Silent Hill 2 Remake
Returning to Hell was never so much fun!
I’m unsure if this was the best or worst game to play following the election. On the one hand, Silent Hill 2 is a cathartic game since we must guide James Sunderland through a world that is equal parts Purgatory and Hell. On the other hand, this shit’s bleak because your endings include committing suicide by plunging your car into the lake with your wife’s corpse; dating a woman who will ultimately suffer the same fate as said wife; or jumpstarting a cult. Perhaps it’s best if I start this post by explaining my relationship with these games. To put it bluntly, Silent Hill scares the shit out of me. While I grew up with Resident Evil games, those were basically B-level horror-camp movies with fun action sequences. Silent Hill is just…dark, man. Back in 1999, I had four baby molars extracted at once to make room for my permanent teeth. That was excruciating, and Silent Hill was literally the game I rented for the weekend as a consolation prize. When I moved to Korea the next year, I beat the game while sleeping over at a friend’s apartment. The final puzzles were among the most cryptic I’ve ever encountered in any video game. Silent Hill 2 debuted in 2001, but it wasn’t on my radar until I saw the movie in 2007. While I enjoyed it immensely, what immediately struck me was Akira Yamaoka’s soundtrack. In particular, when I heard “Laura Plays the Piano,” that was my cue to buy the game. Funnily enough, I walked into my local GameStop and bought the damn thing outright with its original case and manual. Sure, the case was butchered by GameStop’s multiple patented yellow barcodes that depreciated the product’s quality, but, hey, I still own a physical copy (according to the box, I paid $29.99). Anywho, I distinctly remember that I bought it the Saturday before Easter. I made it through the first battle with Pyramid Head during the apartments and was immediately in a funk. Imagine playing a game and then saying, “Well, maybe I should go to church.” That’s what happened the next day, so Happy Easter, James. (Coincidentally, the priest was also named James. I sort of miss that priest; he was fun to talk to about Lord of the Rings while he half-repped heavy weights on the leg press machine.)
Anywho, after Downpour, Silent Hill was a dormant series for several years. In fact, the only indication I had that the series was still alive was through fan-made YouTube videos in which posters used samples from the game to make new tunes (Dr. Mel Stanfill and I recently published on this, so read our article). That all changed around October 2022 when Konami announced a slew of new games. One of them was the remake of Silent Hill 2 (henceforth SH2R), which Team Bloober oversaw. Many gamers were cautiously optimistic. Then we started to see some trailers and we started to get a little nervous. Then we saw additional trailers released a few weeks before the game and we were collectively cautiously optimistic again. As I pieced together how to approach this review, I decided that it would be best to break down its elements like I did in my retrospective review of Chrono Cross. Without further ado, let’s jump into a giant pit of despair! Cannnnonnnnballllll!
Atmosphere
Remember when Konami released Silent Hill HD Collection back in 2012, and it was universally panned due to bad textures, different voice actors, Comic Sans font, and more? In particular, the fog, which was so thick in the original that you almost wanted to see it twerk, was sparse. The fog in Silent Hill HD Collection is like when you ask for pickles at Subway, but the poor sandwich makers place three slices on your footlong. Maybe they were stressed. Maybe they didn’t want to make your sandwich. However, at the end of the day, you only got three pickles. You’re not going to find any of that in SH2R. To their credit, Bloober did a wonderful job of maintaining the original’s atmosphere while doing enough to make the remake a unique experience in its own right. In sum, there are various locations on the world map that look amazing, if not outright gorgeous. As soon as you take control of James, you enter a world that, in typical Silent Hill fashion, is both terrifying and alluring. This is in large part thanks to the sound effects, but some of the shading and lighting decisions were also well-planned in my book. For example, when James and Maria first enter Brookhaven Hospital, there is enough light sneaking through the windows on the first floor to give the impression that it’s early evening. It’s an incredibly tense dungeon, but for that brief moment, the game world is uncharacteristically beautiful. Similarly, at the end of the game when James explores Lakeview Hotel, the hotel changes after each time lapse to give the impression that things are not quite what they seem in this once premier vacation spot. In truth, all the dungeons have great designs, so I really have no complaints. Additionally, I felt that the new remixes (if we wish to call them that) complemented Yamaoka’s score well to the point that some even stood out in distinct ways compared to their original counterparts. So, if you’re here to play a Silent Hill game for its atmosphere (and you are), there’s a good chance you’re going to dig this remake.
Gameplay
“I play Silent Hill for its combat system,” said no one ever. Since the characters in these games are common laypeople thrust into existential dilemmas outside of their control, the combat system of each game tends to reflect their clumsiness. Homecoming tried to buck this trend by framing its protagonist as a soldier (although, spoiler alert, he wasn’t), but that’s the closest Silent Hill has ever come to a “traditional” third-person survival horror shooter. The best way I can describe SH2R’s combat system is that it’s a simplified version of Homecoming. This is both good and bad. It’s generally good because you can just toggle between the four weapons using the d-pad rather than cycling through circular menus. You can also use your health items by pressing a hotkey, but just be sure not to accidentally press it lest you accidentally use one when you don’t need to. Generally speaking, the combat is fine in SH2R, but there are some quirks. For example, there are moments throughout the game in which you’ll have to rely on your melee weapons to conserve ammo. The only problem is that every enemy in the game is now way stronger and faster than in the original. You’ll have to dodge quite a bit more, but since the game doesn’t have an auto-aim feature, a successful dodge could mean the enemy is now behind you, forcing you to realign the camera angle while said enemy is now preparing for another attack. Some enemies, like the nurses, can technically be one-shot with the pipe if you successfully strike them in the back, but if you can’t, you’re better off just using a gun. There are other moments in the game in which several enemies can bum rush James at once. Suffice it to say, this is not the kind of game in which you can fire through wave after wave of enemies, so your best bet is to take out enemies individually…if the game allows you this luxury, that is. Given some of these combat quirks, I believe that there are moments in which I almost encountered a quiet “game over” because I used more resources (ammo and health) than I anticipated. Ultimately, conserve ammo when you can, but absolutely use it when you need to. It’s a conundrum, but by the time you encounter the final two bosses, you’ll want way more resources than you perhaps planned (by the way, the final boss is way harder in the remake).
On another note, the puzzles in SH2R are a lot of fun! Many of them are new, and you’ll think you’re training for the LSAT! Wait. That sounds terrible now that I’ve said it. Okay. Stop thinking about the LSAT. They are fun puzzles!
Characters
SH2R contains the same characters as the original; as far as I can tell, there aren’t any new additions. That’s a good thing since the unstable nature of the intimate cast highlights the unsettling nature of the town of Silent Hill as each person views the resort town in different ways. For those familiar with the original, I’d say Eddie and Laura mostly remain the same, although you chase Laura on a few more occasions. Angela is mentally hanging on by a thread and it seems that you encounter her a few more times in the remake. Not only that, but a lot of context implied in the original is now more or less explicitly stated, often in uncomfortable ways. Of the characters, Maria seems to have undergone the greatest transformation. While she was a sultry femme fatale in the original, she seems more manipulative in the remake in that she wants James to develop feelings for her. It’s an interesting change, one that I don’t remember encountering 20 years ago. I don’t really have any notes on the new voice actors as they all did nice work overall (despite some delivery issues on occasion). I’m also not going to be too critical of the character designs, although I will note that some of the facial models seemed a little inconsistent at times. For example, a character like Maria sometimes flashed an awkward smile that the camera lingered on. I will say that James looking like Matthew Modine grew on me after a while, so I approve of that change.
Story
On the surface, SH2R is a story about James sticking his hands into nasty spaces and cannonballing into deep holes with reckless abandon. I had to start this section with a joke because y’all know this game is bleak. I’m going to assume most of you already know about the main plot and that Mary’s corpse is still rotting in James’ car. If not, well, uh, spoilers. As previously mentioned, each of the characters were drawn to Silent Hill based on their misdeeds (in Laura’s case, she seems to see the world much differently because she’s innocent). I don’t feel like I must dive too deep into this section, but the remake handles its twists and conflicts exceptionally well. For example, Angela calls out Matthew Modine, I mean, James, and chastises him for being a “nice guy,” which makes complete sense given how he conducts himself throughout the game. There are also a ton of new files to read and audio clips to listen to that provide context not found in the original game. If the remake’s atmosphere is its primary strength, the way it handles the story is a close second.
How Does It Compare to Other Remakes?
This would be the part of the review in which I would talk about the game’s contributions to video game genre studies. If you’ve played the original, you’re basically going to get the same generic conventions. I’ve covered a few remakes already, so maybe we should take a look at those (hard to believe I reviewed some of these games during that guy’s first term). I gave Resident Evil 2R an 8 for doing a lot of groovy things. However, I gave the Resident Evil 3 remake a 6 because while it was fun, it removed way too much of the base game. More recently, I’ve played Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Resident Evil 4R (maybe I’ll write reviews one of these days). Both games flirt with a 10, although in Rebirth’s case, some of its glut made me consider dropping it to a 9 (it’s still my GOTY, though). With these examples in mind, I’m comfortable giving SH2R an 8 like I did RE2R. Both games have tremendous replay value, but for different reasons. While RE2R’s combat is a blast, I felt that was the primary incentive to replay the game rather than the quasi-different storylines. Conversely, while SH2R’s combat system gets tedious after a while, its attention and even devotion to the story (not to mention multiple endings) necessitates multiple playthroughs.
Conclusion
Despite my score, I think I ultimately must take a break from SH2R for a while. This is standard for me when I play a Silent Hill game as I’ve never said, “Welp, time to immediately start a new game!” In this case, the dual dungeons of Toluca Prison and the Labyrinth took a gigantic toll on me to the point that the final Lakeview Hotel dungeon almost felt like a reprieve. However, make no mistake that this is a wonderful game. I can’t really say that it “sparked joy” since it’s a remake of one of the most depressing games ever made, but I’m certainly glad I experienced it. I’d also like to give Bloober an “attaboy” for this as they surpassed my expectations. So definitely play this one, but make sure you’re mentally in a good place before doing so.
