Silent Hill 2 holds a special place in many people’s hearts. Its held up as a poster child for both its oppressive atmosphere and the multi-layered and surreal tale it tells, of the town and the people that have been drawn to it. It tried to tell a story quite different from the conspiracy driven Resident Evil or the demon invasion of Doom 3. Is Silent Hill 2’s psychological horror as scary as ever? Does the gameplay of collecting keys and solving puzzles contribute to the atmosphere?

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How important is the gameplay in what is primarily regarded as a narrative driven game? Can you tell a horrifying story if you’re spending most of your time solving puzzles?
• Just what is it that’s so special about the town of Silent Hill? How important is a sense of place in establishing atmosphere and immersion?
• How can we reconcile the terrible events of the game with the fact that a Shizu was controlling all of our fates from the very beginning?

Find out what we really think on the 8th, and longest so far, episode of Retro Spectives!
 

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