they all are here for a reason. That's part of the story though so I wont go any further with that.
There's a whole lot of good points about Silent Hill 2. When I look back on playing it as a kid, or even go through it again now, I always find myself getting lost in the great atmosphere, and freaked out by all the weird creatures and strange imagery. I didn't really understand the story when I was a kid, or the meaning of the monsters in town, but I loved playing it because it's an interesting, well made game. The only thing that might turn some people off is the wonky controls. But on the ported versions, they changed it, or made it an option. I really hope that we will some day get another classic Silent Hill game, I'm dying to get my hands on a good next gen version. Maybe even one, as good as this one. I give Silent Hill 2 an:
A+++