Sunday, October 28, 2007

Silent Hill 2 (PS2)



I am a huge Silent Hill fan. I play it for the rush I get when it’s dark and quiet and I’m home alone, or with a friend, and suddenly the radio goes berserk and my heart jumps in my throat. I love horror movies, so for me this is like acting out a “Choose Your Own Horror Adventure”. Silent Hill 2 is my favorite so far, though I don't have a PS3 yet, so it'll be a while before I play the newest one.

As much as I love it though, I have never finished the game due to one of several reasons.

- It’s best played during sleepover parties (yes, I still have these : )
- I refuse to play it in easy mode and inevitably get stuck fighting a Big Bad-Ass
- And there’s not enough hours in a day for me to play everything I want to play.

The game starts off in the men’s washroom at what I believe is a rest-stop just inside the boarders of the town of Silent Hill. A man called James had received a letter from his wife who’s been dead for 2 years, and now he’s in Silent hill trying to find her.

This is PS2, and the graphics are pretty standard for the system. What it lacks in visuals it makes up for in lighting and sound; they’re what make this game so awesome. I love the disturbing horror tactics: the fog, the quiet, isolated atmosphere, the suddenness of the radio, the scraping of the red pyramids knife on the floor, the droning of the alarm that accompanies him, the frustration with the camera angles and flashlight that show you just enough to get freaked out, but not enough to calm your fears.

It’s great that the map updates as if James is writing on it with a pen. It would be better if he took clues like notebooks and wallets with him, though. I always have a notepad beside me when I’m playing so why can’t they just “write it down” for me. The puzzles, though frustrating at times, are great. There’s a huge sense of satisfaction when you finally put two and two together and it works! Like throwing the juice down that trash compactor to get a coin (I figured this one out after 2 hours of running in circles and finally going to bed to mull it over.)



I count all Silent Hills, as a group, among my all time favourite games. Let’s repeat I Love Silent Hill! Here however, are a few things that cause me endless grief in this particular version.
One: I can’t for the life of me, no matter how quickly I press R2 and X, swing at the freaky guys in the street and hit them at a speed that does justice to the panicky frightening and dangerous nature of the situation. Or the way I myself would clobber the same creatures if I were to meet them in real life. (I know, I would probably just turn and run, but that’s not the point! : )









And Two: Some of the dialogue in the cut scenes are redundant, obvious and quite ridiculous at times. Some examples:
The little things like (and these are all rough quotes from memory, not word for word): “Sure is foggy around here”, “it’ an ordinary washing machine” or “it’s a newspaper but it doesn’t look interesting”.

I just don’t get why he says things like these out loud or why the game allows you to interact with objects that have and never will have a purpose in the game. They seem like a waste of energy.


***Click here: Silent Hill Ridiculous Dialogue Rant to go to my Video Dr. - The Bane of the Game page and view the tangent I went off on while further describing more ludicrous dialogue in SH2.***


All this lovely script writing aside, I’m determined this time to finish the game. No matter how long it takes or however many hours I have to play it on my own and freak the crap out of myself doing it. It shall be done!


Photos courtesy of http://www.gamespot.com

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