Silent Hill 2

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.

General Comments

This review also contains tags and explanations for the "Born from a Wish" extra campaign. All tags that are also in "Born from a Wish" are noted.

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.

This is also true in "Born from a Wish".

Body Horror

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

This is also true in "Born from a Wish".

Claustrophobia

One level requires the Player Character 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.

This is also true in "Born from a Wish".

Death of Family/Friends

The premise of the game is that the Player Character'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 Player Character as having sexualized women to the point of dehumanization. The dehumanization is generally implied by events.

Disease

The Player Character'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 Player Character 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).

This is also true in "Born from a Wish".

Graphic Violence

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

This is also true in "Born from a Wish".

Guns

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

Guns also appear in "Born from a Wish".

Heights

The Player Character is required to jump down several seemingly bottomless pits.

This is also true in "Born from a Wish".

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 Player Character's flashlight dies and when it is switched back on, the room is covered in Creepers.

Creepers also appear in "Born from a Wish".

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.

This is also true in "Born from a Wish".

Psychological Trauma

The Player Character 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.

In "Born from a Wish", Maria briefly contemplates suicide.

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.

Unreality

The character Maria is often implied during gameplay to possibly be a hallucination of the Player Character. Her dialogue can be vague and is meant to intentionally confuse the player as to her identity, whether she is Mary, Maria, or just a figment of James's imagination. This is sometimes resolved based on the ending, but it is never completely addressed.

In "Born from a Wish", Maria meets and speaks with someone who has barricaded themselves inside a room. After completing the game's main quest, it is revealed that the room was empty all along and the voice was possibly Maria's hallucination.

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.

Ad from our Sponsors: