In the games' events, he arrives to Silent Hill under the apparent request of his deceased wife Mary Shepherd-Sunderland, where he encounters monsters such as Pyramid Head and a few other human characters.

James was later voiced by Troy Baker in an optional rerecorded version of the game in Silent Hill HD Collection, which included the original recordings featuring Cihi.

Prior to the game's events, he decided to travel to the tourist resort of Silent Hill, located in the American state of Maine, because of a supposed letter from his deceased wife Mary Shepherd-Sunderland.

The town was clouded by a mysterious force called the "Otherworld" that changed its atmosphere and hosts a variety of hostile and grotesque monsters, among them the major antagonist Pyramid Head.

Cihi also noted that it was his first time performing for a synchronized motion capture and explained that he and the other actors did not wear costumes but instead equipped tight body suits with nodes.

In a later interview, Baker also attempted to reach out to Cihi to resolve the issue but never got a response, then stating based on his prior work experiences with Konami that the company has never owed people residuals.

[13][15][16] The issue regarding Konami and Cihi was eventually resolved, leading to the inclusion of the 2001 recordings in Silent Hill HD Collection as an in-game alternate selection.

Chris McMullen of The Escapist expressed that the 2001 horror game effectively displayed how the purgatory-like world, filled with "confusion and distress," was shaped by James' mentality and state as an unreliable narrator.

She then said that players initially sympathize with him but slowly realize his true nature, that the game is "masterful in how it systematically pulls the wool over our eyes and turns the hero into one of the medium's most despised villains".

[23] The authors of various gaming publications have argued that James Sunderland as a "generic white person" helped to enhance the horrors and story of Silent Hill 2, although opinions on the character himself vary.

He noted that James being a "figurative and literal fog" to the point where players lack true understanding over him despite controlling him makes the game's psychological horror aspect "fun" due to its open-ended nature.

[24] Critics have also written about their appreciations for how Silent Hill 2 allows the player to form their own opinions of Sunderland over time and seal his fate in one of its multiple endings.

[26] Writer Kimberly Terasaki of The Mary Sue praised the game for allowing the player to ultimately determine James' guilt and fate via its multiple endings.

[5] Likewise, Den of Geek editor Matthew Byrd felt that the connection between the player's actions and James' mental state was a brilliant game narrative on the grounds of the psychologies of both individuals leading to certain endings.