The highly-anticipated “Silent Hill 2” remake was released Oct. 8, causing both established fans of the series and newcomers to breathe a sigh of relief.
As the original “Silent Hill 2” — released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2 and developed by Team Silent — is widely considered one of the greatest survival horror games ever created, Bloober Team’s remake had a lot to live up to, and I’m happy to report that the team absolutely delivered.
The story follows the widowed James Sunderland, who receives a sudden letter from his dead wife, Mary. He travels to the town of Silent Hill in search of her, only to find it infested with creatures and consumed by a blanket of fog.
From the very first moment you take control of James, the atmosphere is foreboding. The fog surrounding you is beyond oppressive as James begins his walk to Silent Hill, where you know absolutely nothing good could possibly await you there.
Everything about the game is gorgeous. The town and its residents look and sound amazing. As expected, the creature design is incredible. I could seriously spend hours walking around looking at everything from random items to enemies to environments.
During the process of exploration, it becomes clear how alive Silent Hill feels. Breathing and gasping can be heard throughout the walls; creaks sound wherever you go; the music and ambiance are genuinely disturbing. Whenever I entered a new area, I was under the distinct impression that I simultaneously did and did not belong there — precisely the sort of dissonance I expect when playing a horror game.
The combat is relatively simple but effective. I like how much weight James puts into swinging his weapon, and the dodge mechanic is nice. It took me a minute to get used to it, but once I figured the timing out, I committed to mastering melee combat.
Ammo was more forgiving than I was expecting, playing with the combat and puzzles set to hard, but my vast ammo reserve can likely be attributed to my affinity for the wooden plank, which is cool and fun. Nothing beats the thrill of swinging blindly at horrifying creatures in the dark as they scamper about, and a few of them hit back pretty hard.
Some enemies are more unpredictable than others, which results in a variety of counters one could employ to push themselves further into the fog.
The difficulty overall is fine, and it seems suited to an assortment of playstyles. The game presents plenty of opportunities to manage enemies and run away from encounters if necessary.
If you’re lucky and catch certain enemies off-guard, you can deliver a swing and then stomp on them. If you do decide to shoot, make every bullet count.
As for the story, it was translated from the original quite well. As someone who grew up obsessively consuming every “Silent Hill”-related lore video I could get my hands on — but never had the proper hardware to play the classics — this is a dream come true.
“Silent Hill 2” contains one of the greatest, most tragic stories ever told, and it hits just as hard here. The characters, no matter how troubled, are undoubtedly enthralling. James is fantastic as a protagonist.
It is worth mentioning that the voice acting is solid, and the cutscenes are beautiful.
However, the game’s performance can be rather poor on occasion, and the melee auto-aim can be clunky and inconsistent. I have a relatively decent PC, and there were sections where the framerate dropped to levels that distracted me from an otherwise amazing visual experience.
Regardless, this is an incredible achievement for Bloober Team. A faithful reimagining of a beloved classic seeped in terror and despair. While “Silent Hill 2” is often a harrowing experience in the best way possible, it seeks to help both its characters and the player confront the most painful parts of being human.
Currently, “Silent Hill 2” is available to purchase on PS5 and PC for $69.99, with the deluxe edition priced at $79.99.
