Silent Hill Mobile 2

The horror/survival concept took some time to establish itself as a distinct gaming genre, but Silent Hill played a pretty significant part in defining that style. And that's really what Silent Hill games are all about - style. In many ways, this makes them both ideal and problematic for conversion to the mobile platform.

Ideal because fancy graphics and lightning fast playing speeds aren't a part of this series' requirements. The difficulty comes from imbuing the mobile versions with the same nightmarish vision that made Silent Hill so iconic in the first place.

The first Silent Hill mobile game is clearly the basis for this second instalment, which is no bad thing considering it bagged itself a Silver Award. This is over a year ago, mind you, and the sum of differences seen in Silent Hill Mobile 2 don't quite add up to 12 months of extra development.

All in all, however, anyone who tentatively crept through the ominous corridors of the first game will probably be tempted to take a look at the sequel, and assuming you're already a fan of the mobile strain of Silent Hill, you'll not be disappointed.

As before, Silent Hill Mobile 2 plays out more as an adventure than any kind of high-octane action game. Some might find this a little discouraging - preferring to see the elaborate monstrosities of Silent Hill up close and within crosshairs - but that's really not what the game sets out to accomplish.

The horror of Silent Hill is built through a constant, lingering tension - a genuine sense of fear that you'd fully expect to suffer from if you really were wandering the grim hallways of this abandoned hospital.

The scenery is pre-rendered (perhaps pre-painted is a more fitting phrase) and viewed in a first person perspective. When you're in a location of interest, a small cursor scours the room looking for significant items, or using items on parts of the environment to solve the many puzzles laced throughout the game.

These puzzles are almost entirely logical and fit seamlessly within the bounds of the storyline, with very little pixel hunting required. Too many adventures fall back on nonsensical conundrums to keep the gameplay moving forward, but as incoherent as the game (deliberately) begins, the unravelling plot is revealed expertly and entertainingly.

Movement can become a tad irksome, with the perspective jumping forward a pace each time you take a step, punctuated by moments of disorienting blackness. It's easy to get turned around because of this rather archaic form of movement, but once you've found the map (very early on) and got used to keeping track of yourself, it's a problem that most seasoned pocket gamers will unconsciously overcome.

Fighting isn't at the core of Silent Hill Mobile 2, but the few moments when you do draw your gun are beautifully imbued with the same realistic sense of menace. The crosshair shakes nervously, and the gun recoils with every shot, making it a concerted and dangerous affair whenever you draw your gun, subtly yet ingeniously emphasising the desperation of your situation.

Despite this wonderfully atmospheric environment, the Silent Hill series still seems unable to drag itself away from that dreadful storytelling cliché of an amnesia-afflicted main character.

Uncovering the purpose for your awakening in this strange, derelict hospital is the core of Silent Hill Mobile 2's adventure. We're not going to ruin it here, but the incessant whisperings of a malevolent entity - as moody as they might be - don't make up for your unexplained memory loss. This tacky use of an easy plot device is unbecoming of such a well-designed game and an admirable franchise.

There's also a lot of short but grating loading times between each and every decision. Taking a look at the map regularly is vital to finding your way about, but you'll become increasingly aggravated because of the five second pause between opening it and putting it away. This is a problem left over from the first game, and the fact that it's clearly not been addressed costs Silent Hill Mobile 2 a point - almost two - but even despite the poor optimisation, it still deserves an award.

Otherwise, adventure game fans are given a great alternative to the cutesy, fantasy or J-pop stylings their genre is usually populated by, and once the hackneyed plot points are forgiven (which the excellent, gory scenarios will undoubtedly encourage) there's a lot of genuine and gripping atmosphere clawing at the flesh of Silent Hill Mobile 2.