Silent Hill 2 Remake Review (PS5)

I wasn’t exactly thrilled when I heard Bloober Team would be the studio behind the Silent Hill 2 remake. I love Observer and think The Medium is decent. However, two of their games I’d previously reviewed – Layers of Fear 2 and Blair Witch – were some of the most monotonous and uninspired titles I’ve played in over three decades of gaming. Given that Silent Hill 2 is one of survival horror’s seminal titles, I had serious doubts about Bloober Team’s ability to do it justice. In fact, I replayed the original last month, fully expecting to skewer its attempt.

I was wrong.

Silent Hill 2 Remake now stands alongside Resident Evil 4 Remake as the new benchmark for future remakes. The game is perfect for both newcomers to the series and longtime fans, and it’s clear that Bloober Team has an enormous amount of respect and love for the original. They’ve managed to capture the essence of what made the original game a classic while enhancing and expanding upon it in meaningful ways.

Returning to Silent Hill

The story of Silent Hill 2 Remake remains the same as the original. James Sunderland is a widower who receives a letter from his late wife, Mary. The letter says she’s waiting for him in “our special place,” Silent Hill. James believes she died from an illness three years prior, but the chance of being reunited with her is so compelling he throws logic to the wind.

When James reaches the outskirts of Silent Hill, he finds the tunnel leading into town blocked off. So, he’s forced to abandon his car and proceed on foot. He remembers spending a magical vacation with Mary in Silent Hill, but when he finally arrives, he finds it enveloped in a thick fog and largely abandoned. The only remaining inhabitants are twisted monsters and a handful of people, each carrying their own emotional baggage.

Fans of the original Silent Hill 2 will be happy to know the plot remains completely intact. Many conversations and notes are carried over verbatim, and complementary story elements have been added.

In particular, Maria and James’s relationship has been fleshed out. The original emphasized her sexuality, which is still present in the remake. However, new scenes show her being extremely supportive of James, offering comfort and understanding. This adds a new layer to their relationship and highlights how much James martyrs himself for “enduring” Mary’s illness. Maria isn’t just an idealized version of Mary; she’s also a reflection of James’s own desires and guilt, projecting the idealized version of himself onto her.

More of a good thing

While the story remains the same, the environments have been expanded considerably. Only the layout of the streets in Silent Hill are an exact match, albeit with some optional locations to explore.

The game’s central “dungeon” locations, like the apartments and hospital, have almost all been vastly expanded. While the original versions of these places are iconic, the make brings them to life in a new way, and the runtime has been doubled because there’s so much more to explore. There are fewer blocked doors this time around, and the level design is more circular so there’s less backtracking.

The remake appeals to both Silent Hill 2 veterans and newcomers alike. Those who played the original will find the environments very familiar, but the new puzzles, rooms, and the order in which you explore each location make it feel like a brand-new experience. There are also plenty of callbacks, including a new collectible called a Glimpse of the Past, each of which references a puzzle or event from the original game.

A fighting chance

The combat in the original Silent Hill 2 was terrible. To kill basic enemies, you’d just hit them with the heavy melee attack to stunlock them. Once they fell over, you then had to have James bash them about 20 times until they finally died. Fortunately, their AI was bad enough that you could run past most of them, which was often the better solution since they constantly respawned.

In the remake, combat has been overhauled significantly. Each enemy type has a unique moveset and is, overall, more challenging to face. For example, Lying Figures can spew acid from a distance, forcing you to be mindful of your positioning, and Mannequins will hide in the shadows and attempt to ambush you when you least expect it. Enemies will sometimes retreat after taking damage and try to find a more advantageous location to attack you.

Fortunately, foes aren’t the bullet sponges they are in the original and don’t respawn. However, as an exchange, you’ll fight more of them, and they’ll burst out of seemingly locked doors and other hiding locations.

The boss fights in the original were also lackluster. They all boiled down to keeping your distance and running around in a circle. The only real threat was running out of ammo. In the remake, each encounter has been reworked to be a more thrilling experience.