Silent Hill 2 in All It's Glory
Twenty-three years ago I completed the original Silent Hill 2 (2001) in my college dorm, driving my roommate nuts as I hunted down all the endings within the first five days of launch. Fast forward over two decades later and I can say that not only is Silent Hill 2 (2024) incredibly faithful to the original but may surpass it in almost every way possible. Firstoff, this game looks amazing. The world looks beautiful and the enemies look horrifying. The amount of detail will have players looking at everything to take it all in. The music and sound is world class as the original score is back in all the correct spots. This also includes new tracks that stand right along side in quality due to the return of original composer Akira Yamaoka. Getting the obvious graphical and technical advancements of the past three console generations out of the way, Bloober Team has designed an experience that greatly improves level design and exploration. Progression items and routing are moved around but in the same way Capcom refined the Resident Evil remakes to make traversal as efficient as possible. All the games that SH 2 (2001) inspired now play a role in shaping this game in the best ways possible. Nearly everything from the original SH 2 is here with many new additions. All the major areas have been increased by at least 20%, adding 6 - 10 hours depending on the play style. In the original, the player could go straight to the Woodside Apartments key then straight to the apartments, skipping the entire first town section. In Remake there are a few key items that are mandatory to solve a puzzle first, making exploration more fleshed out and necessary. With that in mind, none of it feels padded because you're always acquiring something needed to progress or survive. Speaking of survival, this game will keep players on their toes scrounging for health and ammo on a first playthrough. Combat in Remake is very satisfying and is possibly the best in an SH game. The melee weapons land heavy and squishy with satisfying feedback. Enemies have move sets that require a balance of movement, distance, and finding openings making most encounters meaningful. When multiple enemies, especially different enemy types are in the same space, encounters can turn into skirmishes quickly requiring firearms. Gun play is solid and resembles that of modern Tomb Raided or Uncharted. Its closer to RE 2/3 remakes rather than RE 4 remake. Its punchy but not very explosive. Bosses have also been redesigned for the better to work around the updated combat. Red Pyramid Thing is far more menacing and has a stronger presence throughout. Unfortunately SH 2 Remake has had controversy surrounding redesigns of some of its characters, notably Angela and Maria. While I do believe the original game nails the look and voice work for both these characters, Remake's versions are also very good. Angela looks and sounds more like a teenage girl which makes her much more unassuming and empathetic. Maria is more personable while still being flirty and snarky. Her look should be seductive and promiscuous but this has been replaced with a deeper performance, making her allure more powerful. In short, the game should not be overlooked because of the fear of political correctness. Overall Silent Hill 2 Remake is worth the time and money of Silent Hill fans, survival horror fans, and gamers looking for an atmospheric, story driven experience. For those that felt RE 2 and 3 should have included more from their respective sources, SH 2 Remake blows them out of the water with its faithfulness and additions. When the dust settles, this game could go down as one of best examples of the genre ever. Here's hoping that Bloober Team can get the go ahead to remake SH 1 and 3. They are clearly fans of the original and did their best to preserve it. Read more
