Silent Hill 2 Review

thesixthaxis.com:

The announcement of any classic game remake is bound to stir up mixed feelings within a fanbase, and in the case of Silent Hill 2, some were unsure whether Bloober Team had the resume to back them to update such a beloved title. I’ve always enjoyed their games, but their handling of sensitive subjects hasn’t always gone down well, and given the importance of abuse and psychological issues within the world of Silent Hill, this was my main concern for this remake. Thankfully, my worries were fully assuaged; moreover, Bloober has achieved the impossible and produced an update that almost entirely supersedes the classic original.

This remake retells the story of James Sunderland as he returns to the mysterious town of Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his late wife. What follows is a feverish nightmare that blurs the lines between dreams and reality whilst also serving as a haunting metaphor for the longlasting effects of trauma and abuse. Unlike the deliciously pulpy storylines of Resident Evil, Silent Hill is renowned for being darker and more mature and this tone is definitely maintained by Bloober Team.

There’s a moment in the first cutscene where you see a closeup of James’ hand and it’s clear that his wedding ring has gone. While a relatively subtle point it serves as a perfect example of how the extra detail and graphical fidelity can actually serve to improve on a game that relied so much on atmosphere given the technical limitations of its time. This also serves as a metaphor for the game itself – while it is clearly a loving homage and recreation of the original it is also inevitably divorced from it and struggling to become its own thing. I found myself returning to that patch of lighter skin on James’ wedding finger and reflecting on the extra layer of haunting achieved here.

Built within Unreal Engine 5, Silent Hill 2 looks superb. The extra details in the environment, the more sophisticated fog effects (here for effect rather than to hide technical