Silent Hill 2 review

The psychological horror of Silent Hill 2 can’t be understated. Whether wandering in the light or the dark, the anxiety and oppression you feel throughout is mirrored in the struggle of the protagonist. It is such an intelligent story, and many of the mechanics all contribute to a masterpiece in game design. Bloober Team has done a stunning job of bringing one of the greatest survival horror games into the present, with huge improvements in every facet of the original. It is miserable, bleak, and terrifying, and it will be something that sticks with you long after the credits roll.

You play as James Sunderland, a widow who is called to the small town of Silent Hill with the belief his wife is still alive. He knows Mary can’t be, but after receiving a letter from her he can’t help but feel her name calling him there. The story remains one of the best the genre has ever seen, not just because of the journey it takes you on, but the themes that sit underneath the main thread of it. You witness James sink lower into his own mind, and as a result the town changes with it.

The voice acting is superb, and a vast improvement on the original. You’ll form your own opinion of James as a character, and whether you like him or hate him, he’s a convincing protagonist. I struggled to sympathise with him throughout the story, mainly because of the way he treats the other people he meets. Maria, a woman who resembles his wife, is treated with disdain when all she wants is to be seen. She is a layered and interesting partner for James, and another vessel to highlight how James’ own selfish needs take centre stage. It’s hard to sympathise with this man, but that’s a testament to the writing and how much of a polarising protagonist James is.

As the story goes on, he begins to accept who he is, how he sees others around him, and how his mistakes have led him to understand why he has been called to Silent Hill. It’s a fascinating story, and I could spend hours psychoanalysing the characters and the themes of Silent Hill 2. Pyramid Head, a staple of the series and standout character in this game, feels even more terrifying this time around, but there’s so much depth in his role within the story. With so many layers, I was constantly in awe of how cleverly the characters and the environments work in tandem to create the unease and fear in the surface horror and what lies in the recesses of the human psyche.

I haven’t felt this anxious playing a horror title in some time. Not since Alien: Isolation have I struggled to play through fear or what I cannot see, with the audio being a big reason for that. Whenever an enemy is near, the radio crackles through the DualSense controller. The closer you are, the louder it becomes, and with such restrictive vision you’re always on edge. It’s impossible to get used to the pained howls of the deformed creatures that inhabit Silent Hill, the thrashing on pipes in distant rooms, and the rampant whistles on the wind. The sound design is excellent, and a contributing factor to that fear.

There are many times in Silent Hill 2 where your sight is impaired by how dark it can be. One of the locations left me unable to play in long play sessions because of how claustrophobic it felt to play. Wandering around that place, knowing those creepy four-legged mannequins clung to the walls, and seeing nothing but a few feet in front of me shredded my nerves to pieces. Sometimes, the darkness feels too oppressive for too long, but there are plenty of areas that manage to balance light with the thick darkness well enough to give you more luck controlling your nervous disposition.

The puzzles in Silent Hill 2 are phenomenal. Each one features multiple elements to it that last for long periods of your time. Most of them require various missing pieces and number combinations to solve, all leading you to explore every location you find yourself in. As you go from the real world to the “otherside”, these puzzles take on a life of their own. The porcelain dolls and the clockwork puzzle; the box connected by chains and locked by a combination dial and number pad, the cube with faces and the moving room inspired by Escher. There are just so many great puzzles and routes to explore that consistently surprise and amaze.

Combat in Silent Hill 2 is so much better than the original. You switch between guns via the D-pad as opposed to jumping in the menus to switch, and it feels like it’s taken a page out of the Resident Evil remakes. Ammo is rarely in short supply, more so when you get deeper into the story, and the over-the-shoulder POV makes it satisfying to fire off your rounds into the nightmarish creatures. You start to learn the best way to take down these enemies, but it never makes it easier. Whether you face one of those enemies for the first time or for the hundredth, they are also terrifying to encounter.

The way your low health is highlighted by a red glow around the corner of the screen is another way you feel claustrophobic as it restricts your view further. It can be annoying, especially when you’re already on edge, but it’s a great design choice and further adds to the fear levels already present (and it can be turned off if you so wish). So much thought has gone into maintaining the legacy of the original while making it feel fresh, and I’m so happy for Bloober Team. It has always felt the developer is on the precipice of making that one great game, and with Silent Hill 2, the team has managed it.

If you’ve never played Silent Hill 2, this game is going to blow your mind. For those that are familiar with the original, there’s more than enough to make you feel as though you’re playing something new. The story is excellent, and the voice acting helps to keep you invested in James regardless of how you feel about him. Combat is satisfying and weighty thanks to the wonderful implementation of the haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. The visuals are ridiculously good, and the audio design is among the best this generation, making it something everyone simply must play.