Sunday 7 March 2010

silent hill 2

Gamespot score:6.2(fair)

my score:7.8


(+)pros:-atmosphere is great for a horror game,- static when approaching a monster is great for panicky situations,- dark and compelling story will suck you in,- little but interesting and well made in game characters,-many endings

(-)cons:-camera sucks,-puzzles can be mind boggling at times,-combat is rather slow

gameplay time:10-20 hours(below average)






Yet again another review. Today's game is silent hill 2 for the PC. And once again I am pissed with gamespot. Silent hill 2 was released for XBOX,PS2 and PC. XBOX got 7.9, PS2 got 7.7, and PC got what...6.2? Holy shit gamespot what is with that. Anyway Im gonna say that this game deserves a score equal to that of the console counter parts, as it is, after all, a horror game with a deep, dark and compelling story that will appeal to its players. Lets move on.




James is a lonely man. His wife died of a disease, and he is lonely, very lonely. One day though, he receives a letter with the sender name "mary" the name of this dead wife. She says she is waiting for him at thier special place in "that town". Since james and mary went to silent hill for a stay before, he automatically knows the content of the letter and heads to silent hill in search of his wife. But not knowing what is going on in the town himself, little does he know the trials and terrors that await him in the foggy monster that is silent hill. On the way he will meet friends, who become foes and betray him, or maybe they are all foes to begin with? His journey to find his wife is not an easy one.




Being a horror game silent hill 2 has some bloody good atmosphere. Especially in indoor areas, silent hill 2 does exceptionally well. With only your torchlight to keep a small part in front of you ligthed up, you will find yourself in dark dark environments throughout the game. Plus, while you can only hear your footsteps, one will be on auto alert when a static is heard. In silent hill 2, when a static sound is heard that means a monster is near. Every time you move it gets louder and louder, since you are approcahing closer towards it. As you go closer, the sound gets louder. Even if you dont move, it still gets louder as the monster itself is walking towards you. This, is scary as hell, as you wont know where,when or how the creature is going to strike you. The monsters themselves are grosteque....ugly abominations that are supposedly remants of the once good town. They look ugly, and are certainly not friendly.




To combat these abomination james has a few array of weapons to help him, smack, poke, saw or gun down his foes. For melee weapons he has a wooden stick as a default weapon, an iron pipe and a chainsaw. For guns we have the usual, pistol, rifle and shotgun. Not much here, but the weapons at least have a variety to choose from. Weapons of course help you combat the nightmares of silent hill, but though the weapons serve you well, combat doesnt. Combat is slow and stiff, though all you need is the keep pressing the attack button until the enemy dies, the monster probably wont be able to do a thing to you if you keep the attack button pressed. Boring. Plus, james's and the enemies' attack both so slowly, sometimes it just feels like an RPG game -.-''.



Speaking about flaws, as many of the other silent hill games, this game has terrible camera.The ingame camera jigs up and stutters within gameplay time after time. And, the camera rotation is just horrible, it makes me who is playing it want to split my head open at times. Also, I would like to quote that for normal people like me, this game is near uncompletable without the lifesaver site known as gamefaqs. This game has such difficult puzzles that one will cry and scream in frustration for walking around an area for hours to find a solution. For smart and observant people this will not be as hard for them, but for normal people prepare a guide or something as you will need it really really bad.


Silent hill 2 is a good horror game. Its a shame that the silent hill franchise hasnt gotten scary after 3(with exception of shattered memories). With flaws in combat and camera, this game isnt meant for fighter lovers, this game is played solely for its dark, compelling story that sucks people in. Oh and also for its horror values.





Happy gaming.