Silent Hill 2 Remake Review

Bloober Team’s remake of Silent Hill 2 was first announced in October 2022, and for the two years between then and its release date, it felt like this game was destined to fail. Silent Hill 2 is one of the most beloved horror games of all time, and the fanbase seemed pessimistic from the jump about Bloober Team’s efforts. The pessimism wasn’t completely unjustified – I haven’t loved the team’s previous work on Layers of Fear or Blair Witch, and when the team is working with a game like Silent Hill 2, any previous missteps are going to be taken into account by fans when predicting the remake’s quality.

It felt like Silent Hill 2’s remake was always going to exist in the shadow of the original game, whether the game was good or not. The real challenge for Bloober Team was to allow their version of Silent Hill 2 to find its own light, as a game that fans would return to regardless of its ties to the incredible original. I’m overjoyed to report that they pulled this off. From the time I’ve spent with the game since its release, Silent Hill 2 Remake is not only an incredible remake, but an incredible horror game in its own right. There’s a lot to talk about, but we’ll be avoiding spoilers for the game, so if you like what you hear, be sure to check the game out for yourself, and reward Bloober Team’s efforts – then, we might just get a remake of the other Silent Hill games…

With that being said, let’s get into this review of Bloober Team’s 2024 Silent Hill Remake – the good, the bad, and the incredible.

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The Review

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The remake of Silent Hill 2, and the largely undeserved hate train against it prior to release, reminded me of conversations around the 2023 remake of Resident Evil 4. Both are essential horror classics that shaped the genre, and both raised questions as to the necessity of their remakes. The main difference between the two is that, where Capcom had earned fans’ trust through their remake of Resident Evil 2, Bloober Team was fighting an uphill battle against their reputation, which was shaky at best. There were also the worries about changes in theme and tone for this remake – the original Silent Hill 2 dealt with some very sensitive topics that fans were unsure would be left as prevalent in a 2024 remake.

Luckily, Bloober Team have demonstrated that, above all else, the team behind this remake have played and appreciated the original game – which really, is all most fans were asking for. To be blunt, I don’t think this remake has topped the original game – though considering the impact of that game on horror gaming, I don’t think it ever could have. The love for the original shines through this remake though, which makes it a very enjoyable experience for any fan of Silent Hill 2. Bloober Team have taken the content of the original, left it intact, while expanding on it in effective ways, broadening the world of Silent Hill 2 without undermining the vibe of the original game. They’ve also included a neat camera filter which lets gamers play the game with a colour scheme more reminiscent of the original title. The attention to detail on display is superb.

The main area where a lot has changed from the original to this remake is the voice acting. The voice acting taking a different approach to the dialogue of the original is a known fact to many following the remake’s many trailers, and though it has been a point of controversy for many, I think that the tonal differences were needed to bring Silent Hill 2 into the modern era. I love the delivery in the original game, but let’s be honest here – it’s cheesy. Over-the-top delivery worked for games back then, but now? If the voice acting retained that tone here, it would have almost felt like a parody, so for me, the more nuanced approach to line delivery is a positive for the remake. Fans will be glad to know, though, the dialogue itself is very faithful to the original, and many beloved lines from the original, regardless of how silly they are, have made it here. ‘It’s hot as hell in here’ for example…those who know, know.

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The big question for many, as is the case with most horror games, will be ‘is it scary?’. Frankly, in the time that I’ve spent with Silent Hill 2, I have found the game genuinely scary, and am thoroughly impressed with the methods they’ve used to pull these scares off. The game doesn’t rely on jumpscares (though there are some). Rather, much like the original, the game uses its oppressive atmosphere to set players up for frights at every turn. Sometimes the scares come, and sometimes they don’t, and the frequency of the latter is what makes the former far more effective each time. 

Silent Hill 2 has retained the elements that contributed to the game’s amazing atmosphere in the original. The tone is always foreboding, a thick fog ominously coats your surroundings at all times, and figures appear to be watching you from every corner. The game uses radio static to warn you of incoming enemies, and each time the static begins, it sends chills up my spine. Long, silent sections are broken by random rattles and thumps, making players jump without any immediate threat in sight. For the full experience, I think headphones are absolutely essential. The sound design is on point, and is enhanced by the marvellous soundtrack provided by Akira Yamaoka, who has, somehow, improved on his own work on the original game.

The trippiness of the original game is also built upon here, as players enter a sort of joint madness with James. For large chunks of the game, players will wander around large buildings, through which they’ll backtrack to solve puzzles. Though it may go unnoticed by some, the buildings sometimes change as you advance, with holes appearing where there weren’t any, paths blocked off that you had previously used, and characters walking where there’s nowhere for them to advance. The buildings feel like they twist around you, as you struggle to define the paths you’ve taken. Luckily, the game keeps you oriented the whole time, so this trippiness doesn’t translate to frustration.

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It feels like Silent Hill 2 is the only game where what I’m about to say can be taken as a positive – the combat in this game is as clunky as fans wanted. Unlike his survival-horror counterparts, James is no fighter, and fans were hoping that his inexperience would be reflected in the game’s combat mechanics. Well, it certainly is, and as much as I appreciate the commitment to his character, the clunkiness does make the combat sections feel a little irritating. There’s also far too many combat encounters for my liking, considering this clunkiness. I’m no professional gamer or anything, but I’d like to think I’ve played enough survival-horror to have my head on straight with these games, and still, I was swigging health drinks to heal like there was no tomorrow. I would much rather have just explored the environments without worrying about combat as much, but this is a small fault.

On the topic of combat, the enemy monster models look great here, and this was one of my primary concerns going in. The monsters in the original Silent Hill 2 look quite splodgey, with very little definition to their features. This worked on the PS2 due to the general graphic quality, but I was worried about how they would look in modern graphics. Luckily, they look incredible. Speaking of enemy monsters, I don’t think that the presence of Pyramid Head in this game is a spoiler, and wow, is he terrifying. There were moments where I simply thought I heard him walking around, and went in the complete opposite direction. He’s as frightening as ever, and makes for an excellent central antagonist. 

There are some issues with the game, however. Admittedly, the game is not always user-friendly. There was one point in Blue Creek Apartments where I walked up and down the same hallway three times, with seemingly nowhere to go, before the game decided to fill me in on the fact that I could break walls with my weapon. Whether that’s an embarrassing anecdote from my playthrough, or a genuine design flaw I’m not sure. Perhaps both? Regardless, I do wish the game was a little more direct sometimes in its directions. I don’t want hand-holding, but I also don’t want to float aimlessly around until I happen to get a command button.

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The game is also, very, very dark visually. Sometimes, this is a plus. The darkness surrounding the player and your environment at all times adds to the oppressiveness of the game, but sometimes, it’s near impossible to see. The brightness can be increased, but it practically sucks all the colour and life from the game if you do so. I eventually gave up trying to solve the brightness issue, and just settled for straining my eyes. This is particularly frustrating when your path lies beyond a tiny gap in a wall. I spent a lot of time trekking around rooms before eventually realising that there was a miniscule vent that I needed to squeeze through on the floor. I do fear that long gameplay sessions may end up causing headaches because of just how dark the game is.

Also, as fans of the original will know, Silent Hill 2 is a puzzle game at heart. Yes, there is combat, but the game is much more about examining your surroundings, backtracking through buildings, and solving puzzles to advance to the next area. The remake is faithful in this regard, but ultimately, some puzzles go on for far too long. There are lengthy sections where you’ll reach the end of the part, and realise that you’ve been doing the same puzzle for a huge chunk of time. Unfortunately, this can sometimes make the game’s amazing environments start to feel stale, which is a regrettable self-sabotage. The puzzles are well-crafted, but do sometimes feel far too lengthy.

These flaws aside though, Silent Hill 2 is an incredible horror game. Bloober Team have done something special by taking such a beloved property and making it their own, keeping faithful to the original, but expanding on it in fresh new ways. Many have made comparisons to the Resident Evil remakes when talking about this game, and thankfully, I think that this game represents the same standard of remake we got from that franchise, but for Silent Hill. Here’s hoping that the game will encourage Bloober Team to remake the original game, as well as Silent Hill 3, and finally, these games can be experienced by a whole new generation of gamers. Be sure to check out this game, and let us know what you think. Thank you for reading!

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