I played Silent Hill 2 for the first time about a week ago. Never played any of them before, but this has given me high hopes for the rest of the series. I was a bit overwhelmed (or maybe underwhelmed?) by the plot, it didn't seem to be as amazing as I was lead to believe. Granted, when I got into 'everything's a metaphor for everything' territory I was like 'that's pretty cool', but I wasn't blown away.
I think I expected all the different plot threads the game throws at you to intersect and reveal something deeper, but that never really happened.
Okay, so hooker chick's a figment of his imagination? I kind of saw that coming, but crazy girl just kills herself after getting attacked by a vacuum bed that was born from her father's abuse? Okay, it was a heartrending and very well-done scene, but what does it have to do with the missing wife? And while I LOVED killing fatty, what did his psychotic breakdown have to do with anything?
Now, being the hardcore literaturefag that I am, I can understand that these are meant to be foils, set mood, a sort of mirror where the protagonist can look into himself and understand who he is and what he's doing here. They heighten his sense of guilt and dread and drive him along the bleak path the narrative has set.
Okay, it's amazing for that, and really I'm only a LITTLE disappointing with the plot. I compare it to Paul Auster's 'New York Trilogy', scathing psychological deconstructions of the detective novel that end up as a sort of analysis of the relationship between the author, book and reader. It sets up a very intriguing story, THREE times, then fucks with you for a hundred pages.
Overall a great game, I need to find the original somewhere, preferably for cheap.
I bought the original MGS with the original case and instructions in a used bin for 5$. Probably a once in a lifetime event, but I can dream.
NAO!