Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams

"The Benchmark Yet To Be Beaten"

Silent Hill has been #1 on the list of "Towns You Won't Want To Visit" for a long while, and no other survival horror has come up and scared it away. Silent Hill 2: Inner Fears set a benchmark and it still has yet to be beaten, even with its two sequels. Anyway, back to the town of Silent Hill. This eerie town has been basked in endless fog and mist for what seems to be an eternity, and when all sorts of crazed, evil-doing monsters pop up out of the woodwork (or indeed Hell), James Sunderland gets a bit worried. What's Sunderland doing in that pit-of-a-town anyway? He was told to go and meet his wife after she sent him a letter a few days previous. Fair enough, eh? You'll do anything for a loved one...but what about one that died 3 years ago? Cue the enigma. Can the dead send letters beyond the grave? James left for Silent Hill in order to find out.

The plot may sound familiar, but that's because it is a port of the Playstation 2 release. It's not a straight forward port, as using the XBox's hardware and performance, it has since been touched up with improved visuals, fog effects and crisper everything. The story's still intact luckily, as it is a true piece of artwork in terror and scares. The game's set in the traditional 3rd Person perspective for better control, plus the animations that James has in the game are amazing (He runs out of breath if he runs too much and will stop and pant). I'm not talking about Sunderland doing all sorts of crazy tricks, spinning his gun left right and centre or anything, as Silent Hill is not that sort of Survival Horror. For example, the game's opening is not a killing-spree, but a haunt-fest. James must walk through a mist-choked and wooded park; his own footsteps as they crunch on the ground, but as well as that occasional twig snapping from somewhere around him, and not to mention the echoing sound of morbidness. This is true horror. You won't find hordes of ammo here, or be faced by swarms of monsters every step you take. This is true horror, and it relies on that feeling where you have no clue as to what's going on, let alone what that ominous groan getting louder is. It's not a guts-galore game, it's an emotional one, and believe me, you do get emotional.

Monsters. Ghouls. Demons. This town is full of them. As James walks through the streets, eerie gurgles emanate in the distance, his 2-Way radio crackles with static to warn you of danger, and finally, when one of those freak zombies jump out at you from the mist, a bone-chilling orchestra (think Phantom of the Opera) comes to play. These monsters are a sight of sheer terror, as the main creature which pops up a lot looks like a man with a straight-jacket on, covered with cling-film and then burnt to a crisp. Creepy. Killing these brutes is not as simple as other games, since our lead has no clue on weapons or Kung-Fu, but it doesn't mean it's hard. You just need to harm them enough for them to drop and squirm on the ground, before delivering the final blow.

On the whole, it is one great game. Brilliant, even. It might be a port, but it's one solid survival horror which, in my opinion, has yet to beaten. It's got the sounds, an emotional plot, fear... Renting this baby over a weekend and playing it in the dead of night is the ultimate option.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/28/05