Review: Silent Hill 2 Inner Fears (PS2)

The original Silent Hill redefined the Survival Horror genre and still knocks any of Capcom’s badly narrated and executed Resident Evil series into a vat of mutilated corpses.  Mention the original game to me and you’ll get hours of drivel explaining just how fantastic the whole experience was.  Having completed the game in every possible way, gaining all the weapons, understanding the storyline and ‘feeling’ what Harry Mason felt was an unparalleled survival horror experience.  Until my second visit to the murky, rot ridden and freak infested town that is…

Firstly, this has had hype thrown at it left, right and centre and on many levels, if you have been sucked into the hype about this title you are going to be disappointed.  If you wonder aimlessly for a few hours and give up, again, you are going to be disappointed and mostly, if you didn’t play the first game, I suggest you do so.  I can’t say anything fairer than that.  The signs of the creative genius behind this title begin when you pick it up on the shop shelf and hand over £45 for it; the presentation of this game oozes quality with a double DVD set, one disk comprising of ‘The making of Silent Hill 2’ a well produced documentary on the games creation and influences (watch after you complete the game please!), and the game disk itself.  Halfway knowing what to expect from the FMV cutscenes and videos that have been splattered everywhere for the last 9 months, James Sanderland approached the town with caution, looking over his shoulder as sinister grovelling in the bushes created the most paranoia inducing and atmospheric start to any game, EVER, and it doesn’t let up until you see the closing credits…

You play as a ‘normal’ guy with no weapon training with a heavy air of depression and sombreness surrounding him.  His wife had died of a disease three years prior to the letter he has just received from her; He does not know how or why he has received this letter, but his dead wife is begging for his return to their ‘special place’.  This confused and somewhat deranged man whose grip on reality is already faltering is you, the player.  Self doubt, anger, pity, paranoia, confusion and angst all play a part in a bitter, emotion-led masterpiece of confusion led, hole filled storytelling.  Try saying that in one breath!  This game is designed purely to disorientate and alienate the player and will not be enjoyed by many players, if any at all.  But that’s the whole point of Silent Hill and why it is often misunderstood by its critics.  The amount of games that truly effect the player’s emotion can be counted on one hand, but never has one touched on a psychological level as deep as this.

The game play can be described as tired, Resident Evil-esque and boring.  Using a 3rd person perspective as in the original and confusing camera angles you can misjudge this as ‘just another’ Survival horror game, but to change that would kill any relationship between the player and onscreen character.  James is cumbersome, slightly overweight, tired (just look at the guy’s eyes...) and ill trained in armed combat.  You can feel this via the controller and the way he react’s to button presses with the differing weights of weapons affecting his swing and timing.  Think ‘normal’ and imagine yourself in his situation and you’re halfway there to mastering the controls.  It feels cumbersome and near unplayable for a reason and once understood is unrivalled; it makes the game feel right, true and perfectly balanced.
 
Progression is made through finding keys to open the next door, examining clues for the riddles that need to be solved and taking notice of the FMV cut scenes and plot.  It’s not original and has been done many times before but the fact remains that no one comes close to doing it like KCET.  For the faint hearted and less intellectual people amongst us the opening options allow Beginner, Easy, Normal and Hard action difficulties and Easy, Normal and Hard riddle difficulty, changing puzzles depending on what you select. 

The graphical effects are outstanding.  The oppressive murk of the indoor and outdoor locations is greatly enhanced by the overlay of filmic grain and those little details such as the way the filament heats up in the torch when turned on and the hellishness of the silvery water effect (which changes depending on what ending you are going to get) in the climatic closing area.  There are very minor graphical glitches but none downgrade the sadistic pleasure you feel whilst pummelling a mutated nurse into the ground with a 3ft long piece of pipe.
 
The quality of the FMV and the characters depicted within is truly outstanding, far outshining anything to grace the console yet and if this was released on launch day of the console the claims of ‘Emotion Engine’ would have stood up against the most cynical critic.  This, coupled with a more musical soundtrack than the first game, the return of ‘white noise’ as a radar, ghostly echo’s, sudden bangs, shuffling footsteps and groans of the deceased brings home one of the most complete and fulfilling experiences to date.

I could sing praises about this game all day, but I'll try not to.  The Triangle Headed bringer of death is a tad ‘Tyrant’, although on a scale of horror brings more fear and panic than a hundred of Umbrella’s creations.  The game play has been done before and IS a little tired but it just hasn’t been done so well; you learn to fear what you cannot see, not what you can see and a certain skill has to be learnt for quick enemy dispatch.  More kinds of enemy would have been welcome though, with only five being present.
The riddles only halt the flow of game play when set on hard difficulty when they are vague at best and the game difficulty when set to normal is a tad too easy. 

Unfortunately, Silent Hill 2’s biggest downfall is that it has to be played through multiple times to be appreciated and judged realistically and many people will not be dedicated to seeing this game through, criticising the game in the most predictable ways.  The reward for the first completion is the Chainsaw and the most depressing end sequence ever, what more can I say?  The Resident Evil series has never looked so lame and ill produced.  Jackpot.

Rating: 10 / 10

Words by Michael Bather