"Silent Hill 2 Remake" played: Unforgettable nightmare
With the remake of "Silent Hill 2", Bloober Team shows that the classic has lost none of its horror.
(Image: Bloober Team)
"Silent Hill 2" revolutionized an entire genre over 20 years ago. Konami mixed tried-and-tested game elements from "Resident Evil" with a "guilt & atonement" drama and gruesome shock moments. The game quickly became a cult hit. Further more or less successful sequels and film adaptations followed. The Polish Bloober team, who already impressed with "The Medium" and "Layers of Fear", have succeeded in creating a horror adventure for new and old fans alike with this remake.
Back to the roots
A lone hero in the fog? Check! An abandoned small town? Check! Pyramid Head & Co.? Check! Anyone returning to Silent Hill will experience real feelings of home. As in the original, every movement is a step into the unknown. Sometimes only the glow of a flashlight shows the way and there are scurries, groans and rumblings everywhere. Even after more than 20 years, we still experience the same anxiety when we play the game. "Silent Hill 2" is the epitome of the atmospheric horror shocker.
"Silent Hill 2 Remake" angespielt (5 Bilder)
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)But let's start at the beginning: James Sunderland returns to the town where he spent a happy vacation with his deceased wife. Or so we think. It soon turns out that not everything is as it seems at first glance. James' wife Maria has actually been dead for three years, but has written him a letter. The town is deserted, but then James suddenly meets a little girl, or a stripper, who looks deceptively like his wife.
And then there are these visions. Rooms change and deformed monsters appear out of nowhere, which James first fights with a nailed-up wooden board and later with a pistol or shotgun. At first, it's through the foggy streets, then through abandoned schools or hospitals. It is a maze of horror – James' search for his wife becomes an odyssey through his past.
Classic survival horror
The game principle is quickly explained: survival and puzzle solving. James finds a kind of lock in every building. To open it, he usually has to get three small items and solve a few number puzzles to reach the next area. In between, he has to search for ammunition or medicine, as the monsters may not be numerous, but they are nasty and there is a constant lack of ammunition. Classic survival horror, exciting, nerve-wracking, but minimalistic, without any crafting or role-playing elements.
Does this old-school game principle still work in 2024? And how! When James simply follows the light of his flashlight through deserted operating theaters and a headless puppet suddenly jumps out at him from an ambush, it takes your breath away. The constant search for ammunition ensures a constant level of stress. The only annoying thing is the lack of variety: a handful of enemies that are defeated using the same tactics and the unimaginative bosses, which were already unimaginative at the time, lag far behind current game design.
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Which brings us to a tiny little problem. As great as Bloober Team has polished the textures and details and delivered impressive moments of shock, especially in terms of sound, they have done very little to polish the gameplay. This is understandable for an almost timeless classic, but the remake is also a few hours longer because everything has become a little bigger. Fans should allow themselves around 15 – 20 hours. However, we didn't gain any new insights into the story of James and Silent Hill during our playtime. Nevertheless, it was exciting, atmospheric and unique.
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In addition to the technical and gameplay advantages, the remake also offers some accessibility settings. Several difficulty levels influence not only the enemies, but also the puzzles. Visual aids such as a colorblind mode, audio cues or an aiming aid can also be activated. Well thought out and useful.
Interim conclusion
"Silent Hill 2 Remake" seamlessly joins a whole series of successful remakes of popular video game classics such as "Resident Evil 2" or "Demon's Souls". The horror pros at Bloober Team have changed very little about the gameplay and have adapted the classic to the current PC and console generation, especially in terms of audio and visuals. It won't get any scarier in 2024.
However, action fans should be warned: "Silent Hill 2" is not a spectacle in the style of "Resident Evil 2". Instead, fans can expect minimalist gameplay and a thrilling horror story with multiple endings that will linger for a long time. An almost perfect remake for a timeless classic.
"Silen Hill 2 Remake" will be released on October 8th for Windows and PS5. It costs around €70. We played the PS5 version for a few hours for our hands-on.
(anw)
