Konami

Game Description: A fantasy battlefield in which you must raise your sword or summon your magic to conquer an empire torn with vengeance. The 3D battlefields with their many views will place you in life or death situations. Prepare your wit and strength to battle foes from unknown forces. Gallant victories lead to the magnificent Vandal-Heart.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Animated Blood & Gore, Animated Violence

I can't say for sure since I'm not privy to the full scope of games released in Japan, but it has seemed to me for a long time that Konami promotes a particular aesthetic in their RPGs. Their two most prominent RPG series in the U.S., Vandal Hearts and Suikoden, have always been similar in theme and tone. Both series focus on stories of war, and although they do glorify battle and military conflict to some extent, they are striking in that they invariably emphasizewith no ambiguitythe absurdity, contradiction, and pain of war in a moral and social sense. While I enjoy plenty of other RPGs for their elements of fantasy and escapism, I always know that when I come back to Konami I will not be let off so easily. There is a palpable sadness in these games, a sense of hurt and moral outrage that visibly sets them apart from other RPGs that have come to the U.S.

I often wonder when games will be reviewed on TV the way movies are featured on various evening news segments or television magazines such as Access Hollywood. If they were, Kojima's latest would yield mixed feelings. My sentiments about Metal Gear Solid 2 are similar to those when I anticipated some kind of Sixth Sense auteurism in Unbreakable, only to get something completely different.

People compare games and movies. Whether this is fair or not is moot by this point. People do it, and it doesn't look like theyre going to stop. The gaming public has decided to view games as an authorative medium in the tradition of cinema.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Mild Language, Violence

There is a quote by Stephen King in reference to Stanley Kubrick's adaption of his horror novel, The Shining. When asked what he thought of Kubrick's approach to the genre he said "I think he really wants to make a movie that will hurt people." I cant imagine a more relevant and concise statement to sum up the approach of Silent Hill 2, Konami's most recent take on the "survival horror" sub-genre made immortal (for better or worse) by Capcoms infamous Resident Evil series.

That the adventure is crafted as much by the mind of the player as by the developers of the game elevates Silent Hill 2 past its outdated mechanics and earns it a place as the most fitting representative of the survival-horror genre.

Game Description: Silent Hill 2 pushes the boundaries of horror. Return to the dense fog and frightening darkness of the eerie, haunted town of Silent Hill to face new enemies with a new set of terrifying weapons. Features enhanced weather, gore and visual expressions with a soundtrack presented in dramatic Dolby Surround.