It's a particular scourge on the video game industry that old games are not easily accessible without emulation. Since I don't have a PC build, I had to resort to paying more money than I should have to get just the PS2 disc with no case included. The Silent Hill 2 experience however was shockingly worth the hassle.
Silent Hill 2 is old and while it is one of the most prominent examples of its genre, psychological horror, you rarely ever see a game that looks quite like it. In game, the developers worked wonders with their use of shadow. Its impossible to completely hide that signature polygonal roughness that comes with the PS2 era games, but the first time I wandered the halls of the Silent Hill's apartment buildings I was completely blown away by how good the game looked. The fully rendered FMVs also work extremely well for this game. Graphically, they're leagues above what we see in engine, yet they have a surreal uncanny quality that feel intentional rather than a failing to capture realism. Silent Hill 2 is also rife with visual symbolism and absurdity that perfectly aligns with its visual style. Apartment doors leading directly into brick walls, basements below basements below basements, inky black pits that you must delve into over and over again, and water everywhere you don't want water to be. In this way, Silent Hill 2 creates a nightmarish vision that works because of the limitations on the hardware it runs on, not despite it. The visuals are also helped out a lot by the amazing audio work done for this game.
Out of all the things I was expecting out of Silent Hill 2, I was most surprised and floored by the quality of its audio design. I had previously watched a lets play of this game some 10 years prior to me actually picking up the game for myself, and while I remembered some of the visuals from that experience 10 years ago, I completely had missed out on the audio design. Despite not having headphones, this game still sounds amazing. I'm not just talking about the soundtrack produced by Akira Yamaoka, which may just be an all time favorite of mine now. While playing Silent Hill 2, you will experience a large range of sounds that get under your skin. At times you will hear a disorienting cacophony when faced with some of the monsters in this game, other times you'll be alone in the dark with the sound of dripping water that always sounds like its coming from the back of your real life room. Several times I actually paused the game just to make sure my house hadn't sprung a leak. It delighted me, it terrified me, it disoriented me, it made me paranoid. By even modern day standards, the audio design team deserves the highest of praises.
I don't want to conclude this review without at least touching on the story of Silent Hill 2, yet I don't want to delve to deep into either. It is easily the most interesting part of the entire game, but if I even dip my toes into it I know I'll lose the rest of the plot of this review by gushing over it. If you haven't yet played the game and would like to, just do it whatever way you can. The story covers extremely heavy topics so beware. I will say this: even knowing the big twist at the end of the game, I was still heavily invested in everything the game was presenting to me narratively. The effectiveness of the narrative is not placed in where it ends up, but rather the maliciously winding path it takes you on.
22 years late to the party, I don't have much to say about Silent Hill 2 that hasn't already been said 1000 times over. Everything that has aged poorly with the game has been outmatched by the wild success it finds with what it was trying to accomplish. Even by modern day standards this game stands above most psychological horror games. It's rare to see a game sync up audio, visual, and story telling themes so effectively to deliver one cohesive product, but Silent Hill 2 does it all.
Silent Hill 2 is old and while it is one of the most prominent examples of its genre, psychological horror, you rarely ever see a game that looks quite like it. In game, the developers worked wonders with their use of shadow. Its impossible to completely hide that signature polygonal roughness that comes with the PS2 era games, but the first time I wandered the halls of the Silent Hill's apartment buildings I was completely blown away by how good the game looked. The fully rendered FMVs also work extremely well for this game. Graphically, they're leagues above what we see in engine, yet they have a surreal uncanny quality that feel intentional rather than a failing to capture realism. Silent Hill 2 is also rife with visual symbolism and absurdity that perfectly aligns with its visual style. Apartment doors leading directly into brick walls, basements below basements below basements, inky black pits that you must delve into over and over again, and water everywhere you don't want water to be. In this way, Silent Hill 2 creates a nightmarish vision that works because of the limitations on the hardware it runs on, not despite it. The visuals are also helped out a lot by the amazing audio work done for this game.
Out of all the things I was expecting out of Silent Hill 2, I was most surprised and floored by the quality of its audio design. I had previously watched a lets play of this game some 10 years prior to me actually picking up the game for myself, and while I remembered some of the visuals from that experience 10 years ago, I completely had missed out on the audio design. Despite not having headphones, this game still sounds amazing. I'm not just talking about the soundtrack produced by Akira Yamaoka, which may just be an all time favorite of mine now. While playing Silent Hill 2, you will experience a large range of sounds that get under your skin. At times you will hear a disorienting cacophony when faced with some of the monsters in this game, other times you'll be alone in the dark with the sound of dripping water that always sounds like its coming from the back of your real life room. Several times I actually paused the game just to make sure my house hadn't sprung a leak. It delighted me, it terrified me, it disoriented me, it made me paranoid. By even modern day standards, the audio design team deserves the highest of praises.
I don't want to conclude this review without at least touching on the story of Silent Hill 2, yet I don't want to delve to deep into either. It is easily the most interesting part of the entire game, but if I even dip my toes into it I know I'll lose the rest of the plot of this review by gushing over it. If you haven't yet played the game and would like to, just do it whatever way you can. The story covers extremely heavy topics so beware. I will say this: even knowing the big twist at the end of the game, I was still heavily invested in everything the game was presenting to me narratively. The effectiveness of the narrative is not placed in where it ends up, but rather the maliciously winding path it takes you on.
22 years late to the party, I don't have much to say about Silent Hill 2 that hasn't already been said 1000 times over. Everything that has aged poorly with the game has been outmatched by the wild success it finds with what it was trying to accomplish. Even by modern day standards this game stands above most psychological horror games. It's rare to see a game sync up audio, visual, and story telling themes so effectively to deliver one cohesive product, but Silent Hill 2 does it all.