Silent Hill 2 (Remake) Review. The Triumphant Return of the Cult Horror

Classic horror games are very lucky with modern remakes. The Resident Evil series regained its cult status and public recognition after the updated second part. Dead Space received a very worthy remake that was liked by critics and fans. Even Alone in the Dark — the «mother of the survival horror genre» — got a pretty decent remake, which is worth spending your free time on. It's no surprise that «Konami» decided to revive Silent Hill. Fortunately, the creators of Layers of Fear and Observer managed to convince the publisher to grant them the rights to the series in time. And in the end, we fortunately did not get another Homecoming or Downpour.

The Poles from «Bloober Team» have repeatedly proven that they know how to work with psychological horror games. After the project The Medium, the gaming community had no doubt that this particular studio would work with the long-forgotten Silent Hill series. And now, after years, we have received a modern vision of the PlayStation 2 era masterpiece, which not only retained the key merits of the original but also modernized all the outdated mechanics by today's standards. We went through the updated Silent Hill 2 to reasonably dispel the remaining skepticism after the unsuccessful trailers and pre-release hate, as well as to explain why this game deserves your close attention.

It's been more than two decades since the original Silent Hill 2 was released. There's a good chance you don't know (and that's okay, given how much time has passed!) why many call the game a masterpiece and what its significance is for the industry. To avoid delving into a deep analysis of the original and singing praises of its past greatness, we will simply provide a brief thesis to get you up to speed. Silent Hill 2 is the arthouse of the gaming industry. It is the first game in our memory that, through symbolism and an incredible atmosphere, told a very deep and personal story of an ordinary guy, James Sunderland, who had to go through a very difficult and thorny path to redemption. Even by the standards of 2001, the project could not boast engaging gameplay, but the atmosphere, music, and plot completely overshadowed all its shortcomings.

We dare to assume that the Bloober Team focused on the key features of the original that made it a cult classic at the time and did not waste energy on elements that initially did not work well. The main emphasis is on the narrative and modernized visual presentation. The combat system was redesigned just for the sake of it, and we will definitely discuss it in a separate chapter.

The first thing you notice is the city recreated from scratch and the meticulous detailing of locations that were previously just blurry textures. The artists did an incredible job that you want to study and examine. The streets of Silent Hill are shrouded in thick fog, constantly hiding something eerie and frightening. Each location is imbued with a repulsive yet simultaneously attractive atmosphere. Every corner, shop, or residential house, by its appearance alone, makes it clear that the city is not just dead but is decomposing into its constituent parts.

Special praise goes to the designers who not only modernized the confined spaces but also added meaning to the most insignificant places. If in the original we could barely distinguish one ward from another in the Brookhaven Hospital, in the remake, each room has gained individuality. The otherworldly world turned out to be just as we remembered it 23 years ago. Unlike the authors of Homecoming, the Poles did not try to redo the concept of Silent Hill's creepy locations and fully preserved the original vision of the authors.

The remake cannot boast an abundance of diverse monsters. Just like in the original, there are only a few types (there are new ones too—more on them below). However, they have received a more distinct appearance and no longer look like a meaningless mess of limbs. The entities from the first chapter are wrapped in a straitjacket made of their own skin and stagger around the city like clickers from The Last of Us. They don't particularly scare with their appearance, but in direct confrontation, they can easily kill you in a few hits. The nurses from the hospital have become less sexualized and more dangerous opponents. Pyramid Head was transferred without significant changes. Yes, there are additional details in the textures, but he has become so mainstream that he no longer scares with his appearance. On the contrary, each of his appearances evokes a genuine sense of awe.

Many fans were worried that the horror element would suffer due to the change in camera perspective. But in reality, the Silent Hill 2 remake skillfully keeps you on edge. And this is despite the strong tilt towards third-person action. Most of the time, you will spend in pitch darkness. The protagonist's flashlight shines at a very short distance, so enemies can easily scare you by suddenly jumping out from around a corner. They love to stand still in the corners of rooms, waiting for the moment when you get distracted by reading some note. Finally, the radio that warns of danger crackles incessantly, forcing you to frantically spin around, looking for the next monster.

The local sound design, which not only brings the scenery to life but also keeps you constantly tense, adds a special creepiness. In addition to atmospheric ambient sounds, every crack and hiss seeps from every corner, significantly affecting the overall perception of the horror picture. Add to this audio cocktail the music of Akira Yamaoka, who re-recorded the compositions and refined them with a modern sound, and we have a masterpiece in terms of sound design. The creepy melodies with hits on the «rusty battery» are also present; without them, Silent Hill 2 would lose all its authenticity.

The Silent Hill 2 remake indeed scares and terrifies. Just for the skillful work with the atmosphere and the source material, Bloober Team deserves praise. The Poles not only managed to reproduce the horror from the early 2000s but also adapt it for modern players. They did not «reinvent the wheel» like Capcom did with the Resident Evil remakes, and retained all the key features of the locations and design in their places. The atmosphere that kept us tense twenty years ago is perfectly felt and works in a modern wrapper.

The combat system in the remake has been completely redesigned to meet modern standards. Gone are the days of auto-aiming, clumsy pipe swings, «tank» controls, and the cumbersome pause menu that constantly broke the narrative flow. The new Silent Hill 2 now resembles an awkward clone of Resident Evil 4. All key game design elements have been borrowed from Capcom's latest games, but in a more clumsy execution. You can aim at enemies over the shoulder, and weapons can be quickly switched using dedicated buttons. The protagonist can now perform quick dodges that save him from enemy attacks and allow him to quickly flank the opponent. Additionally, you need to break windows with a pipe or some stick to open new passages and collect medkits and ammo from locked cars.

Melee combat lacks spectacle and animations. After The Last of Us and The Callisto Protocol, the fights feel outdated and monotonous. Beating monsters with a pipe is fundamental to Silent Hill 2, but Bloober Team put minimal effort into this mechanic. Procedural animation generation tailored to the situation could have saved the day, but the developers stuck to pre-made patterns that repeat over and over. You quickly stop paying attention to this in the game itself, but it leaves a lingering impression.

Staying true to the original, the remake includes only three types of weapons: a pistol, a shotgun, and a rifle. There are no upgrades or modifications that would slightly expand the arsenal and give additional motivation to explore every corner of the locations. The gunplay turned out decent, but once again, the overly crude animations affect the perception. James holds the pistol very awkwardly. And the shotgun literally warps the hands of the main model. Moreover, you won't notice much difference in the firepower of the weapons. On medium difficulty, you get a couple of bullets per stash, so you can't go wild. Shoot whatever you have available. Most of the action will still be spent with the trusty pipe, which never lets you down.

Battles on medium difficulty keep you on edge. Each missed hit takes away a significant portion of health. The unpredictable behavior of enemies and their jerky animations during movement add a special challenge to the fights. Hitting such targets with firearms can be quite difficult. Every wasted bullet makes you nervous. The new enemies—mannequins that crawl on walls and ceilings—significantly complicate the passage: they are hard to hit, and they constantly hide in the darkest corners.

With the new combat system, boss fights have become more spectacular, but noticeably easier. From the third-person perspective, the monsters look more imposing, but they are defeated using the classic schemes from the original game. Pyramid Head is too slow, and if you keep your distance from him, you can easily deal with him without taking damage. However, the fight with Eddie has been completely redesigned. In the original, it was the most ridiculous shootout face-to-face in a tiny room. In the remake, the battle has turned into a tense clash in a huge refrigerator, where you need to maneuver around meat carcasses and spot the boss through the cold fog.

Puzzles are a hallmark of the Silent Hill series. Many of the original puzzles have made it into the remake in their pristine form. But there are also some to which Bloober Team added additional features and actions that will make even the most devoted fans of the original, who know every answer by heart, use their brains. Overall, the puzzles in Silent Hill 2 are truly inventive. And unlike the Resident Evil series, they make you think, not just rearrange plaques like a game of «15 puzzle». The game even has a separate menu for adjusting puzzle difficulty. We recommend choosing the highest level right away to get the most enjoyment.

Moreover, the Silent Hill 2 remake is noticeably longer than the original game. Many puzzles have been specifically altered so that you have to search for components of some mechanism across extensive locations. For example, the clock puzzle used to be solved by simply moving the hands. Now you have to find all the hands in a not-so-small residential complex. And yes, some exploration segments are quite drawn out. There is even more backtracking in Silent Hill 2 than in typical Metroidvania games. Undoubtedly, exploring the scenery is fascinating, but only until you start going in circles through the same places ten times.

All this leads to the fact that due to the extended duration, the desire to replay the game to see the new endings diminishes. And there are two more endings in the remake than in the original. The only thing that can save you from the routine is the «New Game +» mode, where you can get additional weapons, secrets, and other perks not available in the regular playthrough.

At the same time, it cannot be said unequivocally that the developers deliberately made the passage more difficult and extended the exploration segment. With the new third-person view, you will find the right path faster. Non-obvious places are now highlighted or marked with white designations. The protagonist marks all important information on the map and notes places that must be visited with a pencil.

The Silent Hill 2 remake is built on Unreal Engine 5. The problematic performance of the engine has predictably affected the project. Even on the most powerful systems, the game manages to experience frame rate drops. On the PS5, in «performance mode», the graphics are very blurry, making it uncomfortable to play.

However, the overall visual quality is top-notch. The world is very detailed and well-crafted. The lighting and fog are executed at a commendable level. The game even features real reflections, which are rare in modern games. And the best part — this is not due to ray tracing!

Character models are very pleasing, and their modernized design is not bad at all. The new costumes are fitting, and the characters' appearances match their scripted images. Facial animations in cutscenes are at an acceptable level. Dialogues are fully re-voiced by new actors, but the formulations themselves (mannered, ridiculous, and emotionless — the «uncanny valley effect») remain almost unchanged. The developers did not dare to rewrite or change anything in the plot, as this could negatively impact the entire story.

***

Silent Hill 2 is a triumphant return of a cult classic and a «true resurrection» of the series from the ashes. Bloober Team has proven their love for the series and created an excellent remake that not only preserves all the key features of the original but also offers a chance to view the classic story from a slightly different angle. It's clear that the developers did not have an unlimited budget, and they couldn't perfect the combat system, but otherwise, the game turned out to be engaging, stylish, atmospheric, and memorable. Everything we loved about the original is in place. Everything we criticized about the original is also preserved, but in a much less painful form. Now we are confident in Bloober Team's creative potential. We look forward to the continuation!