free download silent hill ps vita review

The changes might be subtle to the casual player, but the result was that the world became more visible, which made the effect feel more akin to a fog machine billowing on stage during a play. When Konami gave the game an HD remaster in 2012, it loosened the fog up in the process.

The game’s fog is so instrumental to its horror that any changes to it have resulted in controversy. The overly thick fog lends the game a claustrophobic aura, as it always feels like it’s about to squeeze in on James and suffocate him. It’s not realistic, but that’s the appeal. The fog itself feels like a monster in its own right - it will billow backwards when James approaches it as if it’s on the run. That allows the game to deliver more surprising scares, as creatures that could be easily avoided normally will suddenly appear out of nowhere. It obscures everything in immediate sight, putting a haze over objects even two feet away.

The original Silent Hill 2’s fog is dark and thick, almost smoke-like in quality. That nuance wasn’t entirely possible with the PS2, but it was to the game’s benefit. It isn’t a realistic white mist casting a semitransparent veil over the town.

To this day, there really isn’t a video game that feels as unsettling as Silent Hill 2 - and much of that can be chalked up to the limitations of the era. The narrative is unnerving enough on its own, especially thanks to the psychologically harrowing direction it takes in its later moments, but much of its horror comes from its atmosphere. James soon discovers that the town is overrun with monsters, including creepy nurses and the iconic Pyramid Head. She summons him to the town of Silent Hill in rural Maine, where it’s a little too foggy for comfort. Silent Hill 2 tells the story of James Sunderland, a man in search of answers after receiving a letter from his wife - which is weird since she died three years earlier.

Free download silent hill ps vita review