The graphics are simply perfect. The realism of the movements of characters is so fluid and realistic. The cut-scenes provide you with movie like sequences. Enemies have bone-chilling details, from blood gushing out their spines to organs popping out of their stomach. The first cut-scene shows James in the mirror. When moving his hair sways, his eyes blink, and the details get so great; you are able to see James�s fingerprints on his hand. The real-time affects show shadows when James is carrying his flashlight and metallic objects tend to glimmer in the light. Fog is a big theme is this game, when you first start off you cannot see anything but 3 feet in front of you and enemies monsters pop out of the bottoms of cars. The grim and grit and cracks on walls are seen from a distance. Environments are well detailed and the grain filter was used to its most power. Graphics deserve a solid 10 out of 10.
Sounds are an important essential in this game. The sounds are the most important scare factor and it makes you want more and more. So crank up the volume. The voice acting was very well done. It doesn�t sound like an act, this makes you get into the game more, and they have tones and feelings in their voice. There are noises in the apartment buildings when t is pitch black. This is just a trick, it makes you wonder and become more paranoid. There are even some pretty nasty sounds. The developers so fluidly pull off these sounds that it's truly amazing. Sometimes they'll even use music to denote a certain change in mood. You also have a radio that emits certain degrees of static when monsters are near. Sometimes you'll even get frozen in fear because you don't want to know what the sound is, you just want to run away. Watch out for the sounds of tap-tap-tap, this tells you a monster is near.
The game play is very fluid and consistent and does not have any awkward camera angles. They have some, but they are only so you can�t see in front of you, to add to the fear factor. This game is the best survival horror game out there, next to the Resident Evil series. Picture, a normal man trying to find his long lost wife, and suddenly caught in the most bizarre town ever. The first weapon you receive is a piece of pipe. He is not specially trained to use this, so it is extremely hard to destroy some of these enemies swarming on the streets of Silent Hill. Nothing is ever really ever handed to you, on what to do next. The programmers made it so when playing, little hints here and there will be dropped to make it more difficult. Even the game over screen was taken into consideration. The Dual Shock 2 controller shakes and the screen rumples, and then someone suddenly screams. You can tone down the level of violence so you wont have to deal with as much beating. There are several different endings to the game. It all depends on how long it takes for you to beat it and how you treat your wife Mary. Game play deserves a well-earned 9/10.
Do not rent this game. There is absolutely no way you could beat it in one day. If you want to beat it, it will take over 20 hours. The difficulty level is extremely high. Anyways, it�s a greatest hit, and is only $20.00. The replay value is certainly plenty. New endings, new items, and it all depends on your ranking and how you play the game. My opinion is that this game is the best Action/survival/horror game in the USA market today. This game deserves an overall score of 9/10!