I Play Silent Hill 2, Part One.

A while ago, I picked up a used copy Silent Hill 2. I knew a lot of people consider it the best horror title ever made, and I'd been wanting a new survival horror game for a while. I got home, put it on the shelf and... just kind of forgot about it, I guess. It's been sitting there for a good two months. 
 
Tonight, I decided to fire it up. I also decided to chronicle my experience with it in a series of blogs. This is the first of those blogs. There will be spoilers, of course, so if you haven't played the game and don't want it ruined for you, you should probably stop reading now. Again, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. 
 
 
 
The game starts out with the main character, James, standing in a public bathroom, looking at himself in a mirror. I walk out of the bathroom, and a cutscene explains the basic gist of the game's story for me: James' wife died some time ago. He's received a letter with her handwriting, saying she's in the town of Silent Hill. James, of course, assumes that the letter was actually written by his dead wife, and isn't just a cruel prank/trap by someone who's copied her handwriting. He's now driven to the outskirts of Silent Hill, where a roadblock forces him to walk the rest of the way.

I grab a map lying in the car, and start walking down a foggy path. It's really, really long. I eventually reach a graveyard, where a woman advises me not to go to the town, because there's something "wrong" and potentially dangerous about it. James promptly tells her that he doesn't care if it's dangerous, asks her for directions (even though he got a map from his car like two minutes ago, and there's only one path), and leaves without even asking what exactly is wrong with the town. What if it was full of lethal gas or had become a testing ground for military weapons or something? Dying would make it kind of hard to look for your wife, you know.

Anyway, I walk down another absurdly long path, only to find a door leading to another absurdly long path. (Seriously, what is up with the paths in this game? Why are they so damn long? Is it some atmosphere thing? Because if it is, I don't think it's working.) After about five hours I reach the town, where I see some creature running away. I follow its trail of blood, find an enemy-detecting radio, grab a stick with a nail at the end and beat the monster to death. As I walk back through the town streets, I see several more monsters. At this point, I do what any normal person would do: I try to get the hell out of the town. I run all the way back to the door dividing the last long path from the first two, and James says something along the lines of "I have no reason to go back, I have to find my wife". Listen, James. I know you're not the brightest dude in the world. But seriously, discovering that a town is full of creepy monsters that are out to kill you is a pretty damn good reason to leave. You can always come back and look for your wife when you've, you know, gotten the police or the army, or at least bought some weapons.
 
Being a fictional character without any will of his own, James won't have a bar of it. So back to town it is. I explore a little; most paths are either temporarily or permanently inaccessible, but I manage to find a key and two maps. With the help of these, I get into an apartment building. I walk around a bit. Kill some monsters, find some keys; you know, standard survival horror stuff. There's this one part that's pretty dumb, where James tries to get a key by sticking his arm through a grate. Just as he's about to reach it, an annoying little girl appear and kick the key away. The ridiculous thing is, he could easily have reached the key before the girl even got there by using the stick he'd been carrying around since he encountered the first monster. I suppose it's unfair for me to expect the amount of brain activity required to realize that from someone who isn't the least bit alarmed by the fact that he's in a town filled with gross, violent, humanoid monsters, but still. Come on. Either way, I find a dead body that kind of looks like James, solve a fairly simple clock puzzle, run into Pyramid Head twice (once when he's just standing around, and once when he's having sex with a mannequin), and then, in an apartment with a dead guy lying in the kitchen, I encounter a dude puking his guts out (not literally; I usually wouldn't have to explain that, but this is a survival horror game, after all). And this right here is probably the most bizarre part of the game so far. The two have a conversation that basically amounts to:
 
"Hey." 
"Hey." 
"I'm James Sunderland." 
"I'm Eddie." 
"So... who's that dead guy in the kitchen?"
"Don't know. I didn't kill him!" 
"Are you friends with the the pyramid helmet dude?" 
"Don't know what you're talking about. I saw some monsters, though." 
"So, uh, what's up with this town?" 
"I don't know. I'm not even from here." 
"Uh... you should probably get out of here soon." 
"Yeah. What about you?" 
"I'll leave when I'm done. Be careful." 
"Yeah, you too." 
"See ya."
"See ya." 
 
No "Dude, what the fuck is going on with this place? There are monsters trying to kill me and a creepy guy who has sex with mannequins -- it's seriously messed up." No "You probably won't make it on your own. You should stick with me; I've got a stick with a nail on it, and I found a handgun not too long ago." No sensible conversation at all. They just exchange names, establish that neither of them knows what the hell is going on, and part -- that's it. Even cheesy horror movies don't have scenarios this absurd, and when they do, the sure as hell don't get away with it. At this point, I saved the game and stopped playing.      

An hour and a half in. My first impression? Not good. So far, the game has been mind-numbingly boring (it's basically been fetch quest after fetch quest, with the occasional button mashing combat segment), shockingly stupid (the story makes no sense -- mostly thanks to James & Co., who are about as believable as the average set of Uwe Boll characters), and worst of all, not scary in the least (the way I can tell I'm playing a creepy game is that I'm too anxious to use the run function outside combat; in this, I run everywhere). It's still too early to pass any sort of proper judge on the game, and I am open to the possibility that the rest of it is amazing, but... let's just say that I'm not exactly looking forward to playing more.

A while ago, I picked up a used copy Silent Hill 2. I knew a lot of people consider it the best horror title ever made, and I'd been wanting a new survival horror game for a while. I got home, put it on the shelf and... just kind of forgot about it, I guess. It's been sitting there for a good two months. 
 
Tonight, I decided to fire it up. I also decided to chronicle my experience with it in a series of blogs. This is the first of those blogs. There will be spoilers, of course, so if you haven't played the game and don't want it ruined for you, you should probably stop reading now. Again, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. 
 
 
 
The game starts out with the main character, James, standing in a public bathroom, looking at himself in a mirror. I walk out of the bathroom, and a cutscene explains the basic gist of the game's story for me: James' wife died some time ago. He's received a letter with her handwriting, saying she's in the town of Silent Hill. James, of course, assumes that the letter was actually written by his dead wife, and isn't just a cruel prank/trap by someone who's copied her handwriting. He's now driven to the outskirts of Silent Hill, where a roadblock forces him to walk the rest of the way.

I grab a map lying in the car, and start walking down a foggy path. It's really, really long. I eventually reach a graveyard, where a woman advises me not to go to the town, because there's something "wrong" and potentially dangerous about it. James promptly tells her that he doesn't care if it's dangerous, asks her for directions (even though he got a map from his car like two minutes ago, and there's only one path), and leaves without even asking what exactly is wrong with the town. What if it was full of lethal gas or had become a testing ground for military weapons or something? Dying would make it kind of hard to look for your wife, you know.

Anyway, I walk down another absurdly long path, only to find a door leading to another absurdly long path. (Seriously, what is up with the paths in this game? Why are they so damn long? Is it some atmosphere thing? Because if it is, I don't think it's working.) After about five hours I reach the town, where I see some creature running away. I follow its trail of blood, find an enemy-detecting radio, grab a stick with a nail at the end and beat the monster to death. As I walk back through the town streets, I see several more monsters. At this point, I do what any normal person would do: I try to get the hell out of the town. I run all the way back to the door dividing the last long path from the first two, and James says something along the lines of "I have no reason to go back, I have to find my wife". Listen, James. I know you're not the brightest dude in the world. But seriously, discovering that a town is full of creepy monsters that are out to kill you is a pretty damn good reason to leave. You can always come back and look for your wife when you've, you know, gotten the police or the army, or at least bought some weapons.
 
Being a fictional character without any will of his own, James won't have a bar of it. So back to town it is. I explore a little; most paths are either temporarily or permanently inaccessible, but I manage to find a key and two maps. With the help of these, I get into an apartment building. I walk around a bit. Kill some monsters, find some keys; you know, standard survival horror stuff. There's this one part that's pretty dumb, where James tries to get a key by sticking his arm through a grate. Just as he's about to reach it, an annoying little girl appear and kick the key away. The ridiculous thing is, he could easily have reached the key before the girl even got there by using the stick he'd been carrying around since he encountered the first monster. I suppose it's unfair for me to expect the amount of brain activity required to realize that from someone who isn't the least bit alarmed by the fact that he's in a town filled with gross, violent, humanoid monsters, but still. Come on. Either way, I find a dead body that kind of looks like James, solve a fairly simple clock puzzle, run into Pyramid Head twice (once when he's just standing around, and once when he's having sex with a mannequin), and then, in an apartment with a dead guy lying in the kitchen, I encounter a dude puking his guts out (not literally; I usually wouldn't have to explain that, but this is a survival horror game, after all). And this right here is probably the most bizarre part of the game so far. The two have a conversation that basically amounts to:
 
"Hey." 
"Hey." 
"I'm James Sunderland." 
"I'm Eddie." 
"So... who's that dead guy in the kitchen?"
"Don't know. I didn't kill him!" 
"Are you friends with the the pyramid helmet dude?" 
"Don't know what you're talking about. I saw some monsters, though." 
"So, uh, what's up with this town?" 
"I don't know. I'm not even from here." 
"Uh... you should probably get out of here soon." 
"Yeah. What about you?" 
"I'll leave when I'm done. Be careful." 
"Yeah, you too." 
"See ya."
"See ya." 
 
No "Dude, what the fuck is going on with this place? There are monsters trying to kill me and a creepy guy who has sex with mannequins -- it's seriously messed up." No "You probably won't make it on your own. You should stick with me; I've got a stick with a nail on it, and I found a handgun not too long ago." No sensible conversation at all. They just exchange names, establish that neither of them knows what the hell is going on, and part -- that's it. Even cheesy horror movies don't have scenarios this absurd, and when they do, the sure as hell don't get away with it. At this point, I saved the game and stopped playing.      

An hour and a half in. My first impression? Not good. So far, the game has been mind-numbingly boring (it's basically been fetch quest after fetch quest, with the occasional button mashing combat segment), shockingly stupid (the story makes no sense -- mostly thanks to James & Co., who are about as believable as the average set of Uwe Boll characters), and worst of all, not scary in the least (the way I can tell I'm playing a creepy game is that I'm too anxious to use the run function outside combat; in this, I run everywhere). It's still too early to pass any sort of proper judge on the game, and I am open to the possibility that the rest of it is amazing, but... let's just say that I'm not exactly looking forward to playing more.

Trust me, this game is a whole lot of nothing. You'll spend a lot of time running around, just looking for shit to do. I'd say it gets scarier when bodies jump out from beyond the bumpers on the road, but it doesn't. Full blog here.

I can agree with you in everything. But, as my experience evolved, i become more and more in touch with the crazy nonsensical story, and despite not being a truelly frightning game - especially to anyone who has survived Dead Space - the ending surprised me, and made me emotional. That alone surpassed all the other games i've played, apart from Lost Odyssey, Silent Hill 4, Darkness and Final Fantasy X. That's why i love it. 

The idea of the story is the best part of that game. Not even the story -- rather, the idea of the story. The idea that this guy is psychologically twisted. The game, in its entirety, isn't executed amazingly. Also, the soundtrack is excellent.

Play Penumbra, tis awesome.
 
Also the main characters in Silent Hill games tend to suck, it's the town that is the real protagonist/antagonist.

" Trust me, this game is a whole lot of nothing. You'll spend a lot of time running around, just looking for shit to do. I'd say it gets scarier when bodies jump out from beyond the bumpers on the road, but it doesn't. Full blog here. "

" I can agree with you in everything. But, as my experience evolved, i become more and more in touch with the crazy nonsensical story, and despite not being a truelly frightning game - especially to anyone who has survived Dead Space - the ending surprised me, and made me emotional. That alone surpassed all the other games i've played, apart from Lost Odyssey, Silent Hill 4, Darkness and Final Fantasy X. That's why i love it.  "

" The idea of the story is the best part of that game. Not even the story -- rather, the idea of the story. The idea that this guy is psychologically twisted. The game, in its entirety, isn't executed amazingly. Also, the soundtrack is excellent. "

" Play Penumbra, tis awesome.  Also the main characters in Silent Hill games tend to suck, it's the town that is the real antagonist. "

Silent Hill 2 is often considered the best game in the Silent Hill series- I'll definitely say that the story alone makes it worth a play, but if you want my opinion (you don't~!) Silent Hill 3 outclasses it in pretty much every way.  The only issue is that the main character in Silent Hill 3 is such a badass that it's really hard to be afraid of anything when you can just take a pipe to faces/gaping fleshy spots where faces are supposed to be.

Edit: And yeah, SH2 has lots of time spans where very little happens, it's nowhere near as scary as people make it out to be, Pyramid Head was only scary before you encountered him for real and realized that he moves only slightly faster than a beached, dying Sea Lion.  But still, worth it to see the story through to the end. What wasn't worth it was that goddamned rowboat sequence that I spent an hour going in circles in because it's hard as hell to tell if you're actually making any progress.

I agree that Fatal Frame 2 is the real best horror game ever. It's just that a lot more people have played Silent Hill 2.  
I never played the PS3 version, but I also liked Siren better than Silent Hill 2, but I understand why many people had problems with it.
 
I thought, even though it's not so scary and has its flaws, the newest Silent Hill actually worked much better as a story than most of the rest of them. 

" Anyone who doesn't realize the genius behind this game obviously understands nothing about metaphors, imigary stroytelling, and revealing the end to you before you get there through unnoticable hints.   Honetly, whoever doesn't like this game is a moron. There is no arguement, that isn't opinion, if you don't understand why this is on of the greatest games ever made you're downright retarded and probably play too much Halo. "

" Anyone who doesn't realize the genius behind this game obviously understands nothing about metaphors, imigary stroytelling, and revealing the end to you before you get there through unnoticable hints.   Honetly, whoever doesn't like this game is a moron. There is no arguement, that isn't opinion, if you don't understand why this is on of the greatest games ever made you're downright retarded and probably play too much Halo. "

Dude, you're playing it NOW for the first time?
You're doing it wrong from the get-go ...
 
Amazing game in every department when it came out, still is for anyone who played and loved it back then, but for newcomers?
Well, certainly not working judging by your (horrible) report.

I don't think Silent Hill 2 works as much in scares as it does in horror. 

" I don't think Silent Hill 2 works as much in scares as it does in horror.  "

@ZanzibarBreeze said:

" The idea of the story is the best part of that game. Not even the story -- rather, the idea of the story. The idea that this guy is psychologically twisted. The game, in its entirety, isn't executed amazingly. Also, the soundtrack is excellent. "

Dude, is that a spoiler?

" @Icemael said:

@ZanzibarBreeze said:

" The idea of the story is the best part of that game. Not even the story -- rather, the idea of the story. The idea that this guy is psychologically twisted. The game, in its entirety, isn't executed amazingly. Also, the soundtrack is excellent. "

Dude, is that a spoiler?

I wouldn't think so, considering that every single Silent Hill character ever (in each game) is effed up in their own way. "

Ok. I was afraid it was some kind of huge twist at the end where it's revealed that ZOMG NONE OF IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED, IT WAS ALL IN HIS MIND.

enjoy it!

" @Jeust said:

" I don't think Silent Hill 2 works as much in scares as it does in horror.  "

The difference being...? "

Silent Hill 2 is definitely the least freaky of the original three (the good ones). But I still thought it was plenty freaky. If you want terror, pop Silent Hill 3 in. One of the scariest things I've ever experienced.
 
Also, all the dialogue is short and choppy on purpose. Trust me, this is a game you really have to experience all the way through, even if the beginning is slightly boring (I thought to the premise was enough to hook me for the boring part. And besides, things are about to heat up). SH2 is the complete antithesis of MGS. It shows; MGS tells. All the cutscenes will seem underwhelming, despite the topic being discussed, but this adds to the mood and atmosphere. You need to play through it, beat it, and then think of what it all meant. Your mind will be blown. Promise. As soon as the twist hits, everything, including the pacing, will be justified.

"You honestly sound like a whinny 10 year old who is being forced to play this game and just doesn't have the metality to process it. However, like Zanzibar said, it isn't so much the game, but the idea of the story which drives this into a classic status. Add in all the imagary, the metaphors, from the shape of enemies, to the personalities of "people" he sees in the town, and you have one hell of a story. One of the best in gaming, I don't have a stick in my ass, it is just undisputed fact that Silent Hill 2 is genius in its own way, and if you can't see that, I feel very sorry for you and your future children. "

" @xaLieNxGrEyx: Thanks for spoiling it. If I had experienced that twist in the actual game, I might have liked it, but now it was about as exciting and mind-blowing as as finding an exceptionally large flake in your box of Corn Flakes.  Fuck you. "

" @Icemael said:

" @xaLieNxGrEyx: Thanks for spoiling it. If I had experienced that twist in the actual game, I might have liked it, but now it was about as exciting and mind-blowing as as finding an exceptionally large flake in your box of Corn Flakes.  Fuck you. "

he didn't spoil you, at all, as that is but a small part of the story, that goes unnoticed, at least with me, in the first playthrough. Not that i didn't thought it, but it has nothing to do with the story.   "

The game gets way better later on, that's when the story starts ramping up.......... though part of it's already been ruined for you. It sucks that your not enjoying it, it's a masterpiece of storytelling, well in my opinion anyway but what do I know ;)  Also Eddie is a real person who is sent to Silent Hill to face his own problems, though it's important to note that everyone see's Silent Hill in a different way.

" @Jeust:   Then it's not a survival horror game, or even a unique game. Games like Tetrisphere and Custer's Revenge have made me feel all three (physically with the former, morally with the latter), but they're hardly masterpieces of game design. "

Silent Hill 2 is incredible, you guys clearly wear your asses on your head, like some sort of hat.
 
Edit: @xaLieNxGrEyx:  You are the single worst human being on the planet. Such a colossal fan of the series would probably think that the emotional roller-coaster ride that the game takes you on is the clear draw of the game, but you start throwing out plot points. What is your issue? Were your parents related before they were married? It's also worth noting that the entire game is open to interpretation, so you stating that Angela and Eddie and Laura are imaginary is a little silly, and way shitty.

" @Jeust said:

" @Icemael said:

" @xaLieNxGrEyx: Thanks for spoiling it. If I had experienced that twist in the actual game, I might have liked it, but now it was about as exciting and mind-blowing as as finding an exceptionally large flake in your box of Corn Flakes.  Fuck you. "

he didn't spoil you, at all, as that is but a small part of the story, that goes unnoticed, at least with me, in the first playthrough. Not that i didn't thought it, but it has nothing to do with the story.   "

Good to hear. But still, that's the kind of thing you want to find out on your own, not have spoiled for you by some annoying kid on an Internet forum. "

" @Jeust: 
 
True, I can't get that with those games; I get them, along with a bunch of other things, from other games. It just seems like Silent Hill 2 is inconsequential, doling out little gameplay and story for the promise of depth and symbolism and some type of horror. "

" @Icemael: Omg.... this is for your own good.....  James is the only one in the town, everything else he sees is from his mind. There, you made me do it. Now finish the game and stop bitching about it.  You honestly sound like a whinny 10 year old who is being forced to play this game and just doesn't have the metality to process it. However, like Zanzibar said, it isn't so much the game, but the idea of the story which drives this into a classic status. Add in all the imagary, the metaphors, from the shape of enemies, to the personalities of "people" he sees in the town, and you have one hell of a story. One of the best in gaming, I don't have a stick in my ass, it is just undisputed fact that Silent Hill 2 is genius in its own way, and if you can't see that, I feel very sorry for you and your future children    (And before people argue that yes the other people are real, they aren't. They\re created by the town in different forms of James' personality. The girl with the knife represents sexual frustration, eddie represents a sick twisted side, and the little girl represents a future he wished he could have And if anyone asks what Maria represents I also feel sorry for the brain wasting away in your skull.) "

If you're playing this game and trying to make sense out of it around every turn, you're not going to like it. The reason why that conversation with Eddie was so weird is because the game is supposed to make you think "Why the hell is he being so casual? Why is he not freaking out at the monsters?"  
 
And that wasn't a spoiler that Alien Grey posted. There is so much in this game in terms of story, psychological stuff, metaphors and symbolism, that you'll be satisfied with what is coming. 
 
I don't know, just don't try to analyze everything you see and compare it to how things would work in reality. It seems to me like that's what you're doing. If you do that then you'll ruin it for yourself. The same goes for movies and everything else. There is nothing worse than watching a movie with someone who analyzes and comments on it the whole time saying things like "Oh come on, in real life you wouldn't say that." or "That's not how that would work in real life, this is stupid"  
 
Just take it in as it goes :)

" @Jeust:   That's a bit superficial, isn't it? After all, the graphics still serve their purposes pretty damn well (poor Diadora, longing to reunite with Sigurd based on her fragmented memories, only to be taken back to the castle, never to be with him again), and Silent Hill 2 hasn't aged quite well. It's aged better than other games, but still, James Sunderland is an ugly motherfucker. As for the story, it's barely even there. Symbolism is only good when there's an actual plot; otherwise, we might as well call it an interactive painting. There are moments, but it's easy for them to look good when they're mostly the only thing going on. "

" @Jeust: 
 
Huh? You're complaining about the music? You deserve the following quip:
 
 

 

"

" @Jeust:   No, not at all. And this isn't fleshed out? Compared to what? It certainly has more...everything...than Silent Hill 2. "