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Bad game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 24
Date: March 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I thought this was a bad game and i'm glad that they don't stock it anymore!

that graphics were ok but bad gameplay and everything else.

Silent Hill was better

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: March 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

There was a more detailed storyline with Silent Hill than with SH2. SH had more secrets, plus I got really annoyed with the whiney female characters in SH2. It also seemed to end quicker. Still, it was at least as scarey as SH, with the accustomed graphic gore and tense background sounds. Don't play it alone at night! I look forward to SH3....I hope the female lead has more "guts"!

Awesome game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: December 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game seriously freaked me out. Controlling James takes a little getting used to, but Konami certainly makes up for it with the environment and storyline. If you like survival-horror games, this should definately be on your list!

A snapshot of an unravelling mind...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: December 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Originally released in 2001, Konami's Silent Hill 2 was nothing anyone could have imagined.

The original Silent Hill, released for the Playstation in 1999, was a downright creepy tale of a man searching for his lost daughter. Throughout the game, players were confronted with situations which induced (or tried to induce) true fear within the human person playing. By many leaps and bounds, Konami managed to pull off true psychological horror over cheap thrills (ala the Resident Evil series). And so with the (somewhat minimal... the original didn't sell all that well) success of the original SH, Konami opted to release a sequel. But this is where all ties to the original end. And like I mentioned before, it was nothing anyone could have imagined.

Silent Hill 2 puts players in the footsteps of James Sunderland. Through some strange occurence, James receives a letter from his wife asking him to venture on over to their 'special place.' The town of Silent Hill. Fine, right? Trouble is, James's wife has been dead for three years. Kinda odd, huh? Nonetheless, James decides to go to Silent Hill to find Mary, his wife. So James goes to Silent Hill... and who should meet him but a woman who looks identical to his wife in every way, but yet is different. And her name is 'Maria.'

Cue creepiness.

And so throughout the game, James ventures through Silent Hill battling demons and discovering facts behind the death of his wife (and just how she managed to talk him into coming). James also meets up with a few supporting cast members who are downright creepy in all their own ways. All of the characters' stories finish up quite nicely, and you're not left with any questions or unresolved plot details.

Silent Hill 2 offers up a clear visual picture of what it is to slowly discover the truth to something, however dark that something may ultimately be.

All I have left to say is play this game. If only for the story. The graphics are nice, the controls are spot-on (and are even customizable), and the sounds (and music) will make you appreciate the game even more.

I bought SH2 the day it released back in 2001, and I have yet to regret that purchase. Play this game and prepare to be shocked.

And cue curtains.

Silent Hill 2 for PC is a good game.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: January 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Silent Hill is a leader amongst few others in the "Eeerie Games"
as it offers a lot of desolation and a feel of helplessness,which
is what some of us want,(maybe we're sick or something, I don't know).But still, there is a market for us. The graphics being very good, especially those of the characters themselves, recognition has to be given to Akira Yamaoka for the awesome music in these games. He is to me (being a musician myself) a leader, amongst few others again, in the videogame soundtrack business. He obviously knows all about desolation and helplessness. Now, about the game plot in SH2, I have to say that I am a little dissapointed with it as it is somewhat less scary than the first one. Then again, I usually am dissapointed about plots in videogames.
But I overlook it because I know that the game creators are not story writers nor are they movie directors,...they make games! Still, it isn't a bad one...just not a excellent one. The gameplay itself is identical to the first "Playstation" SH game. The challenge and various alternative routes towards success is well worth the play if not the purchase itself. I personally encountered setbacks only when it came to the "FMV's", as the sound always came long before the animation. Making the FMV's a real drag. Maybe it works best with a Pentium 4 as opposed to a 3, I really don't know. To those that the same problem occurs, after enduring the scene once ('cause you want to see it at least one time, right) if you have to replay the level, just press on "escape" when you initiate the FMV scene. This will spare you from the ordeal,...so to speak.

Word of caution

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: April 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I'm giving this game four stars, only because it just seems so darned good. The only problem I've had with it is a big one - the fact that it refuses to run on my system despite downloading all the recommended patches. Small print reveals that it doesn't like certain Dell systems, although my particular Dell wasn't listed. I tried contacting the techs at the Konami help center via email giving enough system info and technical data to choke a horse. They replied quickly (1 week later) requesting more information (??), which I provided. I haven't heard back. In fact, I've emailed them again and have been completely ignored.

This seems like such a wonderful gaming experience, it's just too bad it won't play on my system. I would strongly caution against ordering this game if you happen to own a Dell system.

The Silence Is Broken

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Guess WHAT, boys and girls? Remember that little town of Silent Hill, the place you see in your worst nightmares? Well, BACK WE GO! Return to Hell as James Sunderland in an all-new and terrifying adventure in the abandoned town of Silent Hill.

STORY- 9/10
The story of the sequel is just as good as the original (althoguh they are very different), but it is better rated for not being quite as hard to understand.

James Sunderland receives a letter from his wife begging him to come to Silent Hill. But Mary Sunderland has been dead for three years! Not really daring to believe it, James goes to Silent Hill to search for Mary and maybe ease his tormented soul.

A moving tale of hope and despair among creatures of nightmate set the scene for some of the most disturbing revelations ever seen late in the game. Sheer brilliance.

GRAPHICS- 10/10
Wow. An incredible graphic leap occurs between the first game and the second, with characters now moving and speaking much more fluidly, and backgrounds even MORE breathtaking.

Enemies are not quite as diverse, but their design more than makes up for this. The roaches and zombies return, along with newcomers like straighjackets, mannequins, and doormen. Also included is one of the best villains ever made, a bizarre creature known only as Pyramid Head. Picture a cross between Tyrant ("Resident Evil"), Cloud Strife ("Final Fantasy VII"), and Satan. You have Pyramid Head. Enjoy.

MOOD/ATMOSPHERE- 9/10
Radio, flashlight, impenetrable mist, and skinless monsters. Sound familiar?

Yes, the formula is pretty much the same. But hey, it still works. However, if you've played through the first game (whaddaya mean, you haven't? DO IT!), you already know how to keep your cool in the face of static. You know when and when not to fight. In short, you're a bit more trained in Silent Hill's dark methods than James himself is. This isn't always the case (coughPyramidHeadcough), but the monsters don't usually terrify the wits out of you: they terrify you into routine demon-disposal method.

In short, the instinct to fear the dark is no longer omnipresent. Is it still there? Hell, yes. Hust not as much.

PLAYABILITY- 7.5/10
Personally, I had no problem with the controls. If you played the first game, you've already adapted to survival/horror control style. Although melee combat attacks are random (or at least, they seem that way), melee combat is easier and faster the higher you set the difficulty (probably to offset the monsters' increased stamina).

James is also much more accurate with guns than Harry was. It's possible that James is in the army, as his clothes do look a little military-style, and his profession isn't known. Guns are also much more realistic-sounding in the second game (a shotgun is quieter than a pistol? I think not).

OVERALL- 9/10
Again: Wow. Konami has done it to use again with the second chapter of the "Silent Hill" series. A landmark horror game, which should be bought by any means possible.

Master of What the.......

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: February 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

awsome game i love it. play this game the first in the series for best results. ull litterally say WHAT THE **** alot. only thing bad is that it has crappy endings except for 1 or 2. but id recomend this game to any1

The most morbid and twisted horror game ever!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: May 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is about a man named James Sunderland whose wife has died 3 years ago but then he received a letter with Mary written on the envelope and in the letter it says: "Well, I'm alone there now...In our "special place..." Waiting for you." So James goes to the town of Silent Hill that is deserted except a few people. James meets Angela Orosco in the cemetary and she is the first person he meets, who is looking for her "mama." Laura, who is this little girl James meets in the apartments for the first time and she doesn't see the monsters in the town, she is very innocent. Eddie is another character who James meets in the apartments and is really never explained why he's even in Silent Hill in the first place. Maria is this woman who James meets in Rosewater Park, who looks almost exactly like his late wife. Maria tags along with James throughout a lot of the game but it's freaky that sometimes you don't know exactly what happens to her or where she is.

I say this game is very morbid and twisted because of a lot of things. First, all the cryptic scriptures and notes and books. There are a couple dead people you just see lying in the street that have maps where someone drew on them and makes you wonder exactly what it means. There are also a bunch of notes written on 4 or 5 pieces of paper about something coming to kill or something like that just thrown on the street. The two books, Lost Memories and Crimson Ceremony are about rituals and just really creepy stuff, morbid stuff. Later in the game, there is this place called the Historical Society that have pictures on the walls and it's just really morbid and twisted, it kind of scares me every time I go there. Other things include a bunch a holes that you jump down and a morgue. Just about everything in this game is just really morbid at some level. It scares me so much that I only play for so long before I turn off the game. In the Rosewater Park, there is this statue that is referencing people being under the lake and makes me wonder why they would put up a statue instead of putting all these people in a real graveyard, stuff like that, morbid stuff like that freaks me out when I really think about it and that's why I like it so much. Of course in real life, I'm not into stuff like that but when it comes to video games, I just happen to like it! This game scares me a lot and I wouldn't recommend this to someone who gets scared easily.

Talk about an understatement from heck...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: June 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Just recently I have purchased Silent Hill 2. This is only my second dose of the survival horror genre, as my first was Resident Evil Code: Veronica. Man, that game was horrible... but anyway, back to Silent Hill 2. Now, after being thoroughly dissatisfied with RECV (i.e., wasn't scared like I wanted to be), I did some research on something that looked promising enough to give my heart a jumpstart. There were many people that said Silent Hill 2 was a very scary game, so I decided to buy it. Now, as I'm playing it, I dawn upon a revelation: this game isn't scary, you fools... it's downright terrifying.
I read a lot on the infamous "pyramid head", and how scary he was supposed to be, but my initial thoughts were: "Okay, a guy with a pyramid for a head... what's so scary about that?" And, now, I'd like to say that Pyramid Head made me jump so high up out of my seat I almost hit the cieling... several times over. He is, truly, utterly terrorizing.
The wonderfully rendered, disturbingly dark enviroments are second only to the beauty of the hideousness and grotesqueness of the "monsters". By that I mean that the game developers did a great job making some of the most unsettling and startling demons imaginable, and the sound and atmosphere complements that perfectly. When the radio noises start out a distant buzz and they quickly turn into full-blown static as the monsters you can't even see come near, the fear factor is definitely up there. But, as it progresses from deformed mutant... "things" to demonic manequins and mutated nurses, the radio makes more and more hellish noise to get your heart racing like no tomorrow. It's indescribable how scary this game can become.
Now, another huge advantage this game has over its meager but strangely popular competition is its intricate, wonderfully crafted and told story. Contrary to many people's opinions, I think the voice acting in this game is very well done, and helps move the plot along nicely. The musical scores, coupled with the character animations and voice acting, helps construct an ideal atmosphere for such a dark story to prosper. Speaking of atmosphere, the whole atmosphere of the game is morbid, twisted, disturbing, and warped beyond all belief, and that's just what makes it even better. They don't have sudden bursts of musical scores to make you jump, like RE does, instead, they rely on a subtler form of spontaniety - when something is going to surprise you in a cut-scene, they just have it dart out of the corner of the screen at you, without any surges of cheesy music or a direct focus on its entrance, and whatever hellish sounds it makes comes home and scares the living crap out of you (cough cough, Pyramid Head, cough cough). And even when in normal gameplay, when you've exited a room in a dark building into the hallway, with only your flashling allowing for visibility, and you automatically hear your radio blaring with piercing static meshed with psycho-metal sounds and the roars and deranged moans of a twisted demon nurse nearby, you look down both hallway directions, only to be startled at the close proximity of the enemy, it will sink your heart in your bowels which will be released soon from the shock. In short: damn, this is scary.
(Please note: hellish and damn are not curse words; do not sue me, wimps)

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