Yes, I know it’s an old game, but I’ve been looking for used copy at a decent price for a lng time. So, I finally found one locally. My edition is the original 2001 release; I understand there were several later editions that had additional material.
I thought the atmosphere of the game was great. Silent Hill is a genuinely weird and disquieting place, thanks largely to extremely effective use of sound. There’s a minimal amount of background music; this is actually good because it contributes to the eerie silence of the town. Such background noise as there is causes a feeling of unease, especially after you learn that there are…things…in the mist. The radio’s static, though it warns of nearby enemies, itself sets one on edge. Overall, possibly the best use of sound in a game I’ve ever experienced.
The visuals, though not as glitzy looking today as they probably were in 2001, were also effective; especially the demons/monsters/hallucinations. The bobblehead nurses creeped me the fuck out, in particular. Something about the jerky, spastic way they moved,combined with the noise from the radio, perhaps. All I know is that I found it imperative to kill every one of them I encountered.
Boss monsters? Pyramid Head is in a class of his own. What a repulsive, grotesque, and yet fascinating visual image he presents! I expect the only reason he hasn’t displaced Sephiroth from the “all time” lists is that he hasn’t much backstory or characterization, at least that I know of from this single game. Mary/Maria, “daddy,” and the other bosses were well done, too, except for Eddie. In the whole game, this battle was the only let down. A conventional gunfight with a retarded fatass just didn’t fit into the game for me. His whole story should have been omitted entirely, IMO.
I’m aware that are several endings. At the end of my first game, James left Silent Hill with Laura (though I don’t know why he didn’t kill the obnoxious little brat). My second play ended with James driving into the lake so he could join his wife in death. For my next attempt, I plan on gathering up the four items needed for the “rebirth” ending. Eventually, I’ll probably get around to trying for the “Maria” ending, but that’ll necessitate starting from the very beginning, I think, since the earliest save I have is one where I already examined the knife. Does examining the knife automatically preclude getting the “Maria” ending?
Other questions:
- I read that by firing a gun into one of the cells in the prison section, one can kill the invisible monster whose chanting is audible. Does this change the outcome of the game or one’s player rating?
- Is the UFO ending available on the original edition of the game?
Final comments: Reviews of this game made a big deal out of combat not being the emphasis and that trying to play it as a shooter doomed one to failure. Extremely limited ammo was cited as the chief reason. I found this to be completely untrue on the normal settings, anyway. I went through the game like a goddamned Terminator. I started blowing away baddies from the first moment I got a gun in my sweaty little hand; and I still finished the game with tons’o ammo for all three guns. Also finished with scads of medkits and ampoules. Perhaps I used less ammo than the designers anticipated by finishing the demons with a swift kick in the head instead of another half a clip of ammo.
This is the first game I’ve ever played that was this resolutely downbeat. Of the characters we get to know, most of them come to bad ends in the various endings. Eddie becomes a homicidal maniac and gets killed every time. Angela apparently suicides in the fire every time. No end of grotesque deaths are visited on Mary/Maria over and over. James commits suicide in one variant, is taken by a UFO in another, and is controlled by a dog in a third! The little girl, Laura, seems to be the only one who escapes the carnage. Too bad, it is, too. I didn’t like her.
Which PS2 compatible installment should I get next?