Zero Punctuation: Silent Hill 2

[MonstersInMyCloset]

im so glad yahtzee has inspired more people to play this game

probably my favorite video game

i play it like every year

 

[Grampy_bone]

Ooh, another elitist gamer waxes nostalgic about how games were so much better "back in the day." How original.

 

[Cosplay Horatio]

Hmm, interesting. After the thief and PoP retrospectives, I wondered if he'd ever do one for Silent Hill 2.

I really should go back and play this now. If the atmosphere is as freaky and blubber-like as he says, it sounds like something I'd really enjoy.

Was there any particular reason James was always Jaaaaaaaames?

There was this part in the game while your in the hospital where you have no choice but to participate in a game show-like contest or you wont be able to progress through the rest of the game cuz you'd be dead. It starts off when your in an elevator and some game show host voice talks over the radio saying Jaaaaaaaames Sunderland! Then the voice tells you, creepily of course, that you have to answer trivia questions about Silent Hill based on the difficulty level of the quiz you've chosen before starting the game. I never found out what happened when you fail. The first time playing my friends and I answered the quiz correctly and received a game progression item and some ammo.

I played through this dozens of times because I wanted to get the different good endings. I noticed how the ending seemed cut off when you play through it the first time then beating it a second and third time confirmed that the game adds to the end scenes. The whole time I'm saying, "Why didn't the game just give me the entire ending the first time?!". The game was much more fun when I earned that chainsaw.
My favorite part in the game was getting Mr. Rape Time's giant sword. I remember getting the items that said I can summon one but I tried to make sense of how to use the items once then gave up.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Interesting review. I have fond memories of Silent Hill 2, although I have more fond memories of Silent Hill 1. The combat in 1-3 (I never played 4) can be quite a turn-off, and while I understand that using a "normal" person as opposed to a trained special soldier or a bunch of people who find the same book and somehow get pinpoint aiming as a result adds to the tension, the control scheme and camera work really can be detrimental. I've debated playing this game through again, but I don't think I can give it the time and attention it deserves. Unfortunately my pregnant wife sucks up a lot of that nowadays.

If you haven't played this game it's well worth your time to do so. If you only have current gen consoles, it looks like the PS3s can run it ok (assuming you have BC) but it looks like the 360 has a number of issues with it. There's also a PC version you can get.

Just checked Gamespot's PC review and ironically they complained about all the things that Yahtzee (and many others) praise about the game. It's almost amusing to read.

 

[[Cold-Shoulder]]

I'm glad he reviewed Silent hill 2 but I thought he would bring up your sidekick from the game in the review about how she kept switching attitudes every second, "Yahtzee" talked about it in the Prince of Persia review. That still doesn't stop it from being a great review. Thanks Yahtzee.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

This was the game I least expected him to review. But darn me if it wasn't funny. I hope he reviews Arkham Asylum and Wolfenstein soon.

 

[Carnagath]

Ah a much expected review of what I consider the second best survival horror game (the best being Fatal Frame 2, which everyone seems to pretend doesn't exist, probably in a worldwide conspiracy to get on my nerves).

 

[Aptspire]

YES! About my favorite game...ever...of all time (see avatar for details)

 

[marionette]

What a pleasant review!

Fans of the game might want to look up the artist Hans Bellmer to see where the inspiration for the mannequins came from. Bellmer's work has a suggestive quality that fits right in with Silent Hill 2.

 

[_Russell_]

I love the "There was a critic here, he's gone now" line in the end credits.
The SH2 fans will get that one.

 

[WaffleGod]

I didn't see this review coming, but fuck it. It was great! "Like fucking a burning dolphin" lmao.

 

[sgtshock]

Wait, it's his favorite game of all time, yet the first thing he admits is that the gameplay was shit? Huh?

 

[FRicanKrazy]

It is a Point A to an eventual point B game with so much in the middle. It's really up to the player to take away their own experience. You can just progress or you can realize there's actual a lot more to this game if you pay attention while you play.

(Somethings you wouldn't expect to be in a video game at the time) The "Fan" forums actually have many interpretations of this game. The endings are also based on hidden triggers.

**SPOILER**SPOILER***SPOILER
You have a bloody knife in your inventory. The game actually counts how many times you look at it and gives you an ending.

 

[mannaroth]

Yay! I'm absolutly asonished that you actually reveiwed SH2 Marvelous.

 

[Agarth]

Wow... the video game drought is actually that bad?

 

[magicmonkeybars]

wow I actually really enjoyed this one, I even laughed

 

[Cyd0n1a]

"There was a critic here. It`s gone now." Nice one.

 

[shoootme]

never got through Silent Hill one let alone number 2 but i found a way to add to the atmosphere of the game when my tv stopped showing colour, i still have nightmares about it.

 

[mrpinata]

I have being playing through another title soaked in atmosphere and I would highly recommend it to any Silent Hill fanatic. Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly. Don't need to play the first one, I never did. The only game to really freak me out. You play a little girl stuck in a haunted Japanese backwoods village with a flash light that never seems to work when you need it and a Camera that sucks up ghosts as long as you have film. Not particularly challenging, but still an incredibly "shit your pants" survival horror masterpiece.

 

[Cogzwell]

This reminds me of what could have made Dead Space scary which would have been your little suspended animation tube malfunctioned and you emerge 2 weeks or so late on a ship devoid of life so the fact that you were alone in space not knowing whether or not you were safe would be a little more real, and more of the half-bred scrawny aliens would act a little more like shambling zombies from left for dead, or better like witches you would have to avoid hundreds of to not invoke wrath. But yeah keep that final boss and keep a couple of the big baddies the same