The sequel to the scariest game ever made, Silent Hill 2 debuts on the PS2. Taking a slight departure from the first game, this centers around a man who one day receives a letter from his wife that asks him to meet her in Silent Hill, a place she remembers fondly... Just one problem, She's dead. Been dead for years!
And so begins the second chapter of the psychological thriller. This introduced a substantial visual overhaul and a lot less fog, of course... with the stuff you'll see you may end up missing the fog. Another little addition is the scratchy "film" look that's constantly on the screen. Those familiar with the first game should have no fear as they will have no trouble getting used to this, in fact it seems like the controls have been tightened slightly. Then there's the scares, personally this game had me so wired with fear that there was a point where I was screaming at the sight of my shadow (well, the character's shadow) and at other shadows I saw shrinking and stretching thanks to my flashlight. But in the end the question is, can this sequel butt heads with say, RE: Code Veronica X?
Why it sucks: It scared the crap outta me, and I'm used to this sort of game! Besides that the worst problem overall was camera angles. It would occasionally stick you with poor visibility and there were sometimes terrible obstructions to you view. Then there's some of the enemies, they can be just plain cheap the way they attack you >_< The battles are also far from satisfying. A chainsaw can dramatically alter your chances and amusement, but that will not necessarily make the game fun. Possibly the biggest problem is that it just plain lacks the "meat" the first game had. Besides all the puzzles and scary shit around just about EVERY corner, the first game was top notch! And even after playing this game, the first one may not look as good, but there's a more exciting challenge to it and a lot more depth to the gameplay.
Why it rules: It's the scariest thing you'll play since the first game. Resident Evil is as scary as Adam West's BATMAN show when stacked next to this! The ease with which one can grab the reins to this game is a big plus and unlike RE, there's no absurd backstory to research and as opposed to simply harder enemies and less save points which is about the biggest innovation RE has to offer SH2 has a PLOT! While not the strongest, nor smoothest story in the world I couldn't help but reel back in horror the first time I learned the actual TRUTH about the main character. This game trips all five alarms when it comes to fear as EVERY aspect will scare you. The visuals, the story, the movies, etc. Basically, if you're out to lose sleep and possibly your sanity, this is a great title to pick up.
Overall: This game WILL scare you. You can choose to think of this as a buying point or a deterrent, but you will most likely have nightmares about this game either way. That is... if you can sleep. Personally, I'm fascinated by games which have that level of intensity that it can scare me THAT much! And while the game is mercifully brief in comparison to the original, it seems to be lacking a lot of the great puzzles and such that made the first game so good (Just a note... I still haven't beaten the first game because it scares me that frickin' much, but I've beaten SH2 about 4 times). This is an awesome game to add to your library however, the visuals are to die for as you will see all sorts of beatiful touches from the way shadows move around, to the glistening sacks some of the monsters are trapped in. The in game movies and CG are incredible and by themselves demonstrate just how far a leap from the PSone this game has gone. For those of you up to the challenge, I highly recommend it, for those of you who still wet yourselves thinking about Clocktower I don't think you should play this. This game is scary, I mean "keep-the-lights-on-and-sit-next-to-your-teddy-bear" scary, in fact I think there should be a warning like that of the ones at amusement park rides, except also noting the damaging psychological effects of the game. Well, realistically there ARE no real psychologically damaging effects, but you'd easily believe there were. This is one of the few games to put me in a cold sweat and took me about maybe 2 weeks to beat the first time and that it took me about 2-3 days to beat it for each of the other endings. It's not that hard and if you've the bright idea to buy it used then it's more than worth it. And despite what I read to the contrary, the Xbox version is inferior to the PS2 version. Try it for yourself if you don't believe me.
In the end, I could babble all day about how scary it is, how it's great but doesn't quite measure up to the original, and blah blah blah (sorry, blood sugar's low... >_< Not as witty when I get like this). I love this game, it's just plain incredible eye candy and is a decent challenge overall. A must own for survival horror enthusiasts, especially with SH3 on the way!