Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams

"My first Silent Hill experience!!"

This game was truly my first experience with the series Silent Hill. A few years ago, I bought Silent Hill 3 the day it came out. I was significantly younger then and didn't appreciate the game at all--I returned it the next day stating the game was far too boring.

Stupid move.

A few years later and some spare change in my pocket, I found myself going to the local Gamestop. With a good friend's advice in mind, I decided to spend the mere $9 on SH2 for the Xbox.

The reason for that being the slightly more updated graphics and the sheer power the Xbox has to offer. Now I'm not saying the PS2 can't handle it or anything like that, but I believe in the saying "more bang for your buck." On to the review.

Graphics: Wow. The only thing I have to say about the graphics here is "Wow." Seldom have I come across a game (in my opinion) that looks this crisp and runs this well. There is no slow-down in the game whatsoever. Firstly, the immense fog doesn't even come close to slowing down the Xbox's high-speed CPU. Secondly, the thousands of different textures in this game give off one of the eeriest ambiances I've ever encountered in a videogame. Everything from the look of the pavement, to the realistic like fabric of James' racing green jacket--looks perfect. Literally every single graphical aspect of this game is perfect. Although I can't say much about when the game...transforms, just know that you'll be in for an equally eerie surprise.

Second part to the graphics would the monsters. I wasn't exactly too terrified or scared of the monsters, but I understand that they aren't the whole point of the game. They're modeled well, if that counts for anything. But their sometimes gimmick-y movements pulled me out of the game-play a little bit. Overall, I'd give the graphics a 9 out of 10.

Sound: Again, what a great job done by Konami. The sound effects in this game are exactly how they should be, nothing exaggerated and nothing too cheesy. The creature sound effects are downright chilling. There has yet to have been a moment without me being startled when hearing the lurch from some monster hidden in the fog--which is exactly how it should be.

Onto the music. Oh are you in for a treat. The music in SH2 is by far, one of the best videogame soundtracks in history. Akira Yamaoka is a genius. So much so that I've had the soundtracks to EVERY Silent Hill game before I even bought them. The music is amazing, spanning from dark, ethereal electronic to hard rock--each moment fitting perfectly. The only thing that leaves me worried with the sound is the unavoidable silence, and the murmurs of the environment. 10 out of 10

Control: Here where the game started to get stale for me. The game gives you two different modes of control. 2D mode and 3D mode. 2D is the kind of controls we're used to in the Survival Horror genre (i.e. pushing up on the analog stick is the only thing that will let you move forward.) And then 3D, which supposedly is the control we're used to in games like Streets of Rage or something along those lines--you know, the character moves according to the directional presses. To tell the truth, I'm not really a fan of either. But the 2D control is <u>much</u> better than the RE control I'm used to--with little improvements to response and things of that nature. Even so, you'll find yourself trying to escape from an enemy and clipping a wall--which will undoubtedly set you back an invaluable amount of milliseconds. 6 out of 10

Story/Re-playability: So here's what's going to make you play Silent Hill 2. The story in this game is nothing short of amazing. The elements that this story gives off are perfect. There are enough twists in turns here to keep you coming back for more. Not only that, there are EIGHT different endings, all of which are equally as compelling as the next.

The characters in SH2 are great. All of them are scripted and acted like a normal person. They react in ways that a normal person would and they treat the environment that their in with almost as much caution as you yourself do. 9 out of 10

This game is a buy. It's already a classic, and at the cheap price, you'd have to be crazy not to buy it. Not only that, the Xbox version has a new campaign mode with one of the main characters! You don't get that with your old copy of SH2. So with the enhanced graphics, killer story line and nearly limitless gameplay, there shouldn't be anything stopping you from picking up this famous horror title.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/30/07