Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams Review

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(More customer reviews)Most video games, especially those of the action/adventure genre, have you playing as some larger than life character.Some sort of secret-agent-ninja-commando-death-squad-special-forces-assassin type thing.Not Silent Hill 2.In this one, you are James Sunderland, an average person without special skills or training.
And you know what?It's a really welcome change from the norm, and it really helps the atmosphere of the game to not have that kind of action-movie nonsense infiltrating what it supposed to be a horror experience.
It begins with our protaganist inside a rest-stop on the outskirts of Silent Hill.He's contemplating the letter that he just received from Mary, his wife who he'd thought was dead for the past three years.He must venture into Silent Hill to get the answers behind that letter.
Not a bad opening storyline, and games like this rely most heavily upon story.Actually, calling this one a "game" is perhaps a bit of a misnomer--it feels more like an interactive experience.You *experience* Silent Hill 2 more than play it.
But, the gameplay aspect is there as well, in the form of monster battles and puzzles.One of the greatest things about this title is that it allows you to vary the difficulty of either of these aspects.You can set the puzzles from ultra-easy to ultra hard, and you can set the monster battles in the same way, or even set it so that you won't get attacked at all--just enjoy the atmosphere and storyline.You can really customize the game to your tastes this way.
The atmosphere is great.I like to play it at night, or on a gloomy winter day, with all of the lights off.Just make sure that nobody can sneak up on you, or you'll likely have a heart attack!Games like this are actually perhaps scarier than a horror movie or novel; the interactive aspect making immersion more of a factor.
This game actually isn't perfect.The interface is a bit clunky and, on normal setting, at least, the puzzles can be rather obscure.This can lead to puzzle-frustration, the Achille's heel of adventure games.You'll likely find yourself wandering around the same places over and over again, saying "what the hell?" when you have no idea what you're looking for or are supposed to do.But, when you finally do figure it out, it's a satisfying experience.Also, combat is pretty awkward, but, like I said, James Sunderland is just an average guy, so this makes some sense.
With these minor flaws, my real score is about a 4.5, so it gets five stars by default.
This game is available for both PS2 and Xbox.Either version is worth playing, but the Xbox version has slightly enhanced graphics and a side quest, which adds some game time and makes it the better version.
Silent Hill 2 is highly recommended to anyone age seventeen or older.

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Product Description:
With its Poe-like atmosphere, dense fog, pitch-black hallways, and a cryptic letter from a dead wife, Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams promises to surpass the paranoia created by its predecessor, Silent Hill. The sequel opens with James Sunderland, the series' average joe protagonist, reading a mysterious message that says, "Silent Hill, our sanctuary of memories. I'll be waiting for you there." More puzzling is that the note is signed by Mary, his deceased wife.
James sets out for Silent Hill hopeful that he'll find a trace of Mary. After an aborted attempt by car, James plunges into the dank fog and embarks on his quest by foot. Enter Angela, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to Mary, and who also beckons him with another curious message. It seems James can't go back; strange things are happening in Silent Hill.
Silent Hill 2 offers 10 new formidable foes, plenty of puzzles, and bone-chilling gameplay. The sequel's new story and characters promise to thrill and terrify. The visual and sound effects are amazingly detailed and macabre, and, if you're playing on a system with surround sound, you may find yourself keeping the lights on.
Note: This product description refers to the PlayStation2 version.

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Silent Hill V.2 Review

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(More customer reviews)THE SHORT: Great music from a great game, it covers the main themes and more recognizable stuff but doesn't have a lot of the more atmospheric, less musical tracks present in the game.

THE LONG: Along with great presentation and what I believe to be one of the finest overall stories in gaming, Silent Hill 2 is also memorable due to its music. This stands true to the series entire, as all those aspects make it what it is. But after the PS2 allowed for richer sound and before everything in the series began to stray just a bit with part 3, SH2 nailed the ambient tunes most proficiently.

The only problem is, not all of the music from the game is on this disc. It couldn't be, it would take at least two discs. I know because I burned the rest onto a cd and there were still some tracks left behind (more on that in a minute). But the important thing is, most of the music you'll remember from the game is on here: The gorgeous and haunting mandolin-rich opening theme, the tunes to some of the more tense and dramatic moments, and all of the ending credit themes are accounted for here (except for the Dog ending). It's the most accessible way to present the game's music to the mainstream public.

But that's where the one complaint comes in- so much of what makes these games unique is their gorgeous, purely ambient mood music. You know the stuff- most of it doesn't have a beat and it's the quiet but building stuff that you hear in the background as you explore. When James goes deep into Silent Hill's historical society, and its holes and underground prison, you're treated to a slightly melodic bit of sound that appears to be a man droning away in the darkness, his voice distorted as if just letting sound come out of his throat as he slowly contorts his yawning mouth. And there's more percussive stuff, the likes of which were expertly described as (and I paraphrase from memory) "a rumbling machine, similar to that of a washer and deep in an empty factory somewhere, which starts emitting a gravelly alarm until some creature comes by to apparently turn it off". This is the kind of rattling, distant distress noise that provides an undercurrent to the action in the game, and since it's designed to occur while James explores (or flees), some of it doesn't even turn into recognizable music until halfway through a twelve-minute piece. I'm guessing that this is why it wasn't included on the soundtrack.

But the good thing is, these tunes are available In mp3 format on at least one very helpful site that I ran across. While it wouldn't be right to list the name, the site owner was very responsible: He offered the tracks for others' enjoyment simply because they aren't commercially available, and refused to provide the ones that are, because he doesn't want to risk infringement or impede on the success of others' work. Because of this site (and there may be others but I didn't need to continue looking), the ambient score of the game is available as well.

It's hard to say which is better, since both the ambient score and commercial soundtrack each have several choice cuts on them. While I have more favorites on the score, it's music that is best listened to loud and alone or outside at night, preferably in uncertain territory. Trust me, it really causes anxiety. But then this soundtrack itself is a worthy purchase, since it is some good and recognizable music from a game full of good stuff. For example "Promise" is a sad tune of defeat and longing (which plays over one of the more dark endings) whereas "Black Fairy" captures the woozy, confused mix of emotions that main character James feels at the end of the game. Most of the pieces on this soundtrack, not the score, are more listenable or definable tunes. If you're interested, buy the one and download the other- they make a great set (I dubbed the second cd "Deeper Into Silent Hill"). Either way, you'll get a fix of some good old-fashioned music for the dark, and put together, you have pretty much all the music from the game- recognizable and ambient.

(On a side note, the Silent Hill film is currently being developed and the team is so far planning to use the game's original music from the score. Being that writer Roger Avery prefers Silent Hill 2, this soundtrack may be some of what is heard onscreen. We'll see!)

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Product Description:
Soundtrack for Japanese animated feature. All songs by Akira Yamaoka.

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Silent Hill 2 Review

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(More customer reviews)Silent Hill 2 is a harrowing story that many people may not understand. The exposition sweeps us into the world of James Sunderland, who has received a letter from his wife, Mary, requesting a rendezvous in the resort town of Silent Hill. So what? Mary has been dead for three years. James isn't sure what to make of this, but he goes to the town anyway. Mysteriously, it seems abandoned, it is choked with a thick fog, and ungodly creatures lurk in the streets.
Silent Hill 2 is masterpiece of persisting psychological tension -- not a huge step beyond the original game, just a refinement to near-perfect horror. It is about the very essence of fear, captured in myriad qualities. The grimy visuals, the horrifying sound, the manipulation of your senses...
The designers behind this game knew _exactly_ how to evince fear in a player. They play on the fears a lot of regular people have...strange, dark places; darkness; weird sounds. Firstly, your vision often somehow restricted. Most oppressive is the ubiquitous fog sluiced in the town; in dark places, you must rely on a flashlight. Sound is also used effectively. James carries a radio that creates distorted noise when monsters are near. Imagine the uneasiness of the following situation: you are standing in a dark, narrow hallway, your flashlight shining ahead, revealing nothing. However, you are nearly deafened by the cacophony coming from your radio, and there is a fleshy thump of a demonic creature staggering around somewhere ahead.
The sum of these effects (visual and sound) is a pervasive fear that can be virtually suffocating. It goes farther, still. Random sounds can be heard as you explore. Maybe you'll enter a room and hear breaking glass. This puts you on edge, because you think it could be an attacker or just a random sound inserted to frighten you...there's no way to tell. Sometimes an area will contain a monster physically unable to attack you, but because of the darkness there is no way to tell. You will be constantly on alert because of the monster's sounds and the static of your radio. With the right audio gear, the game can be experienced in surround sound, which greatly enriches the experience. The music can be downright terrifying...although it is rarely music, actually. Often, it is just oppressively creepy atmospheric noise.
The visuals also work hard to unsettle you. Camera angles often impair vision, used to inject senses of claustrophobia or vertigo. Aesthetically, this design team is so deranged/talented it's scary. Grimy environments, decrepit buildings, messages written in blood... That's not so bad though. The truly frightening imagery appears later, where blood covers walls like paint, rusty iron grates cover abyssal pits, gruesome paintings adorn rooms, sheets covers walls and floors (why _is_ that so creepy?), and generally weird, sick stuff that eludes description. Silent Hill 2 has you exploring locales like an underground prison and a mental hospital, which let the developers show off their devilishly twisted creativity. The monsters are sick and bizarre, usually resembling fleshy, humanoid things smeared with red-black gore. Their movements alone are unsettling, with jerky, sporadic movements and attacks.
It's difficult to describe how all these elements factor into the experience. Let me try and explain my own thoughts... From the beginning, the game is unsettling, and it is relentless in its tension. As the game goes on, I found that it was becoming psychologically and even physically taxing to continue. Every encounter with a monster left me tired. It's not that fighting the monsters were difficult in gameplay terms, but their movements and sounds created a nearly paralyzing desperation. All of the twisted imagery, jarring sounds, and unending anxiety really wore me down. But it's just a game, right? Sure, but the guys at Konami tapped into virtually every conceivable factor that makes one afraid, and they mercilessly hammer at you. The visceral impact of this game is nearly incomparable.
The game is paced very well, from the tepid yet nerve-racking opening to the intense final hour, and the game is set up so you don't have to backtrack as much as you did in the first game. The puzzles are pretty easy (even if you put riddle difficulty on "hard"), but clever and disturbing in their own way. I don't think the game is difficult, but it _seems_ like it is, because it keeps beating up your courage.
Some have said Silent Hill 2's story is stupidly convoluted and weird. I would suggest those who make such comments have not bothered to think about the story fully. In-depth analysis reveals the story's complex brilliance. I encourage players to ask themselves: What is the very nature of Silent Hill -- how does it affect the people there? What is the connection shared between the humans drawn to the town -- and how is Laura different from the rest? What is the underlying cause behind the different monsters that appear? The answers lead to understanding. Having played and analyzed the story of the first game will help one's grasp of the second, as well. Silent Hill's story is so deliciously complex and open to interpretation that it beats not only most games, but also a wealth of good cinema and literature. Really.
Silent Hill 2 has four endings, as well as a fifth joke ending. Usually if a game has more than two endings I won't pursue them because I don't have the time, but my desire to more fully experience this game drove me to getting the four main ones. They are called: "Maria", "Water", "Leaving", and "Rebirth". Personally, I interpreted "Leaving" to be the happiest ending, but opinions may vary. "Rebirth" is particularly dark and twisted, available only after beating the game once and acquiring several secret items. The game can be beaten once in about 10 hours, but I think it's still a great value given the sheer intensity of the experience. Quality over quantity!
There is still much more I could say (I could write a book on the plot analysis), but I think I'm pushing Amazon.com's word limit. In short: this is by far the most frightening game ever. Don't pass it up.

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Product Description:
Gamers looking for intellectual horror will find it in Silent Hill 2. As the story opens, James Sunderland receives a letter from his wife telling him to meet her in the town of Silent Hill. The only problem is that she's been dead for three years. In hopes of reuniting with her, Sunderland explores the haunted town, where he has many terrifying and unexpected encounters. While the brilliantly designed monsters are indeed scary, it's the complex twists and turns of the plot that really produce the game's terror.
The gameplay is largely puzzle based. Much of it involves gathering clues and items to solve each puzzle. A few fights are thrown in, but these are quite easy, and are mostly used to show off the developers' bizarre creations. The level of both puzzles and fighting can be adjusted to match each player's skill level. Although its mechanics are rudimentary, the game's presentation is anything but. A heavy use of fog is the game's hallmark effect, greatly adding to the mood. Sound--both effects and music--alternates between eerie silence and sudden, shocking crescendos.
Although the graphics and sound are both topnotch, the real star of this game is the story. It's very rich and intricate--a sharp contrast to the banal scenarios that frame most games. Although the game is short (around 10 hours), players will want to give it another go to discover its multiple endings and secret items. Despite basic gameplay, Silent Hill 2 is an excellent choice for gamers looking for cerebral thrills. Parents should note that in addition to violence and gore, this game deals with such topics as suicide, homicide, and euthanasia. --Raymond M. Padilla
Pros:

Scary and stylish graphics
Excellent cutscenes
Effective sound effects and music
Original creature design





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Silent Hill 3 Review

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(More customer reviews)I notice a lot of people have already reviewed & rated this game despite having not actually played it yet. I do own it (i live in the U.K. where it was released on May 23rd) & it's excellent. It's extremely similar to the 2nd game in terms of graphics & gameplay, which is a good thing as the 2nd game was extremely well done, & is one of the only truly scary videogames i've ever played. Part 3 lives up to this as well, offering a similar experience to the 2nd game, only with brand new characters, storyline & puzzles. A mention must go to the graphics. Like the previous game, they're excellent, with some brilliantly atmospheric lighting & shadow effects, which really help to suck you into the game. It contains some pretty gruesome images & the soundtack is designed to really amp up the tension. If you compare Resident Evil to a George Romero zombie flick then this can only be compared to something Clive Barker would have come up with. To sum it up, if you're a fan of the series, you'll love this, if you didn't like the first 2 games, then you won't like this one either. If you've never played a Silent Hill game, give this one a try, it's well worth it.

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Product Description:
Silent Hill 3 continues the series' trademark brand of psychological horror and terrifying gameplay. As a teenage girl named Heather, players must explore and unravel the mysterious connection between the god-forsaken town and her inner fears. The game features enhanced graphical detail, a more complex storyline, and even more grotesque monsters than the previous games.

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Silent Hill Origins Review

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(More customer reviews)When it comes to the Silent Hill franchise, I'm a pretty dedicated fanboy.I could probably dedicate several chapters worth of pages to each and every one of the installments, from the masterpieces to the mediocre.In the name of dignity, however, I'll keep my opinion on Origins, like the game itself, fairly brief.And the brief here is that Origins doesn't quite capture the same charm as any of the straight-to-console releases; it does, however, maintain the trademark feel and standards of the franchise, and it even adds a couple cool new things to the mix, making it a completely worthy addition to what is hands down the best survival horror series around.

Probably the most important challenge facing the developers behind Origins was the necessity to prove to fans that they could harness the very distinct feel created and maintained by Team Silent, the original group, throughout the four previous titles.It couldn't have been an easy task.One of the things that makes these games so successful is the incredible atmosphere.The horror found in Silent Hill is often psychological and always enigmatic, and there's a really deeply disturbing sense of pathos that elevates the terror from strictly visceral to a very emotional level.The original composer was on board, so the famously spooky music and audio effects were there to help bolster the effect, but the rest was up to the new guys.Well, they delivered.Origins feels absolutely genuine; the foggy streets, the shambling, crippled monsters, the radio, the peeling paint and the layers of rust and blood - every motif within the series is reproduced with meticulous care, and it just feels right.The gameplay is still the same, with the one addition of breakable weapons (a potential inconveniance offset by the sheer abundance of weapons lying around).This, then, might be Origins greatest accomplishment in relation the series as a whole - proving that an American team can take the creative child of a very tight, very Japanese team and do it justice by finding its roots, all of which bodes well for the upcoming Shiny-developed PS3 release of Silent Hill 5.

Of course, there can't be enough said for innovation, and Origins' incredible conformity to the series formula has the aforementioned downside of robbing it of that certain individual charm that holds up the other titles, even the controversial black sheep entry SH4. For the most part it plays as a great homage to the other games.It even attempts to cover the two overarching themes that have up til now mostly been handled seperatly - that is, the malevolent cult that resides within the town and its mythology (SH1 and SH3), and the physical manifestion of personal torment (SH2 and SH4).These two themes have done a good job of keeping the town itself suitably mysterious by begging the question whether the forces behind Silent Hill are driven by the demons worshipped by the cult or a more vague force that projects the subconcious of its victim into its twisted Otherworld.In trying to work both sides, however, Origins becomes somewhat muddied and the benfits of both themes are diminished.The focus on the protagonists dark past seem to be the intended focal point, but it comes off a a little bit of an afterthought.This point is perfectly illustrated by the Butcher, Travis's own version of Pyramid Head, who in Silent Hill 2 was meant to be a reflection of a particularly dark element of our hero's psyche.The developers attempt to recreate this with the Butcher, but the monster unfortunately lacks the development and plot integration of Pyramid Head and ends up looking like a weak imitation.Likewise, the cult aspects we're shown, which lead directly to the occurences of SH1, are extremely shallow.

On that note don't be fooled by the title:Origins is a prequel to the storyline covered in SH1 and SH3, nothing more.It doesn't attempt to explain the origins of the actual evil residing in Silent Hill, which is probably a good thing.The mystery is part of what keeps the town frightening.Plus, I think if any installment were to take a whack at a real origins story, a PSP title wouldn't be the one to do it.The scope is necessarily too limited to tackle such an important issue.

What Origins lacks, then, in forward momentum, it gains in a few nice additions to gameplay.The most noteable of these is the fact that, unlike all previous installments, the player has control over when the foggy world will switch to the nightmarish Otherworld.This is achieved by travelling through mirrors which display a reflection of the parallel world, which is a pretty savvy callback to Travis's story and one example of the psychological themes being handled effectivly.I wouldn't want to see this in any of the future titles, mind you, as nothing quite compares to being suddenly thrown unknowingly into a nightmare realm from which there's no short escape, but it does add a whole new element to the horror in Origins; the really ominous necessity to willingly throw yourself into Hell's open jaws.In fact, while playing the game I really tried to do everything I could to stay in the foggy realm as long as possible and make my stay in the Otherworld very brief.My really visceral reaction to having to enter the Otherworld really surprised me as to how good the game is at creating genuine fear.

Another gift Origins gives to the series is the addition of probably one of the very best environments in the whole series - the theatre.One thing that tends to plague the other games is typical of all survival horror, and that's very linear environments.Halls upon halls, all boasting rows and rows of locked doors, can get tired really fast.The theatre really avoids this problem and its wonderful for it.One part in particular, which involves a puzzle utilizing stage props from the foggy realm transformed into real locales in the Otherworld, is brilliant and probably the highlight of the entire game.Even the enemies here are great - dummies that at first seem innocently inanimate that eventually come alive to attack Travis by crawling along the ceiling - very creepy.

All in all Origins is a pretty small addition to the Silent Hill franchise, but a worthy addition nonetheless.It maintains the core qualities of the series while adding a few cool new things of its own.And while its additions to the cult storyline aren't really substantial or even essential, they do feel very organic and real, which is pretty impressive.If you're new to the series, definitely start with one of the other games - as I said, Origins' beautiful imitation cripples it from attaining the same immersive charm - but if you're already a fan, what are you waiting for?Get this!

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Product Description:
The renowned Silent Hill survival horror series continues on the PS2 with a brand new adventure that reveals many of the series most hallowed secrets. Assuming the role of a lone truck driver who becomes trapped in Silent Hill, players must escape the city's horrific inhabitants and confront the strange hallucinations that have haunted him since childhood. Featuring enhanced graphics, sound and control, Silent Hill Origins sets a new standard for this survival horror classic.

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Silent Hill 2 Review

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(More customer reviews)The Silent Hill series of video games is one of the best of its genre. With the exception of SH 3, which has more of a blockbustery feel to it, the original game and its sequel, Silent Hill 2, have done more to further the genre of Survival Horror than any other series of games, making Capcom's Resident Evil/Biohazard series look slow and tired.
We start off with James Sunderland, a shell of a man since his wife Mary's death, three years before, lost in thought in a bathroom on the outskirts of town. He's come back to SIlent Hill, a resort town full of happy memories for himself and his wife, because he has received a letter from her, saying she will meet him in their 'special place'. And from there, you're pretty much left to piece the story together yourself, thanks to ingenious plot twists and the best characterisation since Final Fantasy 7.
The graphics are wonderful. Fuzzy, murky streets and rooms harbour beautifully-rendered, totally ambiguous creatures that scare us becuase of what we cannot see. The superhuman, exaggerated animation of the mannequins and nurses add to the unnatural atmosphere pervading the game. The cut-scene renders are actually beautiful, with Maria and James' exchange in the underground Toluca Prison levels being one of the most riveting pieces of FMV ever. The sound, too, adds greatly to the experience, with grunts, bangs and screams punctuating the sometimes-deafening silence. Because of the game mechanics, what you hear is oftentimes more important than what you see (or believe you see) and it's this, coupled with the storyline and characters, that characterises the unique psychological tension found in this game.
The game mechanics are simple to come to terms with and prove themselves after fifteen minutes or so of play time: you don't notice them anymore.
A word on what makes SH 2 such a wonderful experience - Characters like Laura, an enigmatic child who claims to know Mary, Eddie Dombrowski, an unhinged giant of a man whose attitude towards cold-blooded murder gives a realistic slant to the psychological horror, and Maria, the sensual and schizophrenic doppelganger of James' dead wife, are so well-realised that we see new characteristics in them each time the game is played. The character of Angela is a particular mystery, and a testament to the strength of emotion that a videogame can create. On paper, the main villian, Pyramid Head, is nothing special (a giant man with a steel pyramid for a head... literally!) but it's the way he moves and the noises he makes that propel him into the history books as one of the scariest villians anywhere, alongside Biohazard's Hunters and The Exorcist's Pazuzu, in terms of the amount of fear he generates. This is the genius of the game, Konami's developers taking painstaking time and effort with the people that populate the terrifying world of Silent Hill, thereby giving us an unforgettable and compelling cast of characters.
The replay value is very high, with five different endings to discover, and new things to see and hear each time, every trip you make to Silent Hill 2 leaves you with something new from this bizarre and macabre universe.
A word for fans of action-based violence: you'll be disappointed. SH 2 is a story-based, character-driven game, and if it's violence and gore you need, then this won't do. It's a different kind of scary than Resident Evil, Clock Tower etc. For anyone interested in seeing just how far a game can push the concept of psychological horror, or for anyone who loves to get lost in a storyline, this is one of the best examples you can own.
Put simply, Silent Hill 2 is an Opus, a magnificent monster of a game that should held up as a standard-bearer by more than just the videogames industry. It's deep, it's complex, it's engaging, and above all, it's excellent. Thoroughly and unequivocally recommended.

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Silent Hill Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm not easily scared. In fact, of every "scary" movie I've seen, nothing has come close to unnerving me besides maybe In the Mouth of Madness. This game, however, is sufficiently creepy to make me love it and hate it at the same time. It's almost masochistic playing it, but maybe I'm masochistic, because I've beaten it 6 times so far, and I plan on playing it some more. It just scares the hell out of me every time.
I won't get into the plot as figuring it out is half the fun (and you WILL have to do some figuring. I'm pretty sure a lot was lost in the translation from Japanese because the story can be hard to follow at times).
In order for the game to be rewarding, though, it requires patience, along with nerves of steel and an iron stomach. The game starts out with a bang (or a bunch of dead, moaning, faceless knife weilding babies stabbing you to death within 3 minutes of play, I guess that counts as a bang, right?) This is misleading, though, as the game then calms down considerably for about the next 45 minutes of game time. Before we go on, though, two things: 1) The graphics are fairly blocky, but, for reasons that will become apparent, this doesn't matter. They're well textured, which is much more important. 2) The sound is PHENOMINAL. Always bear this in mind.
You wander the fog enshrouded town of Silent Hill searching for your daughter. Now, here's the great part about this game. It just seems so WRONG from the very beginning. The town is built right to scale and rendered in totality. You can, in theory, go anywhere. You even get a street map (complete with names like Koontz street and Bachman ave. Get it?) After a little exploration, though, you'll find something is amiss. The goal early on is to get to the local elementary school, and this seems easy enough with a street map, but there's one minor problem. The streets have this tendancy to just...end. All major roads leading to the school are just gone. Not there. They stop, and all you can see in the distance is the the fog. Add to this the "monsters" lurking the town. These basically consist of skinless dogs and large pink birdman things, who don't seem so terrifying, really. You get a radio that emits static when enemies draw near, but more on that later. This is all part of the game's attempt to unnerve you. Before you know it, you're across the chasm of the roads and now the REAL fun starts. Now, it's suddenly dark. Pitch black, in fact. You get a weak little flashlight with which to see (a pocket light, really) and THAT'S IT. Now, let's see. We're in a deserted town haunted by things that, while kind of weak and stupid looking, want to kill you. We could see just fine in the fog, but now it's dark. Right. So, we're off to the school, and now things get worse. The dogs are faster now (one constant in the game: The darker it gets, the more powerful and evil the enemies become), and now that you can't see them, it makes shooting at them much harder since they never stand still, really, and all you have to aim with is a weak cone of light that doesn't extend very far. Plus, as you'll soon happily discover after wasting 3 clips firing at the spot where a dog just was, ammo is limited! Yay! And the dogs have now been joined by the bird thingies, who ALSO want to kill you! DOUBLE yay!! So, we run now. Run all the way to the school, past the two(!) dogs guarding the entrance, through the door, and BAM! We're alive. Woohoo! Thank God! Now then...The school! Then it dawns on you: You're in a deserted ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. In the black-as-pitch darkness. With...wait for it...things that want to kill you! The knife-baby things, this time. Righty-o! Having fun yet? Oooh, it gets better. After some puzzles, you'll open the clocktower. By this point, it will be apparent that Silent Hill is home to some sick, sick people. I won't go into details, but trust me. So, as you mutter to yourself about the sick inhabitants of this town, you'll be climbing down the clocktower (yes, DOWN. It has a basement. Well...Sort of. You'll see.) It's here, HERE, that the game got to me. When you come back up the other side (bear with me here, it's hard to explain), you're back where you started, in the school courtyard. But not really. It's not the same...Then you go in the doors, and everything is...Aw, I'm not gonna kill it for you. Suffice to say that THIS is where the game goes from creepy to INSANELY CREEPY, and it just gets worse and worse and worse and WORSE as you go on. By the time you finish the school section and see daylight again, it's more of a relief than you can imagine. I was practically cheering my first time through. After that school, well-lit fog is a damned BLESSING!
Little did I know I had a hospital to look foreward to. And yes, as bad as you can possibly think it could be, it's worse. And when you're done with that...you're not even halfway to the end yet.
This game is all about the overhwelming sense of DREAD it will instill in you, making you almost not want to play it anymore. I've had friends hit the hospital section, take one look at their surroundings, and hand me the controller and leave the room. It's not that it's overly gross; it's not. It's just the prospect of having to subject yourself to the Silent Hill version of a freaking HOSPITAL that makes you almost cringe before you even start. And by the time you get there, you know just what the term "Silent Hill version of" means.
For those brave souls who wish to do it alone (which, by the by, I VERY, VERY HIGHLY reccomend your first time through), do it right. Play it in the dark, late at night, ALONE, with some good speakers set up. If you're new to it, start at the beginning, and enjoy the first part of the game. It's a slow starter, but once it gets going, the only reason it lets up is to allow you to contemplate exactly what else it's going to do to you.
Buy this game NOW if you haven't played it, and God help you.
Oh, and the second one is supposed to be twice as bad. I can't wait!

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Product Description:
In Silent Hill, you assume the role of widower Harry Mason, whois trying to get away from the pain of his wife's loss by taking his daughter ona road trip. After a car accident on the outskirts of the resort town of SilentHill, you regain consciousness to find that your daughter, who was previouslyasleep in the backseat, has left--or has been taken--from the scene. To findher, you must go into town and unlock the secrets that linger seven years aftera tragic fire scarred the town.
The game features formidable monsters,perplexing puzzles, a realistic 3-D town, and, most of all, an acute sense offoreboding caused by Silent Hill's creative lighting and sound effects.The makers have included four different endings, based on performance throughoutthe game, so think, be quick on your feet, and hope for the best of all possibleoutcomes.

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Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This story is set just before the infestation that happens/happened to Silent Hill.

I really liked this game, it stands alone from other SHs due to the fact that there's no combat, I repeat, no combat.When you aren't searching for clues as to the whereabouts of your missing daughter, you are in no possible danger.

There are various sequences within the game where your world freezes over and is infested by typical SH creatures. During these "battle sequences" if you can call them that.Your only option is to run for your life through the maze that it Silent Hill.

The game maintains it's creepiness, but I found it less-so than the other games in the series.The good story makes up for the missing fear.

Don't expect your typical SH, but do expect a new type of SH focused more on story than combat.

**Note: Replay value of this game is surprisingly high.The answers you give to your psychiatrist throughout the game, plus the mementos/clues you find shape the story.There are 4 endings, thus far I have achieved 2.

5/5 for fun, because the story is great, and it's a new risk the developers took with the series.
4/5 because it's a good game, but at times I felt like I was just playing a movie, which as good and bad qualities.
5/5 for graphics, some of the best I've seen thus far on my psp
4.5 overall.

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Product Description:
The story follows Harry Mason, who wakes up after a car accident to find that his daughter Cheryl is missing.Harry will wander the snowy streets of Silent Hill searching for answers of her disappearance, but when the world freezes over, he will need to escape the lumbering demons that haunt his steps.Harry will need to navigate both worlds to discover the truth; not just about his missing daughter, but also the type of person he actually is. Silent Hill's debut on the Nintendo Wii makes the fear more real than ever before.Players will be drawn into the mysterious town using the Wii Remote as a flashlight and a cellphone as they search for clues.Choices they make will shape Harry Mason, as well as the people he meets and the places he visits.The enemies evolve as well, taking the form of the player's deepest fears.Silent Hill promises to be more terrifying than ever, bringing the fear to Wii, PS2, and PSP.

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Silent Hill Origins Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I would actually give this game 4 stars, but I'm rating it 5 to help balance the 1 star review given by someone who obviously received a faulty copy. There's always going to be faulty discs, and he made it sound like all of the copies are faulty. Clearly they're not, because I've played this game through twice so far with no problems.

Here are my simple ratings for this game:

Music : 5 out of 5. Had to start with Music, because Akira Yamaoka's work is always my favorite thing about Silent Hill games. Can't wait for the soundtrack release.
Gameplay : 4 out 5. The gameplay was pretty much the same as the other Silent Hills, which is a good thing. They were very creative with this one in the way that you could use your surroundings more to help you survive.
Story : 4 out 5. Won't reveal too much, but it was another emotion-filled story that deserves to be part of Silent Hill's history.
Voice Acting : 4 out 5. Most of the Dialogue and Voice Acting was good, but like all video games, some of it was lame.

My biggest gripe is how short it is, but I've come to expect portable games to be short. If I did my math correctly, that's 4.25 stars out of 5. Pick this game up.

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Product Description:
The renowned Silent Hill series comes to a portable gaming system for the first time with a brand new adventure. Taking full advantage of the PSP system's graphics and portability, Silent Hill Original Sin will be the most terrifying game to arrive on the PSP System.

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Deadly Premonition Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Deadly Premonition is obviously not a big budget title, and as such it cant compete with other games in terms of graphics or polish. If you give the title a chance however, you are likely to find that its quirky characters and story will engage your attention in a way that other games with their multi-million dollar budgets simply cannot. With that much money on the line, no mainstream studio would ever greenlight a project as weird as this game.

The graphics are far from terrible, and in a way they have a certain charm that requires you to use your imagination to fill in the blanks. Deadly Premonition reminds me of the sort of bizarre japanese games that were de rigueur on the Dreamcast, games like Illbleed, Maken X, and D2. The investigation is over 20 hours long and there is an abundance to see and do in the town of Greenvale. Gamers with an open mind who would like to see something different, or maybe just to revisit an earlier era of far-out gaming that is now all but dead, should not hesitate to give Deadly Premonition a shot.

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Product Description:
Deadly Premonition is a third-personsurvival-horror-action game that blends gritty crime investigationgameplay, with a topnotch story and classic melee and ranged combat.Set across an expansive and persistent open world game environmentfilled with more than 30 non-player characters (NPCs), side questsand multiple types of deadly supernatural enemies, Deadly Premonitionoffers a unique and haunting interactive gaming experience unlikeany other.

Story
Deadly Premonition follows the adventures of Special Agent Francis York Morgan sent to the fictional Pacific Northwest town of Greenvale to investigate the brutal murder of a young local beauty. Amidst the backdrop of soaring mountains and a town filled with eccentric natives, Agent Morgan must solve the mystery of the Red Seed Murders and stay alive in a place where supernatural creatures and a legendary folklore killer seek to end his investigation permanently.

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