| Consider Harvester, an early ‘90s adventure game wherein the solutions to most puzzles meant causing harm to non-player characters. The game got progressively more disturbing until a final ethical choice had to be made. See, it turns out the whole thing is brainwashing: If the player chooses the "good" ending (saving the love of the main character’s life), our hero is killed. If the player chooses to kill said love, the character is welcomed into an elite group of serial killers. Harrowing stuff.
Or Sanitarium, where the player has to figure out the hero’s identity through a series of warped situations. Or even the film Jacob’s Ladder — and I don’t think I’ll reveal the ending to that masterpiece. Go see it for yourself.
All leave one emotionally exhausted, as reality is peeled back to reveal truths about both the characters and the player/watcher. Also, all were doubtless inspiration for Konami’s incredible survival-horror game Silent Hill, which still has folks debating the actual plot. When Silent Hill 2 was released for Playstation 2, the folks at Konami promised a less ambiguous plot. Well, they delivered, but that doesn’t make the game any less involving or draining.
The plot is thus: Our hero, James Sunderland, has received a letter from his wife Mary beckoning him to Silent Hill, once their "special place." Thing is, Mary died of disease three years earlier. But does that stop James? No — which is an early insight into both his love for his late wife and an indication that anyone who’ll take seriously such a letter is more than a bit unbalanced.
In fact, mental illness is the underlying theme for Silent Hill 2. All of the characters suffer from it in some way: There’s a suicidal teenager (Angela), a homicidal sociopath (Eddie) and of course our hero. Only one character, Laura, seems normal. Another, Maria, looks exactly like James’ dead wife and shares some of her memories, but also suffers from rapid mood swings and (spoiler warning) multiple instances of gory death.
It’s hard to discuss the underlying themes of the game without giving away too much, so let’s concentrate on other things. First, the town: Silent Hill is a quiet, foggy place since the events of the first game. Also missing is the first game’s shock factor. Instead, the streets (and buildings) are filled with a quiet, lurking unease that builds nicely as James discovers truths about Silent Hill’s history and his own past. Oh, and don’t forget the zombie nurses and slimy straitjacket monsters, plus the occasional truly dead resident.
Combat is actually pretty easy, even on higher difficulty levels. That’s fitting, because this game is all about the story. The folks at Konami want players to push on, learning more and more without having to spend too much time trying to figure out how to kill bosses. Puzzles are crafted in much the same spirit, with varying difficulty levels but generally relying on exploring, finding items and using them in the right place.
Graphics and sound are absolutely amazing, from flashlight effects to cutscenes of a quality matching the movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The plot, too, is nicely done, without any glaring holes and (as Konami promised) far less ambiguous than that of the original. Silent Hill 2 has four official endings, plus one more hidden on Playstation 2 and two more hidden on XBox. It takes unveiling all four to fully appreciate James’ story.
Some of the plot holes are addressed in "Born From A Wish," the XBox-exclusive chapter. This time around, the player controls Maria in a sort of prologue to James’ adventures, but explaining her role in them. Again, I can’t say too much, for fear of giving it away — meet me in the ESCmag forums and we can throw spoilers around.
Wow, that was perhaps the most vague review I’ve written in a while, but Konami truly did such a great job that I’m loathe to reveal too much. Survival horror and Silent Hill fans will want to run out and get this one, but so should fans of adventure games and mind boggling plots. It’s not perfect, but comes damn close. | 
