I remember seeing pictures of Silent Hill 2 in gaming magazines, and for the longest time just the mere sight of a still image from this game was enough to creep me out. Every part of the Emotion Engine was used to make this game feel more rotten, diseased, and inhospitable than the first. At the same time, Team Silent wasn't exactly trying to reinvent the wheel with Silent Hill 2's gameplay, and much of my praise and criticism of the original carries over here.
One notable improvement, however, is in Silent Hill 2's level design, which feels a lot more thought out than the first. Gone is the open grid-like structure of the town. Players have to make their way through tighter alleyways, ducking around closely spaced buildings that provide little room to anticipate and react to danger. The various locations you visit are tailored to protagonist James Sunderland's psyche, adding an extra layer to the horror as what he did before arriving in Silent Hill slowly reveals itself. It gives the monsters you encounter an extra edge too, as they all have some personal connection to James rather than simply being byproducts of a town consumed by evil.
Much like the previous game, James is not alone here, though the characters he encounters seem far more tortured and close to madness. They're experiencing their own private hell, much like James, and it's interesting to see how they fall apart the more you progress through the game. The voice acting isn't great, but honestly I find it to be pretty charming. I've heard someone try to excuse this once as being the result of them perceiving the "reality" of Silent Hill differently, not even carrying on the same conversation James is trying to have with them due to this disconnect. I guess that kinda works, but it's honestly hard to tell if that's the case or just the result of bad direction and clumsy writing. No matter the case, I like it. It's weird and it adds to the atmosphere.
I think Silent Hill 2's conclusion is the strongest in the series, not sure if that's a controversial take or not. It's also one of the poorest kept twists in gaming, and I already had it spoiled for me at least a decade-and-a-half prior. Not that I think it really ruins the ending to know about it beforehand, the story does a good job of working towards that point and it feels earned. James' backstory is told in subtle ways and I like how the full picture really only comes into focus upon reflection.
Silent Hill 2 is a very good game. Maybe it won't live up to its hype for some people, but I was very surprised by how much it sucked me in. I was expecting this to be another case of hearing about a game that people think is damn near perfect or genre defining or whatever and just seeing a ton of faults with it, but that's not the case. I like it a whole lot and I wish Pyramid Head was my dad. Things would be different around here...
One notable improvement, however, is in Silent Hill 2's level design, which feels a lot more thought out than the first. Gone is the open grid-like structure of the town. Players have to make their way through tighter alleyways, ducking around closely spaced buildings that provide little room to anticipate and react to danger. The various locations you visit are tailored to protagonist James Sunderland's psyche, adding an extra layer to the horror as what he did before arriving in Silent Hill slowly reveals itself. It gives the monsters you encounter an extra edge too, as they all have some personal connection to James rather than simply being byproducts of a town consumed by evil.
Much like the previous game, James is not alone here, though the characters he encounters seem far more tortured and close to madness. They're experiencing their own private hell, much like James, and it's interesting to see how they fall apart the more you progress through the game. The voice acting isn't great, but honestly I find it to be pretty charming. I've heard someone try to excuse this once as being the result of them perceiving the "reality" of Silent Hill differently, not even carrying on the same conversation James is trying to have with them due to this disconnect. I guess that kinda works, but it's honestly hard to tell if that's the case or just the result of bad direction and clumsy writing. No matter the case, I like it. It's weird and it adds to the atmosphere.
I think Silent Hill 2's conclusion is the strongest in the series, not sure if that's a controversial take or not. It's also one of the poorest kept twists in gaming, and I already had it spoiled for me at least a decade-and-a-half prior. Not that I think it really ruins the ending to know about it beforehand, the story does a good job of working towards that point and it feels earned. James' backstory is told in subtle ways and I like how the full picture really only comes into focus upon reflection.
Silent Hill 2 is a very good game. Maybe it won't live up to its hype for some people, but I was very surprised by how much it sucked me in. I was expecting this to be another case of hearing about a game that people think is damn near perfect or genre defining or whatever and just seeing a ton of faults with it, but that's not the case. I like it a whole lot and I wish Pyramid Head was my dad. Things would be different around here...