Silent Hill 2 | PS5 Review

I could have sworn I had played Silent Hill 2 before this year, but after completing Bloober Team‘s remake, I think I was mistaken. Very little was familiar to me on my eighteen-hour playthrough, but boy am I glad I took the time for this one. We’ve had remakes of horror games in the recent past, of course. Resident Evil 2 and both of its sequels received glowing remarks from my co-host, Zack, and I enjoyed them immensely as well. While those titles were great, they don’t give the old-school feel quite like James Sunderland’s second attempt at redemption does. It’s a game that critics, like me, enjoyed a great deal, but very few people seem to be talking about it anymore. My hope is that this review will change that and those who have skipped this title till now will do what I did and give it a shot.

I See That Town

If you’ve never experienced the story of Silent Hill 2, you’re in for a dark tale. Although the setting is the same town, this isn’t a direct sequel to the original. James Sunderland is the main character, and he’s been called to Silent Hill by his wife who died three years ago. The reason for his visit is due to a letter he received from her after her death, and thus begins the tantalizing mystery behind this game. What unravels throughout James’ journey is equally intriguing and unsettling in all the right ways. This is a dark, harrowing tale on so many levels that delves more into psychological horror than gore. That’s not to say you won’t see a lot of bloodshed. It’s here in spades. But it’s nothing compared to the atmosphere and themes at work.

A lot of things separate Silent Hill 2 from other games in the genre, but James himself is a big standout. Refreshingly, he’s not a military guy with a macho, tough-guy persona. He’s just a normal guy trying to understand the truth behind his wife’s demise. This echoes in the game’s mechanics, which some might argue feel a tad clunky. In my humble opinion, this is a deliberate choice to fit the character and not a hardware limitation like with the first games in the series. James doesn’t have quick reflexes or seasoned firearm experience. He does the best he can with what he’s given and moves like an actual human would instead of a super-human. It adds gravity to James’ story while simultaneously giving it an old-school flavor that took me back to the early days of PlayStation.

Our Special Place

The atmosphere of Silent Hill 2 is the creepiest I’ve experienced in a video game in a long time. Sure the town itself is covered in fog and almost entirely derelict of life. But that’s only the beginning. In true Silent Hill fashion, recognizable sections of the town deteriorate quickly from empty to derelict to downright decrepit . The level of detail is nothing short of astounding. From the crumbling buildings, abandoned vehicles, and litter to the horrific industrial locales, there’s just so much to soak up. I don’t remember being so sucked into a horror world.

It’s genuinely unnerving to play, but I don’t mean that to sound like a negative. I’ve never been so excited as to shaking in anticipation exploring every corner of Silent Hill’s hospital, prison, hotel, and other locations. I used to believe I was immune to being scared while watching movies or playing video games. But I found myself on the edge of my seat non-stop and nearly jumped out of my skin on multiple occasions.

What makes it so freaky, you ask? For one, the enemies are nothing short of hideous. There are mannequin legs stacked on top of other mannequin legs that walk around like humans or spiders, whichever offers the more terrifying fit for the setting. The signature nurses might not twitch as much as I remember from the first game, but they’re just as unsettling. Monsters don’t simply shamble towards you, either. They instead park themselves in very good hiding spots and jump out at you during unexpected, smart moments. There are truly very few moments of relief, and it makes for an all-around exciting experience. And don’t forget the crackling radio that alerts you of nearby enemies. This version puts that sound out of the DualSense controller, which adds to the intensity.

In My Restless Dreams

Let’s not forget the puzzles. As mentioned above, I have no recollection of the puzzles from the original game, but Silent Hill 2 really puts your brain into overdrive. I’ll admit I wasn’t clever enough to figure them all out on my own. Some left me wondering how anyone would figure them out without some help. This and the controls are the only aspects of this game that I could see people getting frustrated with. Thankfully, the game offers three levels of difficulty, so you have the option to have an easier go of them, if you like. You can also adjust the intensity of combat situations as well, which is a nice touch. It won’t make exploring the town any less uncomfortable, however. I played on easy, was up to my gills in health items, never died, and yet I was a nervous wreck the entire time.

In true classic horror game fashion, there’s a ton of replayability as well. Much like the original, the game offers multiple different endings based on how you played each time you explore the town. Those decisions aren’t blatantly obvious, either. You won’t get a “Maria will remember that” notification, and unless you look it up ahead of time, you won’t know what decisions affect what ending until after you’ve finished your first run. The remake offers two additional endings not available in the PS2 version of the game. But you’ll have to complete the game on New Game+ mode in order to see them. Although I personally won’t see all of the endings without going to YouTube, I love that there are still developers out there adding legs to their games for those who want to extend the life of purchased titles.

Silent Hill 2 Final Verdict

Silent Hill 2 might be one of the biggest surprises of the year for me. I know it was received well critically, but since I didn’t have the nostalgia for it, I put it off till the end of the year. Now that I’ve completed it, I really wish I had gone through it during spooky season. I haven’t had so much fun being freaked out for hours on end in a seriously long time. The story isn’t a delightful one; the psychological intrigue is tense and uncomfortable, and I enjoyed nearly every moment of it. And it brought me back to the Silent Hill franchise and made me want to revisit other titles from the franchise.

To hear me and Zack talk more about Silent Hill 2, be sure to listen to our October 17th, 2024 episode of The Gaming Outsider Podcast around the 1:02:00 time stamp.

This review is based on a purchased copy of Silent Hill 2 on PlayStation 5. It is also available on PC. As of this writing, it is exclusive to those two platforms.