When we talk about survival horror games, the first name that always comes up (rightful so) is Resident Evil. Which is somewhat ironic given that while those games certainly have you trying to survive horrific situations, they’re usually not that scary.
No, for survival horror that’s scary — like, shit your pants scary — you have to go to the second name that always comes up: Silent Hill.
And no Silent Hill ever scared me as much as the second installment, 2001’s Silent Hill 2.
Granted, it was because I was playing it late at night, with my windows open, when two cats got into a fight just outside, but that still counts.
It’s why I didn’t play the new updated remake of Silent Hill 2 (PlayStation 5, PC) at night, with my windows open, or within 50 miles of any cats, angry or otherwise. Good thing, too, because this remake is just as shit your pants scary as the original.
In Silent Hill 2,
James Sunderland gets a letter from his wife, Mary, informing him that she’s gone to the town of Silent Hill, Maine. So he decides to go and find her even though — and this is key — she died three years ago. Though what you find is even more disturbing than a letter from beyond the grave.
For those who didn’t play it back in 2001, Silent Hill 2 is a third-person survival horror game reminiscent of the early Resident Evil games, the first Dead Space, and especially Alan Wake and Alan Wake II (though, in truth, it’s more like the Alan Wake games are reminiscent of this).
What sets it apart, though, is that Silent Hill 2 is decidedly more about the exploration and problem solving than the combat. Most of your time is spent walking the foggy, foreboding streets of Silent Hill, going through stores and homes, and occasionally finding things you can use to unlock previously unavailable areas of town.
That’s not to say there isn’t combat in Silent Hill 2. There is, and it works well, assuming you don’t get trigger happy and use up all your bullets. Though if you do, you can always smack enemies upside the head.
You even have…
something of an advanced warning system at your disposal, courtesy of a small transistor radio that gets all feedback-y whenever an enemy is nearby. A warning you’ll come to appreciate given how your enemies are really freaky looking. Like something out of a Marilyn Manson video from back when Marilyn Manson’s videos were the most disturbing thing about him.
Having relatively less combat than similar games isn’t the only thing that differentiates Silent Hill 2 from other survival horror games, though. The game has a decidedly slower and deliberate pace. Your normal movement speed, for instance, is a casual stroll, while the places you need visit to are often spread out with little to nothing in between.
What Silent Hill 2 may lack in action, it more than makes up for in tension. And it’s not the kind we normally get in scary games. This isn’t big on jump scares. Instead, it’s more of psychological feeling of impending doom.
The town, for instance, is not only blanketed in a thick fog, but it’s clearly suffered from an economic depression, as many of the buildings are dirty or in disrepair or are just abandoned.
Silent Hill 2‘s disturbing mood…
is also greatly augmented by its creepy sound effects and Akira Yamaoka’s minimalistic, and atmospheric score. While I normally find the music in games like this to be a distraction, or something used the lessen the tension, Yamaoka’s music really adds to the feeling of dread.
All of which is why, if you’re in the right mood — i.e., the mood to slowly shit yourself with fear — Silent Hill 2 is a survival horror game that really is horrific.
Though if you’re among those who already knew that, and are instead wondering if this new version is worth picking up if you’ve play it before, the answer is a resounding “maybe.”
To be honest, the remake of Silent Hill 2 doesn’t add anything of major consequence. Unlike the recent remakes of Resident Evil 4 and Gears Of War, this doesn’t add any new areas, doesn’t expanded upon existing sections, and doesn’t restore unfinished missions that were cut from the original.
Instead,
it’s more like the recent remake of Resident Evil 2: a faithful but better version of a really good game. This starts with the cameras and controls, which have been modernized and thus feel far more intuitive and fluid.
Similarly, the graphics and audio design maintain the look, sound, and spirit of the original, but with better fidelity, depth, and detail.
Now, are also some small gameplay additions. Most notable, how you can now dodge incoming attacks. Which comes in handy given how often you’re confronted by enemies whose preferred method of combat is the head butt.
The remake of Silent Hill 2…
also adds an option so you switch the run button from one that has to be held to one that just has to be tapped. Which is very helpful since, as I mentioned, your footspeed is just slightly above a saunter, and you’ll find it better to run everywhere, especially when you don’t have to hold a button down.
Thankfully, this Silent Hill 2 remake doesn’t also add mechanics that have become commonplace in the years since the original was released. Including two that have never made any games more fun ever: a stamina meter that prevents you from running all the time, and melee weapons that suffer from wear and tear.
Whether this is enough to make you buy a game you already played, especially when there’s probably some new game you’d like to play as well (or a book you’d like to read, or a bill you need to pay…) is entirely up to you.
All I’ll say is…
I had almost as much fun playing this again as I did playing, and then replaying, the recent remakes of Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space. Because while yes, this updated remake of Silent Hill 2 is just a much better version of the game that came out in 2001, it was a really good and scary game back then, and the intervening years haven’t dulled its impact. And that’s true if this is your first trip to Silent Hill, Maine, or the first time you’ve gone back in twenty-something years.
SCORE: 8.5/10
