Alright
y’all, sorry for the late upload but when you wake up at noon and work a nine
hour shift there really isn’t a lot of opportunities to reflect on one’s busy
week of playing games. This ones probably going to be pretty short because I'm writing it so late, but I'll try to be smarter about when I write these in the future. If you’re a loyal shlock-head and have been following my
escapades for the past few weeks then you’ll know that I’ve been looking to
play Silent Hill 2 for quite a while. Hell, I think even the very first Weekly
Shlockness mentions how I’ve been looking for a way to play that game. Well my
lovely and talented readers, thanks to a very awesome lady friend of mine who
graciously relinquished her copy unto my slimy, claw-like grasp, I have finally
been able to play Silent Hill 2. Not even the imminent disappointment of
another MMwMM could sully my good mood this week, so without further ado (which
is apparently the right way to type that phrase) let me tell you about Silent
Hill 2.
 |
| You don't say picture from: www.gamingbolt.com |
It’s
pretty cool. There are a lot of similarities between this game and the first
game which (believe it or not) kind of came as a surprise to me. I was half
expecting something similar to the jump from Resident Evil 3 to 4, especially
when the Silent Hill games aren’t exactly canonical. Don’t ask me why I thought
this, I’m just really dumb. Anyway, I’m a little over six hours in and I’ve
been doing a lot of the same things I did in Silent Hill 1. I’ve been sifting
through the fog of the crappy little lake town, looking for ammo, running from
monsters, occasionally visiting the hellish altered Silent Hill, and trying to
tolerate the (supposedly) normal people walking around Silent Hill. Seriously,
what the f*ck is up with Eddie?
 |
| hey pass the weed...and the pizza picture from: silenthill.wikia.com |
What is
probably the coolest addition to the formula is the infamous Pyramid Head who I
think is one of the coolest video game villains probably of all time. The first
time you see him he is behind a set of bars and is completely inaccessible to
the player. Until you walk into a room he just stands there starring you down…and
it’s pretty creepy. What’s even creepier is when you walk in on him, not once
but twice, having his way with a mannequin. It’s pretty messed up. Now, Pyramid
Head himself is in no way dynamic. He shows up at specific points and does
specific things so he’s not like Nemesis in Resident Evil 3; but when he does
show up it sudden and entirely unexpected. I was walking around the roof tops
of the hospital and I made sure to survey the entire area before going to the
next door to progress. It’s not until you’re just about to open that door when
good ol’ Mr. Head shows up to throw you off the roof. Meanwhile I’m sitting
there yelling at the T.V. “Where the sh*t did you come from!” When stuff like
that happens it makes me feel like his triangle ass is everywhere just watching
me. It’s pretty unsettling and I’ve been catching myself jumping at shadows
because I think it’s Pyramid Head coming out to f*ck me.
 |
| "I only know two things, raping and stabbing. Take your pick" picture from: www.videogamewriters.com |
Beyond all
of that the scariest part of Silent Hill 2 (and this is true for Silent Hill 1
as well) is the sound track. I don’t know who they got to compose music for
this game but they should be given at least three trophies for their work because
the sound track is outstanding. Same thing goes for the Foley work as well.
Occasionally the typical monsters in the game will get on their bellies and
start sliding around, and when they do they make this horrible rusty metal
scratchy sound that is truly maddening. It’s as if instead of chalk in school
they had razor blades, and instead of a teacher it was Mike McGee reading the
latest MMwMM (truly terrifying). Footsteps echo in just the right way, and all the doors are
wonderfully creaky. Without these sound effects the world of Silent Hill wouldn’t
feel nearly as vivid as it does.
The
story, yet again, doesn’t make any sense so far. You play as this guy James who
went looking for his dead wife after he received a mysterious letter from her.
Spooky, right? Things get derailed quickly as you meet up with some crazy hooker,
a fat slob, and a bratty little girl. Now I don’t really know what’s going on
and it doesn’t look like I’m going to get any clear answers any time soon; but
I’m ok with that. The narrative is hazy and disjointed in a very Silent Hill
fashion that makes it feel distinct form anything else. It is also part of why
I like this game so much. So far I’m having a really wonderful experience with
Silent Hill 2. It builds upon the previous game in a great way and would be a
great addition to anyone’s collection.
A lot of
my week was Silent Hill, but I did manage to play a bit more of Resident Evil 4
and a bit more of Psychonauts. I’m happy to say that I’m still enjoying both
games very much and if you want to know more about what I think of those games
then you should check out last week’s Weekly Shlockness because there really
isn’t much more for me to say about them (yet). With that in mind I've got to go to
bed. I hope this column has proved to be somewhat readable in my exhausted state. The things I do for you Shlock-heads.
No comments:
Post a Comment