The first Silent Hill outing for the PC platform, Konami's Director's Cut takes the winning formula of PlayStation 2's Silent Hill 2 and blends it with the much-vaunted extras seen in the Xbox version, Inner Fears.

Silent Hill 2 was once a sacred place for lead character James, but it's not what it used to be, as players of the original will attest. There's an abundance of stained mattresses, dirty old piles of medical supplies and general mess. The doors are mostly locked and the windows ... more >>

The first Silent Hill outing for the PC platform, Konami's Director's Cut takes the winning formula of PlayStation 2's Silent Hill 2 and blends it with the much-vaunted extras seen in the Xbox version, Inner Fears.

Silent Hill 2 was once a sacred place for lead character James, but it's not what it used to be, as players of the original will attest. There's an abundance of stained mattresses, dirty old piles of medical supplies and general mess. The doors are mostly locked and the windows into the various rooms offer nothing more than reflections. Konami isn't messing about with this game. Comedy is strictly prohibited and everything included in the game is disturbing in one way or another. There is a genuine feeling of claustrophobia throughout the game that is compounded by darkness and heavy, heavy fog.

New to the Director's Cut is a series of new graphical features. Taking advantage of PC graphics cards and processing power, Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut comes with enhanced visuals and some gorgeous light-sourcing, further exaggerating the game's foreboding mood. But more importantly, there's a whole new chapter to the experience that can be played with a new female character. There's certainly plenty of extra stuff to do, and it's worth a go even if you already own the PS2 version.

Starting a new game from scratch, your initial encounters with members of the screwed up dimension aren't too frightening and are generally easy to dispose of, using just a nail bat or a small handgun. These twisted folk include headless nurses and dismembered torsos that drag themselves through the dense fog.

The essence of the gameplay entails the player solving puzzles, stalking up and down corridors, collecting and combining items and just generally feeling disturbed... and not in a good way.

Like its predecessor, the Director's Cut edition is a superbly put together game. Provided you can handle the gruesome and violent subject matter and don't mind interrupted sleep, it's definitely worth a few hours of your time. << less