Silent Hill 2 was the first Silent Hill game that I ever played (I bought the HD collection for PS3 shortly after getting my PS3), and it was maybe the most haunting, beautiful emotionally-engaging videogame I have ever played. I was hypnotized by how artistic it was, and enchanted by the darkly intriguing storyline. The dialogue was beautifully written, and the words clawed at my heartstrings. The characters came to life for me; James, desperately searching for Mary through mist and monsters to try and defy death itself, as he reads a letter she wrote to him…a year after her death. Then there was Angela, lost in her plight, a lonely figure in a graveyard,a young girl eaten up by abuse and left to disappear up the burning staircase, her metaphor for the living hell her life was. There was Eddie, gradually crumbling under the burden of being mocked and loathed, treated as an object of disgust all his life. Not to forget Maria; sexually extroverted, born of a wish, and painfully reminiscent of a certain someone whose memories she possesses fragments of. Last but not least, Laura, a cheeky little child who also loved Mary.
Silent Hill 2 owns a depressing, beautiful, hopeless ambiance that I have yet to find in any other videogame. It is also quite terrifying at times, which is not just because of the deadly, wicked pyramid head, but also because of the genius soundtrack. Honestly, if you played Silent Hill 2 with the volume turned down, you would be less scared. That is the genius of Akira Yamaoka.
One of my favorite scenes from Silent Hill 2, is when James enters a room containing a very large mirror, only to find Angela (who he previously encountered in the cemetery at the start of the game) lying in front of the mirror, holding a knife. It is an image that haunts me and sends chills down my spine, even as I write about it. This goes to show the power that the videogame has over your emotions, as you become further tangled in the sinister, morbidly-fascinating web it spins, like a glittering, venomous spider.
I would sincerely recommend Silent Hill 2 to any gamer, especially one who can appreciate something beyond endless shooting. This is a game that requires patience, but is well worth it. Thank you for reading, and as always, if you have any videogame recommendations, please tell me below in the comments! Thank you all! 😀 
altairdarkness 