Silent Hill 2
When it comes to horror, however, the undisputed king of horror games both mechanically and narratively has to be 2001’s Silent Hill 2. This terrifyingly well-crafted title not only offers a scary rendition of the famed foggy town, but an interesting and deeply twisted story. Following the story of James Sunderland, you stumble upon his nightmarish village after receiving a letter from your dead wife. What follows is a journey not only through the monster filled buildings that dot this rural town, but interactions with the various characters that still inhabit it. Where Silent Hill 2 truly succeeds is how it manages to give players a sense of paranoia right from the start.
Despite knowing James’ wife is dead, players are introduced to a character named Angela who looks shockingly like her. As the tale unravels you learn that the world is a manifestation of his own sins, which not only makes for interesting encounters, but a wonderful exploration of the human condition. Your relationship to James is an intimate one that is built up from the very start, allowing each moment to weigh heavy on the plauer as the delve further into the madness of this town. All of this culminates in a masterful twist ending that we won’t spoil here, but will mention it does a fantastic job at giving the player one last gut punch.
Even though there are a lot of fantastic horror stories out there, none have ever truly come together like Silent Hill 2. There’s both a familiarity and other-worldliness to its design and pacing, which never lets players truly settle into a routine. There are imitators, but when it comes to truly great scary stories in video games, Silent Hill 2 is the originator.
