Silent Hill 2 Unleashed

Konami has revealed first details and screens of Silent Hill 2 for the Sony PlayStation 2. The characters and plot will not be related to the first game, but the sequel is set in Silent Hill. The story begins when James Sanderland receives a letter from his wife, who passed away three years ago. The letter mentions that she wanted him to meet her at Silent Hill, the resort he had promised to take her to. After arriving at the resort, he meets a female character named Maria. Although Maria has a different hairstyle and mannerisms, she closely resembles Sanderland's dead wife.

Silent Hill director Tetsuhiro Imamura comments, "The use of mist [fog] and darkness was partially due to the limitation of the PlayStation hardware, but it eventually became a trademark for Silent Hill. We intend to keep these elements in the sequel, except we will present them in more realistic manner. For example, we can show a thick mist disperse as a person passes through it."

"The first game involved a lot of action, which American and European gamers found appealing, but the game was stereotyped as a difficult game among the general audience as well as the Japanese gamers," he added. "This time, we will try to make the game more appealing to these audiences and gamers."

As seen in the screenshots, the monsters in Silent Hill 2 are looking more grotesque then ever. Imamura feels the same way, as he said, "The monsters will not just have grotesque appearances, but grotesque movements as well. We are working by hand [meaning no motion-capture] to create unusual movements which are humanly impossible."

Silent Hill 2 for the PS2 is expected for a 2001 release in Japan.

The shots are courtesy of Dengeki PlayStation and The PlayStation Magazine.