18. Silent Hill 2 (PS2)
The original Silent Hill was quite a revelation for me. I'd never really believed that a video game could be scary. Sadly, like a lot of other PS1 games, the most horrifying thing about it these days is the controls. Silent Hill 2, though rather more playable, suffers from some similar control issues, but that's the only knock I can find against what is otherwise a masterpiece of survival horror. Konami basically transferred everything that worked in the first Silent Hill over to the PS2 and then cranked it up to 11. Graphically, SH2 looks pretty incredible for an early generation PS2 game. I still remember how blown away I was, and they really do help a lot with the atmosphere and immersiveness of the experience. Genius composer Akira Yamaoka was in top form in creating the game's unsettling sound effects and hauntingly beautiful music; the sad yet danceable "Theme of Laura" is probably the best thing he's ever done. But where the game shines brightest is in its story, which is kind of funny because it manages to be even darker than the original. Whereas in the first Silent Hill you basically stumbled into a bad situation, this time you've come here with the intention of meeting up with your deceased wife... and it only gets worse (or better!) from there. Silent Hill 2 saw the introduction of Pyramid Head, who's since become something of a mascot for the series, and not coincidentally, it was also the first time we've had an "evil" protagonist. It's a plot twist that the series would revist, but never to the same effect. It was quite a serious mindfuck at the time!
