Silent Hill 2
Encyclopedia
Silent Hill 2 is a survival horror video game published by Konami
for the PlayStation 2
and developed by Team Silent
, a production group within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. The second installment in the Silent Hill
series, the game was released in September 2001; an extended version of it was released for the Xbox
in December of the same year as Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams in North America and Silent Hill 2: Inner Fears in Europe, and for the PlayStation 2 in 2002 as Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut, with a port of Director's Cut to Microsoft Windows
released in December 2002. Silent Hill 2 has been re-released multiple times, including under the Greatest Hits label and as part of The Silent Hill Collection, while a remastered high-definition
version of it is due for release for the PlayStation 3
and the Xbox 360
.
While it is set in the series' namesake town, Silent Hill 2 is not a direct sequel to the events and characters of the first Silent Hill game
. Instead, it centers on James Sunderland, who enters the town after receiving a letter written by his deceased wife, saying she is waiting for him in their "special place" in Silent Hill. Joined by Maria, who strongly resembles her, he searches for her and discovers the truth about her death. Additional material in re-releases and ports included Born from a Wish, a sub-scenario which focuses on Maria before she and James meet.
Silent Hill 2 uses a third-person perspective and gameplay places a greater emphasis on finding items and solving riddles than combat, similar to the first Silent Hill. Psychological aspects such as the gradual disappearance of Mary's letter were added to the game. More humanoid than their counterparts in the preceding game, some of the monsters were designed as a reflection of James' subconscious. Real-life references to history, films and literary works can also be found in the game.
Silent Hill 2 was positively received by the audience and critics. Within the month of its release in North America, Japan and Europe, over one million copies were sold, with the greatest sales in North America. English-language critics praised the atmosphere, graphics, story and monster designs of Silent Hill 2, but criticized the controls as difficult to use. Silent Hill 2 appeared on several critics' top lists for its story and use of metaphors, psychological horror and taboo topics.
The objective of Silent Hill 2 is to guide the player character
, James Sunderland, through the monster-filled town of Silent Hill as he searches for his deceased wife. The game features a third-person perspective, with various camera angles for different areas of the map in contrast to simply always having the player view the game from behind the back of James. There is no heads-up display
; to check their health, location, and items, the player must enter the pause-game menu to review their status. Maps are collected throughout the game, and can only be read if there is sufficient light or when James' flashlight is on. James will update relevant maps to reflect locked doors, clues and obstructions. James will also write down the content of all documents for future reference.
Much of the gameplay consists of navigating the town and finding keys or other items to bypass doors or other obstructions, with less focus on killing enemies. Occasionally puzzles will be presented, often with riddles left for the player to interpret. The difficulty levels of the enemies and the puzzles are determined independently by the player before starting the game. James keeps a radio with him which alerts him to the presence of creatures by emitting static, allowing him to detect them even through the thick fog. He will also tilt his head in the direction of a nearby item or monster. The default control for Silent Hill 2 has James moving in the direction that he is facing when the player tilts the analog stick upwards. Additionally, there are a total of six weapons available: three melee weapon
s and three firearms, with another two melee weapons unlocked during replays. Throughout the game, James can find health restoratives
such as first-aid kits, health drinks and ammunition.
, Silent Hill 2 takes place in the series' foggy namesake town which is located in the northeastern United States. More than a physical location, the town of Silent Hill draws upon the psyche of its visitors and ultimately forms alternative versions of the town, which differ depending on the character. James Sunderland is the protagonist and primary player character of Silent Hill 2, who comes to the town after receiving a letter from his deceased wife Mary. While exploring the town, he encounters Maria, who strongly resembles Mary except for a different personality and clothing; Angela Orosco, a 19-year-old who ran away to Silent Hill so she could search for her mother; Eddie Dombrowski; and Laura, an eight-year-old who befriended Mary during her stay at the same hospital.
After arriving in Silent Hill, James decides to search Rosewater Park, where he meets Maria, who claims that she has never met or seen Mary and, as she is scared, he allows her to follow him. While looking for Laura inside a hospital, James and Maria are ambushed by the monster Pyramid Head
, and Maria is killed by him just as James escapes; He resumes his task of finding Mary, and chooses to search a local hotel, where he and Mary spent their vacation. While en route, James inexplicably finds Maria alive, unharmed and locked in a prison cell. She greets him and claims ignorance to their previous encounter, and discusses elements of James and Mary's past that only Mary would know. James then sets off to find a way to release Maria from the cell, and returns only to find her dead once more.
Eventually, James saves Angela from a monster; she confesses that her father used to sexually abuse her. Further on, James confronts a gun-wielding Eddie, who admits to maiming a bully and killing his dog before fleeing to Silent Hill; James kills him in self-defense when he attacks.
At the hotel, James locates a videotape, which depicts him smothering his dying wife with a pillow, much to the horror of Laura, who was friends with Mary in her time at the hospital. At this point in the game, the letter from Mary vanishes entirely from the envelope. In another room, a final meeting with Angela sees her giving up on life and unable to cope with her guilt any longer. She walks into the flames of a burning staircase and is not seen again. James later encounters two Pyramid Heads, along with an alive Maria, who is killed again. James realizes that Pyramid Head was created because he needed someone to punish him. The envelope from Mary disappears and both Pyramid Heads impale themselves with their own spears. James heads to the hotel's rooftop; depending on choices made by the player throughout the game, he encounters either Mary or Maria disguised as her.
Silent Hill 2 features six possible endings, with official statements from Konami having kept their canonicity ambiguous. In "Leave", James has one last meeting with Mary, reads her full letter and leaves the town with Laura, while "In Water" sees James commit suicide; in "Rebirth", James plans to resurrect Mary using objects collected throughout the game. The "Maria" ending sees Mary as the woman on the rooftop, who has not forgiven James for killing her. After her defeat, James dismisses her as a hallucination and then leaves the town with an alive Maria, who starts coughing.
The other two are joke endings available on replay games: in the first, called "Dog", James discovers that, beyond a locked door, a dog has apparently been controlling all the events of the game from a vision mixer, and the second is a continuation of the joke ending of the first game, in which James is abducted by extraterrestrials
with the help of the first game's protagonist, Harry Mason.
with a gun and contemplating suicide, she resolves to go out and find someone. She eventually locates a mansion, where she hears the voice of its owner, Ernest Baldwin. At first Maria is relieved to have found another living human, but Ernest refuses to let Maria into the room where he is and will only talk to her through its closed door. After Maria completes tasks for him, Ernest warns her about James, whom he describes as a "bad man". After Maria opens the door to Ernest's room and finds it empty, she leaves the mansion.
Silent Hill 2 was developed by Team Silent
, a production group within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. The story was conceived by CGI director Takayoshi Sato who based it on the novel Crime and Punishment
, with individual members of the team collaborating on the actual scenario. The main writing was done by Hiroyuki Owaku
and Sato, the latter of which provided the dialog for the female characters. The atmosphere of the game is for the most part similar to the first game, including the abandoned and/or decomposing look of the town and the persistent fog obscuring the streets, but it has been given a more psychological twist. One example of this is James' letter from Mary, which progressively disappears during the game, hinting, as Konami later confirmed, that the letter was merely another part of James' hallucinations. The hotel also transforms from being just as it was three years ago, to its true form of a mostly burned-out structure. Throughout the game, James jumps down holes, symbolically descending into his mind, and can unlock a door on the floor, suggesting that he is not experiencing reality. Other acknowledged attempts to induce a psychological influence on the game include placing Mary's dress on a mannequin in the room where James discovers the flashlight and modeling at least one dead body in the town after James.
The monsters in the game, as well as being more humanoid in design than their counterparts in the preceding game, are acknowledged to have been, for the most part, designed as a reflection of James' subconscious. At least two creatures, the "Mannequin" and "Bubble Head Nurse", are acknowledged to have been created with sexual suggestion in mind, a reflection of James' desires and likely sexual deprivation during Mary's illness. Pyramid Head is acknowledged to have been based on the executioners of the town's fictional history and is intended to be a punisher for James. Two exceptions to this theme are the "Abstract Daddy", a reflection of the subconscious and memories of Angela, and the "Creepers", which are also seen in the first game.
Silent Hill 2 also incorporates some references to real-life events. In the original scenario, the developers designed Maria and James with double personalities: Maria's other personality was "Mary", a reference to Mary Jane Kelly
, Jack the Ripper
's last victim, while James' was "Joseph", a reference to one of the Jack the Ripper suspects. Other observers have claimed that Maria's outfit was copied from Christina Aguilera
's appearance at the 1999 Teen Choice Awards
. Eddie Dombrowski's name was taken from actor Eddie Murphy
back during the beginning phases of production when Eddie was originally designed with a pleasantly optimistic personality. The name of Angela Orosco was derived from Angela Bennett, the name of the protagonist in the film The Net, and Laura's from the novel No Language But a Cry by Richard D'Ambrosio. The developers satirized guns in American society by allowing James to find a handgun in a shopping cart
. There are also indications that the layout of Silent Hill has been based on the town of San Bruno, California
, to a certain extent.
composed the music of Silent Hill 2. At his home, Yamaoka took three days to write the music for "Theme of Laura", the main theme of Silent Hill 2, by combining "a sad melody" and "a strong beat", although he does not consider a melody to be the "most important" element of a music piece. He wanted to evoke emotion from the player with the music. Silent Hill 2 makes extensive use of sound effect
s ranging from screams to footsteps on broken glass. In charge of the game's fifty sound effects, Yamaoka wanted to surprise the player with different sounds and create an unsettling environment. He also incorporated occasional silence, commenting that "selecting moments of silence is another way of producing sound."
Konami
published Silent Hill 2 Original Soundtracks in Japan on October 3, 2001. Eight tracks ("Theme of Laura", "Null Moon", "Love Psalm", "True", "Promise", "Fermata in Mistic Air", "Laura Plays the Piano" and "Overdose Delusion") appeared in the 2006 PlayStation Portable
release The Silent Hill Experience.
in North America on September 24, 2001, in Japan on September 27, 2001, and in Europe on November 23, 2001. The original European edition also included a second disc: a "Making-of
" DVD video featuring trailers, an artwork gallery and a documentary on the title's development. The revised version of the game was ported back to the PS2 and billed as a director's cut
under both the "Greatest Hits" and "Platinum
" labels depending on location. In 2006, Konami re-released Silent Hill 2 with its indirect PS2 sequels, Silent Hill 3
and Silent Hill 4: The Room
, as The Silent Hill Collection and again in 2009.
Ports of the game were also published. Konami released the Xbox
port in North America on December 20, 2001, in Japan on February 22, 2002, and in Europe on October 14, 2002. Each region had a different subtitle: the Xbox port was subtitled in Japan, Restless Dreams in North America, and Inner Fears in Europe. Creature Labs
ported Silent Hill 2 to the PC
, which Konami released in December 2002. The PC port is equivalent to the Xbox port and the PS2 budget versions, and includes Born from a Wish and the extra ending. Added features included the ability to quicksave, and trailers
for Silent Hill 3.
Critical reaction to the game was generally favorable. Rating aggregation site Game Rankings
shows an average rating of 85.77% for the PS2 version, 82.40% for the Xbox version, and 70.33% for the PC version. Rating aggregation site Metacritic
shows an average rating of 89 out of 100 for the PS2 version, 84 out of 100 for the Xbox version, and 70 out of 100 for the PC version.
Reviews of the original PS2 game were mostly positive. While noting that the game "doesn't break any molds or revolutionize the survival-horror genre in any particular way", IGN
commended the "strangely heartbreaking, even a tad depressing" story, "respectable, believable" voice acting, creepy monster designs, unsettling sound effects and the "stunning" graphics of the game. IGN felt that while the general gameplay remained mostly unchanged from the first Silent Hill, it was improved by better camera angles and controls. GameSpot
described Silent Hill 2 as "a much prettier, somewhat smarter but less-compelling game than the original", praising the eerie monster designs, "impressive" graphics, audio and the more coherent but less compelling plot. According to GameSpot, the "awkward writing" hurt the voice acting and the monsters were not as frightening as the ones in Silent Hill. Ben Croshaw
of The Escapist
cites the game as a personal favorite, calling it "the benchmark for video game storytelling and atmosphere."
Reactions to the Xbox port were also positive. GameSpot noted the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions were mostly similar except for the Born from a Wish side-story found on the Xbox version, which it called "a commendable extra" that did not add much to the game or help to further elucidate the plot of Silent Hill 2. The PC port was not as well-received. Reviewers criticized the bizarre camera angles, "lifeless" voice acting, "tedious" gameplay and combat, difficulty in controlling the player character, and the overall adaption. Conversely, GameSpy
found the PC port overall to be "[a] fantastic translation of Konami's stylish and scary survival-horror game".
Silent Hill 2 appeared on several critics' lists for its story and use of metaphors, psychological horror, and taboo topics. It ranked 1st on X-Play
's list of the "Scariest Games of All Time" in 2006. IGN listed it as an Editor's Choice, one of the five best horror video games created after 2000 in 2009, and one of the twentieth greatest PlayStation 2 game of all time. Additionally in 2010, IGN ranked it as 54th in its "Top 100 PS2 games". In 2008, GamesRadar
placed it on its list of the fifteen "Best Videogame Stories Ever", describing it as "a punishing tale not easily matched". In 2009, Destructoid
ranked it fifteenth in its list of the "Top 50 Videogames of the Decade", noting that it "is most memorable for its introduction of iconic video game character Pyramid Head". That same year, Wired.com listed it as the eleventh most influential game of the decade for its emphasis on psychological horror and exploration of taboo topics such as incest
and domestic abuse, rather than gore.
revealed that James disappeared when he went to Silent Hill. It also introduces his father, Frank Sunderland, as the superintendent of the South Ashfield Heights Apartments building in the fictional town of Ashfield. The seventh installment, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
, finds James briefly interrupting Cheryl Mason's therapy session during the "UFO" joke ending. After he leaves, Dr. Kaufmann states that James is a couple's therapy patient and remarks that Mary hasn't been seen for some time.
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and developed by Team Silent
Team Silent
Team Silent was a development group within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo , responsible for the first four games in the Silent Hill franchise by Konami released from 1999 to 2004, with later titles developed by external Western companies such as Climax Studios and Double Helix Games...
, a production group within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. The second installment in the Silent Hill
Silent Hill
is a survival horror video game series consisting of seven installments published by Konami and its subsidiary Konami Digital Entertainment. The first four games in the series, Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, 3 and 4, have been developed by an internal factor, Team Silent...
series, the game was released in September 2001; an extended version of it was released for the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
in December of the same year as Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams in North America and Silent Hill 2: Inner Fears in Europe, and for the PlayStation 2 in 2002 as Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut, with a port of Director's Cut to Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
released in December 2002. Silent Hill 2 has been re-released multiple times, including under the Greatest Hits label and as part of The Silent Hill Collection, while a remastered high-definition
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
version of it is due for release for the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
.
While it is set in the series' namesake town, Silent Hill 2 is not a direct sequel to the events and characters of the first Silent Hill game
Silent Hill (video game)
Silent Hill is a survival horror video game for the PlayStation and the first installment in the Silent Hill series. Published by Konami and developed by Team Silent, a Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo group, the game was released in North America in January 1999, and in Japan and Europe later...
. Instead, it centers on James Sunderland, who enters the town after receiving a letter written by his deceased wife, saying she is waiting for him in their "special place" in Silent Hill. Joined by Maria, who strongly resembles her, he searches for her and discovers the truth about her death. Additional material in re-releases and ports included Born from a Wish, a sub-scenario which focuses on Maria before she and James meet.
Silent Hill 2 uses a third-person perspective and gameplay places a greater emphasis on finding items and solving riddles than combat, similar to the first Silent Hill. Psychological aspects such as the gradual disappearance of Mary's letter were added to the game. More humanoid than their counterparts in the preceding game, some of the monsters were designed as a reflection of James' subconscious. Real-life references to history, films and literary works can also be found in the game.
Silent Hill 2 was positively received by the audience and critics. Within the month of its release in North America, Japan and Europe, over one million copies were sold, with the greatest sales in North America. English-language critics praised the atmosphere, graphics, story and monster designs of Silent Hill 2, but criticized the controls as difficult to use. Silent Hill 2 appeared on several critics' top lists for its story and use of metaphors, psychological horror and taboo topics.
Gameplay
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
, James Sunderland, through the monster-filled town of Silent Hill as he searches for his deceased wife. The game features a third-person perspective, with various camera angles for different areas of the map in contrast to simply always having the player view the game from behind the back of James. There is no heads-up display
HUD (computer gaming)
In video gaming, the HUD is the method by which information is visually relayed to the player as part of a game's user interface...
; to check their health, location, and items, the player must enter the pause-game menu to review their status. Maps are collected throughout the game, and can only be read if there is sufficient light or when James' flashlight is on. James will update relevant maps to reflect locked doors, clues and obstructions. James will also write down the content of all documents for future reference.
Much of the gameplay consists of navigating the town and finding keys or other items to bypass doors or other obstructions, with less focus on killing enemies. Occasionally puzzles will be presented, often with riddles left for the player to interpret. The difficulty levels of the enemies and the puzzles are determined independently by the player before starting the game. James keeps a radio with him which alerts him to the presence of creatures by emitting static, allowing him to detect them even through the thick fog. He will also tilt his head in the direction of a nearby item or monster. The default control for Silent Hill 2 has James moving in the direction that he is facing when the player tilts the analog stick upwards. Additionally, there are a total of six weapons available: three melee weapon
Mêlée weapon
A melee weapon is any weapon that does not involve a projectile — that is, both the user and target of the weapon are in contact with it simultaneously in normal use...
s and three firearms, with another two melee weapons unlocked during replays. Throughout the game, James can find health restoratives
Health (gaming)
Health is a game mechanic used in role-playing, computer and video games to give value to characters, enemies, NPCs, and related objects. This value can either be numerical, semi-numerical as in hit/health points, or arbitrary as in a life bar....
such as first-aid kits, health drinks and ammunition.
Plot
While not a direct sequel to the events and characters of the first Silent Hill gameSilent Hill (video game)
Silent Hill is a survival horror video game for the PlayStation and the first installment in the Silent Hill series. Published by Konami and developed by Team Silent, a Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo group, the game was released in North America in January 1999, and in Japan and Europe later...
, Silent Hill 2 takes place in the series' foggy namesake town which is located in the northeastern United States. More than a physical location, the town of Silent Hill draws upon the psyche of its visitors and ultimately forms alternative versions of the town, which differ depending on the character. James Sunderland is the protagonist and primary player character of Silent Hill 2, who comes to the town after receiving a letter from his deceased wife Mary. While exploring the town, he encounters Maria, who strongly resembles Mary except for a different personality and clothing; Angela Orosco, a 19-year-old who ran away to Silent Hill so she could search for her mother; Eddie Dombrowski; and Laura, an eight-year-old who befriended Mary during her stay at the same hospital.
After arriving in Silent Hill, James decides to search Rosewater Park, where he meets Maria, who claims that she has never met or seen Mary and, as she is scared, he allows her to follow him. While looking for Laura inside a hospital, James and Maria are ambushed by the monster Pyramid Head
Pyramid Head
Pyramid Head, also known as Red Pyramid Thing or in Japan, is a fictional character from the Silent Hill series of survival horror video games published by Konami. Introduced in the 2001 installment Silent Hill 2, he stalks James Sunderland, the primary player character, who comes to the town of...
, and Maria is killed by him just as James escapes; He resumes his task of finding Mary, and chooses to search a local hotel, where he and Mary spent their vacation. While en route, James inexplicably finds Maria alive, unharmed and locked in a prison cell. She greets him and claims ignorance to their previous encounter, and discusses elements of James and Mary's past that only Mary would know. James then sets off to find a way to release Maria from the cell, and returns only to find her dead once more.
Eventually, James saves Angela from a monster; she confesses that her father used to sexually abuse her. Further on, James confronts a gun-wielding Eddie, who admits to maiming a bully and killing his dog before fleeing to Silent Hill; James kills him in self-defense when he attacks.
At the hotel, James locates a videotape, which depicts him smothering his dying wife with a pillow, much to the horror of Laura, who was friends with Mary in her time at the hospital. At this point in the game, the letter from Mary vanishes entirely from the envelope. In another room, a final meeting with Angela sees her giving up on life and unable to cope with her guilt any longer. She walks into the flames of a burning staircase and is not seen again. James later encounters two Pyramid Heads, along with an alive Maria, who is killed again. James realizes that Pyramid Head was created because he needed someone to punish him. The envelope from Mary disappears and both Pyramid Heads impale themselves with their own spears. James heads to the hotel's rooftop; depending on choices made by the player throughout the game, he encounters either Mary or Maria disguised as her.
Silent Hill 2 features six possible endings, with official statements from Konami having kept their canonicity ambiguous. In "Leave", James has one last meeting with Mary, reads her full letter and leaves the town with Laura, while "In Water" sees James commit suicide; in "Rebirth", James plans to resurrect Mary using objects collected throughout the game. The "Maria" ending sees Mary as the woman on the rooftop, who has not forgiven James for killing her. After her defeat, James dismisses her as a hallucination and then leaves the town with an alive Maria, who starts coughing.
The other two are joke endings available on replay games: in the first, called "Dog", James discovers that, beyond a locked door, a dog has apparently been controlling all the events of the game from a vision mixer, and the second is a continuation of the joke ending of the first game, in which James is abducted by extraterrestrials
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
with the help of the first game's protagonist, Harry Mason.
Born from a Wish
Born from a Wish is a side-story scenario in the special editions and re-releases of the game in which the player takes control of Maria shortly before she and James meet at Toluca Lake. After waking up in a local strip clubStrip club
A strip club is an adult entertainment venue in which striptease or other erotic or exotic dance is regularly performed. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, but can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style....
with a gun and contemplating suicide, she resolves to go out and find someone. She eventually locates a mansion, where she hears the voice of its owner, Ernest Baldwin. At first Maria is relieved to have found another living human, but Ernest refuses to let Maria into the room where he is and will only talk to her through its closed door. After Maria completes tasks for him, Ernest warns her about James, whom he describes as a "bad man". After Maria opens the door to Ernest's room and finds it empty, she leaves the mansion.
Influences and design
Team Silent
Team Silent was a development group within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo , responsible for the first four games in the Silent Hill franchise by Konami released from 1999 to 2004, with later titles developed by external Western companies such as Climax Studios and Double Helix Games...
, a production group within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. The story was conceived by CGI director Takayoshi Sato who based it on the novel Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866. It was later published in a single volume. This is the second of Dostoyevsky's full-length novels following his...
, with individual members of the team collaborating on the actual scenario. The main writing was done by Hiroyuki Owaku
Hiroyuki Owaku
is a Japanese video game writer best known for his work with Team Silent in the Silent Hill franchise.-Career:Ōwaku first worked in the survival horror video game Silent Hill as event programmer and enemy programmer. Following the game's success, Team Silent worked on various sequels, direct or...
and Sato, the latter of which provided the dialog for the female characters. The atmosphere of the game is for the most part similar to the first game, including the abandoned and/or decomposing look of the town and the persistent fog obscuring the streets, but it has been given a more psychological twist. One example of this is James' letter from Mary, which progressively disappears during the game, hinting, as Konami later confirmed, that the letter was merely another part of James' hallucinations. The hotel also transforms from being just as it was three years ago, to its true form of a mostly burned-out structure. Throughout the game, James jumps down holes, symbolically descending into his mind, and can unlock a door on the floor, suggesting that he is not experiencing reality. Other acknowledged attempts to induce a psychological influence on the game include placing Mary's dress on a mannequin in the room where James discovers the flashlight and modeling at least one dead body in the town after James.
The monsters in the game, as well as being more humanoid in design than their counterparts in the preceding game, are acknowledged to have been, for the most part, designed as a reflection of James' subconscious. At least two creatures, the "Mannequin" and "Bubble Head Nurse", are acknowledged to have been created with sexual suggestion in mind, a reflection of James' desires and likely sexual deprivation during Mary's illness. Pyramid Head is acknowledged to have been based on the executioners of the town's fictional history and is intended to be a punisher for James. Two exceptions to this theme are the "Abstract Daddy", a reflection of the subconscious and memories of Angela, and the "Creepers", which are also seen in the first game.
Silent Hill 2 also incorporates some references to real-life events. In the original scenario, the developers designed Maria and James with double personalities: Maria's other personality was "Mary", a reference to Mary Jane Kelly
Mary Jane Kelly
Mary Jane Kelly , also known as "Marie Jeanette" Kelly, "Fair Emma", "Ginger" and "Black Mary", is widely believed to be the fifth and final victim of the notorious unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper, who killed and mutilated prostitutes in the Whitechapel area of London from late August to...
, Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
's last victim, while James' was "Joseph", a reference to one of the Jack the Ripper suspects. Other observers have claimed that Maria's outfit was copied from Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
's appearance at the 1999 Teen Choice Awards
Teen Choice Awards
The Teen Choice Awards, are an annual awards show that air on the Fox cable channel, that honor the year's biggest biggest achievements in music, movies, sports, television, fashion and more, voted by teen viewers aged 14 through 17. Winners receive an authentic full size surfboard designed with...
. Eddie Dombrowski's name was taken from actor Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
back during the beginning phases of production when Eddie was originally designed with a pleasantly optimistic personality. The name of Angela Orosco was derived from Angela Bennett, the name of the protagonist in the film The Net, and Laura's from the novel No Language But a Cry by Richard D'Ambrosio. The developers satirized guns in American society by allowing James to find a handgun in a shopping cart
Shopping cart
A shopping cart is a cart supplied by a shop, especially supermarkets, for use by customers inside the shop for transport of merchandise to the check-out counter during shopping...
. There are also indications that the layout of Silent Hill has been based on the town of San Bruno, California
San Bruno, California
San Bruno is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. The population was 41,114 at the 2010 census.The city is adjacent to San Francisco International Airport and Golden Gate National Cemetery.-Geography:San Bruno is located at...
, to a certain extent.
Audio
Akira YamaokaAkira Yamaoka
is a video game composer, sound designer, sound director, and video game producer who worked for Konami since 1993 until his resignation in 2009. He is best known for creating the music in the Silent Hill series; he also worked as a sound director and producer on the series as well as serving as a...
composed the music of Silent Hill 2. At his home, Yamaoka took three days to write the music for "Theme of Laura", the main theme of Silent Hill 2, by combining "a sad melody" and "a strong beat", although he does not consider a melody to be the "most important" element of a music piece. He wanted to evoke emotion from the player with the music. Silent Hill 2 makes extensive use of sound effect
Sound effect
For the album by The Jam, see Sound Affects.Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media...
s ranging from screams to footsteps on broken glass. In charge of the game's fifty sound effects, Yamaoka wanted to surprise the player with different sounds and create an unsettling environment. He also incorporated occasional silence, commenting that "selecting moments of silence is another way of producing sound."
Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
published Silent Hill 2 Original Soundtracks in Japan on October 3, 2001. Eight tracks ("Theme of Laura", "Null Moon", "Love Psalm", "True", "Promise", "Fermata in Mistic Air", "Laura Plays the Piano" and "Overdose Delusion") appeared in the 2006 PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
release The Silent Hill Experience.
| Silent Hill 2 Original Soundtracks | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. |
"Theme of Laura" "White Noiz" "Forest" "Ordinary Vanity" "Promise (Reprise)" "Ashes and Ghost" "Null Moon" "Heaven's Night" "Alone in the Town" |
3:24 1:24 1:43 1:47 1:39 1:45 3:08 2:50 2:04 1:38 |
11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. |
"Angel's Thanatos" "The Day of Night" "Block Mind" "Magdalene" "Fermata in Mistic Air" "Prisonic Fairytale" "Love Psalm" "Silent Heaven" "Noone Love You" |
1:16 3:17 1:37 1:12 1:25 2:16 1:54 4:26 2:13 1:32 |
21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. |
"The Reverse Will" "Laura Plays the Piano" "True" "Betrayal" "Black Fairy" "Theme of Laura (Reprise)" "Overdose Delusion" "Pianissimo Epilogue" "Promise" |
3:33 1:55 4:31 3:07 2:30 1:12 1:51 4:31 1:37 4:40 |
||||||||||||||
Releases
Silent Hill 2 was first released for the PlayStation 2PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
in North America on September 24, 2001, in Japan on September 27, 2001, and in Europe on November 23, 2001. The original European edition also included a second disc: a "Making-of
Making-of
In cinema, a making-of, also known as behind-the-scenes, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television program...
" DVD video featuring trailers, an artwork gallery and a documentary on the title's development. The revised version of the game was ported back to the PS2 and billed as a director's cut
Director's cut
A director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
under both the "Greatest Hits" and "Platinum
Platinum range
The Platinum Range is a Sony PlayStation budget range in the PAL regions, notably Europe , Australia, New Zealand, India, and Africa...
" labels depending on location. In 2006, Konami re-released Silent Hill 2 with its indirect PS2 sequels, Silent Hill 3
Silent Hill 3
Silent Hill 3 is a survival horror video game published by Konami for the PlayStation 2 and developed by Team Silent, a production group within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. It is the third installment in the Silent Hill series and a direct sequel to the first Silent Hill game...
and Silent Hill 4: The Room
Silent Hill 4: The Room
Silent Hill 4: The Room is the fourth installment in the Silent Hill survival horror series, published by Konami and developed by Team Silent, a production group within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. The game was released in Japan in June 2004 and in North America and Europe in September of...
, as The Silent Hill Collection and again in 2009.
Ports of the game were also published. Konami released the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
port in North America on December 20, 2001, in Japan on February 22, 2002, and in Europe on October 14, 2002. Each region had a different subtitle: the Xbox port was subtitled in Japan, Restless Dreams in North America, and Inner Fears in Europe. Creature Labs
Creature Labs
Creature Labs was a company based in Cambridge, England which was set up to develop the artificial life technology created by Steve Grand...
ported Silent Hill 2 to the PC
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, which Konami released in December 2002. The PC port is equivalent to the Xbox port and the PS2 budget versions, and includes Born from a Wish and the extra ending. Added features included the ability to quicksave, and trailers
Trailer (film)
A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the...
for Silent Hill 3.
Reception
Silent Hill 2 was positively received, selling over one million copies in the month of its release in North America, Japan and Europe, with the most units sold in North America. Since then, Silent Hill 2 has also been re-released as a Greatest Hits game.Critical reaction to the game was generally favorable. Rating aggregation site Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
shows an average rating of 85.77% for the PS2 version, 82.40% for the Xbox version, and 70.33% for the PC version. Rating aggregation site Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
shows an average rating of 89 out of 100 for the PS2 version, 84 out of 100 for the Xbox version, and 70 out of 100 for the PC version.
Reviews of the original PS2 game were mostly positive. While noting that the game "doesn't break any molds or revolutionize the survival-horror genre in any particular way", IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
commended the "strangely heartbreaking, even a tad depressing" story, "respectable, believable" voice acting, creepy monster designs, unsettling sound effects and the "stunning" graphics of the game. IGN felt that while the general gameplay remained mostly unchanged from the first Silent Hill, it was improved by better camera angles and controls. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
described Silent Hill 2 as "a much prettier, somewhat smarter but less-compelling game than the original", praising the eerie monster designs, "impressive" graphics, audio and the more coherent but less compelling plot. According to GameSpot, the "awkward writing" hurt the voice acting and the monsters were not as frightening as the ones in Silent Hill. Ben Croshaw
Ben Croshaw
Benjamin Richard "Yahtzee" Croshaw is an English comedic writer, video game journalist and author of adventure games created using Adventure Game Studio software. He writes articles for Australia's Hyper magazine, a major games publication...
of The Escapist
The Escapist (magazine)
The Escapist is an online magazine covering video games, gamers, the gaming industry, and gaming culture. Published by the Themis Group, it was edited by Julianne Greer up to June 30, 2009, then by Russ Pitts through September 2011, and is currently edited by Steve Butts. The Escapist was first...
cites the game as a personal favorite, calling it "the benchmark for video game storytelling and atmosphere."
Reactions to the Xbox port were also positive. GameSpot noted the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions were mostly similar except for the Born from a Wish side-story found on the Xbox version, which it called "a commendable extra" that did not add much to the game or help to further elucidate the plot of Silent Hill 2. The PC port was not as well-received. Reviewers criticized the bizarre camera angles, "lifeless" voice acting, "tedious" gameplay and combat, difficulty in controlling the player character, and the overall adaption. Conversely, GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
found the PC port overall to be "[a] fantastic translation of Konami's stylish and scary survival-horror game".
Silent Hill 2 appeared on several critics' lists for its story and use of metaphors, psychological horror, and taboo topics. It ranked 1st on X-Play
X-Play
X-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
's list of the "Scariest Games of All Time" in 2006. IGN listed it as an Editor's Choice, one of the five best horror video games created after 2000 in 2009, and one of the twentieth greatest PlayStation 2 game of all time. Additionally in 2010, IGN ranked it as 54th in its "Top 100 PS2 games". In 2008, GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
placed it on its list of the fifteen "Best Videogame Stories Ever", describing it as "a punishing tale not easily matched". In 2009, Destructoid
Destructoid
Destructoid is an independent video game-focused blog based in San Francisco, California that was founded in March 2006. It has since grown into one of the most widely read video game sites on the Internet, reaching more than 3 million unique visitors per month...
ranked it fifteenth in its list of the "Top 50 Videogames of the Decade", noting that it "is most memorable for its introduction of iconic video game character Pyramid Head". That same year, Wired.com listed it as the eleventh most influential game of the decade for its emphasis on psychological horror and exploration of taboo topics such as incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
and domestic abuse, rather than gore.
Legacy
The events and characters of Silent Hill 2 have been referred to in subsequent installments in the series. If the player has saved data from Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3s protagonist Heather can investigate a clogged toilet in the alternate dimension of the mall, and the player can prompt her to remove the blockage—much like the optional decision in Silent Hill 2. James also makes a cameo in the "UFO" joke ending of the game. Silent Hill 4: The RoomSilent Hill 4: The Room
Silent Hill 4: The Room is the fourth installment in the Silent Hill survival horror series, published by Konami and developed by Team Silent, a production group within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. The game was released in Japan in June 2004 and in North America and Europe in September of...
revealed that James disappeared when he went to Silent Hill. It also introduces his father, Frank Sunderland, as the superintendent of the South Ashfield Heights Apartments building in the fictional town of Ashfield. The seventh installment, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a survival horror video game for the Wii and the seventh installment in the Silent Hill series, being a "reimagining" of the first installment. Published by Konami Digital Entertainment and developed by Climax Studios, the game was released in December 2009, with...
, finds James briefly interrupting Cheryl Mason's therapy session during the "UFO" joke ending. After he leaves, Dr. Kaufmann states that James is a couple's therapy patient and remarks that Mary hasn't been seen for some time.