I went into this game knowing nothing about it, other than having watched the film of the games which wasn’t too bad to be honest. Silent Hill has received a bad reputation recently with the likes of The Room and Homecoming, however Konami hope to rectify this with re-releasing Silent Hill 2 and 3 in a HD collection plus Downpour hoping to breathe new life into a dead and gone franchise.
Silent Hill 2 is often referred to as the best survival horror game ever made. Originally released in 2001, the Japanese survival horror game had much to live up to after its stunning first outing. The game was met with such critical appraisal and spawned a massive fan base, it is now considered one of the best games of the past decade.
You play James Sunderland, a man brought to the brink after the death of his wife Mary. He receives a letter from said dead wife telling him to go to their 'special place' in Silent Hill. James goes there hoping to find her but instead trawls round the town encountering monsters and all kinds of fucked up acquaintances that all spawn from his mind.
What made Silent Hill 2 so scary is the atmosphere. The music is eerie, the visuals are dark and you cant see 3 foot in front of you due to heavy amounts of fog; this meant that you never ever knew what was coming. Its also the game where series signature Pyramid Head made his first appearance as part of James psyche before selling out and being in every single possible SH related thing.
Everything in Silent Hill 2 is representative of James' mind, the monsters represent his sexual frustration after the loss of his wife, Pyramid Head is James' dark side, Maria is Mary; as you get to know James for the pathetic waste of space he is you begin to understand what really happened to Mary and why he is really in Silent Hill.
The visuals are grainy and incredibly dark which is not what I expected from a HD remake but it works and I'm glad it stayed. The visuals work well with the image of Silent Hill, deserted, dangerous and otherworldly. The music adds to the atmosphere hugely, without it you would just be playing another game, the music is of a classical sense and largely uses a piano making the game seem happier than it actually is, luring you into a false sense of security. The voice acting is top notch, I don't think anything has actually compared to it, the characters are portrayed with actual emotion and are believable, even the ones that don’t technically exist. Silent Hill 2 is truly a master of its genre because of this things.
I don’t often talk about age ratings however Silent Hill 2 was given a 15. Along with me usually saying that age ratings are harsh buggers and normally end up being higher than they should be I believe Silent Hill 2 should be higher. The games psychological horror stance means it can get away with not being bloody and gory but gives you a bigger mind fuck than if it did have. The monster move in ways of possession, bones breaking and the horrid crying out that they make. The games underlying sexual meaning is that of a level I was shocked by. However most of this is incredibly hard to pick up on and must be looked at with watchful eyes, its still shocking that it is there. Silent Hill 2 is not a game for the faint of heart.
This is where I wave goodbye to Silent Hill 2, a game that has changed the survival horror genre even if it was just for one game. For £20 the HD collection is worth picking up or just £5 for Silent Hill 2 on its own, if your a horror fan this game is unmissable.
Silent Hill 2 – 9/10
+Extremely Dark & Twisted
+Sound Design
-Shows Its Age
