While I am mainly a purveyor of role-playing games and the rare shooter with good storyline, I have a fondness for survival horror due to the immersion it creates through atmosphere and tension. While most horror games seem to operate solely on jump-scares (much to my chagrin due to my discomfort with sudden shock), I still glance over to the genre for gems that reach the level of one particular game. While the third game of the series made me more feel scared playing it, the game I consider the crowning gem when looking at survival horror is Silent Hill 2 (for PS2, PC - and ignore the HD Collection that ruined it with terrible design flaws).
[THERE WILL BE MINOR SPOILERS HERE! PLACE THAT POT ON YOUR HEAD AND KEEP IT ON TILL YOU REACH THE BOTTOM! Also, this entire post will be based on my own interpretation and what I can recall]
Firstly, I will acknowledge that Silent Hill 2 isn't a perfect game. There is no perfect game as there will always be some flaw that is linked to the very nature of the game itself such as genre limitations, technology or over-expectation of the gamers etc. In fact, I will address the main flaws of Silent Hill 2 here, namely its gameplay and camera that harkens back to the gameplay of older survival horror games that have faded away over time (the cameras were probably a change I could live with). The player character, James Sunderland, moves like a tank and fights in an inefficient way (though the latter can be justified since he is a normal man rather than some super soldier with combat training). In addition, the methods used to proceed past a locked door or certain puzzles can be rather ridiculous (using hair as string for a makeshift fishing line with a hook to scoop out a key from a drainage vent while ignoring the many items you had that could've used to pry the vent).
If that is the case, why did I state my feelings for this game in the title? I can give several reasons why: The story, the horror element, the atmosphere and the experience. In terms of story, it moves away from the cult-based horror of the first game that made the human antagonists seem like brain-dead fanatics (and may turn off some people who regard such fanatics as comic characters) and gives us a personal story. The town itself acts like a living entity that draws individuals with extremely negative emotions to it, presumably as a result of the cult awakening a strange force that was already present within the land of Silent Hill.
This story is about James Sunderland, a man who receives a letter from his beloved wife, Mary, after her death from 3 years ago who tells him to look for him at Silent Hill, the main setting of the series. He arrives to an abandoned town covered in fog and eventually encounters grotesque creatures that have distinctive features that appear to be referencing something linked to the character. James however travels alone into this town, in a constant search for his wife (fully justifying why he is unable to stop searching) and even when he encounters other individuals in the town, those individuals act in subtly off ways that hint at a darker nature underlying the individuals which keeps them from connecting with him. Add in a sexualized doppelgänger of his wife and a distinct and invincible creature that apparently seeks to torments him to complete the equation for a twist in the story. The twist in the story was a decent twist to a personal story involving a young couple and a second playthrough (or closer examination of the events in the game) will allow you to see the foreshadowing to the twist of Silent Hill 2. This is further aided by the symbolism throughout the game with frequent links to punishment, drowning and sexualisation that appears throughout the game providing greater context and depth to James' lonely journey of torment into the town. The reason for this bare-bones explanation is to avoid major spoilers for any potential players. If you wish to be spoiled, you could watch a playthrough or play the actual game.
The horror in Silent Hill 2 isn't one completely based in the typical supernatural conventions of ghosts, mutants or zombies. The horror here is a psychological one based on the human condition where certain darker aspects of humans are laid bare through the characters (not to the extent that it completely reflects it but acts as a showcase for a story) and leaves a strong impact on the narrative. The horror here is also subtle with a constant tension maintained through the constant obscuring of perspective as per the norm of a Silent Hill game with fog in it. It is the atmosphere of the town, constantly covered in fog or darkness, that maintains the tension with barely any jumpscares that merely startle an individual. As a result, what you get is the fear induced by a lack of presence whereby the anticipation of something terrifying already creates the fear that is constantly kept to a high degree until you reach certain moments that allows it to relax. The atmosphere created by the setting creates the horror and enhances it through limiting one's perspective (though the camera is still something to criticize at times). This is one reason why the HD Collection is disliked as the fog is removed from the game, removing the horror element to the game. I can acknowledge that it is not that scary at times and that the horror is not that good in creating fear though it does leave a stronger impact on players than most horror games, for me at least.
At the end though, playing this game was a fantastic experience for me as I immersed myself into a personal story that was filled with psychological horror and left me thinking about the ending and entire story for a couple of days. The symbolism and motifs along with the many possible interpretations often left me standing still in a shower, thinking about their links to the main story. It had a profound impact on me as the game showed me an example of gaming being used to convey a story and how the interactive nature of gaming enhances the experience in a way that motion pictures, books or artwork are unable to. Even now, I look back fondly at my time with the game which I have done for few other games such as the Baldur's Gate Trilogy, Planescape: Torment, Deus Ex, Morrowind and several other I do not remember.
I know this looks like I'm simply a fanboy of Silent Hill 2 but I would like to point out that this is a post about why I liked this game with minimal amount of spoilers in it. If I did an actual review, I can point out flaws and can admit defeat should a superior survival horror experience creep up to me. For the record, I do acknowledge that Silent Hill 1-4 were well done horror games though 2 was the one that had the adequate amount of elements that made like it more. 3 is still the scariest for me though...
P.S: The soundtrack is good, coming it at the right moments to convey the mood of the moment with an opening theme that I still listen to on certain occasions. It isn't enough to make a short paragraph about but it should still be noted
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