I wasn’t ready for Silent Hill 2 Remake

When the remake of Silent Hill 2 was announced by Konami in the last quarter of 2022, I didn’t know what to think. My relation with the franchise is close to zero, and I wouldn’t say that survival horror games are my thing. Also, I have a confession to make. I don’t like Kojima games. At least, every time I tried to play “Metal Gear Solid” or “Death Stranding”,  I got bored after a couple of hours and uninstalled the games. However, I have been hearing for all these years that Silent Hill 2 is one of the greatest games of all time, so I was very interested in trying it. 

The difficult task of bringing this classic title to the modern world was assigned to Blooper Team, a non-AAA studio without any blockbuster titles in its portfolio. The game wasn’t released at full price, but still, I didn’t want to give its initial amount of money to play something that I had no idea if I would like. Fortunately, Sony gave us the honour of adding the game to the PlayStation Plus Extra subscription, one year after the first release. I had no more excuses. I was even hyped to play the game, even though the internet was talking about a terrifying game. But I didn’t hesitate. I removed the dust from my 3D pulse headphones, I grabbed my DualSense, and started my trip to the town of Silen Hill.

From the start, I understood the concept of the game as it was delivered very clearly. As James, I had to find my missing wife, who apparently waits for me in the “special place” we had in Silent Hill. However, there is a small and weird detail. My wife died three years ago. I already love the mystery and creepiness of this, and I start my descent towards the town. Just before arriving on the streets, I meet the first character of the game. A woman named Angela, who searches for her mother in the cemetery. Pretty fitting to the atmosphere.

What you’ve read till now is mostly the intro of the game. Very short, but it gets you in the mood right away. The design of the levels is very basic, understandable, and linear, which, in my opinion, is good. However, you can search the town and some buildings for collectibles or ammo. The first part is quite simple; the riddles are straightforward, and the monsters are easy to avoid or fight. After all, you have the white noise from the radio that warns you every time a threat comes close.

The game gets more serious once you enter the second main area, the apartments. Dark rooms everywhere, small corridors, and sounds that make your screen crawl. It’s the first time I got anxious with the game. Especially after the freaking jumpscare when you get the flashlight. Silent was starting to torture me, and for some strange reason, I was in for it. At this point, I want to give credit to the design of the map. Even though it seems complicated at first, when you get used to it’s very clear where you went, where you must go, which doors are locked, which corridors are blocked, where the riddles are, and your objectives in general. Flawless.

The game continues with this motive. Dark, rotten, claustrophobic places with monsters lurking everywhere and jumpscares in the most non-waiting corners. Between these places, you visit the town again for brief moments. It acts as a hub to go from one area to another. But this doesn’t mean that you don’t have things to do. To progress, you must solve puzzles or pass through streets full of enemies. 

The second confession I have to make is that I am not so much into horror games. My schedule is usually busy, and my time is limited. So, when I have time to play after a long and tiring day, I prefer to invest in a comfort game to avoid stress. For example, when I was playing Alien Isolation, my sessions were quite short. Even though I was enjoying the game and the atmosphere, the stress for me was unbearable to be in for over 2 hours. 

However, with Silent Hill 2 Remake, the situation was different. It’s a stressful and frightening experience; nonetheless, the highest I’ve ever played. But when I was entering into its world, I couldn’t let the controller down. And I had areas that made it difficult for me. Like the Toluca Prison. When I turned on the light for the first time and saw the leg monster crawling to the wall, I was done. I didn’t know how I would go through this, especially with my headphones on, but I couldn’t stop playing. The game is a magnet in a weird way that I loved. 

Regarding the scenario, it is not something that I wasn’t expecting. In fact, I understood what was happening (more or less) from the middle of the game. Especially with all these weird characters you meet during your search in the town of Silent Hill. You can see that something is off. Maybe because I knew that this was a Kojima game, I expected a f*cked up ending. But the journey till the end is so tense and intriguing at the same time that it is totally worth it. 

Let’s talk about the technicals a bit. The game is developed in Unreal Engine 5 and delivers great graphics. I played it on my base PS5 in performance mode, and it worked like a charm. I saw some frame drops now and then, but it’s not something that spoiled my experience. The environments are designed perfectly, and along with the great sound effects, I had the constant feeling of loneliness in a town covered with fog and mystery. In addition, the characters are as creepy as they should be, and the voice-overs are very good.

At this point, I want to talk about James in the original game. I saw a couple of videos on youtube and I was so relieved that Blooper Team didn’t keep the same attitude of the character in the remake. James is now serious and mysterious, rather than the spoiled brat that looks like in the original. It’s much more fitting to the atmosphere. 

Lastly, I should mention that I finished the game in standard difficulty (combat and puzzles), and I found it quite easy. Most of the time, I had enough ammo (combining shooting with melee combat), and the puzzles were simple if you paid attention. As I said before, with the help of the map, it’s pretty clear where you must go, along with the UI, which is simple but adequate.  

Also, the sound effects are phenomenal, especially if you use headphones. All the creepy noises will have you gripping your chair and make your skin crawl all the time. Dualsense also lifts the experience with the advanced haptics, giving you the exact feeling of your every move. Add to the above the atmospheric music themes of Akira Yamaoka and you have the perfect horror showcase.

To conclude, Silent Hill 2 Remake is one of the best games I have ever played and for sure the scariest. Its atmosphere is one of a kind, and with the help of great graphics and sound effects, the game has, it devours you in the depths of this cursed town. Just to be clear, even if I loved the game, that won’t make me a fan of the franchise in general. But I am curious to see what they will do with the remake of the first Silent Hill, which is officially in development. The one thing I can say for sure is that Silent Hill 2 Remake is one unique experience that everyone should give a try.