Dear god, Silent Hill 2 is AWFUL!

I gotta say, I really enjoyed reading this man. Its filled with such disgust and anger that its comical.

Silent Hill has always been kind of a clunky horror series, gameplay-wise. The combat was always a weak point.The atmosphere, story, and scare factors are what made them worth playing. You either love it or hate it. I also have friends that couldn't stand the series. You may want to try playing the Playstation 2version. Maybe that would be less glitchy, since I never had the problems you mentioned.

Won't make you like the gameplay, though.

I adore Silent Hill 2. Not sure how anyone who liked the original game wouldn't like that one; it's right up there with the original Silent Hill for me. I thought Silent Hill 3 was a good game, but certainly not as good as the first two. It had a B-movie quality to it that sort of squelched any fear I might have had, and all of the deep thinking in the first two storylines was gone. And Silent Hill 4 is just... disappointing, especially from a gameplay perspective. On the plus side, Silent Hill Origins for me is one of the more refreshing returns to the original series that I've seen. I was pleasantly surprised by it.

I don't know about the reasons you are using but I am not the biggest SH2 fan. SH1 to me is still the best of the series, followed by SH3. SH1 had it all, great story, still the scariest in the series, excellent world to explore, decent combat at the time, great puzzles, it was well paced. SH2's version of SH was boring, it never went into the dark realm which is a killer. Compared to the original, SH2 felt slow and not as focused.

SH 3 geared it toward action a bit but it still had great puzzles, awesome locations and a story that tied into SH1. SH3 was a lot of fun, something that 2 seemed to lack. SH4 is a mess, so many gameplay changes and all for the worst.

dvader654

Totatly agree with you and the topic creator though my favourite in the series is SH3. Sh2 is terrible in terms of game-play because it uses the same formula as in sh1 and nothing was upgraded even though it was on a new console. I personally expected a huge jump from sh1 to sh2. Even though sh3 uses the same setting as sh1 and sh2* the hospital from 2 and the few links to sh1* the game-play still lacked but it was ok.

I have staired at my hardwood floor to try and see if thecracks change at some point in time and have had more fun than this game.

Rottenberry

How does that work exactly?

P.S. - Anyone dim enough to be shocked and horrified that an older game doesn't feature modern graphics deserves all of the shock and horror they are continously subject to.

I'll tell why SH2 was terrible. The guys at Konami had to get rid of some serious issues which everybody was turned of in the original SH game but they didn't. These issues were:

• The long walks to reach a place.
• Having to open the map every .45 part of the second.
• The over fogged areas which makes it difficult to look at places from afar.
• Getting lost and then being surrounded by infected dogs which is a nightmaire!
• The camera's rotation.
• The slow movement and the lack of movements.
• The lack of missions which made SH1 an interesting game.
• The lack of puzzles; SH2 puzzles were look for that key in that room... pretty much walking frompoint A to point B.

That doesn't mean that it wasn't a good game. The lip-synching was good and the pyramid head was the best baddie I've ever enoucntered in a horror game!

I gotta say, I really enjoyed reading this man. Its filled with such disgust and anger that its comical.

Silent Hill has always been kind of a clunky horror series, gameplay-wise. The combat was always a weak point.The atmosphere, story, and scare factors are what made them worth playing. You either love it or hate it. I also have friends that couldn't stand the series. You may want to try playing the Playstation 2version. Maybe that would be less glitchy, since I never had the problems you mentioned.

Won't make you like the gameplay, though.

EdgecrusherAza

Someone finally sees it.This game was overhyped like crazy because of the PS2s total lack of good games back then.The PS2-Version is even more horrible then the XBox-Version...and my main problem was : SH1 - SCARY, SH2 - FAR FROM SCARY!

If a game has always had gameplay issues like crazy they should be at least have a good atmosphere and that´s the major point for me where SH2 was totally weak.

I'll tell why SH2 was terrible. The guys at Konami had to get rid of some serious issues which everybody was turned of in the original SH game but they didn't. These issues were:

• The long walks to reach a place.
• Having to open the map every .45 part of the second.
• The over fogged areas which makes it difficult to look at places from afar.
• Getting lost and then being surrounded by infected dogs which is a nightmaire!
• The camera's rotation.
• The slow movement and the lack of movements.
• The lack of missions which made SH1 an interesting game.
• The lack of puzzles; SH2 puzzles were look for that key in that room... pretty much walking frompoint A to point B.

That doesn't mean that it wasn't a good game. The lip-synching was good and the pyramid head was the best baddie I've ever enoucntered in a horror game!

gamingqueen

There were no dogs in SH2. Also, what do you mean by the missions of SH1? I played through the game many, many times and I don't recall any missions. The character in SH2 was as fast as anyone else in survival horror gaming at that time (which is to say, not very) and the fog (and the darkness)is kind of the point of the exercise (sunny Silent Hill just wouldn't make sense). The camera of SH could sometimes geta little weird, but as in all the SHs, one could hit a button and place it behind one's character, so I didn't have a problem with it. As for the puzzles, I remember SH2having some really tough riddles. But don't take my word for it, check the faq below.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/437029/34344

SH2 is far from my favorite game in the series (the enemies were uniformly slow, which made evasion easy, thereis nothing like the dogs, apes and flying things of SH1 and 3) but some of the issues people claim to have with it clearly aren't valid.

It was a great game to play back in 2002. Now, not so much. It's like playing Perfect Dark for the N64 now. It was great back then, but now it's just "meh".karasill

Well,the problem with SH2 is the fact that it wasn´t a bit better the day it came out.That´s when I played it and lett it pass after around 2h of boredom.

I don't quite see what you guys are seeing, but SH2, to me, is flat out the best one in the series by far, being one of the more innovative and creative titles in the realm of managing things like endings and the storytelling. The rest of the gameplay is in line with how Silent Hill is suppose to be, with the only major combat issue being what Carnage pointed out (enemies being on the slow side).

Otherwise, despite the typical design issues here and there that could be found, as an overall product, SH2 stands out as something very special, and it's kind of a shame how some of you are viewing it.

If you were playing this on PC, automatically deduct a few points if the original PC SH is anything to go by.

I recall the original as nothing but a PSX ISO with a deformed PSX emulator bundled :S

I tried playing it for the exact same reason: the story/atmosphere, etc..

It just feels too ancient for me. And the voice acting is horrendous.

[QUOTE="Skylock00"]

I don't quite see what you guys are seeing, but SH2, to me, is flat out the best one in the series by far, being one of the more innovative and creative titles in the realm of managing things like endings and the storytelling. The rest of the gameplay is in line with how Silent Hill is suppose to be, with the only major combat issue being what Carnage pointed out (enemies being on the slow side).

Otherwise, despite the typical design issues here and there that could be found, as an overall product, SH2 stands out as something very special, and it's kind of a shame how some of you are viewing it.

dvader654

Its just not as good a game as the original. I find it a shame that so many put it above the rest cause of story alone. SH2 was extremely boring at parts, way too many stretches of nothing happening, and no where near the mind *bleep* that the first game was. It was like a stripped down SH1.

Like that 10-minute jog into town at the beginning?

[QUOTE="gamingqueen"]

I'll tell why SH2 was terrible. The guys at Konami had to get rid of some serious issues which everybody was turned of in the original SH game but they didn't. These issues were:

• The long walks to reach a place.
• Having to open the map every .45 part of the second.
• The over fogged areas which makes it difficult to look at places from afar.
• Getting lost and then being surrounded by infected dogs which is a nightmaire!
• The camera's rotation.
• The slow movement and the lack of movements.
• The lack of missions which made SH1 an interesting game.
• The lack of puzzles; SH2 puzzles were look for that key in that room... pretty much walking frompoint A to point B.

That doesn't mean that it wasn't a good game. The lip-synching was good and the pyramid head was the best baddie I've ever enoucntered in a horror game!

CarnageHeart

There were no dogs in SH2. Also, what do you mean by the missions of SH1? I played through the game many, many times and I don't recall any missions. The character in SH2 was as fast as anyone else in survival horror gaming at that time (which is to say, not very) and the fog (and the darkness)is kind of the point of the exercise (sunny Silent Hill just wouldn't make sense). The camera of SH could sometimes geta little weird, but as in all the SHs, one could hit a button and place it behind one's character, so I didn't have a problem with it. As for the puzzles, I remember SH2having some really tough riddles. But don't take my word for it, check the faq below.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/437029/34344

SH2 is far from my favorite game in the series (the enemies were uniformly slow, which made evasion easy, thereis nothing like the dogs, apes and flying things of SH1 and 3) but some of the issues people claim to have with it clearly aren't valid.

By missions I mean the ending. In SH2, I got no clue that I had to beat the boss fights in under a certain time to unlock a different ending...Was it beat the game or beat the bossfight?*don't blame me for not using aguide :P*While in SH1 the routes you take affect on the ending and it was much more fun like when you need to take the plastic container in the hospital and pick the key from kaufman in the inn before silent hill turns evil and you miss the chance of unlocking the good ending. Bottomline, the exploration made sense in SH1 while it didn't in SH2.

Here's how you unlock the endings in SH2;

- Heal immediately after being hurt
- Excede maximum health limit
- Make sure Maria recieves very little damage
- Stay close to Maria
- Do not attempt to return to Nathan Avenue after
the bowling ally
- Do not examine Marys picture and letter
- Do not stay far away from Maria
- Do not bump into Maria a lot

And I got water...Why?
- Do not heal right after taking damage

Isn't that frustrating? I mean how close should I stay to that b****?

Infact, I find SH4 more interesting and fresh in terms of game design than SH2 but I dunno what happend to the team while making that game.

Carnage...I unlocked exterme X in SH3... you don't need to tell me how many times did you beat SH because you're talking to a SH freak here! 8)

[QUOTE="Skylock00"]

I don't quite see what you guys are seeing, but SH2, to me, is flat out the best one in the series by far, being one of the more innovative and creative titles in the realm of managing things like endings and the storytelling. The rest of the gameplay is in line with how Silent Hill is suppose to be, with the only major combat issue being what Carnage pointed out (enemies being on the slow side).

Otherwise, despite the typical design issues here and there that could be found, as an overall product, SH2 stands out as something very special, and it's kind of a shame how some of you are viewing it.

dvader654

Its just not as good a game as the original. I find it a shame that so many put it above the rest cause of story alone. SH2 was extremely boring at parts, way too many stretches of nothing happening, and no where near the mind *bleep* that the first game was. It was like a stripped down SH1.

Damn right...

As for the storyline.. you guys are exagerrating! it wasn't even told right and it wasn't clear. It had some of the best scary moments in horror videogames and that's it. [spoiler] Like when you first see the pyramid guy and when elevator shuts in maria's face and when they capture her... [/spoiler]

By missions I mean the ending. In SH2, I got no clue that I had to beat the boss fights in under a certain time to unlock a different ending...Was it beat the game or beat the bossfight?*don't blame me for not using aguide :P*While in SH1 the routes you take affect on the ending and it was much more fun like when you need to take the plastic container in the hospital and pick the key from kaufman in the inn before silent hill turns evil and you miss the chance of unlocking the good ending. Bottomline, the exploration made sense in SH1 while it didn't in SH2.

Here's how you unlock the endings in SH2;

- Heal immediately after being hurt
- Excede maximum health limit
- Make sure Maria recieves very little damage
- Stay close to Maria
- Do not attempt to return to Nathan Avenue after
the bowling ally
- Do not examine Marys picture and letter
- Do not stay far away from Maria
- Do not bump into Maria a lot

And I got water...Why?
- Do not heal right after taking damage

Isn't that frustrating? I mean how close should I stay to that b****?

Infact, I find SH4 more interesting and fresh in terms of game design than SH2 but I dunno what happend to the team while making that game.

Carnage...I unlocked exterme X in SH3... you don't need to tell me how many times did you beat SH because you're talking to a SH freak here! 8)

gamingqueen

I have(had?) only a vague idea how/why the endings in any of the Silent Hills were triggered, so I'm not in a position to say whether or not SH1 or SH2's triggers made more sense.

[QUOTE="gamingqueen"][QUOTE="CarnageHeart"][QUOTE="gamingqueen"]

I'll tell why SH2 was terrible. The guys at Konami had to get rid of some serious issues which everybody was turned of in the original SH game but they didn't. These issues were:

• The long walks to reach a place.
• Having to open the map every .45 part of the second.
• The over fogged areas which makes it difficult to look at places from afar.
• Getting lost and then being surrounded by infected dogs which is a nightmaire!
• The camera's rotation.
• The slow movement and the lack of movements.
• The lack of missions which made SH1 an interesting game.
• The lack of puzzles; SH2 puzzles were look for that key in that room... pretty much walking frompoint A to point B.

That doesn't mean that it wasn't a good game. The lip-synching was good and the pyramid head was the best baddie I've ever enoucntered in a horror game!

dvader654

There were no dogs in SH2. Also, what do you mean by the missions of SH1? I played through the game many, many times and I don't recall any missions. The character in SH2 was as fast as anyone else in survival horror gaming at that time (which is to say, not very) and the fog (and the darkness)is kind of the point of the exercise (sunny Silent Hill just wouldn't make sense). The camera of SH could sometimes geta little weird, but as in all the SHs, one could hit a button and place it behind one's character, so I didn't have a problem with it. As for the puzzles, I remember SH2having some really tough riddles. But don't take my word for it, check the faq below.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/437029/34344

SH2 is far from my favorite game in the series (the enemies were uniformly slow, which made evasion easy, thereis nothing like the dogs, apes and flying things of SH1 and 3) but some of the issues people claim to have with it clearly aren't valid.

By missions I mean the ending. In SH2, I got no clue that I had to beat the boss fights in under a certain time to unlock a different ending...Was it beat the game or beat the bossfight?*don't blame me for not using aguide :P*While in SH1 the routes you take affect on the ending and it was much more fun like when you need to take the plastic container in the hospital and pick the key from kaufman in the inn before silent hill turns evil and you miss the chance of unlocking the good ending. Bottomline, the exploration made sense in SH1 while it didn't in SH2.

Here's how you unlock the endings in SH2;

- Heal immediately after being hurt
- Excede maximum health limit
- Make sure Maria recieves very little damage
- Stay close to Maria
- Do not attempt to return to Nathan Avenue after
the bowling ally
- Do not examine Marys picture and letter
- Do not stay far away from Maria
- Do not bump into Maria a lot

And I got water...Why?
- Do not heal right after taking damage

Isn't that frustrating? I mean how close should I stay to that b****?

Infact, I find SH4 more interesting and fresh in terms of game design than SH2 but I dunno what happend to the team while making that game.

Carnage...I unlocked exterme X in SH3... you don't need to tell me how many times did you beat SH because you're talking to a SH freak here! 8)

Warning, you are about to get the "it makes sense in the context of how the main character behaves" post or something like that. I am with you, the requirements of SH2 might as well be random.

Don't worry ;) The way to unlokc endings was the vague thing about SH2.

I'm guessing that the people that called the voice acting in Silent Hill 2 awful never played some of the older horror games... like Resident Evil or the first Silent Hill. There's quite a leap in the quality of the voice-work, especially when compared to those two games.

Silent Hill 2 does feel a bit like a tamer version of the series, especially when I was expecting the same kind of horrific atmosphere that was presented in the first game. I think the worst part of the game was the high amount of health and ammo that covered the areas you explored by. Enemies were easy to take down with only melee weapons and by the end of the game I had more ammo than I knew what to do with.

While I was a little disappointed in the atmosphere in the game, I still greatly enjoyed the second game. I thought it had a unique and interesting story, the sound in the game was fantastic, and there are some truly frightening moments towards the end of the game (The prison in its entirety comes to mind). While I would suggest the topic creator to go as far as the Hospital, there was so much disgust in that post that he might as well forget playing the rest of the series. Maybe horror games aren't your thing?

Good morning everyone. I just woke up after having a horrific nightmare that I bought a Playstation 3 and the only game that was available for it was Silent Hill 2... now THAT is horror. Anyway, to the post above, I love horror games, but Silent Hill 2 is just too damn aggravatingly dull to offer any type of excitement, tenseness, or horror, unless it's you being horrified at how shockingly bad the game is. Perhaps if I had played it in 2002 back when the atmosphere may have been more convincing I would have enjoyed it... actually, probably not.

Good morning everyone. I just woke up after having a horrific nightmare that I bought a Playstation 3 and the only game that was available for it was Silent Hill 2... now THAT is horror. Anyway, to the post above, I love horror games, but Silent Hill 2 is just too damn aggravatingly dull to offer any type of excitement, tenseness, or horror, unless it's you being horrified at how shockingly bad the game is. Perhaps if I had played it in 2002 back when the atmosphere may have been more convincing I would have enjoyed it... actually, probably not.

Rottenberry

Actually... you'd feel very disappointed just as I felt. SH2 was among the first ps2 games I got and it wasn't that great.

Here's how you unlock the endings in SH2;

- Heal immediately after being hurt
- Excede maximum health limit
- Make sure Maria recieves very little damage
- Stay close to Maria
- Do not attempt to return to Nathan Avenue after
the bowling ally
- Do not examine Marys picture and letter
- Do not stay far away from Maria
- Do not bump into Maria a lotgamingqueen

That's how you get the Maria ending....which actually is NOT the best ending.

The Leave ending is considered the "best" and "happiest" ending.

In fact, if you really want the best ending (the "Leave" ending), you're supposed to do the following

- DO keep your health up and heal when you get injured.
- Do NOT stay close to Maria and try to Avoid her, when she is with you, run.....and don't care if she catches up (just dont let her die).....the idea is Maria is supposed to be a distraction from your real goal, which is finding Mary, so you're actually not supposed to care about Maria and you're supposed to be focused on finding Mary.
- Bump Maria if she gets in your way. (not necessary, but it helps you avoid the Maria ending and brings you closer to the Leave ending)
- Do NOT go back to visit Maria in the hospoital room or the jail cell.
- Examine Mary's picture frequently
- Examine Mary's letter frequently.
- Listen to the full and complete conversation in the last hallway.

And I got water...Why?
- Do not heal right after taking damagegamingqueen

Actually...the game is pretty lenient about damage resulting in what ending you get.....in order to get the Water ending, you have to purposefully take damage and purposefully not heal, so unless you were in the red most of the time then I don't think that was it.

What you probably did is you examined Angela's Knife and / or you also probably read the Diary on the rooftop......most people don't realize that simply examining the knife or reading the Diary on the rooftop can instantly result in you getting the Water ending, more so then any other act in the game.

This is one thing I likes about SH3 a LOT more....there is one main straightforward ending that everyone gets their first playthrough.......not like SH2 where literally random acts can completely effect your ending without you realizing.

Its just not as good a game as the original. I find it a shame that so many put it above the rest cause of story alone. SH2 was extremely boring at parts, way too many stretches of nothing happening, and no where near the mind *bleep* that the first game was. It was like a stripped down SH1.dvader654

I also hold it in higher regard over other SH's based on the pure genius found in the way it determined endings, which was determined moreso through your general playing style, instead of merely engaging one or two points in the game to unlock a particular ending. This made the storytelling of the game even deeper as the game, to a degree, acted as both a reflection on James himself as a character, and you as the player. Some people claim that this isn't fair to the player, but honestly, it works as a design mechanic given where the game takes place, and what James's circumstance is within the game. This design element makes the player as vulnerable to his/her own actions as the character himself.

Aside from a few design quirks (I didn't mind the pacing in the slight), SH2 is simply brilliant in my eyes for what it was doing. Granted, I have a slight bias because I played SH1 after SH2, and found SH1 to be more frustrating for combat, and more irritating in terms of how the endings worked.

The atmosphere is nonexistant, mostly due to the fact that the sound will constantly get stuck in loops causing me to reload, or it'll just sound very shallow....Rottenberry

Your first problem, playing PC ports of console-developed games. Do not hold a shoddy port against the game as a whole.

You are obviously interested in the franchise enough to have installed the PC version and attempted to play it, so my advice is to not give up on it just yet. If you own a PS2 or XBox, pick up a copy on the cheap or just rent it and play it the way it was meant to be played.

The game has failed to frighten me or even get me tense this entire time, although that may be due to it's age...Rottenberry

Silent Hill just isn't for everyone, and I get that, so I won't lambaste its critics, (within reason;) ) If its one thing all four game sin the series have in common its questionable game mechanics which unfortunately takes away from its brilliant atmosphere.

My biggest gripes of the series are the obscure actions to unlock the various endings. Some of us lack clairvoyance after all. My other gripe is Konami giving the middle finger to its long time fans who helped keep the series going with their purchases by making Origins a PSP exclusive, thanks guys.:roll:

My other gripe is Konami giving the middle finger to its long time fans who helped keep the series going with their purchases by making Origins a PSP exclusive, thanks guys.:roll:MarcusAntonius

Oh, do not worry fellow Silent Hill fan. Give it time. Once every last dime has been squeezed out of PSP owners, a PS2 or Wii port will surely follow. However, I own a PSP, so yeah... ;)

[QUOTE="MarcusAntonius"]My other gripe is Konami giving the middle finger to its long time fans who helped keep the series going with their purchases by making Origins a PSP exclusive, thanks guys.:roll:Toolvana

Oh, do not worry fellow Silent Hill fan. Give it time. Once every last dime has been squeezed out of PSP owners, a PS2 or Wii port will surely follow. However, I own a PSP, so yeah... ;)

The only thing we have is a rumor about a PS2 port of Origins, supposedly arriving March 2008. Climax is working on an unannounced project for Konami, and it is believed to be the PSP port. I guess we'll find out eventually. I hope it turns out true because I'm not buying a PSP for one game.

Here's the link.

Interesting this thread came up as I just played throught Restless Dreams on the Xbox a matter of weeks ago. I agree with everything the OP said. Before I go into it, I must say that while I still intend to play through the rest of the series in hope of experiencing something positive, SH2 felt extremely overrated to me. I have played through the original as well and I had similar feelings about both games.

I guess its just me but the story didn't make all that much sense to me. I do like the direction of the cutscenes and the music, though.

The gameplay is just boring. For both Silent 1 and 2, the only thing about the gameplay that really amused me was the fact that the low visibility and eerie sound effects made me feel a little tense walking around, but thats about as scary as it got. The enemies and combat? BORING!

Like you other guys here, I wonder which designer made the bone-headed decision to not use an on-screen mini-map or at least make the map screen transition very quick. It was so annoying having to wait 3-5 seconds every 30 seconds to bring up the map, then another 3-5 seconds to resume play.

Its probably just me but I don't really care for the riddle-based puzzles. They ended up annoying me more than anything.

I remember all the excitement and fuss over this game when it first came out years ago. Maybe it just hasn't aged well but I litterally felt underwhelmed throughout my entire experience with the game. I also quite litterally nearly fell asleep on more than one occasion because the gameplay was so boring to me.

Again, I still fully intend to play the rest of the series because I do like the cinematics and musics and maybe I just have yet to truly discover the beauty of the series, but Silent Hill 1 and 2 did nothing special for me. I've had loads more fun with the Resident Evil and Fatal Frame series (easily the most scary i've experienced thus far).

[QUOTE="gamingqueen"]

That's how you get the Maria ending....which actually is NOT the best ending.

The Leave ending is considered the "best" and "happiest" ending.

Actually...the game is pretty lenient about damage resulting in what ending you get.....in order to get the Water ending, you have to purposefully take damage and purposefully not heal, so unless you were in the red most of the time then I don't think that was it.

What you probably did is you examined Angela's Knife and / or you also probably read the Diary on the rooftop......most people don't realize that simply examining the knife or reading the Diary on the rooftop can instantly result in you getting the Water ending, more so then any other act in the game.

This is one thing I likes about SH3 a LOT more....there is one main straightforward ending that everyone gets their first playthrough.......not like SH2 where literally random acts can completely effect your ending without you realizing.

Robnyc22

I thought rebirth ending was the best. Check videos...

Anyways, that disacouraged me to go through the game once again... That and the bland and boring game-play!

I also want to point out that the number of "This door is locked" Has been reduced in SH3.

Good morning everyone. I just woke up after having a horrific nightmare that I bought a Playstation 3 and the only game that was available for it was Silent Hill 2... now THAT is horror. Anyway, to the post above, I love horror games, but Silent Hill 2 is just too damn aggravatingly dull to offer any type of excitement, tenseness, or horror, unless it's you being horrified at how shockingly bad the game is. Perhaps if I had played it in 2002 back when the atmosphere may have been more convincing I would have enjoyed it... actually, probably not.

Rottenberry

:roll: You love horror games? Fascinating you didn't name any particular games.

Interesting this thread came up as I just played throught Restless Dreams on the Xbox a matter of weeks ago. I agree with everything the OP said. Before I go into it, I must say that while I still intend to play through the rest of the series in hope of experiencing something positive, SH2 felt extremely overrated to me. I have played through the original as well and I had similar feelings about both games.

I guess its just me but the story didn't make all that much sense to me. I do like the direction of the cutscenes and the music, though.

The gameplay is just boring. For both Silent 1 and 2, the only thing about the gameplay that really amused me was the fact that the low visibility and eerie sound effects made me feel a little tense walking around, but thats about as scary as it got. The enemies and combat? BORING!

Like you other guys here, I wonder which designer made the bone-headed decision to not use an on-screen mini-map or at least make the map screen transition very quick. It was so annoying having to wait 3-5 seconds every 30 seconds to bring up the map, then another 3-5 seconds to resume play.

Its probably just me but I don't really care for the riddle-based puzzles. They ended up annoying me more than anything.

I remember all the excitement and fuss over this game when it first came out years ago. Maybe it just hasn't aged well but I litterally felt underwhelmed throughout my entire experience with the game. I also quite litterally nearly fell asleep on more than one occasion because the gameplay was so boring to me.

Again, I still fully intend to play the rest of the series because I do like the cinematics and musics and maybe I just have yet to truly discover the beauty of the series, but Silent Hill 1 and 2 did nothing special for me. I've had loads more fun with the Resident Evil and Fatal Frame series (easily the most scary i've experienced thus far).

VMan

A Fatal Frame fan. I played a demo of either FF 1 or 2 (I forget which) and the photo based gameplay didn't work for me. I'd rather beat something down with a hammer than Kodak it to death.

As for RE, its a good series that mainstreamed survival horror games (anyone that claims it invented them is unfamiliar with the original Alone in the Dark which RE1 stole shamelessly from). I really, really, really hated the cinematic cameras though. Walking into a zombie who is offscreen but two feet in front of my character (and conversely, sometimes being forced to retreat in seach of a good camera angle) is just plain bad game design. I think RE is more shock action (the really great moments are when the zombies the other zombies had been feasting on gets up, the dogs jump through the window and a tyrant busts through a wall) than survival horror though.

For that reason I was less shocked and horrified than many by RE4 (which isn't any more action heavy than its numbered predecessor, RE3 and is only slightly more action heavy than RE2) which improved the camera, picked up the pace, and boasted more interesting stages than its predecessosr.

SPOILER ALERT

I don't get scared when watching horror games or horror movies, but I do kind of emphathize with the characters (that's what made the Sixth Sense such as awesome movie for me, and why I yawn through a lot of what some people consider horror such as Friday the 13th or The Devil's Rejects). James of SH2's realization that he murdered his sick wife, putting an end to the painful cycle she was going through (begging him to stay one minute because she doesn't want to die alone, driving him away the next because she didn't want him or anyone else to see her wasting away, begging for death one minute, clinging to life other minutes) was really, really huge. And then there was the scene where James found the massive creature attempting to smother or maybe rape Angela and her subsequent breakdown (though all of the scenes featuring Angela, including her last, were really well done). And any and every scene with Pyramid Head was disturbing.

Unlike other games in the series, Silent Hill 2's strength is not its gameplay (the beauty of most of the SHs is the fact that the character's clumsiness with weapons, lack of ammo and strength/number of enemies makes combat something one doesn't want to engage in on a regular basis) but the story is incredibly good. I like SH1 and 3 better, but SH2 (and Eternal Darkness) areas survival horror gamesI enjoyed despite their gameplay (the monsters are all really gruesome looking, but they weren't designed to kill).

END SPOILER

But if masters of unlocking, massive zombies with tentacles, lovestruck Stephen Dicaprino clones and kodak moments compromise your idea of survival horror, to each his own.

The term survival horror was an advertising slogan created for Resident Evil, so RE is survival horror, you cant say its not. Survival horror is not a genre, people picked up on it when RE came out and since every game like RE, and now any horror game is called survival horror.They are action/adventure games in horror settings, that what they really are. Some games go about the horrorin different ways, doesn't make it any less of a horror game. If all you want is to get scared then yeah the SH series is the best. But as an actual game series, the RE series is way better than SH.

dvader654

So coining a phrase is the same thing as inventing a genre to you even if the phrase is misapplied to the target, which is little more than a clone of an older game? Good to know.

survival horror is not a genre... Blood and gore horror and psychological horror are thetwo sidesof horror games. The same goes with movies.

I've played through SH2 4 times in a row on my PC, so I guess you could say I'm pretty much in-love with the game. SH2 is by far the best SH game, and one of the best survival horror game out-there. yes, the combat is boring and a bit broken, but you dont play this sort of game for the combat, its not F.E.A.R or RE, its Silent hill - the horror is not something you can see, its all around you when you walk through the foggy town.

both RE3 and RE4 were a pile of dog crap if you ask me. no real scares to be found anywhere in both games. although RE invented the phrase "survival horror", I hardly see it as one. too combat orianted and pretty much all survival and no horror.

I can understand why some people wouldn't line the SH sereis (for the same reason a lot of people dont like adventure games). it has been said b4 - you either love silent hill or you hate it, there is no inbetween, so I see your point about the camera and combat, but hey, I wont let these minor flaws ruin one of the best horror games out there.