Silent Hill has called you back to it's deteriorating streets. For Horror fans, the call is impossible to ignore.
The story is not a continuation of the first, instead it's about a man named James Sunderland who traveled to Silent Hill looking for his wife. While this sounds really simple, nothing is as it seems in Silent Hill. It turns out his wife has been dead for three years and yet she sent him a letter saying she'll be waiting for him in Silent Hill at their 'special place'. During his search he meets other people who are searching the town for something as well.
Shortly after arrival, James realises the town is not normal, there is a thick fog covering the streets and strange and disturbing creatures roam about. Another strange thing is that the people he meets are unaware of these creatures. This setup makes for a fascinating, though somewhat depressing, story. It is the kind of story that makes you want to push on.
The gameplay remains largely the same as in the original, just improved greatly, mostly control-wise. It is still about exploring buildings in the town and solving puzzles and mainly just pushing forward through the town, reaching certain destinations which results in a cutscene and ultimately and new place for you to explore.
Combat remains unchanged mostly, just that it has been made easier to use melee weapons, no longer are they useless. Another interesting thing is the Riddle Difficulty, depending on which you choose, your hints are completely different and the solutions are even different in some cases. The puzzles are still well thought out, fun activities making it a joy to play.
The audio was great in the original, so it's only appropriate that it is amazing in the sequel. The music is completely amazing and incredibly fitting, it is also even more haunting. The sound effects are terrifying and the voice work has been greatly improved and it brings the story to life. There are a few issues with the dialogue but not enough to bring the audio package down.
Silent Hill now looks amazing. The amount of detail put into the environments is only matched by the Resident Evil series and might even surpass it. The creature design is, once again, fantastic and they look amazing as well, they even have a shiny look when the flashlight hits them, like they're wet. Better yet, these creatures symbolise something about the characters, giving them more meaning. The character models are great looking as well and the signature fog looks better than ever. This might be one of the most visually impressive Horror games on the PlayStation 2.
Silent Hill 2 is an improvement over the original in every single way, it looks great, sounds amazing, it's fun to play and it has one of the best stories in a game. If you are a Horror fan and have missed this game, do yourself a favor and play it. In the horrifying town of Silent Hill, you will surely find your 'special place'.
Story: 10/10
Gameplay: 9.0/10
Audio: 10/10
Presentation: 10/10