Saw II

Jigsaw's games are getting more elaborate in part 2. Previously, he usually involved one, sometimes two, people in his little schemes. In Saw II he has a whole house full of players fighting for survival. One of them is a survivor from part 1 of the series, Amanda.

Of course, Amanda turns out to be so much more than this. And anyway, the on-goings in the house are not the actual story. This is much more about Jigsaw wanting Eric Matthews to listen to him. That is the most important rule for this part of the game: listen.

But poor Eric is consumed by his anger and fear because his son is one of the people in the room. In his desperation of wanting to help the boy now! he cannot sit still to abide by the rules. This turns out to be his own downfall. But Jigsaw lets the boy live, which is a nice gesture. Unfortunately, his daddy will never know.

The house holds medication that all the players need to survive the poison gas they have been breathing in since they woke up. The traps holding the syringes with the vital substance or the key (sometimes an actual key) to open the hiding place are evil, of course. There are two I especially love/hate.

A syringe is kept in a box and is visible to the unfortunate woman trying to get to it. There are two openings on the bottom of the box to get your hand through and reach the substance. The problem...once you push your hands in, it is no longer possible to get them back out again, or at least not with help from someone else, because any down movement will make you cut yourself very badly.

My very, very favorite and the most disgusting trap is the pit full of used needles and syringes that was meant for Xavier. But Xavier talks a big game and muscles others into doing the really gross stuff. He throws Amanda into the pit.

As I said in my previous entry, the room from part 1 gets a re-visit and is once again a central part to the story. This is where Eric ends up - right place but wrong time. And jigsaw has found himself an eager student in Amanda.

8/10