STEVEN'S NOTES FOR PASSING "SILENT HILL 2" WITH A PERFECT RATING

Patient demons and mannequins:
* Handgun (recommended): Shoot the monster 5 times and kick it before it recovers. 
  Kick the patient demon fast or else it'll skitter away.
* Shotgun: The shotgun doesn't work too well, because the reach of their attacks  
  usually forces James to blast at a distance. But 1 knock-down blast, 1 blast 
  on the ground, and 1 blast right after it regains its feet usually suffices.

Nurses:
* Shotgun (recommended): Blast the nurse once (the closer the better) to knock it down. 
  Blast it on the ground. Wait for it to completely rise, and then blast again (if you 
  blast too early, then you waste a shot and expose yourself to a swipe). 
  Wait for it to stop twitching.
* Handgun: I usually save the handgun for patient demons so that I can rack up 
  shotgun kills on the nurses. But 5 shots and a kick suffices.
* When you're with Maria, avoid combatting the nurses in the small rooms. It's 
  very difficult to protect the both of you.
* Before reuniting with Maria in the hospital basement, completely 
  clear out the nurses from the second and third floor halls. That is, 
  kill them all, re-enter the room, kill any stray nurses, and 
  repeat until all footsteps cease. I'll never forget the time that a 
  nurse ambushed Maria when we entered a hallway, and I accidentally 
  blasted the both of them dead (game over)!

Eddie:
* In the first room, stand still and whack him with the steel pipe until he 
  runs off. Oddly, he just runs at you when you wield the pipe instead of 
  shooting (guess he wants to keep the fight fair).
* In the meat room, equip the great knife and slightly straddle right so that 
  the meat partially obscures you. If you position this just right, Eddie won't 
  have a clear shot and whenever he swings at you, his left fist will bounce 
  off the meat! Lightly swing the great knife at him (it cuts past the meat) 
  and if he runs and hides, finish him off with a rifle shot.

Two pyramid heads:
* Equip the great knife and lightly swing at the pyramid head on the right. 
  Then lightly swing at a timed pace to keep the left pyramid head from poking  
  you. If you time this right, the right pyramid head's attack will 
  often bounce off the left pyramid head; you'll cut through both pyramid heads, 
  and interrupt the left pyramid head before he can poke you.

Toluca Lake:
* Rotate the right joystick counter-clockwise for 3 strokes. Wait for the 
  momentum to make the light appear, and then simultateneously rotate the right joystick 
  clockwise and the left joystick counter-clockwise.