Silent Hill is the kind of series that became iconic two decades ago, thanks to the iconic original and the sequel that confirmed its uniqueness. Unfortunately for the series, there hasn’t been a single game since that has reaffirmed its importance or, at best, not tarnished its legacy. In October this year, Konami released a remake of Silent Hill 2, created by the Polish studio Bloober Team, the creators of Layers of Fear, Medium. This is our Silent Hill 2 Remake PC review.
Most games, like Horizon Zero Dawn and Uncharted Dawn, don’t need a PC remake or remaster. But the second Silent Hill needed an update, especially one as benchmarked as this one. This is clear from the very first frames, as a melancholy James descends from the observation deck, through the dark forest, and into the worst city in the world.
There was no doubt that the developers would be able to capture the atmosphere – they proved it in both Blair Witch and The Medium. However, Poles have always struggled to come up with interesting gameplay, and remakes of old games often fail to live up to their fans’ expectations. That’s why Silent Hill 2 Remake was awaited with great apprehension, especially after the questionable first gameplay reveal.
As it turns out, the Bloober team are big fans of the original, so they have managed to preserve the game’s melancholy atmosphere, convey the characters of James and the hostages of Silent Hill that he will encounter in the foggy streets and dirty corridors, and, paradoxically, make the game scary.
Here’s the thing: Silent Hill 2 was unsettling and uncomfortable but hardly scary. Silent Hill 2 Remake changes all that: the game is now genuinely scary, and as you play through it, you may feel conflicting desires – to get to the end of the story or to get out of here as quickly as possible.
There are several reasons for this. The first is the combat, which has been changed to a behind-the-shoulder view instead of fixed camera angles. There are more monsters, they have become angrier and have acquired different attack patterns. The same dummies, sewn together from two halves, not only hide in corners and wait for an opportune moment to attack (as they did before), but also dodge blows, lunge at James, hit him hard.
And the hero gladly responds to them. Each fight is like the last. The guy swings the pipe hysterically, desperately hits the enemy, and desperately kills the body that has fallen to the ground. Battles in Silent Hill 2 Remake are very contact-based, and with ammunition in short supply, the balance of combat often tips toward melee attacks.
Even if you fill your inventory with bullets, you won’t be able to use them all: the rooms are narrow, and by the time you turn around to aim, a monster will have run up and forced you into melee. Some monsters, such as nurses, require a dozen rounds of ammunition, which is not very frugal – you have to remember that there are bosses up ahead for which you should be saving ammunition.
In general, the combat in the game is very interesting, but almost every combat episode is a fight to the death. And you can’t yawn because if you miss a few blows, James will start limping and breathing heavily, and the screen will turn red. And while there’s usually no shortage of healers, you shouldn’t waste them on common enemies.
Silent Hill 2 Remake does an excellent job of creeping you out with its visuals. Visually, the game is virtually flawless. The fog has real volume, the abandoned town is crushing in its emptiness, and when James enters the alternate dimension, you want to do everything you can to get out as quickly as possible.
In the original game, the visuals were rather poor, and your imagination drew what the developers couldn’t show. Now, your imagination won’t have to try: you’ll feel very uncomfortable, but you’ll be fascinated by Silent Hill’s shabby buildings and empty interiors.
There is no doubt that Silent Hill 2 has been significantly updated, both externally and internally: the developers have not simply transferred the original to new tracks but have radically redesigned it. Many locations have been expanded, allowing you to spend much more time exploring previously locked buildings in the early stages when James is just getting to the streets of the city. Some puzzles have been scrapped, others reworked, and there’s room for new challenges.
James Sunderland receives a letter from his late wife, Mary, asking him to meet her at ‘her special place’ in the town of Silent Hill. Confused but intrigued by the unexpected letter, James arrives in a town that has changed greatly since their last visit before Mary’s death. Back then, they had stayed in comfortable hotels and visited leafy parks by the lake. The city was once full of life, but now it has become a ghost.
The remake offers a new perspective on the city that the gaming industry didn’t get until 2005, four years after the release of the original Silent Hill 2, with the release of Resident Evil 4. Thanks to the third-person camera, the developers were able to show off the city and its ups and downs, which only adds to the atmosphere. The hero, and with him, the player, finds himself at the epicenter of hopelessness, surrounded on all sides by the darkness and cold walls of the abandoned city.
What was once an iron limitation has become the game’s most recognizable feature. In the remake, the fog is not as thick as in the original, but it is more realistic and atmospheric. The fog still separates in front of the hero, but now it’s not just a white wall but a real fog of varying densities. Through it, you can see barely visible silhouettes of monsters, closed shops, and traffic lights slowly fluttering in the wind.
The game is eerie, with a thick, smoky atmosphere that tries to get into your head. The developers of the original game tried to focus on the psychological aspect of the game by creating an oppressive atmosphere that the character, and then the player, is in all the time. And the rare moments of peace only increased the fear of what lay ahead.
Except that the setting is so uncomfortable that every step you take is fraught with difficulty. James is surrounded by an unnatural fog that must be hiding something sinister. Suspicious sounds can be heard from behind the bushes: crunching, sobbing, howling. In the background, genius tracks play that are both disturbing and deserving of a place on your playlist. You don’t want to tread the muddy paths, but you have no choice.
This kind of eeriness can be experienced anywhere: on the streets of a cursed city, in the unlit corridors of the Woodside apartment complex, in the rotten Blue Creek of twisted reality. Wherever the action takes you, it will be terrifying.
It’s not the technology, The Medium by the same Bloober team didn’t look much worse. The secret lies in the design, where every little thing dances on your phobias. Puddles of blood on the floor, creepy notes on the walls, disfigured corpses, insect-infested rooms, suspicious holes to stick your hand in, and the legendary fog that hides the unknown.
The effect is enhanced by the sound – perhaps the most unsettling in video game history. The wheezing of monsters, the slamming of a door behind you, the melodic strains of the great composer Yamaoka, the rumbling after a trivial interaction with a valve, and the stomping of Pyramidhead, who will inevitably come for you. As a result, every sound will make you involuntarily jump and think, ‘Yeah, that was scary.’
Even the walkie-talkie hits a nerve. Ideally, it warns you of enemies and allows you to be ready, but in reality, it adds to the stress. It makes frantic noises, but there’s no monster in sight. Where is it? Is it going to jump out from around the corner? Or will it attack as soon as you open the door?
Enemies are what make Silent Hill 2 so terrifying. They are eliminated by the simple principle of ‘hit twice, dodge’, but they always require concentration. If you hesitate for a moment, you’ll immediately miss a hit. Unpleasant, considering that the health kit stock is rarely comfortable.
Monsters are often surprising. Are you used to troubled characters in the real world? In the altered world, they still shoot acid and explode on death. Easily dispatched by lone creepers? Welcome to the courtyard of Woodside, where five individuals roam at once. Think you’re brave? Meet the mannequins. They’ll freeze in a corner, ready to pounce as soon as you approach. These critters are also sensitive to light, so you’ll need a torch to explore some places.
Don’t forget the Pyramid Head. It’s large, persistent, and completely unkillable. The only thing that can stop this sadist is a lifesaving siren that will bring James back to reality. The first time you encounter the monster, you’re bound to be hysterical.
If you haven’t played the original game, you’ll remember SOMA from its more or less modern counterparts. That game was scary mainly because of the story and the inevitable acceptance of what exactly was going to happen to the character. This approach is very close to what was done in the original Silent Hill 2 and what the Bloober Team is doing in the remake.
The city penetrates the mind and turns all fears outwards, giving them physical form. This is true of James himself as well as the few characters we meet on our journey. Angela, Maria, Eddie and little Laura have become more mature in my opinion. Not in terms of their age, but in the approach of the developers to these characters and the actors who voice them. You can feel the direction of each scene in the actors’ performances. Their emotional moods can change quickly, and some characters are quite polar, from a calm, trusting tone to aggressive, life-threatening screams. And not once did I hear any playfulness or insincerity in the characters’ actions or words. It’s still the same story, with the same characters and their inner demons. But thanks to the latest technology and modern approach to acting, it is experienced in a completely different way. Better. Much better.
The developers have even added two new endings to the game, bringing the total to eight. Let’s just say that the ‘basic’ endings depend on how you progress through the game. The others require you to fulfill certain conditions and can only be accessed via New Game+.
The entire story is accompanied by the music of Akira Yamaoka, who rewrote the entire soundtrack and added several new compositions. This music still comes through in a way that sends shivers down your spine. One moment, it’s terrifying, and a few seconds later, it’s slightly melancholic and sad.
As well as characters who often question James’ feelings and the goodness of his intentions, there are also those who do not like unnecessary conversation and will rush to kill. The main tool for fighting these monsters is a whistle, which replaces a stick with nails in the first third of the game. A pistol, shotgun, and rifle are also revealed to us, but the ammunition in the game is much less than that of an average shooter.
Most of the enemies I beat up with a stick for the sake of economy and because some of them are very juicy. At this point, I would like to nod indignantly in the direction of Konami’s PR department, which showed ridiculous combat footage in the game’s first trailers. From the outside, though, the combat feels a lot better than it looks.
By favoring melee combat, I hoped that the ammunition I had saved would come in handy in the future. In part, this proved to be the right decision. Oh, and most enemies are no problem, even when they attack in pairs. However, in claustrophobic rooms and corridors, even simple monsters can get on your nerves and make you fire the odd bullet from your hard-to-find weapon.
There are only four types of monsters in the game, including insects. Over time, I found the three basic enemies lacking, but gradually, from around the middle of the game, the developers gave the enemies additional abilities. The lying figure starts exploding with acid, and the nurses get slashing weapons and behave more aggressively. The most noticeable changes are to the mannequins, but I won’t spoil their opening experience for you.
The small number of enemies is compensated for by their abilities and the clever staging of certain moments. Mannequins, for example, like to lurk behind a vase or cupboard and suddenly attack as you pass by, unaware of the deadly threat. Nurses can go into stasis for a few seconds during combat, giving them the chance to deal significant damage. Different combinations and numbers of enemies add to the excitement of each new location.
Mise-en-scene completes the picture. When the enemy deliberately walks into the light of a torch or stands in a spotlight. And even when there is no one in sight, the sounds that come out of nowhere or the din of the radio announcing the approach of the spawn of hell will not let you relax.
Overall, the combat system and monster battles are exemplary. There were times when it felt like the developers had lost all sense of proportion in the battles, and I just wanted to run around looking for the items I needed. But that can be chalked up to fatigue, as I spent 6-8 hours marathoning through the game.
The most interesting parts of the game, however, are the riddles and puzzles. The developers have taken them over from the original game, but they have also come up with something new. Absolutely all the puzzles are interesting and moderately difficult. This complexity does not lead to frustration or the desire to go to YouTube in search of a solution. Everything is very logical. The main thing is to pay attention to the hints in the notes and audio recordings.
The game doesn’t give you direct instructions on what to do, but James writes everything you need right on the map: symbols, access codes, and other important hints. Not only is this convenient, but it doesn’t break the immersion or make the game feel like it’s deliberately giving in. The map is a separate and very important part of the game. At the end of a level, you can even see statistics on how many times you have accessed the map. It is a logbook, a navigator, and finally, a map, all on one screen. James unfolds it and holds it in his hands, just as we hold a map in real life. The game doesn’t stop, though, so it’s worth hitting the spots to check the objectives and location.
Like the weapons and the monsters, the sights are completely carried over from the original game. And just like the monster fights, the developers walk a fine line with the dosage of locations. The first time I felt that a little more and the game would be boring was in Brookhaven Hospital. Apparently, the writers felt that the player spent too long in this location, but it was the largest area in the original and difficult to reduce without throwing away important stories and playable episodes.
Any more, the cramped spaces and brown corridors would start to feel stifling. Just in time, though, we are sent outside to breathe in the murky air with full lungs.
This is probably a flaw in the genre. It’s hard to play a game for long that suffocates you with its atmosphere, music, and general mood of almost lost hope. However, the overall gameplay cycle of ‘action-puzzles-research’ in Silent Hill 2 is well balanced. There are generally no long stretches of inactivity or overly complicated puzzles that require an hour-long dissertation to solve.
As with almost any modern game, especially one made with Unreal Engine 5, the biggest question and fear is the technical state of the game. At least on the PS5, I can call it satisfactory or even good, with certain reservations. The first-person shooter suffers from slight stuttering in both graphics modes, but only in certain moments when there are a lot of effects on the screen.
You want to be happy for the series. After so many years, fans finally have a game they can be proud of, and new players have a great opportunity to get to know the series and understand why thousands of fans around the world love it. On the other hand, it is a little sad that the best thing to happen to Silent Hill in the last 15-20 years is not a new word for the series but a retelling of an old one.
at all. Except that the original took eight hours to make, and the remake took 16. What’s the difference? The puzzles. Take Neely’s Bar from the original. The hero immediately found a clue to the location of an important key. In the remake, the clue is only revealed after the music machine is repaired. Run around the town and find two pieces of a record, get a token from the cash register, and pull a lost button out of a hole in the wall—another example. In 2001, the clock puzzle in Blue Creek was solved quickly: set the hands to the correct numbers and move on. In the remake, you first have to find the hands, which are scattered around the multi-story location.
Is that a problem? No. I spent twelve hours on the game and never once felt dragged out. The puzzles are moderately challenging and exciting, and the quest items are accompanied by interesting situations. There are doors that slam shut after an important find and monsters coming out of every crevice. There is a room with moths that will shock insect phobes. And here’s an optional room with a code lock: you’ll have to rack your brains, but the reward will be worth it.
But despite the changes, at its core this is still the Silent Hill 2 that was so beloved back in 2001, where James once again travels to Silent Hill, receives a letter from his dead wife Mary, meets a girl who looks suspiciously like Mary, gradually descends into the abyss of madness and comes to a terrible realization – and the player gets one of several endings, depending on his behavior during the journey.
And this is where a fan of the series will surely be pleased with the way the Bloober team has handled the source material. They have partially rewritten the script but kept references to the original game. As you explore the town, you may come across flashbacks that remind you of certain puzzles or episodes from the old Silent Hill 2. The characters like to talk about their past adventures – or rather, not past adventures, but adventures that exist in a parallel reality: for example, once in the Baldwin mansion, Maria will notice that the house gives her a kind of déjà vu, although this time we are not given any clues as to where she comes from. This is an unusual and wonderful solution: the authors show their love for the classics but at the same time offer the player something new.
This game has become one of my favorites, and believe me. It’s an amazing psychological horror that you dive into head first. Even when you know the main plot twist, you still find yourself following the events with interest and living the story with the characters. I can only hope that there will be enough interest in this game for Konami to decide to remake other parts of the Silent Hill series – I don’t know about you, but I would love to see Harry, Heather, and Henry in a new light.
