While games like Infograme’s Alone in the Dark and Capcom’s Resident Evil might be the most well-known survival horror games, there is another contender. Konami entered the arena a few years ago with Silent Hill 2 on the Sony PlayStation and changed the rules, making a name for itself.
Instead of following the traditions of past games, it introduced two new techniques that really set the gaming world on fire.
Konami stopped using pre-rendered backdrops and took the genre into a completely three-dimensional world. This allowed for dynamic movement throughout, letting the camera follow the character, instead of remaining stationary, and provides a much more cinematic feel.
Konami shrouded the game in a thick layer of fog and darkness.
Sure, that doesn’t sound very enticing or imaginative at first, but these elements bump up the creep-out factor significantly. There are two ways to scare people: terrify the audience by showing them gruesome images or leave things up to the imagination.
The environments in Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 are so dark, the player typically ends up scaring him or herself more than the game ever could. This is achieved by the use of excellent lighting and sound effects.
As mentioned above, the surrounding area is either layered in thick fog, where one can only see a few feet ahead or in dark corridors with a small flashlight, where only the area directly in front of the flashlight can be viewed.
The game is also host to an array of chilling sound effects that will blow the mind. Turning out the lights and just listening to the game could give someone nightmares. There isn’t even a variety of music; most of the sound effects are peculiar noises.
Combining these two effects gives an overwhelming sense of paranoia. Often, when playing the game, the player will feel like something will jump out at the game character at any moment, but that rarely ever happens.
Most of the creatures in the game lurk in the shadows, and, unless they are approached directly, they will not even attack the player.
Thus, following the immense success of the original, Konami cooked up a sequel for the PlayStation 2, using many of the same ingredients, but throwing in a few new ones as well.
What is Silent Hill 2 about, anyway? Silent Hill is a fictional deserted town covered with a thick layer of roaming fog at all times.
While no one actually lives there, there is a force that exists that draws select people to it for reasons they can’t fully explain. Once they arrive, they fall trap to unexplainable events, mysterious creatures and mind-numbing riddles.
Silent Hill 2’s cast and storyline are different from the original game.
In the sequel, James Sunderland receives a letter from his wife, who died of a mysterious disease three years earlier. She asks him to meet her in Silent Hill, where they spent some time together years ago.
While he fully knows that his wife could not write him a letter from the grave, he feels that he must discover the truth about who wrote the letter.
Once he arrives, he meets a few others who have come for their own reasons, and together they try to unravel the mysteries associated with the town.
Silent Hill 2 boasts an incredible new graphics engine that produces some amazingly realistic visuals. The fog that roams the town is insanely realistic. The new lighting effects utilized by James’ flashlight also greatly enhance the mood and scariness of the game. For the first time ever, the environment truly feels haunted.
While there are scenes in the game that warrant its ESRB rating of mature, much of the game is absent from the mindless violence and gore that plagues other horror games.
The game goes back to horror’s roots, when special effects were very basic and often not even used.
Just like in a good book, the mind creates more vivid images than a television screen ever could, and Silent Hill 2 definitely utilizes that to its maximum potential.
Silent Hill 2 was released late last week and is already receiving rave reviews from both online and print publications.
It is also the third bestseller at Electronics Boutique, one of the nation’s highest ranked gaming retail stores. The game can be picked up at most retail outlets for $49.99. The game will also be available for the Microsoft Xbox likely sometime next year.

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Silent Hill 2 emerges on PS2 James, the game's main character, searches a bedroom for clues.