Only the fearless head for Silent Hill

CHRISTMAS is coming and what could be more seasonal than a winter ghost story? Memories of the original Silent Hill will prickle the hairs on the neck of many a PlayStation survival horror veteran. The claustrophobic American town calls gamers with a strong nerve back for more this November - only this time on the PS2.

James Sunderland, star of the original game, returns - and he's as unlucky as ever. Three years after the events of the first instalment a strange letter arrives, apparently from his wife. But, hey, didn't she die in Silent Hill, and if she did, who is the mystery dame asking for a reunion in everyone's favourite ghost town? Any sane person would call the police but James elects to go back to Silent Hill and attempt to solve the mystery for himself.

The original game was positively soaked in atmosphere. Of course, some of the gloom and fog helped mask the PlayStation's graphical limitations, but they also gave Silent Hill a genuinely creepy feel.

Silent Hill 2 has no need of phoney fogging techniques. Instead, the programmers have gone for a Blair Witch-style with cut scenes playing out like a scratchy 8mm film. The only fog on hand is there to hide something awful.

This is not a game for children. It starts proper in a dirty WC next to a disgusting foggy lake at the entrance to Silent Hill. Do you run or do you enter the gates of hell? Along the way you'll meet characters who vomit, monsters spewing toxic phlegm, dismembered bodies, and explore dirty buildings caked with congealed blood and goodness knows what else.

If the exteriors are good then the interiors are superb. Alone In The Dark 4 may have brought us the idea of a single light source in an otherwise impenetrable room but Silent Hill 2 takes it to new heights. There are some fabulous shock moments.

Remember the first time the dogs jumped through the windows in Resident Evil? Did you jump? If the answer is yes then you'd better keep the lights on while playing this title.

Plug the PS2 into a Dolby Digital surround sound system to give the soundtrack its full voice and I defy you not to look over your shoulder as footsteps scamper past your shoulder or hideous scraping noises emanate from... somewhere in the dark.

Armed with only a flashlight, a revolver and a lump of wood with rusty nails protruding from the head for weapons, you need all your guile to solve the mystery of Silent Hill a second time.

Silent Hill may be a sequel but this game could not have been done on the PSOne. Just as Resident Evil 2 improved on its classic predecessor in every way possible, so this title beats its predecessor hands down.

Just don't say you haven't been warned...

The Mummy Returns. Format: PS2 DVD Rom. Publisher: Vivendi Universal. Price: £39.99.

AS monster movies go, The Mummy Returns was more hammy horror than Hammer horror. Having enjoyed considerable success with the original movie for the second adventure, the producers toned down the scary elements in favour of Indiana Jones-style adventuring.

Naturally enough, the game of the movie has more in common with Tomb Raider than Silent Hill 2. You can opt to play as the hero Rick or the mummy himself, Imhotep, and the game has different objectives depending on which you select. Go with Rick and it's adventure all the way as you race to rescue your annoying son and feisty wife. That done, it's time for a showdown with the Scorpion King, played in the movie by WWF star The Rock.

As Imhotep you must track down the secret ingredients required to resurrect the Scorpion King and thereby rule the world.

The game follows the movie template fairly closely. There are levels set in London, Cairo and the Egyptian ruins. The full supporting cast of undead and pygmy zombies are all present and correct.

The Mummy Returns eschews atmosphere for action. In that respect it's fun to play in short bursts but a far shallower affair than Silent Hill 2. After a while, the monsters lose their menace and merely become annoying.

Younger PS2 owners who may find true survival horror titles a little too intense will enjoy the scares on offer here.

GADGET OF THE WEEK

WITH the massive proliferation of CD re-writers it may be difficult to see a reason for owning a Zip Drive these days. After all a blank CD can hold 650 MB of info compared with the 100 MB of a Zip disk.

CDs can be picked up everywhere, even in the supermarket, and their popularity makes them ridiculously cheap. Zip disks cost more and you can't find them in the dump bins alongside the sprouts and potatoes.

That was pretty much what I believed until I tried the Zip USB - Iomega's latest storage solution. For a start it's unbelievably compact, about the same size as a Sony Discman and, as it sups juice via the USB cable, there's no need for a separate power supply.

That makes the Zip just about perfect for transporting large files between two PCs - say, home and work. The drive slips effortlessly into a pocket and - thanks to USB's "hot swap" capability - can be up and running in a second or two.

External CD writers may have shrunk in recent years but they still feel too unwieldy and, compared to the lightweight Zip, uncomfortably heavy.

A Zip disk's capacity may not be anything startling but it's still up to the job. Even the biggest graphics files can be handled with ease - at the moment only large video files would defeat the humble Zip.

As you'd expect of a product that has been around for a few years now, the Zip USB installs without fuss nor drama. Once attached files can be dragged and dropped onto the disk just like any other hard drive.

Deleting files is simple and, unlike CD-R disks, the space is instantly recovered. Formatting an entire disk takes less than a minute.

Costing less than £80, a Zip USB is a cost effective storage solution for PC users who need portability as well as file space. Make sure Santa leaves one in your stocking this Christmas.

CHEAT OF THE WEEK:

Spiderman on the PSOne is great fun and not too hard. If you want to complete the game in double quick time, though, you'll need this little cheat. Go to the Main Menu and select Specials then type RustCrst for total invincibility.

Published: 30/11/01