As a creative enthusiast, I have always admired the incredible works of others. When I was a young one, an adolescent as some might call it, I fell in love with a specific genre of video game: survival horror. The first one I played was the PSOne Director’s Cut of Resident Evil.
What a chilling experience that was! I was probably 10 or 12 at the time. The game was challenging, and I don’t think I ever beat it until it was later remade on the GameCube. Regardless, I fell in love with the creepy atmosphere and the struggle for survival. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy many other game genres as well, but survival horror has always been my favorite.
Around 2001 or 2002, my cousin introduced me to Silent Hill 2. At first, I was hesitant to watch him play, but after a few minutes, I was hooked. Once I played the game myself, I discovered it was unlike any other survival horror game. Silent Hill 2 was so much more.
The gameplay was similar, but the environments were otherworldly. The atmosphere attacked your senses with horrific sounds and dark visuals. You had a radio that emitted static when an enemy was near, but sometimes it didn’t work right. You had a flashlight to guide you, but it couldn’t illuminate everything. To top it off, the game had an amazingly deep psychological story and one of the best videogame soundtracks I’d ever heard. As new Silent Hill games were released, I bought them eagerly, and each one was a wonderful experience, except maybe a couple of them. I’m looking at you, Silent Hill 5.
Silent Hill went dormant for quite a few years after the 2012 release of Silent Hill Downpour. Many consider it a poor entry in the series, but I liked it. The game brought improved visuals to the world I loved and another intriguing psychological story.
Fortunately, someone had the courage to remake Silent Hill 2 this year. It was released in October and far exceeded my expectations. Not only does it capture almost every element I loved from the original game, but it also made significant improvements. My only disappointment is that the camera follows behind the protagonist rather than having set camera angles. In my opinion, set camera angles provide a more creative visual experience, but not having them doesn’t necessarily hurt the game. Needless to say, all my free time in October went to this remake, and it was certainly an unforgettable experience.
If you’re looking for something to play that will creep your socks off, give this one a try.
CURRENTLY LISTENING:
I'm at work, listening to my Tax Relax playlist. The current song is: xwing by Stueve. This is from an Adult Swim bumps album, which I highly recommend to anyone that grew up with a childhood watching that wonderful program. The bumps are on Spotify. Just sayin.
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