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Entering Silent Hill In my restless dreams... I see that place... Silent Hill... I'd heard a lot about this game and had looked for it for a long time but somehow never managed to find one. Now, I'm glad I didn't. Walking into an EB one day, I see Silent Hill 2 on a shelf behind the counter with the 'Greatest Hits' logo emblazoned on it but even then, I wasn't sure if I wanted it. Talking a bit witht he guy behind the counter, I found out that not only was it only $30, it was also full of small extras that weren't in the original...so thinking that I had lucked out, I picked it up on the spot. Unfortunately, due to other plans, I didn't actually get to TRY it until a LOT later that night...but Silent Hill is a place that must be visited in the middle of a moonless night to get the full effect...so late that night, around 2:30 AM, I marched down to the basement, turned off all the lights, turned up the volume and sat there, daring the game to scare me... And so began my journey into the little resort town of Silent Hill. At first, it wasn't so bad. There was a whole shitload of very realistic fog, blowing all around as I jogged down a small forest path. Meeting the first NPC also wasn't too bad...I didn't understand why everyone was making such a fuss about this game. Sure, those random hootings and hollerings that I heard while going down forest path sent a few shivers down my spine, I was sure that nothing would happen so early in the game and sure enough, nothing did. Entering the town, I was struck by how realistic it was. Unlike Resident Evil, where the streets were narrow to enhance ffear when cornered by a bunch of zombies, the streets of Silent Hill were large and open...especially without any cars roaming it's length. No biggy, how the hell are they expecting to scare me with a big empty road shrouded in that damned fog? Running along, I eventually come to a pool of blood smeared into the pavement and a murky shadow of a figure shambling off down a small side street. Pshhh..blood on the street, big deal. I've seen worse in Resident Evil. Without fear, I followed the dim figure all the way to an old constuction site. There, I find some old broken radio that does nothing but screech out bursts of static. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the dark shape rising to stand...and I see that it's some kind of...skinless...armless....thing. Reaching behind, I pick up a board with a nail. Without fear, I valiantly lay about me and after a few whacks, it falls to the floor. Not to be undone, and wary of these horror game's tactics, I beat it a few more times after it's fallen. I know that it's dead when I see a pool of blood spreading under it and without fear, I move on. I encountered a few more of these weak monsters while running through the streets and as unnerving as they may be, I discover something. The radio emits static ONLY when a monster is near! Any noise that tries to scare me without that accompanying burst of static doesn't merit a second thought from me and I move on. I realize something though, due to the fog, even the radio doesn't really help much...now I KNOW they're out there, somewhere but I have no idea where...in that way, I guess that captions under the old Silent Hill posters were right: What you see is only half as scary as what you don't. Regardless, I push on and get my first major scare from the game. I was in a blind alleyway, ahead of me was a van parked at the side of the street, a dead body lying in blood and that damned fog. No static sounded so the way was clear. Moving forward, I examined the body, picked up some sort of key and began to make my way back to the main road. As I passed by the van again, a sudden rush of static floods the basement as a lunging, skittering...THING flies out from under the van and skittles and weaves around the ground trying to take a bite out of my ankle. While doing this, constantly making skittering and half screaming half moaning noises. I swear I jumped a foot in the air and dropped my controller. The...THING managed to take a couple bites out of my ankle before I regained my nerve and pounded it into the ground with my trusty board with a nail. After I had beat the thing to a senseless pulp, I examined it closer and discovered that it wasn't some new monster after all...it was that same armless, skinless thing from before...the only difference was that on the ground, that little piece of shit was FUCKING fast and a hell of a lot more creepier... That did it for me. With hands that were ALMOST not shaking, I turned off the PS2, turned off the tv and went upstairs. Thus ended my first night at Silent Hill... Getting off the streets... |