Silent Hill 2 (2024) Spiel

by Rian

My first Silent Hill was Silent Hill 4: The Room; though I couldn’t push myself through the end. It might come as a surprise, but by the time I was interested in the franchise, I didn’t have the old consoles to play the OG titles. All old franchises suffer from the similar problem; average modern players simply don’t have the old hardwares, be it may consoles, or a gaming PC running Windows XP, to run the old game. The one I actually played all the way through for the first time was Silent Hill: Origins. Long story short, I simply can’t view the remake in the visions of the past, be it may through rose-tinted glasses or not. At the end of the day, a remake still needs to stand on its two feet.

As I understand it, Silent Hill 2 is a standalone sequel to the original Silent Hill. Even in the remake, the game does not ask of any prior knowledges. In fact, Silent Hill as a location has fairytale-like quality in lore, which the remake was able to recreate for the audiences of this generation consoles and hardwares. Back when I played Origins, I remember turning off features that are supposed to provide immersive experience as most would simply hinder with my playthrough, but with the remake, I actually enjoyed hearing radio statics, seeing flashlight flickering, and menu screens turning red —though I did consider turning this one off at one point—, as they provided rich context of Silent Hill and its inhabitants.

On my playthrough with Standard difficulty, puzzles were engaging but not overly flamboyant. Most of them can be worked out by studying the surroundings, and frankly, a lot of them just fell into place without me trying to work the problem, either by following the convention of escape room logic, or just dumb luck. I am curious to find out more about the rumored randomness introduced in the game’s puzzles. If so, it would help with the replay value of the game to earn all endings.

It’s the combat system the remake took it out for a spin, and it’s bizarre. The remake has rhythmic combat, almost reminiscent of Callisto Protocol, hitting and dodging left and right. While the emphasis on the combat was certainly refreshing, dynamic combat doesn’t mean continuous QTEs or throwing a curved ball for a surprise. Introduction of i-frame (i.e. invincible) and interruptible animations do make the combat more real, but all the while adds to what players would perceive as unpolished. My fight against against Eddie was a callback to this fact, and finding extra ammos in any boss fights after Eddie’s made me question my sanity.

Conclusion: Win-Win Classic Horror Remake

The new trend in the horror seems to be revisiting the classics. Resident Evil franchise has really opened up a path that is win-win for both IP holders and the fans of respective franchises. It is good to see Silent Hill has finally made its way back, and this remake is likely only the starting point of getting the franchise up to full speed again. We will need Resident Evil 7 equivalent in Silent Hill franchise before we can make the bold statement. Until that title comes, Silent Hill 2 (2024) is the game people wanted for modern consoles and modern PCs.