Silent Hill 2 is a game focused around regrets and how to confront them in order to move on. Whilst it may not be the smoothest experience in its gameplay mechanics, with stiff tank controls, rough combat sequences and awkward boss fights, it clearly wasn't the main focus so much as the story, music, atmosphere and art direction was, which are all executed so flawlessly that it makes you forget any of the tiny problems it has.

It’s clear from the start that SH2 wants to treat it's stories topics with the care and respect they deserve. When I think back to my favourite parts, I think about how well this game is able to represent different aspects of trauma and the effects it can have on people. I think the voice acting strengthens each of the characters' personalities, making them come off as these uncomfortable adults who feel just as isolated and lost as you do, not knowing who to trust. Each person has their own story and journey in Silent Hill 2, and seeing how characters such as James (the main protagonist), Eddie and Angela end up ‘dealing’ with their baggage is captivating enough to see your way through the whole game.

I think where the game peaks for me personally is when you arrive at the Lake View Hotel. I won’t get into events, but the embodiment of emotions mixed into the level design, the final interactions with each of the characters, alongside the final goodbye was gut-wrenching. It’s moments like these that prove that games can be the most human form of media and don’t have to be all 'spectacle' to keep you engaged.

One of my favourite inclusions has to be the dynamic endings depending on how you play the game, which was quite innovative considering the game was released back in 2001. Playing as James, if you heal after battles and make sure he has a fair amount of health, you’ll get the more bittersweet ending, ‘Leave’. But leave James always on low health or let companions get hurt more often and you’ll get the more unpleasant ‘In Water’ ending. This makes the game have some replay value, seeing where different playstyles will get you, whilst also including secret endings once you get all the mainline ones (woof woof).

You can't discuss SH2 without also mentioning its sound design. Each individual sound feels like it has some sort of purpose in making you feel something, fleshing out the world and expanding your imagination on what sort of horrors could be out there, especially when combined with the level design that becomes more of a map for James’ torment, all connecting back to the stories’ themes.

And my god, the brilliant soundtrack composed by Akira Yamaoka is equally beautiful & horrifying. It's the perfect blend of sorrow, despair & hope that you'd imagine from a game such as SH2, strengthening each scene when used and helping push its ideas & emotions to the forefront. This game truly wouldn’t have the impact it did if it wasn’t for its music.

Whilst I have a lot of praise for SH2, I do think there are areas of the game that could’ve been improved. I think more enemy variety would’ve been nice alongside different ways to fight instead of just hitting the same button over and over again because it made the boss battles not as intense as they should’ve been… and don’t even get me started on the dreaded row boat section where I got stuck for half an hour.

Overall, SH2 is a game I’d highly recommend anyone to play. I can understand why it gets all the acclaim it does because put simply, it's human. I don’t think it's a perfect game, but the few issues it does have are very easy to neglect when you look at the bigger picture. Play this game yourself and go in with your eyes closed, because you’ll be in for one of the best psychological horror games of all time.

As an extra mention, I also want to appreciate the fantastic work done by the Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition Team to make sure it retains the same feeling as the original whilst making improvements to make it more accessible. I think its the best way to experience the game, especially when you compare it to how much it was butchered with the re-release on PS3.

Part of Spooky Season 2023.

My original experience with Silent Hill 2 was about six years ago. I played through it alongside an old friend who would constantly tell me what to do and where to go while reading a walkthrough online. Even though we did have a good time getting spooked and making fun of the stilted and awkward voice acting and dialogue, we ultimately hindered our experience. We thought the game was kinda “meh” and never really got what made the game so special. Over the years since that original playthrough, I’ve watched numerous video essays and read several articles and fan sites for Silent Hill 2 in an attempt to better understand the story, the symbolism, and why the game in general is so beloved. Despite my initial apathetic feelings towards the game, it managed to occupy a space in the back of my mind for years. Much like how the titular town calls the characters to it, I keep coming back to Silent Hill 2 and the unsettling journey into the depths of James Sunderland’s mind and soul, learning more and more about it each time I do, even if I’m not directly playing the game. After finishing my second playthrough, despite knowing just about every little detail regarding the game’s narrative going into it, Silent Hill 2 still managed to leave a rather large impact on me, even if there are some parts of it that sadly tear me away from what is otherwise one of the most captivating games I’ve ever played.

With the change in console generations, Team Silent chose to refine the elements that made the first Silent Hill standout. The visuals and sound design, which were already some of the best in the medium on the PlayStation 1, manage to get even better here. The biggest improvement overall though, is in the game’s storytelling. While the surface level narrative of the first game was solid, the storytelling was at its best with what wasn’t explicitly shown or explained. The environmental storytelling and the ambiguous nature to certain aspects of the plot in conjunction with what was being directly shown was what made that game’s story great for me. Silent Hill 2 takes the same approach, but to a far greater extent. The game tells a story that is so hauntingly personal and horrifically tragic that words which can convey how effective and emotional it is fail me. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a piece of media where the pitch black, bottomless emptiness of immense guilt and despair is communicated so well.

Almost every aspect of Silent Hill 2 has been expertly crafted to communicate details of the plot, characters, or the themes of the narrative. The town and the locations you explore within it aren’t just dark and frightening labyrinths. The monsters you encounter aren’t just creepy flesh abominations. They all represent something, they’re all telling you things about either James or the other characters of the game’s story. The symbolism compels you to reflect upon the places you go to and the things and people you encounter, consider what it all means, and why things are the way they are. This is how Silent Hill 2 manages to suck you into its world and keep you thinking about it long after you’ve finished playing it. It is truly excellent storytelling that I haven’t really seen in many other video games I’ve played.

In terms of structure and gameplay, not much has really changed between the first and second Silent Hill. Both titles play almost exactly the same, and as a result, they both share many of the same strengths and weaknesses (which I discuss in greater detail in my review of the first game). Controls and combat are virtually unchanged aside from the guns feeling like they pack more of a punch. Boss fights are once again rather simple, though they do actually require you to occasionally move now instead of just standing in one spot and tanking attacks while you shoot them with your best guns. Still, they never get more complicated than just running to one corner of the room, firing a few shots, rinse and repeat. Once again, I found the game to be at its best when exploring the indoor dungeon-like locations such as Wood Creek Apartments or Brookhaven Hospital. You do spend more time in these sorts of locations and less time exploring the town this time around, which is honestly a huge plus. It’s clear that the goal of the devs wasn’t to really expand or alter the way Silent Hill 2 is played in any significant way, and instead to just stick with what worked.

The biggest gameplay change is how the difficulty works. Instead of an all encompassing Easy/Normal/Hard difficulty setting, Silent Hill 2 allows you to choose the difficulty for combat and puzzles separately, letting you customize your difficulty experience. Being the casual that I am, I chose Normal for both. I thought this was fine for the puzzles, which were a lot less cryptic compared to the puzzles on the same difficulty in the first game. They still require you to think outside the box, but I was able to solve almost all of them on my own. However, the Normal difficulty for combat is way too easy, and I don’t think it’s just because this is my second playthrough. What makes combat so easy is that the game showers you with ammo and health items, to an overbearing extent. Silent Hill 1 had a similar problem, but it’s even worse here. There was actually a point in the first game where I nearly used up all of my handgun ammo because I wasn’t thinking and almost put myself in a difficult position. This stressed me out and really forced me to reconsider my ammo usage despite the fact that I was eventually able to rebuild a large amount of ammo during the rest of the game.

In Silent Hill 2, you never have to think about item management on Normal difficulty. By the time I reached the final boss, I had over 150 rounds of handgun ammo, over 100 shotgun shells, as well as dozens of rounds for the rifle. I also had roughly 20 different healing items in total as well. The final area in the game in particular has a ton of ammo and healing items you can easily find. I don’t know if playing on Hard would make any difference or not. After looking into it, I’ve seen mostly mixed responses regarding the difficulty from people online. A lot of folks say that it doesn’t make that much of a difference, and that Hard also makes certain set pieces such as the Brookhaven Hospital Basement and the controls for the Boat more difficult in a detracting way. I didn’t play through Hard myself so take that with a grain of salt, but if that is the case, then I’d say that this is the biggest problem with Silent Hill 2. Since you have so much ammo and healing items, there’s no risk to just blasting away almost every enemy you come across, which dramatically lessens the threat they pose and takes you out of the horror experience. As a result, I actually think Silent Hill 2 plays slightly worse and is a bit less tense compared to Silent Hill 1.

I also feel like the camera is a lot worse compared to the first game as well. Oftentimes, especially in long and cramped hallways, the camera just won’t cooperate and rotate to a view of James from behind. It’ll swing around wildly, making it very difficult to see what’s in front of James. This is especially frustrating if the Radio is detecting an enemy nearby and you’re trying to rotate the camera so that you can check to see which direction the enemy is in, and I have gotten injured by enemies as a result of the camera not cooperating. This was also an occasional issue in Silent Hill 1, but it happened to me so infrequently that I didn’t even bother to mention it in my review of that game, and it’s a surprise that it’s a much bigger problem here.

If you are the type of player who prioritizes gameplay above all else, then I think that Silent Hill 2 may end up leaving you disappointed. Gameplay is not where the title shines, and is honestly it’s weakest aspect. However, every other element of the game is handled in a masterclass fashion. There are very few games that I have played that even come close to being as immersive or that tell a story as expertly as Silent Hill 2 does. Team Silent really played to their strengths and crafted an experience that very few games I’ve played have even come close to matching. After all these years, despite thinking that I understood it before, now I feel like I can post that Always Sunny gif of Danny DeVito and say that “I get it”. I get why this game is heralded as a masterpiece, why it’s still being talked about to this day, why I keep randomly thinking about it even after all these years since my first playthrough, and why it’s deeply impacted so many people. Despite its blemishes, there’s still a lot of beauty to it, and I think that it’s a game that’s definitely earned its cult status

I can say that I liked what the game was going for.
If Resident Evil is a holywood blockbuster with a coherent storyline and a narrative you can follow from start to finish and not be confused, Silent Hill is more akin to a David Lynch film, an arthouse piece, with a narrative that is scattered all across the medium and is never 100% clear with what it's doing. You always have to finish picking up what it's trying to put down.
I'd say this is probably the strongest part of the whole package here - the story, the dreamlike way of it's storytelling and the ambience of Silent Hill. The enemy designs are great, and the music really makes you feel unwell in the more suspensful parts of the game.
However, as much as I like the ideas of the game, it's "gameplay" part leaves me wishing for more. This was my first playthrough of it ever, I never had the chance to play it when it was more relevant, so I come with some of the modern ideas about gameplay design in the genre, and I am just not a fan. Sometimes it's the janky camera, sometimes it's the hitboxes, sometimes it's just the encounter design in general. None of the bosses were memorable (except maybe for Eddie, but that's a maybe), and they are most often just damage sponges that test your patience.
I can sense some artistic statement in the way the gameplay works, but I just honestly did not find it that fun or helping the other parts of the game (I'd say even the puzzles are somewhat better).
One metaphor that I noticed was that when you first start going to Silent Hill on the beach, the camera actually shows you the face of the protagonist, and does not show you the way forward, almost as if it wanted to say "Turn Back". There are many cool camera tricks in the game, but that maybe stuck with me the most.
I feel that it aged, and a newer coat of paint would do it good, but boy i am not sure if Bloober team is going to hit the ball.
We can only hope.

O melhor jogo da franquia até agora. Desculpa, mas mesmo amando Silent Hill 3 de todas as formas o 2 me cativou e me fez amar a franquia de vez. Tudo nesse jogo é um aprimoramento no 1, exploração, combate, controles e até mesmo a história é igualmente interessante como a do 1. A cidade é muito boa de se explorar, a cada canto você acha uma munição ou item de cura pro seu inventário e o James abaixa a cabeça na direção do item quando está perto do mesmo, ajudando ainda mais na exploração. Por mais que certos puzzles e a área do labirinto não me agradarem muito, não acho que eles estragaram minha experiência com o jogo. Não vou dar spoilers da história, mesmo o jogo sendo de 20 anos atrás, eu acho que todo mundo deveria joga-lo e aproveitar o máximo que esse jogo tem pra oferecer. Inclusive, a enhanced edition é maravilhosa e tiro meu chapéu pros fãs que se esforçaram pra deixar esse jogo o mais polido e otimazado o máximo que conseguiram, definitivamente, até o momento, é a versão definitiva do SH2.

Em quesito de gameplay, Silent Hill 2 se assemelha bastante ao seu antecessor, mantendo a qualidade, principalmente em relação aos puzzes.
Os destaques aqui vão pros gráficos e pra trilha sonora que são ambos maravilhosos. Vale ressaltar também que os inimigos tem designs bem marcantes, e os cenários e os efeitos sonoros realmente te deixam desconfortável.
Outro ponto é a história, que tem uma premissa bem interessante, e com uma execução que apesar de um pouco tosca às vezes, ainda é bem interessante de se ver.
Minha maior reclamação com certeza é sobre o combate, que apesar de achar melhor que o do primeiro jogo, às vezes se torna um pouco chato, tendo algumas lutas bem cansativas.
De qualquer jeito, Silent Hill 2 é uma obra-prima que merece ser jogada, espero que o remake mantenha o nível de qualidade.

In my restless dreams, I see that town... What can I say about this game? After playing the first game, it was a big decision to play another Silent Hill back to back, I am so happy to have the opportunity to experience this piece of art, a videogame that made fall in love with the psychological horror genre.

Initially it was planned the gameplay would be on my Steam Deck PCSX2 emulator but the film grain or whatever it's called really bothered me. So the decision was unanimous and decided to try the PC Enhanced Edition mod, and might as well be the best SH2 experience available, it shows that they picked the PC version and made it better in every possible way. Really happy to get to experience the game in this way, the team assigned to do this remake better up their game because this version is the bombs.

The music does it for me, before even playing Silent Hill I would jam the playlist without knowing a single song, and when the playthrough was starting I just felt this nostalgia as I had played the crappy PS3 version before (a portion of it).

From the music, to the atmosphere, scary and sad moments: this game has a special place in my heart, please play it.

An absolute win in terms of design, storytelling, sound design and especially atmosphere. This game is what happens when there is passion in dedication. You see, I used to wonder why even though Marvel movies may be serviceable or some big budget games are kinda fun they're just not amazing, this game opened my eyes to that. They lack pure passion and talent. When something is made with love, you can just feel it, that's exactly what happened with this game, every minute was just oozing with love and care. After looking at the "making of" I can see why. These guys knew what they were doing, even if people have creativity these days and even nice ideas, they lack vision. They lack the ability to set their sights on a target properly and go for it with all that they have, that's what I think at least. Games need not be 80+ hours long, this 8 hour game showed me that quality is ALWAYS better than quantity.

Let's start from the base, the thing that holds everything together and the main attraction, the story and especially the characters. Each character serves a purpose, shows what's happening in the story and the main character here is the perfect example of doing a protagonist correctly, ESPECIALLY for this medium. What's the best part of this game is not just its story but how this story takes advantage of the fact that it is not a movie, a novel nor a comic, it's a video game, an interactive medium and uses that to its full potential. Typically you'd see compromises in stories or characters due to that but nope not here. Absolute class act. I do not want to spoil the story nor the characters so this is where I will stop, I do not think a review should spoil events, but honestly I went into this game knowing half the story and even then I was moved. The writing in this game is no less than Breaking Bad, The Godfather, Se7en, Perfect Blue, Requiem For A Dream, etc. I know it's cliche to say this but for this game it absolutely is true. This game stands shoulder to shoulder with those giants and does so confidently and with pride. That is respectable to say the least.

Moving on, the sounds. Absolute masterclass from the absolute mad lad Akira Yamaoka. Silent Hill 1 was good, great at parts even but overall not amazing in my humble opinion. The end game blooper track was absolute fire though. This time, Akira came back guns blazing. Spooky tracks are spookier, atmospheric tracks are dreamier and the rock songs are such bangers I played this game just because of them! This guy is an all in one band and composer and I have the utmost respect for him. Filling me with dread at one point, sadness in another and then making me bop in the same game is just nothing short of a miracle for me. 20-50% of this game is basically carried by the sounds. That's how important this game's audio is. Picture this, the windows XP background with the "Promises" song from this game, imagine how you feel. Then picture the windows XP background with the "Black Fairy" song. Music and just sounds in general are important for any experience now but for this game it is vital. The story is the soul and the music is the heart that beats and keeps everything running. Thank you Mr Akira, your work will continuously get recognised hopefully.

The visuals are outstanding, "technically" this isn't perfect but does that matter? Absolutely not, this game looks beautiful and all of that is because of their vision, confidence and their commitment to their work. The fog is still beautiful, mirrors REFLECT the whole scene without needing ray tracing or any screen space shenanigans. The textures are good, not great but that actually adds to their charm I'd say for 80% of the assets, makes the game grittier and spookier.

The gameplay is something I like a lot honestly, I think this game is a better version of resident evil though I haven't played those older ones. The claustrophobic controls and environments with the mid accuracy and stuff all add to the experience. The only gripes I have are some mediocre bosses and some long running and walking which are boring and time consuming sometimes. It is spooky for a minute or two but after that you get used to it if it's the same location. When thrust to a new location the fear of the unknown kicks in and then yeah they took advantage of that and did stuff with it. Some unnecessary "jumpscares" and enemy placement was also inconvenient, like I understand it was to scare but I'd say the jumpscares could have been cut by 50% and the impact would've been FAR greater. The (SPOILER ALERT) bathroom one will always haunt me, greatest jumpscare of all time.

So, a game with damn near perfect visual style, aural experience and a mind numbingly good story, what could go wrong? Nothing much really, just minor gripes with the gameplay and some in my opinion, poor decisions, reduced my enjoyment of purely the gameplay to 8/10. HOWEVER, the story was an absolute win, 10/10. FINALLY, the most important part is, my enjoyment of the game as a whole was 10/10, an absolute masterclass in video games and story telling. You know that thing where even if something isn't absolutely perfect it's still amazing? This is it. Nothing can be perfect and this gets so close to it that might as well call it perfect hah. Story was moving and the atmosphere, instead of making me "scared", made me dreadful of what was going to happen. That is far more difficult to pull off, let alone pull off for a whole ass game. Bravo Team Silent.

Now additional notes for the Enhanced Edition, I think using the noise filter is mandatory. Using a 480p resolution is cool and using a crt filter may be cool but isn't my cup of tea. 480p resolution is great! Game looks great imo, CRT filter was great too due to the colors but I hated the dotted look. Finally, the upscaled images can be a miss sometimes! The FMVs too, they're a bit uncanny compared to the pristine and (imo beautiful) original FMVs, but that's just me. Look at a comparison or two online and choose your poison. Lowered resolutions look good and emulate the original art style which is great and I'd have done that myself but 1080p was a good middle ground between TOO SHARP and too aliased.

Remember friends, this is not a "you should play" but a "you must play" type of game. Experience what the best of gaming has to offer.

Silent Hill 2 is just about as good as anyone who played it will tell you it is, but I also think that it's internet discussions - and discussions about the Silent Hill franchise in general - are a bit misguided and shallow. This is a very intorspective game by nature, it is impossible to talk about it and add anything substantial without leaving yourself a bit vulnerable. However, I myself am a bit of an hypocrite coward, so I'll take about things I really find compelling about this game without any spoilers.
I really love how the game leaves so many things up to interpretation about what trully happened in the story, trully a mysterious game by it's nature. Not only because you need to interpret the events from the game, but concepts, locals, characters' actions and such.
The supporting cast does a fenomenal job at helping this "mystery" about psyche grow in a constantly interesting way, even if they are lacking many times. Their actions and REactions are really important and add a lot to the story. That's what many people tell, but I really like to think about what it means for them to be there. I personally believe that those characters aren't just there to add substance, but also to guide you to unravel more behind James Sunderland's struggles and thoughts. I like the idea that maybe even more than characters, these people are ideas that are molded by the protagonist.
I also think that your reading of the story may vary depending on your own living. Maybe you won't understand a certain character's choice or action, but I think that even this misunderstanding makes the game more eary and interesting. It doens't try to spook you, generally speaking, it seems more interested in disturbing you through it's content and implications. The scariest thing in the game to me was something that many players might not even see in their first playthrough.
I don't really know how to write a conclusion to all of this, I'm not a professional... uh...
Please play the Silent Hill games

Sillent hill 2 é um dos melhores jogos de terror psicologico e disparado o melhor da franquia silent hill por ter uma historia muito boa e principalmente por ela não ter o foco principal em um "culto" mas sim em traumas, abordando questões pesadas como estupro, assassinato, bullying e depressão, as criaturas do jogo são formadas pelos traumas dos personagens como as memorias reprimidas e a ansiedade sexual do James, o sofrimento da Angela e os pensamentos homicidas do Eddie. Ja falando sobre a versão do jogo, é a melhor que tem para jogar, com melhorias graficas, no audio, controles, recomendo para todo mundo

I like Silent Hill 2's story and especially it's incredible atmosphere. Although, I had trouble getting attached to the characters due to the voice acting. I was laughing a bit too much at some of the scenes when they're supposed to be serious. It's not out of place for the time it was released in though.

The gameplay is very stagnant. There is not a lot of combat variety as you will be fighting the same 2 zombies over and over again with the same strategy every time. Item distribution feels very unbalanced as well. I had way too much ammo and health pickups by the end of the game while I had used them carelessly whenever I needed. I was disappointed by this because I enjoy when survival horror games have emphasis on resource management and having to make decisions to preserve your inventory without wasting it all. I was playing on normal mode, but it felt like it was on very easy mode or something. I did enjoy the games puzzles for what they were though, along with the excellent soundtrack.

As far as this remaster though? Really good. I'm glad Silent Hill 2 is now properly playable on something that isn't the PS2. I remember it having some glitchy shadows at a part near the end, but other than that, it ran great and looked great.

Solid door-checking simulator.
It's an interesting story but it feels very padded out with unnecessary/uninteresting gameplay that ranges from dull to frustrating. If someone could turn this into a good novel that would be ideal.
All that being said, there's something to the depth and complexity of the characters and their motivations and the way these are metaphorically manifested that I just can't shake. I find the voices, dialog, and animations to be wonderfully weird and indelible. I like to think that the fatal act at the center of the story is not to be taken literally. James has enough to feel guilty about.

To be honest, I don't quite know what to think of the game. I had fun, but something bothers me about it. The atmosphere in the game is great. I still love the foggy city, just like in 1. The enemy design was also on point again. I was able to follow the main storyline and understood it, but everything that happened next to it just confused me. The technical gameplay wasn't absolutely strong either, but the puzzles were great. I was unsure whether to give it 3.5 or 4 stars, but for the atmosphere and the vibe the game gave off, it gets a 4 for now.

It's the first version of Silent Hill 2 I've ever played! I've never tried the original PC version, so I can't tell what the differences are. What I can say, however, is that Silent Hill 2 is one of my all-time favorite video games and definitely the top 1 horror title. The full review will be available on the original game's release page, as well as the Restless Dreams version.

The Enhanced Edition looks and plays great, even on mouse and keyboard. I didn't experience anything frustrating or standing out too much - it's a very faithful project.

Silent Hill 2 is an absolute masterpiece, and the Enhanced Edition makes it look even better. This deserves nothing but a perfect score. - 🕙