Silent Hill 2 remake review – the thinking person’s survival horror

The arguable remake of fearfulness classical Silent Hill 2 has turned retired acold amended than galore expected, with an awesome modern reimagining.

A batch has changed since 2001. Back past the PlayStation 2 was lone a twelvemonth aged and, astatine the clip of the archetypal Silent Hill 2’s release, Xbox hadn’t adjacent entered the games market. Online gaming was inactive each but chartless connected consoles and modern plagues similar microtransactions, loot boxes, conflict passes, and NFTs were inactive but a twinkle successful a grey-suited businessman’s eye.

Instead, survival horror was 1 of the much fashionable bandwagons being leapt upon, astatine the commencement of the 21st century. Although by precocious 2001 the archetypal Resident Evil trilogy had already been completed and we were lone a fewer months distant from Capcom’s archetypal remake. By the clip Silent Hill 2 launched successful September, the genre had already peaked successful popularity and profitability, and the much opportunistic publishers were opening to suffer interest.

As celebrated arsenic it is, astatine little than 2 cardinal copies the crippled was ne'er a monolithic deed and frankly we’re confused arsenic to however the bid has continued to spawn specified a immense legion of adjacent little palmy sequels and spin-offs. Nevertheless, Silent Hill 2 is 1 of the champion fearfulness games ever made and surely 1 of the smartest and astir thought-provoking. It’s without question an all-time classical and this remake is simply a worthy homage.

There’s been a batch of negativity surrounding the Silent Hill 2 remake, arsenic a effect of the mediocre estimation of Polish developer Bloober Team and a drawstring of unconvincing trailers. It’s a shame Konami didn’t organise a preview earlier, arsenic it would person instantly allayed those understandable concerns. This is easy Bloober Team’s champion enactment and an fantabulous remake successful that not lone does it perfectly recreate the archetypal successful modern form, but the developer understands it good capable that they’re capable to adhd a tiny magnitude of caller content, that fits successful seamlessly.

Although this is labelled arsenic a sequel it does not diagnostic immoderate characters from the archetypal PS1 game. The operation and gameplay is precise akin but different Silent Hill 2 is simply a wholly abstracted experience. Importantly, the quality of Silent Hill itself has evolved and alternatively than simply being a agrarian American municipality overrun by monsters it appears otherwise to each of the fistful of different radical you tally into, with each seeing and experiencing antithetic things arsenic a effect of their ain interior demons.

You play arsenic James Sunderland, who is drawn to the municipality aft receiving a missive from his wife, who died of a terminal unwellness 3 years ago. At nary constituent does the crippled spell retired precisely what is happening to James and it is precise casual to play done the full crippled arsenic a consecutive enactment horror, with nary deeper meaning. If you research disconnected the beaten way though, and deliberation done the meaning down the encounters with different characters, arsenic good arsenic the symbolism of the monsters, it becomes clearer arsenic to however and wherefore the municipality is tormenting James.

Mechanically speaking, Silent Hill 2 is simply a reasonably straightforward 3rd idiosyncratic actioner (the archetypal had perpetually changing camera angles but the remake uses much a modular over-the-shoulder view, that lone occasionally zooms retired further). There is rather a spot of combat, including immoderate somewhat much progressive brag battles than before, but this is not a Resident Evil crippled and it’s not meant to beryllium entertaining successful its ain right. James is conscionable an mean man, and each his fights are panicked and clumsy – adjacent though you bash present person a dodge button.

While the scrappy fights make further hostility you can’t truly reason that the galore logic puzzles bash the same. Some of them are truly rather hard, adjacent close from the start, with tons of maths problems, riddles, and symbol-based brainteasers.

Surprisingly, Bloober Team has added a fig of caller ones, adjacent though you could reason that they should person removed them each entirely. But portion consequent entries began to stray into walking sim territory Silent Hill 2 shows however overmuch much effectual it is to clasp a precocious level of interactivity. It increases the immersion and adjacent if immoderate of the puzzles veer into Resident Evil benignant absurdity they adhd to the dreamlike quality of the setting.

Silent Hill 2 is simply a hard crippled to remake. It has each the earthy problems oregon recreating a 2 decennary aged video crippled but piled connected apical of that is the ambiguity implicit however overmuch of the original’s sickly atmosphere, and wide consciousness of wrongness, is intentional and however overmuch a blessed coincidence of debased level jank and the information that it was a Japanese developer attempting to recreate tiny municipality America done reflection alternatively than experience.

Again, Bloober Team look to recognize this and portion the voice-acting is overmuch much nonrecreational than the original, the dialog is inactive weird and unnatural. That could person travel crossed arsenic obnoxious, since present it’s being done connected purpose, but it rides the enactment betwixt naivety and absurdity astir perfectly, adding an astir Lynchian constituent to proceedings.

Whatever magic the archetypal had has been cleverly retained successful the remake and arsenic specified there’s small to truly fault. From a modern position it’s a interaction excessively linear and immoderate of the locations bash overstay their welcome, particularly arsenic there’s small ocular assortment betwixt the galore apartments, edifice rooms, and infirmary areas. Thanks to a fewer caller areas and puzzles this is simply a notably longer acquisition than the archetypal and astatine times it does consciousness a small excessively overmuch similar padding.

Some of the puzzles are precise obscure too, but you tin conscionable crook their hard down successful the options. Although adjacent with caller signposting (usually strips of cloth oregon insubstantial astir entrances) and an interactive representation it’s comparatively casual to get mislaid and escaped way of wherever you’re going.

Graphically, the crippled is highly impressive. It’s not rather arsenic slick and high-tech arsenic the Resident Evil remakes but immoderate areas look astir photorealistic and the usage of adjacent transportation blackness, successful immoderate areas, are highly effective. Importantly, the characters person the aforesaid aerial of unreality arsenic the original, with mouths that don’t rather determination decently and different idiosyncrasies that were method limitations the archetypal clip circular but are retained present to support the aforesaid unsettling atmosphere.

The astir important happening the Silent Hill 2 remake gets close is that it’s inactive scary. On a visceral level you’re inactive terrified to enactment 1 ft successful beforehand of the different successful immoderate areas, arsenic you rotation the camera circular astatine the slightest sound or, worse, cognize that an force is adjacent (because your pouch vigor buzzes if they are) but cannot archer wherever they’re going to popular retired from.

What stays with you longer is the dilatory realisation of what’s going connected and that not lone is James fundamentally doing this to himself but it’s wholly understandable arsenic to why. In the satellite of Silent Hill 2, hellhole is not different radical but your ain guilt and insecurities. The archetypal made that constituent portion being an entertaining and enjoyably spooky endurance fearfulness and this remake is conscionable arsenic effective, portion having each the bells and whistles you’d expect of a modern video game.

Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed) and PC
Price: £59.99
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Bloober Team
Release Date: 8th October 2024
Age Rating: 18

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