I've seen a lot of this game in the past, though I've never really
played it myself. This changed when a friend and I agreed to both play
a game we had only watched before, Silent Hill 2 for me, and Shadow of the Colossus
for him. If you're not a fan of survival horror, this game has some of
the genre's typical problems in places, but overall it's a very strong,
creepy experience, and ahead of its time in some ways. It definitely
holds up better than I might have expected.
I'm not a huge fan
of the way the game actually plays. It's somewhat like a traditional
adventure game with some clumsy combat thrown in, though none of it is
bad enough to hurt the game in the long run. It defaults to the
tank-style movement controls that very few people are comfortable with,
although there's a simple option in the menu to switch to the more
intuitive way of just point where you want to go. The combat really
isn't terrible as bashing monsters in the face is actually a viable
option and you can move while attacking, it just isn't the game's
strong point. Puzzles are a mix of some clever believable scenarios,
some strange esoteric stuff, and a few groan inducing ones like using a
can opener to open a can of light bulbs (what?) to light up a door so
you can see the keyhole well enough (what?).
The game emphasizes exploration, as you can wander around town or in
the various important buildings and find a lot of extra supplies you
may not necessarily need, with certain paths blocked off to keep you
from getting too far off course. I like how the spaces feel like real
buildings, and not just artificial environments a game was designed to
take place in. Many doors are sealed off or have broken locks, which
keeps you moving to the next important place without feeling fake.
What impressed me most is how the game is designed to facilitate the
dark story, and that story itself. Pretty much every design decision
has some thought behind it, and every aspect of the way the environment
and strange monsters look has a reason for being the way it is. I'm
not going to pretend I understand why everything is how it was made,
but you can tell how well constructed it is. It's a psychological
horror story, and the types of scares they go for in the game fit
that. It's not about things jumping out at you, it's about keeping you
unsettled the entire time you're playing, dreading to see what's in the
next room. There are a few different characters all facing some sort
of torment in the town, and the tale is an intriguing one, with a few
twists along the way. Little details in the world can be easily missed
but help contribute to the narrative, although you don't have to see
everything to appreciate what it does.
Besides the voice acting, the presentation is really good too. The
sound effects are effective whether they're just filling in the gaps or
spooking the hell out of you, and the music is perfect. Akira Yamaoka
has done the soundtrack for basically the whole series, and nearly
every piece is great, and it's in a variety of styles. It's best when
it's accompanying something strange going on and doing everything a few
noises can to rattle your nerves. The amateur voices are pretty bad,
but it's rare for them to actually hinder the storytelling, and a few
people are decent. The graphics are quite good for the time also, and
the camera can be frustrating in some situations, like when you're
trying to not be killed, but in general it works for the presentation
as a whole. Silent Hill 2 is more or less a classic in the horror game
genre, and worth experiencing, even now.
