A Quarter Century

That's how long it's been since I was born. Twenty-five years. Wow. It's kind of intimidating. I could easily dive into what I haven't done, but instead I thought I'd take the time to talk to you about a few things I HAVE done. This shouldn't take long, I have work in the morning.

So, do you remember a while ago, I talked about reviewing video games as a hobby? No? I'm not even sure I really did that, now that I think of it. All I know is I've been wanting to do it. I enjoy writing, and I enjoy video games, so I figured, why not write about video games. And I think I've picked a decent hook. Y'see, despite my love of video games, I never really had much of a chance to play them until I got an N64 in 1999, and then a few years later, a Playstation 2. Because of this, and a pre-disposition at the time for multiplayer games (I had two brothers to play with, after all), I managed to miss out on a LOT of great video games from the 90's and early 2000's.

At one point, I printed out a list of games I've beaten to show my friend. I'l try to track it down, but suffice it to say it's not as impressive as you might think. It's about a page, a lot of the games are Pokemon or Mario titles, and when I said "beaten" I meant "completed to the end credits," not necessarily 100% completion. I don't particularly mind. After all, I had a blast simply enjoying the multiplayer components of games like Goldeneye, Mario Kart, X-Wing vs TIE Fighter, Starcraft and Tony Hawk.

But while I was busy enjoying those, I managed to build an ever-looming backlog of titles that my friends were swearing up and down were "the best game ever". Here, off the top of my head, are a few games that I still have never played, but would like to at least try, eventually:

• Final Fantasy 6, 8, 9 (And I've never actually beaten any Final Fantasy game other than Tactics Advance)
• Metal Gear Solid (Any)
• Earthbound (Snowballs chance in Heck of that happening)
• The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Gotta beat OoT first...)
• Resident Evil 4
• Ico
• Okami
• Super Mario RPG
• Super Mario 64
• Silent Hill

And that's just off the top of my head. Luckily, with the advent of digital distribution, a lot of these classic older titles are showing up in easy to download formats, or as remakes for handheld systems that make it easier to find time to play (or both - PSOne Classics on PSP rocks). For instance, I've currently got partial save going on Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy VII, Chrono Trigger, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. But I'm having trouble making time to play them.

And it's not going to get any better. I'm going to start classes next semester, and I'm already looking forward to Mass Effect 2, Final Fantasy XIII and Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver releasing next spring. These two goals alone are already somewhat counterproductive. Maybe (MAYBE) if I get my life in gear, and set myself up as a semi-professional neighborhood tech support guru, I can quit my full time job at Target, freeing up a little more free time for writing as well as gaming...

Okay, enough about my personal dilemmas. I promised myself I'd keep this short and to the point. I wanted to talk about the other "classic" game I've recently started, because I feel like it's having a semi-profound effect on me. The game is Silent Hill 2. And despite not being more than an hour and a half into it, I love it.

I've been aware of the Silent Hill series, at least peripherally, for a number of years. At first I lumped it in with Resident Evil, another survival-horror game. And while technically it is a survival horror, I've come to learn, both through critical opinion and my own game time, that it's something else, also. Where the Resident Evil series is an action packed blockbuster of a thrill ride, similar to a movie like G.I. Joe with Zombies; Silent Hill is a much more thoughful and deeper experience, like Fight Club. While both movies would likely be filed under the Action category at your local video store, the two stand apart at opposite ends of the spectrum.

It's this deeper, more psychological approach to horror that drew me to Silent Hill, even causing me to skip over the copy of Resident Evil 4 I'd earlier purchased for Wii when it was on clearance. My original intent was to play the game on Halloween, as a replacement for the more traditional scary movies. Sadly, that did not come to pass, and it wasn't until the Silent Hill movie popped up in my Netflix queue that I managed to overcome my laziness. This brings us up to the previous weekend.

I started the Silent Hill 2 with my roommate watching me. I find it far more comfortable to view scary movies with a friend, and I felt that the same approach would be a good one for a scary game. My first reaction was that the controls were incomprehensible. They were arranged relative to my character, not my camera, like I'm used to. The fixed camera angles made moving a chore, but experimenting proved it was still easier than the alternate angle, which caused my character to veer unexpectedly with camera changes.

My next impression: man, it's foggy. I can barely see more than a foot or two in front of my character. (My actual comment at the time:  What is this, an N64 game?) I'm sure this was a conscious decision by the developers, though, and it worked. The dense fog obscures my view, making every step mysterious and tense, keeping any obstacles or enemies hidden from sight. Also, the fog lowers the draw distance. Though the game is obviously an early PS2 game, it looks great, partially because there's no need to propagate the screen with all those textures at once.

It was also about this time I realized Silent Hill 2 has no HUD. There is no on screen marker telling me what my current weapon is, or where my next objective will be, or my health status. It took me longer than I care to admit to realize that my controllers vibrations weren't merely my footsteps, but actually my heartbeat, indicating my poor health. Partly, that may be because I got the game used, and didn't have access to the manual. Either way, though, I find it to be a nice touch, adding to the immersion and realism of the experience.

Being a mystery game, I quickly got lost in the maze of a city which is Silent Hill. After about a half hour of wandering, I found a save point in a trailer and switched it off. A couple days later, however, I came back, and my experiences shifted dramatically. After wandering yet again, I came across the key to an apartment complex. Since every other pathway on my map seemed blocked, I went in, hoping to find a way through. It was here that I had to resort to GameFaqs for help. I know, I know, I should be ashamed of myself, but I would never have noticed the map or save area in the darkened interior. (Seriously, James, why couldn't you have gone after your wife in the day, or at least a clearer night?)

I did, however, notice the dramatic shift in the environment. It was dark. While outside the fog added a white-grey haze to the screen, in the apartments I encountered a deep darkness coating all but my closest surroundings. Adding to the darkness was the abject silence. There was no music accompanying me. In my experience, darkness and silence mean something spooky is threatening to pop out at me, jack-in-the-box style, any second. During a cutscene in which my character reached through a grate to grab a key, I got so freaked out I attempted to pause the show, only to instead skip over the scene and miss what might have been important exposition. I did the only thing I could do. I restarted. (After a few hours to cool down from the terror of nothing.)

Second time around, I was feeling better. I knew where to expect the pre-positioned baddies, where to find the flashlight, and which doors would work and which wouldn't. After watching the cutscene and discovering that the jack-in-the-box I had feared turned out to be a creepily innocent young girl, I continued through the halls. I reached a dead end, or so I thought. The music had come back, a panic-inducing melody that only worsened the fear the silence had brought. Retracing my steps, I heard the crackle from my radio, a tell-tale sign that a monster was near by. I readied my wooden plank (because I'm not going to waste bullets until I'm sure I have to) and stepped into the darkness.

Now, as I say, I've followed the series peripherally for some time. So, despite not playing the games, I've run across some minor spoilers. The split between a "real" and "nightmare" world, the idea that my eyes could be deceiving me, the fact that little girls are always creepy, and not to be trifled with, etc. So I recognized the figure standing before me. There he stood, staring at me from the other side of a metal bar gate. Pyramid Head. As I understand, he's something like the ultimate boss of the series, or at least Silent Hill 2. Here I was, only an hour into the game. What am I supposed to do? Taunt him? Shoot him? Run away? Instead, I ducked into the nearby room, thinking there may be a way to get through to the other side. I'd deal with Pyramid Head when I had to.

In apartment 208, I began work on my first puzzle. There was a clock that looked suspicious. I suppose I'll cut a long story short and admit I cheated myself by again looking on GameFaqs to find the solution. But in the course of the puzzle, I left 208, only to discover that Pyramid Head had left. As I wondered where exactly he'd gone to, I climbed into room 202, the 2nd part of my puzzle, and heard the incessant banging from upstairs. Again, a nice touch. My earlier research clued me in onto what was happening above me, but I tried to ignore the implied murderrape and continue fixing my clock.

I still don't know why 9:10 was the correct answer, but I made it through, and was relieved to find myself another save point. That is where I decided to stop for the evening. And, judging between the two separate experiences, I'm not sure I want to play alone again, if I can avoid it. Sure, it may spoil the mood a bit, but in my defense, Silent Hill 2 does an EXCELLENT job at creating a spooky mood, and while I admire their craftsmanship, in order for me to get through the game, I'm going to need that mood spoiled a bit.

You have to remember, after all: I sceamed at the candelabra enemies in Ghostbusters.

Anyway, it's past 11 here, which means its tomorrow in my birth state of New Jersey, which technically means it's now my birthday! YaY! To celebrate, I'm going to sleep now.