The upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake, developed by Bloober Team, is a game that I haven’t been particularly hopeful about. Ever since the initial excitement of Konami’s decision to revive its cult classic horror IP faded, and more and more details surrounding it emerged, my excitement for this long-awaited resurrection turned into a feeling of dread.
So, you can only imagine how I felt when finally sitting down to play Silent Hill 2 — in all of its crisp, shiny new glory — for three hours last week. I had low expectations. I didn’t know what to think; would I walk away disappointed or elated?
Silent Hill 2 was a product of its time. It was moulded by technical limitations and experimentation. This time around, Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 is still very much a product of passionate experimentation, with modern technology to support all of the developers’ — and fans’ — restless dreams and desires for a remake. And in spite of all my qualms and growing apprehension, it’s safe to say that Bloober Team has, so far, done the best job it possibly could have done while recreating the deeply-troubled world of Silent Hill.
I’ll start with what everyone wants to know. Yes, there have been some significant changes made to Silent Hill 2. One of the first that I noticed was in how you acquire both the radio and your first weapon. That said, absolutely none of these adjustments to the remake impact or detract from the dearly-beloved psychological story at play. If anything, what Bloober Team has done is build upon – and actually enhance – the lore of James’ tragic tale, as well as that of other side characters, rather than remove from or alter it dramatically in any way.
My preview started with the opening of the game, up until we were able to fight with Pyramid Head in Blue Creek Apartments. During this time, I explored expanded locations. Some of these, such as the Flower Shop and Neely’s Bar, had more of a Twin Peaks feeling to them than ever, which does not feel out of place here. I fought with some brutal enemies with intelligent AI, and even ended up being jump-scared more than once.
This was, quite literally, the last thing I was expecting (I know the base game inside out), but I welcomed the feeling of being terrified once more with open arms. That’s what Silent Hill 2 is all about, after all; your fears.
The Wood Side Apartments — these are the first apartments that James enters in Silent Hill — look and feel better than I could’ve imagined. Bloober Team has expanded on the myriad hallways in a meaningful manner; there’s still a level of familiarity carried over from the original game, but there’s the excitement of exploring this larger area, with plenty of holes to crawl through, and of course, thrust James’ hand into…
Changes like this have worked in Silent Hill 2’s favour, despite what you might think. This isn’t a 1:1 remake, and the flavour actually adds to the cocktail altogether, as it were. The new bits provide plenty of familiarity to Silent Hill veterans, while also giving the same folk a broader, enlarged location to genuinely be excited about exploring. And exploration is ever so important to Silent Hill 2, ayou probably know.
Entering Silent Hill for the first time is daunting; you lack visibility, you lack autonomy, you’re placed in the shoes of an everyman protagonist — a man who has murdered his sickly, dying wife — amidst mental turmoil. It’s confusing, it’s frustrating, and it works its way inside the darkest depths of your brain as you try to piece together the emotional tale that is being told through monstrous manifestations. Bloober Team has found a way to successfully preserve this feeling — one that is integral to Silent Hill — while creating something that is still thrilling enough for every type of Silent Hill fan.
Puzzles from the original game are still present (featuring minor changes), with new ones added to freshen things up and keep players on their toes. Much like fleshed-out locations, these new puzzles feel so important to existing fans, providing us with challenges that we don’t already know the answers to. And more pleasantly, answers that aren’t always obvious; the moth room features one example of this to look out for, which I won’t spoil here.
I was apprehensive about combat, considering many fans had some very strong thoughts about the combat reveal trailer. While James can hit Lying Figures and Mannequins with a brutal amount of force, they can hit him back just as hard. They can also dodge and weave between James’ attacks, making them more troubling than ever before. And let’s not forget James’ ability to finish enemies off with a stomp, which frankly, felt incredibly cathartic after being scared out of your skin by a Mannequin.
While James does feel a touch more capable of beating these enemies up than before (which I would say is helped along by the new third-person camera), these enemies similarly feel a lot more threatening to him, too. There’s a solid balance. You’ll also want to take good care around corners, which is great, because Silent Hill’s architects seemed properly smitten with them.
My preview concluded with my first meeting with Pyramid Head, whose footsteps I’d previously heard echoing around the apartments’ corridors, preparing me for what was to come.
Original art director and monster designer, Masahiro Ito, has introduced a slightly altered version of his nightmarish creation, but the Red Pyramid Thing remains as intimidating as he always has been, dragging the Great Knife behind him as he taunts and attacks James without uttering a word. Haunting him, quite literally. The feeling of being watched as you explore the apartments culminates here in what has always been an epic initial showdown between James and his nightmares, although the siren soon begins blaring, and Pyramid Head mysteriously skulks off.
This meeting, among many others, was accompanied by the ambient, industrial Silent Hill 2 soundtrack many of us know and love. Composed by Akira Yamaoka but clearly retouched and remixed, the music remains familiar but of higher quality, with more maniacal sound effects to keep you anticipating who — or what — you might run into next.
I previously lacked a lot of trust in both Konami and Bloober Team, and I’ve been very vocal about it. Konami hasn’t done anything meaningful in regards to Silent Hill in a very long time. Even the recent release of spin-off, The Short Message, was lackluster despite the important message it was trying to send.
As for Bloober Team, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the latest Layers of Fear, and I was worried about how the developer would pull something like Silent Hill 2 off; it’s a lot of pressure to have on any single developer’s shoulders, admittedly.
But Bloober Team appears to have turned that pressure into something beautiful (in a sick and twisted way). The first three hours of the Silent Hill 2 remake scream sheer passion and dedication to preserving the feeling and story of Silent Hill 2, while creating gameplay that is enjoyable for modern audiences, whether you’ve played Silent Hill 2 before or not.
Konami is back in a very, very big way this year — especially with Metal Gear Solid: Delta right around the corner — and the publisher appears to have finally honed in on what its fans really want, as well as how to reach new audiences. If Bloober Team (and its collaborators) are able to carry their clear passion for the original game and dedication to preserving it, while resurrecting it, throughout the rest of the game, then the Silent Hill 2 remake might be exactly what many of us have hoped for. If not better.
Silent Hill 2 was previewed on PS5. The game releases on October 8 for PC and PlayStation 5.
