Review: Silent Hill 2 (2024) adds another layer of interpretation

How do you remake a story that thrives on interpretation?

In “Lost Memories: Silent Hill Chronicle“, a long document published by Konami and Team Silent in 2003, the developers wrote that there was no canonical ending for the original Silent Hill 2which contains four main conclusions depending on your actions. Many narrative subtleties regarding the characters, the city outside of the cutscenes, and scattered in-game notes have taken on different meanings to different people. After more than two decades of existing fan theories and carefully crafted wiki pages, James Sunderland’s story remains a foggy collection of fabrications.

And here’s the one from Bloober Team Silent Hill 2reinterpreted under the norms of the current zeitgeist of the gaming industry. Even after the Resident Evil remakes paved the way for this possibility, it’s still strange to see. The first trailers showed a familiar but modernized presentation, switching to an over-the-shoulder camera and sleeker, more modern combat. When the preview came out, Bloober Team’s developers assured every interviewer that it would remain faithful to the original down to the smallest detail – even some members of the original team who were involved in the remake wanted more changes but were overruled.

During my first playthrough, which lasted over 17 hours, I could feel on the walls of every rusty corridor how hesitant the designers were about what to change. As you can see from my playtime, many of the original areas have been expanded compared to the 2001 game (which was around 10 hours long). The things you love are mostly still there. But there are a number of changes, some subtle, some bold, that challenge that familiarity and make for a fascinating new edition.

So early Gameplay streams seemed to indicate that some encounters – like the first monster sighting in the tunnel – were changed. When you interact with certain locations and objects, the game plays a record scratching animation with a specific musical cue. I won’t mention any other examples as these are fun nostalgia islands that are worth (re)encountering on your own. However, the general implication used by some new text entries and collectibles is that the game is actually playing with the idea that you’ve already experienced the events of Silent Hill 2 at least once, both from a story and almost meta perspective as a returning player.

I would like to tell you in detail how this all turns out in the end, but I can’t. For one thing, the restrictions of the review embargo prohibit me from describing the two new endings; I can only mention their existence. I couldn’t describe them anyway, though, since I didn’t get either on my first playthrough – it was the “Maria” ending instead. Speaking with colleagues who also had access to the game before release, these additions are still being decoded and discovered as other people progress through New Game Plus and try to find a new type of collector. Someone out there has probably already seen it, but the details won’t (or shouldn’t) come to light until after the game’s release.

The Silent Hill 2 Remake doesn’t go that far Final Fantasy 7 Remakea bold reimagining of a classic to expand the narrative into uncharted territory. James still rushes through the same main areas as in the original. The “Maria” ending remains (roughly) identical. The other endings consist of puzzles that need to be solved. They add scattered puzzle pieces for returning players to find and introduce the story’s findings to the existing roster. But beyond the scavenger hunt experience of finding these endings, there are some fundamental changes to the base game that both expand on and, in some cases, weaken what came before.

As far as gameplay goes, my biggest concerns before playing this version were the camera and the overall atmosphere, which go hand in hand. The original’s solid angles were a staple for a reason. It was always scary to walk down a dark corridor toward the camera, not knowing what was in front of you until it appeared in the frame or the angle changed. The environments themselves, such as the legendary Toluca Prison, thrived in the technologically limited complexity of the PlayStation 2 era. The change in perspective to the shoulder camera means being closer to everything and having free rein to explore areas, but I was worried that it would fundamentally change the oppressive tone of the original.

Fortunately, that is far from the case. The Silent Hill 2 Remake does a great job of captivating you with its new perspective. While you can now decide where to look at any time, enemies can still sneak up on you as mannequins perform all sorts of peeking interactions – similar to stalkers in The Last of Us Part 2hide behind furniture and sometimes escape you after being spotted to find another surprising location. Traversal changes, such as interconnecting rooms without doors separated by a loading screen, or rooms designed to crawl or squeeze through, can also be used by enemies.

It might sound cliché to talk about darkness in a horror game, but it’s an aspect that the remake takes from the original to triumph. James’ flashlight can only illuminate a limited portion of the screen, and the flickering of that flashlight, which – like the original – warns you of moving enemies alongside the static of the radio, is frightening whenever it momentarily plunges you into a pitch black Space full of darkness leaves monsters behind. Their presence can sometimes be a bit too strong, at best making you feel uncomfortable, like hearing the constant crawling of the spider mannequins until you’ve taken them all down or moved them somewhere else, and at worst like an annoyance Remember that the remake has a modern combat system and the designers have introduced more encounters to justify this.

Story-wise, there are changes in most cutscenes. When it comes to the new characters’ similarities and voice acting, your mileage may vary. The original game’s campiness, while charming, has been refined, although there’s a bit of stiffness in the way the cast reads lines, which otherwise feels faithful. However, it is some of the actual action scenes that represent a more drastic change.

Silent Hill 2Like the entire franchise, sexual abuse, suicide, and depression were mentioned, among other things. In the Bloober Team version, there is a disclaimer about this every time you start the game, including a QR code to a Konami site with a list of resources. Still, some of the most disturbing images or direct mentions of these themes during dialogue (particularly in the context of Angela, Pyramid Head, and Mary’s videotape) are now more subtle. Considering Bloober’s previous track record in games like The mediumwhich has handled these issues poorly, these changes sound, to say the least, as a cautionary tale not to repeat past mistakes. None of them change the story per se, but it’s an interesting decision in context Silent Hill 2. There are reasons to properly revisit tropes and depictions that haven’t aged well, including recent cases Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster. However, in Silent Hill, diluting the impact of certain moments can cause some of the loosest narrative details to lose weight when piecing together the story.

But here’s an example of the opposite that stands out surprisingly: James’s interactions with Maria when she tags along. Yes, it falls into the AAA style of an NPC companion who can’t enjoy quiet time for more than five minutes. But Maria’s new interactions and dialogue fit. She comments on specific locations as well as your actions with a fun and flirtatious flair that serves the character. The ability to explore the Heaven’s Night strip club in detail while also receiving a new cutscene are additions that have substance. They’re fleeting, small moments in the grand scheme of the main story that provide a more stable presence without being intrusive.

This subtlety is present in the Silent Hill 2 Remake as a whole. Some of the scariest elements of the original are the ones you couldn’t see or understand at first glance. The recurring whispers, the footsteps in prison, the occasional scream from an unknown person. They all added to the tension without the need to speak openly about it. The designers behind the remake retained these elements, understanding that access to better technology doesn’t have to equate to constant spectacle. You can now see the rust and mold of Silent Hill in 4K, but the higher fidelity doesn’t make any of the locations more inviting.

It’s an interesting time to revisit Silent Hill 2considering the original has been in an abandoned state for years and the only remastered version available isn’t great. In the official sense, the remake is the current retelling of the story. It is a faithful interpretation of the events that transpired, capturing most of the story’s big and small moments and fleshing out some details in between. However, when you consider the legacy of the original game over the last 23 years, it’s hard to imagine Silent Hill 2 The remake will also be able to reproduce this, allowing fans to discuss the new endings and narrative additions with contrarian analysis for decades. At least it will be another invention to theorize about.

Silent Hill 2 will be released on October 8th on PlayStation 5 and Windows PC. The game was tested on PlayStation 5 using a pre-download code provided by Bloober Team. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These have no influence on the editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. More information about Polygon’s ethics policy can be found here.