Silent Hill 2 (2024) Review

In my restless dreams, I see that town. Silent Hill. You promised me you’d take me there again someday. But you never did. Well, I’m alone there now… In our ‘special place’… Waiting for you…

The words echo out as the game’s protagonist James Sunderland reads a letter from his dearly departed wife Mary… so starts Silent Hill 2. So what have Bloober Team brought to the table when it comes to the remake of the beloved survival horror title?

The original game, which released way back in 2001 for the PlayStation 2, was critically acclaimed for its atmosphere, story, and unforgettable characters (both human and not so). I can safely say that despite some initial concerns with the game’s development, the Silent Hill 2 remake is a fantastic reimagining of Team Silent’s work, which not only pays homage to the source material, but also elevates it in places.

Coming from my only Silent Hill experience being Downpour on PS3, I’ve always wanted to play what many consider to be the best in the series but never had a copy (and didn’t really want to play the HD remaster for obvious reasons). After my first playthrough of this remake came to a close I can confirm that this is a must-play for fans of the series and for survival horror enthusiasts in general.

Welcome to hell

The geography of Silent Hill is mainly designed to reflect the guilt of its visitors, with areas literally tearing apart and shifting into an ‘otherworld’, and enemies emerging straight from the twisted psyche of these tormented minds (see the now legendary Pyramid Head). The sounds are eerie and the visuals are disturbing. Combat is visceral, and what once acted as a method to hide hardware limitations is now one of the most atmospheric uses of weather in video games, as the fog in the town engulfs everything, obscuring what the player can and can’t see.

The player (and James) is always left guessing. Throughout Silent Hill 2 levels morph, enemies actively hide, sound can ramp up at a moment’s notice, and the lighting plays tricks. You really feel as though you are on a shared journey here, only getting snippets of reality as the game unfolds. All while James ventures further and further into the depths of the town searching for Mary, and seemingly tiptoeing on the brink of insanity.

A lot of the game can be left up to player interpretation – is James good or evil? Can the other inhabitants see what you can see? Are other twisted factors at play? Is Silent Hill even real? I personally love this as it pushes players to not only think for themselves about what they are experiencing, but also share theories and conspiracies with others (games like Elden Ring do this incredibly well).

Twenty three years…

We may be getting older but the love that these titles are receiving in the form of quality updated remakes, allows for a new generation to experience some of gaming’s greatest releases. Survival horror especially feels as though it’s going through a revival, and when a beloved series is treated with respect players can see it in the finished result. I was particularly looking forward to this one having never played the original, and whether it’s completely faithful or not, Silent Hill 2 (2024) earns its spot.

Graphically similar to what Capcom is currently putting out, the game retains a lot of its PS2 charm. It features clever puzzles (both new and old) which do take a decent amount of solving, along with simplistic yet rewarding combat. Enemies will react differently when shot in the leg or head for instance, and each has a unique way of approaching them, and running away is always an option… sometimes. Ammo, which can obtained for one of three weapons, is finite. This adds to the tension you can face in already sketchy scenarios when you run dry, and you are being stalked by evil nightmare creatures.

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows (or fog and rain)

The quality vs. performance debate has reared its ugly head again here (like in games such as Spider-Man 2). Having to choose between frame rate or graphical fidelity on the standard PS5 – which is what I played on, sucks and doesn’t feel very next-gen (though the PS5 Pro does look to make this a thing of the past). This is my only real gripe with the game though, and it’s one that many share.

It’s not a dealbreaker however and I very happily enjoyed the game on performance mode as it felt a tad more responsive, but it’s personal preference as always. The lighting, which I believed to be purposefully designed like the fog to obscure, makes levels feel even more terrifying as you really do have to rely on your flashlight, adding to the sense of dread when exploring a new room or turning a corner. I have read though that this oppressive darkness could possibly be attributed in part to the games ‘performance mode’ so have a play around and see what you like best. For me the trade off in lighting for what felt like a better framerate was worth it.

See what Bloober added & kept the same in GameSpot’s great breakdown video (spoiler warning):

The game deserves its place alongside the recent Resident Evil remakes, and while it may be completely different in terms of tone and pacing, many updated elements from those games such as the camera, controls and combat, make their way here as well and make for a very slick and fun (is fun the right word?) run-through. One which I look forward to revisiting with James again soon…