Silent Hill 2

Silent Hill 2
Studio	PlayStation 2 / Xbox: Team Silent (Division of Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo ) Microsoft Windows: Creature Labs HD Edition (Xbox 360 / PS3) Hijinx Studios
Publisher	Konami
Senior Developer	Masashi Tsuboyama (Creative Director)
composer	Akira Yamaoka
Erstveröffent- lichung	PlayStation 2:  September 24, 2001  September 27, 2001  November 23, 2001 Xbox:  December 19, 2001  February 22, 2002  October 4, 2002 Microsoft Windows:  December 2, 2002  February 28, 2003 Xbox 360, Playstation 3: March 12, 2012 March 29, 2012 March 30, 2012
platform	PlayStation 2 , Xbox , Windows , Xbox 360 , PlayStation 3
genre	Survival horror
Game mode	Single player
control	Keyboard or gamepad
system advantages preconditions	CPU : Intel Pentium or AMD Athlon 700 MHz RAM : 64 MB Graphics card : DirectX 8.1 with 32 MB hard disk : 1.8 GB
medium	DVD , CD-ROM , Blu-ray Disc
language	Audio: English Text: German
Age rating	USK PEGI

Silent Hill 2 is a survival horror - computer game that developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo and Konami was released. The game first appeared in North America on September 24, 2001 for the PlayStation 2 and was later released for the Xbox and Windows . It is the successor to Silent Hill , but does not tie in directly to the plot of the predecessor.

Game mechanics

Through the protagonist James Sunderland , the player explores the city of Silent Hill from a third-person perspective , solves puzzles and fights monsters. The game character can suffer injuries in the process. The current state of health and items can be called up in the menu . Various weapons and ammunition can be found to fight monsters; health drinks, first aid kits or ampoules are needed to improve the protagonist's health. There is also a map menu through which the player can find out his current position. Corresponding maps can be found for different buildings. The main character, James, automatically looks at pickable objects when they are nearby. Often the flashlight has to be switched on. The camera is not static, it rotates. However, you can position them behind James at the push of a button. Another game element is the portable radio , which starts to rustle when monsters are nearby. The difficulty levels for the strength of the monsters and the puzzles can be set separately at the beginning of the game.

action

The protagonist James Sunderland comes to Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his late wife Mary . In the city teeming with monsters, he meets Angela Orosco , a 19-year-old who is looking for her mother in Silent Hill.

In an apartment building, James meets Eddie Dombrowski , who repeatedly claims that he has not killed anyone. James continues to search for Mary in Rosewater Park , but instead finds Maria , who looks very similar to James' late wife. Because of their fear of the monsters, they decide to move on together. They follow 8-year-old Laura to Brookhaven Hospital . James can find Laura while Maria is resting. Laura tells him that she met Mary in the hospital. This encourages James to believe that his wife is still alive. As they both want to leave the hospital, Maria is killed by Pyramid Head .

James continues to search for Mary at the Lakeview Hotel , where both of them have previously vacationed. In the hotel he finds Maria alive and locked in a cell. She tells him things that only his wife can know. James looks for a way to free her. When he returns, however, Maria is dead again. Shortly afterwards, James is able to protect Angela from a monster and it is revealed that she was sexually abused by her father. James finds a cemetery with three excavated graves. The names Angela Orosco and Eddie Dombrowski are on the gravestones ; the third is James Sunderland . A staircase leads down there. Downstairs, James meets Eddie who wants to kill him. However, James manages to kill him first.

At the hotel, James finds a video tape in which he suffocates his wife with a pillow, to the horror of Laura. From this point on, Mary's letter, which James is carrying with him, disappears again and again. James meets Angela again in the building, who has lost all will to live. She runs up the stairs into a fire. James leaves the room through a door that is not blocked by the flames. James then meets the living Maria one more time, who is then killed by two Pyramid Heads. James then fights them and climbs onto the roof of the building. Depending on the decisions the player made in the course of the plot, he will find either Mary or Maria there. This turns into Mary Demon and is fought by James.

Silent Hill 2 has six different endings that depend on the course of the game:

• Forsaken : James asks Mary for forgiveness, and while the Silent Hills Cemetery is faded in, Mary reads her true suicide note. James leaves town with Laura.
• Maria : James turns away from Mary and instead wants to go on living with Maria, who ends up having a coughing fit.
• In the water : James cannot go on without Mary and it stands to reason that he throws himself in his car in Toluca Lake to be with his wife.
• Rebirth : James resuscitates his wife with the help of the gods of Silent Hill.
• Dog : If James finds a "dog key" in the process, he can use it to open the door to the observation room after watching the video tape . In this, James discovers a dog with a headset that flips a few levers on a large control panel. The faces of James and Maria can be seen on the monitors above the desk. There follows a bizarre end credits.
• UFO : James meets the protagonist of the first Silent Hill part, Harry . They ask each other whether they have seen the person they are looking for (Mary or Cheryl ). An alien appears and shoots James. Then he takes James and Harry with him.

Born from a wish

Born from a Wish is a subplot in the Director's Cut and the Xbox version. The player controls Maria shortly before her meeting with James.

At the beginning, Maria wakes up in a strip club in Silent Hill and looks for other people. She finds the Baldwin estate and its owner Ernest Baldwin . She does not see this, however, but speaks to him through locked doors. She tries to help him revive his late daughter. After that, Ernest warns her about a man named James Sunderland. She begins to remember that James killed his wife. Maria opens the door behind which Ernest is, but she only finds an empty room. Disappointed that she has not found another person in town, she wants to kill herself, but then decides differently and looks for James.

Development and Background

Cosplayer as Pyramid Head ( Pyramid Head )

Silent Hill 2 was developed by Team Silent , a group within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. The atmosphere of the first part was largely retained, e.g. B. by the persistent fog in the city, but more emphasis is placed on psychological aspects. An example is the letter from Mary to James , which disappears again and again during the course of the plot and, according to the Konami team, is an indication of James' hallucinations .

The monsters in the game look more human-like compared to their predecessor. They are reflections from James' subconscious. The creatures Mannequin and Bubble Head Nurse reflect James' desires when Mary was sick. Pyramid Head is an executioner in the history of the city of Silent Hill and is supposed to punish James. Abstract Daddy comes from Angela's subconscious and the Creepers appear in the first part of the series.

Eddie Dombrowski was named after Eddie Murphy , an American actor and comedian, because he was thought of as an optimistic character at the start of production. The name of Angela Orosco is derived from the protagonist of the film Das Netz , Angela Bennett . The fact that the pistol can be found in a shopping cart in the game is a satirical representation of the affinity for guns in American society.

Publications

Silent Hill 2 was initially released for the PlayStation 2 in North America and Japan in September 2001 and in Europe in November 2001. The European version was accompanied by a making-of DVD. For the Xbox , the game was released in December 2001 under the title Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams . In Japan the game was published with the name addition Saigo no Uta ( 最 期 の 詩 ), in Europe with the addition Inner Fears . The Xbox version contains an additional UFO ending and the scenario from a desire born ( Born from a Wish ). On July 4, 2002, a Director's Cut of Silent Hill 2 was released in Japan , which is identical to the Xbox version. This also appeared in Sony's Platinum series. In 2006 Konami released the game one more time together with Silent Hill 3 and Silent Hill 4: The Room as the Silent Hill Collection . The developer studio Creature Labs ported Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut for Windows . The version appeared in December 2002.

On March 29, 2012, the Silent Hill HD Collection was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 , which includes Silent Hill 2 and 3 in high definition . The games were re-dubbed for this under the direction of Mary Elizabeth McGlynn .

reception

reviews

publication	rating
4players	90% (PS2)
Bravo Screenfun	Grade 1- (PS2)
Looki	87% (PS2)
play The PlayStation	80% (PS2)
PlayZone	87% (PS2)
Video game zone	87% (PS2)
EuroGamer.net	9/10 (Xbox)
GameSpy	86% (PC)
GameStar	66% (PC)
PC action	68% (PC)
PC Games	80% (PC)
PC joker	70% (PC)
GameSpot	7.7 / 10 (PS2) 7.9 / 10 (Xbox) 6.2 / 10 (PC)
Games world	88% (PS2) 89% (PC)
IGN	9.0 / 10 (PS2) 8.4 / 10 (PC)

Rupert Mattgey from Chip Online particularly praised the exciting and subtle plot. The game is not for children, as they are overwhelmed with the story. The graphics and the atmosphere as well as the soundtrack are excellent. The effects thus contribute to the “nightmarish mood […].” Only the puzzles that were sometimes too difficult were criticized. Mathias Oertel from the web portal 4Players praised the excitement of the game: "Thick, wafting fog surrounds you and creates a feeling of claustrophobia." The scope and the various end sequences were also positively highlighted, as they motivated the player to play through several times. The Xbox version received 9 out of 10 points from Kristan Reed from EuroGamer.net . The dynamic camera system was highlighted as particularly positive. The game was also praised by S. Fassmer of the online portal Gameswelt : “The graphics and the sound are harmonious to impressive and reinforce the morbid charm of the sophisticated, intelligent story, which should inspire everyone with a weakness for selected horror and psychological depth Has. Due to the different levels of difficulty, the game is equally recommended for beginners as well as for die-hard puzzle and action professionals. 'Silent Hill 2' is currently the reference title in this genre, which is rather poorly occupied on the PC, and all friends of the well-groomed creepiness [...]. "

Web links

• Official Japanese website
• Silent Hill 2 at MobyGames (English)
• Detailed fansite for Silent Hill 2 (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Rupert Mattgey: Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut - goose bumps and racing heart on the PC. In: Chip Online . March 9, 2003, accessed August 28, 2011 . 
2. ^ ^{A b c} Mathias Oertel: Silent Hill 2: Test. In: 4Players . November 30, 2001, accessed August 8, 2011 . 
3. ↑ IGN Top 100 Games 2007. (No longer available online.) In: IGN . Archived from the original on June 16, 2010 ; accessed on August 24, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ E3 2001: Silent Hill 2 Interview. In: IGN. May 17, 2011, accessed August 24, 2011 . 
5. ↑ ^{a b c d} The Book of Lost Memories. (No longer available online.) Konami , 2003, archived from the original on July 22, 2011 ; Retrieved September 4, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ ^{a b} Translated Memories, Character. (No longer available online.) Konami, archived from the original on July 17, 2011 ; Retrieved September 4, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ^ The Book of Lost Memories. (No longer available online.) Konami , 2003, p. 93 , archived from the original September 30, 2011 ; Retrieved September 4, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ↑ Silent Hill 2 for PlayStation 2. In: GameSpot . Retrieved April 23, 2010 (English). 
9. ↑ ^{a b} Silent Hill 2: Greatest Hits. IGN Entertainment , accessed June 13, 2010 . 
10. ↑ ^{a b c} Kristan Reed: Silent Hill 2: Inner Fears - Review. In: EuroGamer.net . October 2, 2002, accessed August 8, 2011 . 
11. ^ Rob Fahey: Konami to launch Silent Hill Collection. In: Gamesindustry.biz. March 30, 2006, accessed October 31, 2007 . 
12. ↑ ^{a b c} Spieletipps.de : Press reviews of the PlayStation 2 version , accessed on August 8, 2011.
13. ↑ Thomas Sausen: Silent Hill 2 - Test. In: Looki . Retrieved August 8, 2011 . 
14. ↑ Silent Hill 2 (PS2). The return is no longer as puzzling as it used to be. In: Videogameszone. November 27, 2001, accessed August 8, 2011 . 
15. ^ Allen Rausch: Silent Hill 2 (PC). (No longer available online.) In: GameSpy . January 26, 2003, archived from the original on June 28, 2011 ; accessed on August 8, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
16. ↑ ^{a b c d} Spieletipps.de: Press reviews of the PC version , accessed on August 8, 2011.
17. ↑ Joe Fielder: Silent Hill 2 Review. (No longer available online.) In: GameSpot . September 25, 2001, archived from the original on May 24, 2010 ; accessed on August 8, 2011 (English, PS2 version). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
18. ↑ Joe Fielder: Silent Hill 2: Inner Fears Review. (No longer available online.) In: GameSpot . December 5, 2001, archived from the original on September 29, 2007 ; accessed on August 8, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
19. ↑ Ron Dulin: Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut Review. (No longer available online.) In: GameSpot. December 4, 2002, archived from the original on May 24, 2010 ; accessed on August 8, 2011 (English, PC version). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
20. ^ R. Mathieu: Silent Hill 2 - Review. In: Gameswelt . Retrieved August 8, 2011 (PS2 version). 
21. ^ ^{A b} S. Fassmer: Silent Hill 2 - Review. In: Gameswelt . Retrieved August 8, 2011 (PC version). 
22. ↑ Doug Perry: Silent Hill 2. Konami has returned from the crypt with one of the eeriest games ever to grace a videogame system. In: IGN. September 25, 2001, accessed August 8, 2011 (English, PS2 version). 
23. ↑ Ivan Sulic: Silent Hill 2 Review. In: IGN. December 2, 2002, accessed August 8, 2011 (English, PC version).