You May Never Sleep Good Again

Silent Hill 2 for the Playstation 2 is the latest offering in the survival horror genre. And believe me, it is creepy.

The 1st Silent Hill game introduced players to a different kind of scare. Foggy streets, unlit areas where the only light is a flashlight. Silent Hill 2 continues this theme in the new game, however the character you play is not the same. The character in Silent Hill 1 is named Harry Mason. The new character in Silent Hill 2 is named James Sunderland.

The game explains that three years ago, James' wife Mary died after an illness. Why then, does James receive a letter from Mary telling him she is waiting for him in the town of Silent Hill ? Most of the game involves James' search for his believed to be dead wife. He has a letter from her recently that says she is in the town of Silent Hill waiting for him in their " special place " . But if his wife Mary died 3 years ago, why did he get the letter now ? And what is she doing in Silent Hill ?

I hope James is wearing comfortable shoes, because you do a lot of walking around in the town. The shoe leather express is James' main mode of transportation. The walk through the woods into SIlent Hill gives the player just a hint of the twisted mind of the developers at Konami. If your senses are not beginning to tingle during your walk, then you are made of stronger stuff then I am.

The only area of Silent Hill that is the same from the first game, is the Amusement Park, and you never really go there. Just the area around it. All the buildings in game play are different than in the original game. But none the less spooky for this.

Again, steering your character with the controller is like steering a large barge. But with practice, you can get the hang of it easily. This was one thing I had hoped Konami was going to be able to fix by having the powerful PS2 hardware, but *sigh* guiding James is the same as guiding Harry in the first game.

There are a lot of great cut scenes in the game. And the character development keeps you guessing as the game goes on. Boss ( really hard characters to kill ) fights are given a new twist in Silent Hill 2. I would really really love to tell you about them, but it is a very important part of game play and I do not want to ruin it.
Suffice to say, tis better to sometimes run away, and live to fight another day.

Konami has kept the same developers from Silent Hill on the job. And this second installment lives up to the first games reputation. You start off with a basic weapon, a plank with some nails that you find at a construction site along the way into town. During the game you get other items. Guns, health recovery items, things you need to solve puzzles, and personal items.

James finds a few other " living " people in Silent Hill. One, a woman who looks amazingly like his dead wife. Her name is Maria, and from the time he meets her, I wanted to whack her in the head with my nail covered plank. She goes from sweet to sour in a heartbeat. And just how does she know the things she knows ?

There are three other people running around the town. Eddie, an overweight very strange person. Laura a child who runs through the town like she owns it, and Angela, a women who is searching for her mama ... I mean mother. Who these people are, and what they contribute to the story keeps the player guessing over and over again, as what I had figured out was going on, was proven wrong time and time again.

This game is rated "M " for mature audiences. And this game is disturbing enough for an adult, I would suggest parents think very carefully before purchasing it for their child. The two adults in this house who were playing it, were extremely creeped out.

I have to honestly say, the this game defies words to describe it. There is so much going on, and so many puzzles to solve to find the answers to the mystery, that you will have many hours of enjoyment (?) out of this.

The music is clanging and loud, and gives the player an impending sense of doom throughout the game. But there is also music that sets the feeling of sadness for things that can not be changed. I was very pleased with the soundtrack for Silent Hill 2. It is perfect for the overbearing horror background.

One really spooky thing that is back from the first Silent Hill game is the " alternate " buildings. This is when you are in a building that other than being abandoned appears to be normal. But you go through a door and everything is suddenly rusted, and bloody, with strange things here and there that have no explanation. It seems as if the buildings have been unused for a century or two instead of weeks or a few years.


In playing the game, things you do will affect the ending you get. And after finishing the game, you get an option that will allow you to remove the " grainy effect " of the picture. We are on our second go around of play and I will say it makes a BIG difference. Don't get me wrong, the " grainy effect " is cool and goes a long way to making things seem scarier while you play, but the crisp picture the PS2 gives does not in any way make the game less scary.


The only way to get the true sense of the suspense and horror of this game is to buy it yourself and play it.