You'll love it if:
- You’re a hardcore fan of Silent Hill
- You’ve lost faith in the series
- You’re looking for a mature story with deep themes
- You’re hoping Silent Hill 5 is now a real possibility
Not for you if:
- You’re not into psychological horror games
- You don’t like games where you always feel vulnerable
- You don’t like third-person games
- You don’t enjoy solving puzzles
Team Silent’s work on the first four Silent Hill games is nothing short of legendary. What was designed to be KONAMI’s response to the Resident Evil series quickly established itself as something more. Silent Hill’s focus was always on its protagonists’ psychological trauma and overcoming insurmountable grief and pain.
Once Team Silent disbanded, KONAMI licensed the Silent Hill series to other developers to varying degrees of success. And after the very public cancellation of Silent Hills, the franchise became dormant, seemingly forever. However, Silent Hill is too big to fade into the fog. Silent Hill: The Short Message proves that KONAMI still has faith in the series.
And now, Bloober Team, the studio behind Layers of Fear, Observer, and The Medium had the monumental task of remaking Silent Hill 2. As an indie studio, it had a passion for the series, undoubtedly. But did it have the skills to bring Silent Hill 2 to 2024 and remake it faithfully, but also bring it in line with modern gaming standards?
TL;DR
Silent Hill 2 is a true comeback for the series. Bloober Team made sure the original vision for the game was intact, while it carefully modernized and expanded the story and gameplay. It’s a testament to the game’s qualities and Bloober Team’s passion, resulting in a horror game every fan of the genre will enjoy.
Story – In My Restless Dreams, I See That Town
The remake of Silent Hill 2 follows the same story as the original. You play as James Sunderland, a man looking for his wife in the town of Silent Hill. Mary passed away three years ago and James receives a mysterious letter from her, asking him to come and meet her in Silent Hill.
Without giving too much away, the premise of the story is intriguing and captivates the player from the first minute. Is Mary really alive? Why does James have trouble remembering his life before coming to Silent Hill? Whether you’ve played the original Silent Hill 2 before or not, it’s worth revisiting the story.
Bloober Team did an excellent job expanding on the story in subtle but meaningful ways. An extended sequence here, a new cutscene there, a different location or a different dialogue with familiar characters—nothing that was added feels tacked on or unnecessary. It’s proof that the studio truly understood the original Silent Hill 2 and wanted to modernize it without sacrificing anything that made it so impactful more than two decades ago.
Respectfully Tackling Heavy Themes
Silent Hill 2 is a game with a certain reputation. It single-handedly shaped the psychological horror game genre that’s now saturated with hundreds of similar games. But, Silent Hill 2 came first, and this remake proves why it made such an impact in 2001. The game tackles very heavy subject matter through the lens of an interactive video game.
Themes of loss, self-harm, physical exploitation, drug use, emotional abuse, and so on, are all present here. And, they’re respectfully and tastefully approached without feeling out of place or unnecessary. This makes Silent Hill 2 a game that deserves a recommendation with a big asterisk—make sure that you’re comfortable with what the game will say to you before picking it up.
Gameplay – Mixing Old & New
They say time is a flat circle, and Silent Hill 2 proves that with its remake. Its gameplay can easily be summarized as Alan Wake 2 but a lot scarier and more disturbing. The original game relied on fixed camera angles and tank controls, both of which have become ancient history since 2001.
The remake instead features an over-the-shoulder camera, almost no on-screen information, and a minimalist inventory system. It really wants the player to feel immersed rather than explore endless menus. Its map is the best example of how atmospheric Silent Hill 2 can be.
James will pull up a physical map of the town or a building and literally take notes, mark doors, and add details to the map as you explore the environment. While not revolutionary, it’s simple details like these that make Silent Hill 2 a very captivating and enjoyable gaming experience.
Healthy Balance of Combat & Puzzles
When it comes to facing enemies, James isn’t a fighter. He’s a regular person who will use environmental objects like planks and pipes to fight creatures around Silent Hill and just try to survive a little longer.
How he handles firearms is also unconventional for a third-person game, as he’ll often miss because his hand trembles or has swayed the other way. Bloober Team did a good job at making you feel vulnerable at all times, and you’ll rarely feel like you have the upper hand against enemies. Luckily, you can adjust the difficulty to match your preferences, giving you a chance to stay immersed in the story regardless of your reflexes.
The same applies to puzzles, which, just like the original, feature adjustable difficulty sliders. You can make puzzles as complex or straightforward as you’d like, ensuring that you’re never stuck in one place for too long. But, it’s always a good idea to start with the ‘Standard’ difficulty for both combat and puzzles and adjust your options later on.
Creative Implementation of DualSense Controls
When it comes to playing the game on the PlayStation 5, Bloober Team went a step beyond what anyone expected. They creatively implemented the use of DualSense controls in moment-to-moment gameplay beyond controlling James.
For example, you’ll always know how much health James has based on the colour of the light emanating from your controller. This is an elegant and unobtrusive way to always keep the player informed of their current situation.
The studio also placed great emphasis on controller vibration design so it matches what’s happening on the screen. For example, you’ll feel tactile vibrations when you’re out in the rain. Or, you’ll feel sudden and violent vibrations when something big moves close by. Combined with excellent audio design, this is a horror game that pulls you in and never lets go for the 20 hours it’ll take you to complete.
Visuals – Horror Powered by Unreal Engine 5
Silent Hill 2 runs on Unreal Engine 5 and the game is a visual treat. Comparing it to the 2001 original shows a night-and-day difference in how games have evolved. While the game relies on pre-rendered cutscenes in certain instances, most of it is rendered in real time with breathtaking attention to detail. What makes the game stand out is the town of Silent Hill itself.
Every environment you visit, whether it’s an abandoned building or a foggy park, feels alive. These places feel like actual spots you could visit around your town and they have a certain living logic to it. No environment ever feels like ‘a video game’ and it helps the game feel more believable. However, that goes out the window when James visits the ‘other’ side of Silent Hill, where all logic and sense of direction disappear.
Bloober Team accomplished the impossible in modernizing Silent Hill 2 to a point where it feels like a brand-new game and not just another remake. That alone makes the game worth picking up and experiencing firsthand.
Visual Ambition Comes at a Price
While the game looks stunning and photorealistic in certain instances, that comes at a price. On PlayStation 5, Silent Hill 2 features two visual modes, Quality and Performance. The Quality mode targets 30FPS at a higher dynamic resolution while the Performance mode targets 60FPS. The key word here is ‘target’.
In both modes, the framerate can drop, especially when you enter in-door environments. These environments are extremely rich in detail and that comes at a cost, especially in the ‘other’ version of Silent Hill. At the moment, players will have a better experience with the Quality mode due to a more stable framerate. With the PlayStation 5 Pro only a few short months away, we’ll see how Silent Hill 2 performs on more powerful console hardware.
When it comes to overall stability, the game is also a mixed bag on launch. You’ll sometimes get stuck on environmental details and need to restart from your last save point. Or, you’ll fall through the map and need to reset the game. This doesn’t happen often, but in an otherwise very polished and passionately made game, it stands out.
Audio – Masterfully Unsettling
Akira Yamaoka’s work on the Silent Hill series is legendary. So, it’s only logical he would be back to score Silent Hill 2 once again. The remake features a remade and remixed soundtrack from the original game. Nothing has been eliminated and very few elements have been added to an otherwise stellar and iconic soundtrack.
Yamaoka’s approach to Silent Hill was to strengthen its atmosphere and narrative with melancholic, sombre, and emotional music rather than to go with a more bombastic soundtrack. Sound mixing has been handled extremely competently in the remake, ensuring that the soundtrack naturally weaves in and out of different tracks depending on what you’re doing.
And when paired with a brand new voice cast and environmental audio design, Silent Hill 2 is a joy to be frightened by. Just make sure you’re playing the game in a poorly lit room with a good set of headphones for the best experience.
Conclusion – Should You Play Silent Hill 2?
The remake of Silent Hill 2 is a triumph on all fronts. While the technical aspects of Unreal Engine 5 make the game less stable than it could have been, the core experience is frighteningly faithful to the original. Whether you played Silent Hill 2 in 2001 or not, you should give this version a try if you’re curious about the series. There’s plenty of exciting content here for hardcore fans, both in terms of references as well as brand-new endings to discover.
And with plenty of exciting projects on the horizon from KONAMI, we can safely say that Silent Hill is now back in the spotlight. Only time will tell whether the game is successful enough for KONAMI to greenlight Silent Hill 5 from the Bloober Team sometime soon. Silent Hill 2 is now available on PC and PlayStation 5.
Huge thanks to CD Media for sponsoring our review!