Difference between revisions of "Silent Hill 2"

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''Silent Hill 2'' is a psychological horror game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, Creature Labs, and Hijinx Studio (HD Edition), and published by Konami. The game centers around James, a widower who recently received a letter from his dead wife asking him to come to Silent Hill. James embarks alone to find the origin of the letter. But the longer he stays in the town the more terrifying it becomes, and the closer James comes to realizing his own dark secret. The game is available on Windows, the PS2, PS3, Xbox, and Xbox 360.
 +
 
==[[Animal Death]]==
 
==[[Animal Death]]==
 +
Eddie references killing a dog out of spite.
 +
 
==[[Blood]]==
 
==[[Blood]]==
 +
Blood is a unavoidable result of fighting monsters. Blood is also occasionally found smeared in locations, and occasionally used to write messages.
 +
 
==[[Body Horror]]==
 
==[[Body Horror]]==
 +
All monsters all fall under this category; they are all twisted in some way.
 +
 
==[[Claustrophobia]]==
 
==[[Claustrophobia]]==
 +
One level requires the PC to run down a very narrow hallway while being chased by a monster. There is at least one instance of being forced to hide in a closet from a monster.
 +
 
==[[Dead Bodies]]==
 
==[[Dead Bodies]]==
 +
Most notably, the player finds a slain man in an armchair in one of the early levels.
 +
 +
Monster bodies do not disappear immediately after defeat.
 +
 
==[[Death of Family/Friends]]==
 
==[[Death of Family/Friends]]==
 +
The premise of the game is that the PC's wife has died. Three characters that could be described as friends (Maria, Eddie, and Angela) all die within the course of the game.
 +
 
==[[Dehumanization]]==
 
==[[Dehumanization]]==
 +
Debatable. Some interpret the PC as having sexualized women to the point of dehumanization. The dehumanization is generally implied by events.
 +
 
==[[Disease]]==
 
==[[Disease]]==
 +
The PC's wife dies prior to the game due to an unspecified illness.
 +
 
==[[Drowning]]==
 
==[[Drowning]]==
 +
This game has multiple endings that are unlocked based on variables in the player's gameplay. One ending has the PC drive his car into the lake and drown himself.
 +
 
==[[Emotional Abuse]]==
 
==[[Emotional Abuse]]==
 +
One of the most notable instances includes writing (possibly in blood) on a wall. It says: "If you really want to see Mary, you should just die. But you might be heading to a different place than Mary, James."
 +
 +
Eddie and Angela are implied to have suffered emotional abuse.
 +
 +
Some flashbacks reveal Mary as emotionally/verbally abusive to James while hospitalized.
 +
 
==[[Existential Despair]]==
 
==[[Existential Despair]]==
 +
This game has multiple endings that are unlocked based on variables in the player's gameplay. Some endings have James experience this.
 +
 +
Maria in the supplementary campaign "Born from a Wish" experiences this at the end and contemplates suicide.
 +
 
==[[Fire]]==
 
==[[Fire]]==
 +
During the last level, the PC encounters Angela on a burning staircase. Angela willingly walks into the fire at the end of the cutscene.
 +
 
==[[Ghosts]]==
 
==[[Ghosts]]==
 +
Some may interpret Maria or Mary as ghosts. They do not express ghostly imagery, i.e. transparency, floating, walking through walls, etc.
 +
 
==[[Gore]]==
 
==[[Gore]]==
 +
Some dead bodies are in a gory state. Gore is produced while killing monsters (most of which are vaguely humanoid).
 +
 
==[[Graphic Violence]]==
 
==[[Graphic Violence]]==
 +
The PC is capable of fighting monsters with various melee weapons and guns. These weapons always produce graphic blood spatters.
 +
 
==[[Guns]]==
 
==[[Guns]]==
 +
Guns are used in combat by the PC and one boss, Eddie.
 +
 
==[[Heights]]==
 
==[[Heights]]==
 +
The PC is required to jump down several seemingly bottomless pits.
 +
 
==[[Incest]]==
 
==[[Incest]]==
 +
Angela is implied to have been raped and sexually abused by her father.
 +
 
==[[Insects]]==
 
==[[Insects]]==
 +
One enemy, 'Creepers', resemble large beetles, roughly the size of a foot. There is one instance where the PC's flashlight dies and when it is switched back on, the room is covered in Creepers.
 +
 
==[[Jump Scares]]==
 
==[[Jump Scares]]==
 +
There are a handful of instances where monsters or otherwise disturbing sights appear without warning.
 +
 
==[[Mental Health Institutions]]==
 
==[[Mental Health Institutions]]==
 +
Brookhaven Hospital is a mental institution that must be explored to progress. The treatment of the patients was extremely abusive, as revealed through items and scenes throughout the level.
 +
 
==[[Murder]]==
 
==[[Murder]]==
 +
Eddie is revealed to have murdered someone prior to the game and is implied to have murdered others during the course of the game.
 +
 +
Angela murdered her father prior to the game (albeit in self-defense).
 +
 +
The PC is revealed to have murdered his wife.
 +
 +
Maria is murdered multiple times throughout the game.
 +
 
==[[Psychological Horror]]==
 
==[[Psychological Horror]]==
 +
This game is considered a staple of the psychological horror genre. Nearly every aspect of the game is meant to invoke this.
 +
 
==[[Psychological Trauma]]==
 
==[[Psychological Trauma]]==
 +
The PC has experienced trauma and has repressed memories.
 +
 
==[[Self Harm]]==
 
==[[Self Harm]]==
 +
One scene shows Angela holding a knife as if intending to self harm or commit suicide, although the PC dissuades her.
 +
 
==[[Sex]]==
 
==[[Sex]]==
 +
One of the early levels depicts what appears to be some of the monsters engaging in sex. It is implied to be rape.
 +
 
==[[Sexual Assault]]==
 
==[[Sexual Assault]]==
 +
Angela is implied to have been sexually assaulted by her father. An early level of the game depicts a male-coded monster raping two female-coded monsters.
 +
 
==[[Sexualization/Objectification]]==
 
==[[Sexualization/Objectification]]==
 +
Many of the monsters are feminine and draw from ideas of sexual objectification; player encounters a sexualized version of the PC’s wife.
 +
 
==[[Suicide]]==
 
==[[Suicide]]==
 +
Angela is clearly suicidal and her final scene suggests that she finally commits suicide (albeit off-screen).
 +
 +
This game has multiple endings that are unlocked based on variables in the player's gameplay. One possible ending results in the PC committing suicide by driving his car into the lake.
 +
 
==[[Supernatural Evil]]==
 
==[[Supernatural Evil]]==
 +
One possible interpretation of the town and its monsters is that they are supernatural in origin and nature.
 +
 
==[[Torture]]==
 
==[[Torture]]==
 +
Some of the treatments in Brookhaven Hospital qualify as torture.
 +
 
==[[Undead/Zombies]]==
 
==[[Undead/Zombies]]==
 +
Some monsters may be interpreted as zombies or undead.
 +
 
==[[Victim Blaming]]==
 
==[[Victim Blaming]]==
 +
Angela specifically mentions that her mother said she 'deserved' to be sexually assaulted by her father.
 +
 
==[[Vomiting]]==
 
==[[Vomiting]]==
 +
When the player first meets Eddie in the Hotel level, he is shown vomiting in a toilet. Retching noises are heard in the room immediately before the player finds Eddie.
 +
 +
If the player chooses to look inside toilets found throughout the Otherworld, most of them will have some sort of vomit or blood inside them.
 +
 
==[[Weapons]]==
 
==[[Weapons]]==
 +
The PC has a variety of weapons available for self-defense.
 +
 +
Eddie and Angela both have weapons in their possession at different points of the game.
  
  

Revision as of 17:34, 14 August 2014

Silent Hill 2 is a psychological horror game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, Creature Labs, and Hijinx Studio (HD Edition), and published by Konami. The game centers around James, a widower who recently received a letter from his dead wife asking him to come to Silent Hill. James embarks alone to find the origin of the letter. But the longer he stays in the town the more terrifying it becomes, and the closer James comes to realizing his own dark secret. The game is available on Windows, the PS2, PS3, Xbox, and Xbox 360.

Animal Death

Eddie references killing a dog out of spite.

Blood

Blood is a unavoidable result of fighting monsters. Blood is also occasionally found smeared in locations, and occasionally used to write messages.

Body Horror

All monsters all fall under this category; they are all twisted in some way.

Claustrophobia

One level requires the PC to run down a very narrow hallway while being chased by a monster. There is at least one instance of being forced to hide in a closet from a monster.

Dead Bodies

Most notably, the player finds a slain man in an armchair in one of the early levels.

Monster bodies do not disappear immediately after defeat.

Death of Family/Friends

The premise of the game is that the PC's wife has died. Three characters that could be described as friends (Maria, Eddie, and Angela) all die within the course of the game.

Dehumanization

Debatable. Some interpret the PC as having sexualized women to the point of dehumanization. The dehumanization is generally implied by events.

Disease

The PC's wife dies prior to the game due to an unspecified illness.

Drowning

This game has multiple endings that are unlocked based on variables in the player's gameplay. One ending has the PC drive his car into the lake and drown himself.

Emotional Abuse

One of the most notable instances includes writing (possibly in blood) on a wall. It says: "If you really want to see Mary, you should just die. But you might be heading to a different place than Mary, James."

Eddie and Angela are implied to have suffered emotional abuse.

Some flashbacks reveal Mary as emotionally/verbally abusive to James while hospitalized.

Existential Despair

This game has multiple endings that are unlocked based on variables in the player's gameplay. Some endings have James experience this.

Maria in the supplementary campaign "Born from a Wish" experiences this at the end and contemplates suicide.

Fire

During the last level, the PC encounters Angela on a burning staircase. Angela willingly walks into the fire at the end of the cutscene.

Ghosts

Some may interpret Maria or Mary as ghosts. They do not express ghostly imagery, i.e. transparency, floating, walking through walls, etc.

Gore

Some dead bodies are in a gory state. Gore is produced while killing monsters (most of which are vaguely humanoid).

Graphic Violence

The PC is capable of fighting monsters with various melee weapons and guns. These weapons always produce graphic blood spatters.

Guns

Guns are used in combat by the PC and one boss, Eddie.

Heights

The PC is required to jump down several seemingly bottomless pits.

Incest

Angela is implied to have been raped and sexually abused by her father.

Insects

One enemy, 'Creepers', resemble large beetles, roughly the size of a foot. There is one instance where the PC's flashlight dies and when it is switched back on, the room is covered in Creepers.

Jump Scares

There are a handful of instances where monsters or otherwise disturbing sights appear without warning.

Mental Health Institutions

Brookhaven Hospital is a mental institution that must be explored to progress. The treatment of the patients was extremely abusive, as revealed through items and scenes throughout the level.

Murder

Eddie is revealed to have murdered someone prior to the game and is implied to have murdered others during the course of the game.

Angela murdered her father prior to the game (albeit in self-defense).

The PC is revealed to have murdered his wife.

Maria is murdered multiple times throughout the game.

Psychological Horror

This game is considered a staple of the psychological horror genre. Nearly every aspect of the game is meant to invoke this.

Psychological Trauma

The PC has experienced trauma and has repressed memories.

Self Harm

One scene shows Angela holding a knife as if intending to self harm or commit suicide, although the PC dissuades her.

Sex

One of the early levels depicts what appears to be some of the monsters engaging in sex. It is implied to be rape.

Sexual Assault

Angela is implied to have been sexually assaulted by her father. An early level of the game depicts a male-coded monster raping two female-coded monsters.

Sexualization/Objectification

Many of the monsters are feminine and draw from ideas of sexual objectification; player encounters a sexualized version of the PC’s wife.

Suicide

Angela is clearly suicidal and her final scene suggests that she finally commits suicide (albeit off-screen).

This game has multiple endings that are unlocked based on variables in the player's gameplay. One possible ending results in the PC committing suicide by driving his car into the lake.

Supernatural Evil

One possible interpretation of the town and its monsters is that they are supernatural in origin and nature.

Torture

Some of the treatments in Brookhaven Hospital qualify as torture.

Undead/Zombies

Some monsters may be interpreted as zombies or undead.

Victim Blaming

Angela specifically mentions that her mother said she 'deserved' to be sexually assaulted by her father.

Vomiting

When the player first meets Eddie in the Hotel level, he is shown vomiting in a toilet. Retching noises are heard in the room immediately before the player finds Eddie.

If the player chooses to look inside toilets found throughout the Otherworld, most of them will have some sort of vomit or blood inside them.

Weapons

The PC has a variety of weapons available for self-defense.

Eddie and Angela both have weapons in their possession at different points of the game.

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