Secrets, Easter Eggs, and Plot Explanations in Silent Hill 2 Remake

Silent Hill 2 is one of the few literal remakes that meticulously replicates the content from the original 2001 game. The game is filled with notes and dialogues that reveal the lore and complement the main plot with interesting details. The developers from Bloober Team not only transferred some Easter eggs and secrets into their project but also came up with new ones. Therefore, even devoted fans won't be able to find all the secrets on their first playthrough. We have gathered the most intriguing and unnoticed details that can pleasantly surprise and motivate a replay.

We did not include unique lines and barely noticeable details in the list. But as soon as we play through the game a few more times and dissect the content thoroughly, we will definitely update the material with fresh Easter eggs.

The developers from Bloober Team had to redraw the original city map due to some changes in the layout and clearer representation of the terrain. But the old image did not disappear without a trace and returned in the remake as a small Easter egg. Head to the courtyard of the residential complex Woodside. Next to the sign near the entrance stands a city guide, on which the old city map is placed. You can also find it in the bar Neely when it enters the parallel dimension (Otherworld).

You probably already know about the chainsaw, which can be obtained as a weapon in New Game +. It's a very powerful tool that helps effectively deal with a large number of enemies. It has a secret animation that has been carried over from the original game. If you leave the controls and let the main character stand idle for a while, he will raise the chainsaw above his head and start shaking it with a growl, exactly like Bubba Sawyer did in the movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. After that, James will lean on the chainsaw as if it were a cane.

After Maria joins you as a companion, head to the motel Jack's. Go up to the second floor. Your task will be to find the code for the safe in the office. In room 108, there is a closet where the original outfit of Maria, inspired by Christina Aguilera, from the 2001 game is hanging.

Go through the hole in the wall and return to your companion, who is waiting for you in the room. Maria will take the outfit out of the closet and ask if she will look good in it. She will also note that this outfit is classic. Many fans of the original game criticized the developers for the drastic changes in Maria's clothing. The new outfit turned out to be less revealing and sexual. Through the Easter egg, the authors explained to the players why they had to make the costume more realistic and appropriate.

In 2012, terrible remasters of the second and third parts were released. The games were horribly bugged and looked worse than the original. This was because Konami lost the source code for the release versions and handed over raw and unfinished source files to third-party developers. The employees of Hijinx Studios had to build the game from scratch and complete the missing elements of the game environment. Many textures and models from early prototypes ended up in the remaster. Thus, the sign Silent Hill Ranch, made with the basic font Comic Sans, appeared and instantly became a meme among the fan community.

To find the Silent Hill Ranch sign from the HD Collection, you need to download a mod that includes a free camera mode. Approach the ranch fence and activate the mod. Fly beyond the barn. There you will see the hidden Easter egg.

In the final chapter of Silent Hill 2, you find out that James killed Mary. This plot twist turns the story upside down. In the secret ending Rebirth (here's a guide to help you get it), James rows a boat with Mary's dead body with the intention of resurrecting her through a supernatural ritual. Therefore, the body of the protagonist's deceased wife was in the city all this time. The art director of the original game Masahiro Ito wrote on social media that Mary was always on the back seat of James's car.

The developers of the remake did not deviate from the canon and added the body of the deceased wife to the back seat. You can easily see the outlines of the body covered with a blanket if you approach the car after the opening cutscene. Use the free camera mode mod to see the reference that prematurely reveals the plot twist.

In the original game, there is a meme line from James, which he says after seeing Eddie eating pizza in the bowling alley: Ugh. This town is full of monsters. How can someone just sit here and eat pizza?. This scene is not in the remake, but if you find the pizza in the Pete's bowling club and click on it, you will have a memory where James makes a similar comment.

The remake includes an interesting Easter egg that adds even more depth to the main story. It can only be found in New Game +. Go to the end of Nathan Avenue to find a body with a note that talks about the impossibility of leaving the town. From it, you will get a code and a point on the map marked: the place where they once were. This is a hint about Laura and Eddie when they were together in the bowling club. Go there and use the combination on the safe that appears where the secondary characters were in the previous playthrough. This Easter egg confirms the theory that replaying the game is just another cycle of the protagonist's eternal torment. He will never leave Silent Hill.

In the original Silent Hill 2, there is an interesting feature: the dead bodies of men are dressed in the same clothes as the protagonist. In the cutscene with the TV, it is directly hinted that James has gone through all this hell more than once, and he has been trapped in Silent Hill longer than we can imagine. The remake expands on this idea and presents new details. In the previous Easter egg, we already mentioned that there are notes in the game that directly talk about the cyclic nature of the story and the impossibility of leaving the town. Look closely at the bodies of the dead, and you will see the outlines of the protagonist, including his hairstyle and costume. Next to the corpses, there are now always notes describing the experiences of Jameses from previous cycles.

The Silent Hill 2 remake features a series of collectible items called Strange Photos, which can be found during the main story. They are useless on their own and do not play a significant role in game design. Additionally, the photos always have blurry images and incomprehensible captions that make no clear sense. But if you connect the cards with some notes scattered throughout the town, you will get a detailed backstory of James and Mary's life. The photos contain hints about the protagonist's past workplace and the order of the deterioration of the couple's relationship.

It is the Strange Photos that provide more context to the story elements that were previously just fan theories. For example, one picture shows crumpled paper and a trash can with the caption Humble career beginnings. In Neely's bar, there is a note that tells about James' career. These small hints scattered throughout the game confirm the theory that the protagonist and his wife lived in Silent Hill, rather than just visiting for a vacation. There are also many other hints about this, which we will discuss below.

Another Easter egg that hints that James and his wife lived in Silent Hill is located in the Woodside apartment complex. After the cutscene where Pyramid Head entertains himself with the mannequins, you need to go to a side room where there is a bed and a chair next to it. If you compare this place with what is shown in the Leave ending, you will see that these rooms are identical. This leads to the conclusion that James and Mary really lived in the Woodside apartment complex.

On the other hand, there is an opinion that Silent Hill is a place made up of the protagonist's memories. Therefore, we see buildings, apartments, and establishments from James' past.

In the remake, there is another hint that the protagonist lived with his wife in the Woodside apartment complex. The Easter egg can be found in Pyramid Head's labyrinth, which is located under the prison. The entire location resembles a destroyed apartment building, which is actually an otherworldly version of the complex. When you pass through the red door leading from Woodside to Blue Creek, you will see a door with the number 208. This room's layout and arrangement of items are similar to what we saw in the earlier Easter egg.

When you pass through the labyrinth and reach Maria, who is behind bars, look closely at the door leading to the cell with the girl. You will see the number 208. This number appears on one of the Strange Photos with the caption: Together Forever. This reference confirms that James and Mary lived in apartment 208. Pyramid Head's labyrinth is an area that is the epicenter of the protagonist's guilt and despair. Therefore, its decorations consist of the apartment where his sick wife stayed.

The second part is the most isolated from the main mythology of Silent Hill. The cult, deity, and idea of rebirth do not affect James' story, as it is symbolic enough and has its own subtext. Despite this, the events of all the games take place in the same city. Because of this, there are constant unique references in the projects that expand the overall lore of the Silent Hill universe.

In the remake, there is a completely new reference to the third part. You need to go to the Jack's motel and try to enter room 106. James will comment that this place does not seem normal to him and that he and Maria should avoid it. Return to this room later without your companion, and you will see torn wallpaper, and behind it, a red symbol on the wall. This is the very place where the main character of Silent Hill 3 stayed when she arrived in Silent Hill. On the chair, you can find a hat with a patterned ribbon that belonged to Douglas Cartland when he arrived in the city with Heather Mason.

In the Brookhaven hospital, you will encounter nurse monsters with a hypersexualized appearance. It's no secret that the appearance of the enemies was created by James himself, based on his own preferences and fantasies. In the Silent Hill 2 remake, more details have been added to explain why the protagonist created this particular monster design.

Head to the Heaven's Night strip club. On one of the seats in the middle of the hall, you can find a nurse's uniform that the dancers used in their shows. Next to the pole, there is a costume that all the Lying Figures monsters wear. Behind the bar counter, you can find a basket with lost items. At the bottom will be a wedding ring, the mark of which is on James' finger. This Easter egg directly hints that the protagonist was a patron of the club and desired the dancers.

In Heaven's Night, next to the bar counter, several posters hang on the wall. You can interact with them and take a closer look. If you look closely at the very left one, you can see the word Lost, which is scratched in small letters. On the second poster, the word by is written. On the last poster, there is the word Lust. In the end, you get the phrase: Lost by Lust. It carries no plot significance and is just another Easter egg.

Lost by Lust is a reference to the tragic play of 1633, written by playwright William Rowley. Its plot has much in common with the story of Silent Hill 2: lust, which ruined the characters, a fake letter from the wife that lured the unfaithful husband into a trap to die in terrible agony, and a series of redemptions for sins through the killing of other sinners.

As soon as you leave the Jack's motel with Maria, go down the street. On one side, you will see a large house behind a fence — this is the Baldwin mansion. If you go through the gate, Maria will refuse to go inside. She will talk about the disturbing feelings she has about this place.

The Baldwin mansion is a reference to the Born from a Wish expansion, which was released for the original Silent Hill 2. In it, Maria will help a ghost who wants to be reborn using a special spell. Maria's dialogue in the remake suggests that the Born from a Wish expansion is part of the canon. Bloober Team's creative director Mateusz Lenart hinted to fans that a remake of the expansion might be released as a separate DLC.

From the plot of Silent Hill 2, we learn that Angela was subjected to sexual, physical, and emotional abuse by her father, whom she later killed with a kitchen knife. If you check any of the blue newspaper boxes that stand on the sidewalks of the city, you will see the front page of the Maine News newspaper. It features a photo of Angela, along with a headline covering the crime.

0451 is a numerical combination used to open safes in many games. It was invented by the developers of the immersive sim System Shock. After that, many studios began to add the code to their projects. This set of digits can be found in: BioShock Infinite, Deus Ex, Dishonored, Prey, Redfall, Fallout 4, The Devil in Me, Firewatch, and many other games. In Silent Hill 2, this code is used to open a safe in the Jack's motel.

The Silent Hill 2 remake has several silly achievements that are actually just Easter eggs for those in the know. If you interact with the tray of moldy buns in the kitchen area of the Lakeview hotel, you will get an achievement — It's Bread. It is a continuation of an old meme that arose during the release of the third part. Just search for the phrase: silent hill 3 it's bread to get a dose of funny images from the early 2000s.

In the maze chapter, there is a cemetery where you can find a tombstone engraved with the name Walter Sullivan. You will never meet this character in the second part, but he is the main antagonist of Silent Hill 4: The Room. In the game, you can also find a newspaper clipping that mentions this character. From it, you will learn about the atrocities Walter committed during his lifetime.

Walter Sullivan's grave is not the only reference to Silent Hill 4 that the developers added to the remake of the second part. In the Woodside apartment complex on the third floor, there is apartment 302, fully recreated in the likeness of the dwelling where the main character of the fourth part is trapped. Unfortunately, there is no huge hole in the bathroom leading to parallel worlds. Fun fact: James' father named Frank is the superintendent of the apartment complex in Silent Hill 4.