Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams

"In my restless dreams I see that town…Silent Hill."

Restless Dreams is part two of my favorite PSX game of all time, Silent Hill 1. In the first one, they fogged everything up for disk space. In the second one, they fog everything up just for the hell of it; to create a cool looking effect is all. Ah, how times have changed…

Now, I myself have read many reviews on this game before buying it, and one thing bugging me about them is they all said the same thing about the main story. I got tired of that, so I won’t fall into that myself, so if you don’t know the story, I’ll sum it up:

Letter = strange = road trip = more strange = killing spree.

Now you’re all caught up. Now, you might be pondering whether to buy this game or not. Instead of telling you whether or not to buy it, I’ll tell you my story. When Silent Hill 1 came out, I was like lightning in getting it…several months after the release. Eh, slow lightning. Anyway, I was so captivated by that game that when Silent Hill 2 was announced on the PS2, I almost considered buying a PS2 mainly for this game. I held back, and am pretty glad I did. I bought an Xbox for other reasons, and when it came to the Xbox, I was there to get this. I haven’t regretted it since.

Let me briefly describe to you the little details of this game…

Locations: Instead of a hospital, sewers, amusement park, and the like from the first one, this one takes you to, well, a hospital (yet somehow seems similar to the SH1 hospital), apartments, hotel, and a prison. In my honest opinion, I liked the prison the best for one certain scene, possibly my favorite moment in the game…but I can’t tell you, it’s a spoiler :D. What’s bad? I was really disappointed that there wasn’t any place like “Nowhere” was in the first game.

Audio: If you have surround sound, a big TV, a dark room, and a bathroom nearby, you’re in for one hell of a ride. Lucky for me, I had all of that! The subtle (and not so subtle) sounds that go on in the game are amazingly done (which brings me back to another part in the prison which I probably shouldn’t mention. Hehe).

Visual: As I’ve said, the fog is merely for looks, as I’m sure they could have us see to the horizon, but where’s the suspense in that? The lighting in this game is very well done and everybody looks wonderful. I especially love the cutscenes, as they look marvelous.

People: There’s quite an intriguing cast in this game. Maria, Eddie, Laura, that other chick who I can’t remember… Either way, they really add to the feel of the game…which once again, brings me back to the prison for parts I’m not allowed to say :P.

Replay Value: Is this game long? Not really, but you can make it long. For instance, my first time through, I had a little over nine hours of gameplay. However, my first time through, it took me nine days to beat. I would play about an hour, get freaked, quit, play an hour the next day, get freaked, quit, lather rinse repeat.

But this game is not all glitz and glory, there are bad parts. My biggest gripe is the bosses. They’re too few, sparse, and easy. And sadly, as in SH1, the final boss is once again pretty much the easiest in the entire game. It’s no fun when the last four bosses you faced, you got away without a single scratch.

There you have it. I don’t rate every category; I only give a final grade. In short, if you enjoyed the first, you will no doubt enjoy this as well. Happy gaming!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/15/02, Updated 11/15/02