Considered by many to be one of the finest examples of interactive horror, Silent Hill 2 is still considered one of the absolute giants of the genre, setting trends in the years following its original release on PlayStation 2 in 2001. Also, maybe raise the white flag from the start and admit that I never tried the original game, as I was only nine years old at the time and didn’t have the stamina to experience solid horror games until well into my twenties.
Therefore, this review must be, even if only partial, a critical assessment of Silent Hill 2 as a modern horror game and whether it works satisfactorily as a homage to the original, but also as a modern, coherent and standalone work for those of us who. .. well, just like the conventions of the genre.
First of all, it should be noted that Bloober Team did their best. Despite some poor animation here and there, Silent Hill 2 Remake is a technically polished gaming experience that, after rolling out an update midway through the testing period, virtually eliminated all remaining technical issues and kept the game running at a fast, silky-smooth pace. smooth frame rate, with beautiful, sophisticated graphics that represent Bloober’s most immersive viewing experience yet. There are a few moments where certain artistic decisions fail, such as slightly upbeat music in more somber scenes, but it’s entirely possible that the studio feels trapped within the original’s artistic framework.
Advertising:
The look of Silent Hill 2 Remake is really beautiful for the most part and the dubbing is more than satisfactory in almost all scenes. What they say isn’t always enticing, but again, Bloober seems to have stayed pretty faithful to the source material, because even though they remix elements for pacing, almost all of the plot seems to be heavily inspired by the story behind it took place in 2001. That’s true, for better or worse, especially when there are parts of Silent Hill 2’s real and original narrative that aren’t as deep as expected, and we’ll talk about that later, but the game is well put together. There’s no such thing Doubt.
Silent Hill 2 focuses on James Sunderland, who receives a mysterious letter from his late wife Mary, who lost her battle with a serious illness three years earlier. In the enigmatic letter, she lures him to Silent Hill, where they apparently spent a vacation together, and hoping that Mary is magically alive, he goes to Silent Hill and ends up through the fog in a nightmare scenario where almost all residents have disappeared, monsters roam the streets and even the enigmatic and iconic pyramid head waits in the dark.
While the original Silent Hill suggested relatively early on that Silent Hill is a physical place anchored by a certain kind of internal logic, where characters respond collectively to an external threat, Silent Hill 2 is much more introspective, personal and allegorical in its narrative nature, something that I find very divisive among players. It became less and less obvious to me that the setting itself was actually just a platform for James to confront his inner demons, and even the physical threats became an extension of the allegory rather than… well, monsters.
Advertising:
As the game progresses, it becomes less and less about a physical location where mysterious and terrible events have occurred that could provide the framework for figuring out why things are the way they are, and more about a kind of cavalry of dream scenarios One incomplete explanation replaces another, trying to say something bigger, something more comprehensive than a classic narrative about escape from this scenario could support. It’s bold and the game has something to say about some pretty serious themes that balance well with the almost metaphysical and cruel. But does it serve as an incentive to push the player forward? Well, I have my doubts, and without giving anything away or getting too involved in criticizing any of Silent Hill 2’s central concepts, it didn’t work for me, and as we approach the 16th hour of Silent Hill 2 Remake approached, I didn’t. He feels no connection to James and the people he meets along the way, nor any desire to further explore the city’s turbulent history. It all seemed too fleeting, too insignificant, a bit like the characters were waking up and realizing it was all “just a dream.” Playing Silent Hill 2 is a bit like that. Everything is just a dream, and since everything is a dream, there is no beginning, no middle, no end.
If you’re also a fan of allegorical storytelling, these relatively deep themes will give you something that few mainstream games dare to do, but I feel like the story loses something pretty essential as a result. It loses the unique connection to what makes Silent Hill so unique.
But then again, this is dictated by the original game, which, by the way, many still love and respect. So I think you can probably look past the actual appeal and enjoy a remake that makes Silent Hill 2 feel really modern and mechanical.
However, it has to be said that while Bloober nailed it, there are still more structural and pragmatic aspects of the game that could use some tweaking. No, the combat isn’t nearly as bad as the original “Combat Trailer” made it seem, and once you encounter firearms, some pretty solid and satisfying mechanics replace the clunkier melee animations. However, this doesn’t help the bosses, who don’t really manage to act as a frightening conclusion to an exciting chapter, but rather as boring, incomplete “meat bags” with no personality or function.
Overall, there are too few enemy types to justify the 16+ hours of gameplay, and sometimes even a more omnipresent threat is missing. Sure, some of the enemies included are pretty clever, crawling along walls or trying to camouflage themselves to attack you from behind, but most are introduced after a few hours and there aren’t any really new ones. Luckily, the game’s puzzles are pretty clever and the step-by-step solving is always satisfying, even if the game doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel.
For me personally, it was a great pleasure to experience one of the modern classics that are considered groundbreaking in genre conventions, and I have to applaud Bloober Team’s work here. That doesn’t change the fact that there are aspects of Silent Hill 2’s foundation that I find a little shaky, and your immersion and enjoyment will be determined by how forgiving you are with a story that thins out too much as the game progresses . Still, this is certainly a love letter to the original, and we have all respect for that.
