Game reception and rating: Silent hill 2

Silent Hill 2 was positively received, selling over one million copies in the month of its release in North America, Japan and Europe, with the most units sold in North America.[71] Since then, Silent Hill 2 has also been re-released as a Greatest Hits game.[72]

Critical reaction to the game was generally favorable. Rating aggregation site Game Rankings shows an average rating of 85.77% for the PS2 version,[63] 82.40% for the Xbox version,[64] and 70.33% for the PC version.[65] Rating aggregation site Metacritic shows an average rating of 89 out of 100 for the PS2 version,[66] 84 out of 100 for the Xbox version,[67] and 70 out of 100 for the PC version.[61]

Reviews of the original PS2 game were mostly positive. While noting that the game "doesn't break any molds or revolutionize the survival-horror genre in any particular way", IGN commended the "strangely heartbreaking, even a tad depressing" story, "respectable, believable" voice acting, creepy monster designs, unsettling sound effects and the "stunning" graphics of the game.[8] IGN felt that while the general gameplay remained mostly unchanged from the first Silent Hill, it was improved by better camera angles and controls.[8] GameSpot described Silent Hill 2 as "a much prettier, somewhat smarter but less-compelling game than the original", praising the eerie monster designs, "impressive" graphics, audio and the more coherent but less compelling plot.[11] According to GameSpot, the "awkward writing" hurt the voice acting and the monsters were not as frightening as the ones in Silent Hill.[11] Ben Croshaw of The Escapist cites the game as a personal favorite, calling it "the benchmark for video game storytelling and atmosphere."[73]

Reactions to the Xbox port were also positive. GameSpot noted the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions were mostly similar except for the Born from a Wish side-story found on the Xbox version, which it called "a commendable extra" that did not add much to the game or help to further elucidate the plot of Silent Hill 2.[68] The PC port was not as well-received. Reviewers criticized the bizarre camera angles,[62][70][69] "lifeless" voice acting,[10][70] "tedious" gameplay and combat,[10][62] difficulty in controlling the player character,[70] and the overall adaption.[62] Conversely, GameSpy found the PC port overall to be "[a] fantastic translation of Konami's stylish and scary survival-horror game".[70]

Silent Hill 2 appeared on several critics' lists for its story and use of metaphors, psychological horror, and taboo topics. It ranked 1st on X-Play's list of the "Scariest Games of All Time" in 2006.[74] IGN listed it as an Editor's Choice,[8] one of the five best horror video games created after 2000 in 2009,[75] and one of the twentieth greatest PlayStation 2 game of all time.[76] Additionally in 2010, IGN ranked it as 54th in its "Top 100 PS2 games".[77] In 2008, GamesRadar placed it on its list of the fifteen "Best Videogame Stories Ever", describing it as "a punishing tale not easily matched".[78] In 2009, Destructoid ranked it fifteenth in its list of the "Top 50 Videogames of the Decade", noting that it "is most memorable for its introduction of iconic video game character Pyramid Head".[79] That same year, Wired.com listed it as the eleventh most influential game of the decade for its emphasis on psychological horror and exploration of taboo topics such as incest and domestic abuse, rather than gore.[80]