Silent Hill 2
PlayStation 2
For my original review of Silent Hill 2, click
I last played through Silent Hill 2 back in June of 2015 - nearly ten years ago to this date. I had a lot of great things to say about the game, praising the atmosphere, the graphics, the music, the pace, the setting, the gameplay, everything. But the thing I'll always remember the most about this game was how much it scared me shitless when I first played it. The eerie hiss of the radio. The dark hallways. The grimy decor. Pyramid Head standing in the hallway of the apartment, silent. Reaching my hand into that scary looking hole, while a terrifying mechanical banging sound repeated in the background. The grotesque hospital. The endless staircase. That never ending feeling of dread that accompanies you throughout the entire damn game.
What did not resonate with me were the themes of the game. On the surface, this game's story does not make much sense. I always just chalked it up to the world of Silent Hill making its own rules, not being a real place on the planet Earth. I always pictured it as some kind of dream world or realm of the afterlife. So anything that happened there, no matter how nonsensical, did not really have much meaning other than to scare you. But I've listened to a few podcasts about this game recently, where greater themes like sexual repression, guilt, and depression were brought into the mix. How different things in the world symbolized different things in James psyche - like Maria's appearance and the sexy nurses representing how he wanted his wife to be. Instead, she was sick and withering away from cancer.
I came into this playthrough of the game with an intent to keep my eyes open and really take notice of the deeper meaning of the game for the first time. I have to admit, though, it still the gameplay, still the atmosphere, still the scares of Silent Hill 2 that I will remember about the game. Not to say that I don't like the game's story. It's fine. But I wonder how people formulate these bizarre internet theories about what the events of the game represent. A lot of them seem like massive reaches. I know that a lot of people out there like things that are open to interpretation, but I am an "answers" guy. I'm dumb, so I need everything spelled out for me in big bold letters. I come away from this game thinking "okay, that didn't really make any sense." And that's it.
But I digress. Even ten years later, I still really like Silent Hill 2. I gave the game an A the first time around. I think if I remove the nostalgic feelings I have for the game, and I just look at it from a pure gameplay experience, it should not get an A again. It should be a little lower. It's a very fun game that had me addicted to it quickly. In fact, I completely set aside L.A. Noire, the other game I was playing, in favor of this. Now that I've beaten Silent Hill 2, I can return to playing that game again. But it says a lot that I liked Silent Hill 2 so much that it completely bumped a pretty good game off to the side for the time being.
What's keeping this game from getting an A again? It's too easy. There is no real threat of dying. I finished the game with 20+ health items still in stock, and about 150 combined bullets across my three guns. I finished it in 6 hours, which is an hour less than my previous playthrough. A lot of the gameplay is just walking around in the dark, trying to open doors. There were times that I thought: "hmm, am I really having fun here?" The controls can be a bit clunky, especially when using the analog stick. For some reason, I found it much easier to use the d-pad for this game (which I played on original PS2 hardware). I also found it really hard to see things at times. I kept having to crank up the brightness. I understand the game is trying to be creepy, but it is no fun when you can't see what the hay you are doing.
So as you can see, this is not a perfect game. But I feel as if a lot of my complaints are nitpicks. This truly is a great game. It may not get an A, but it will only fall just a tiny notch. I can't wait to play the remake in the future. The only problem is that I do not have a PS5. Oh well. Maybe some day!
THE GRADE:
A-
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