James Sunderland really loved his wife. He loved her so much that it smothered him when she died. Grief, doubt, and a calling to visit SILENT HILL consumed him. Finally arriving on Xbox, 2024’s excellent remake of the PS2 classic by Bloober Team is here and in the best shape I’ve seen yet. Running at a near-flawless, damned good-looking 60fps in performance mode, this is the best version of the game on consoles. So pack your car, put on your green jacket, and take a trip to everyone’s favorite foggy hell hole with me.
Jimmy S.
You play as James, a man whose wife, Mary, died three years ago. She’s sent him a letter, somehow, leading him back to the town of Silent Hill. A dense fog has consumed the town, as James searches for answers on the fate of his late spouse. Over the course of a 10-hour or so-long story, your choices will dictate your ending.
How you treat the town’s few remaining citizens, like a young girl who runs from you whenever you come near, or a woman who seemingly shares your wife’s face but little else, is up to you to a point. SILENT HILL, as a franchise, has always been more subtle in which actions lead to which endings.
As this is a remake of a PS2 title, and a damned faithful one, there are plenty of guides to help you if you want. I’d highly recommend your first playthrough be as blind as possible. Go in, do what you think is right, and know that it is a game designed for replaying. The story is as good as ever, with small touches and modernizations added in by Bloober Team that only ever improve things.
Take it slow
SILENT HILL 2 is a slow, methodical game in both its cutscenes and gameplay. James is not a powerful soldier, just a normal, grieving husband. You will start the game with basic melee combat. Hit the terrifying mannequin enemies with a 2×4 full of nails, then dodge their counter-attacks.
The combat isn’t as deep or satisfying as this year’s SILENT HILL f. There is no lock-on functionality, which can lead to frustrations early on. Eventually, James will get a gun; this is America after all. Aiming felt great on Xbox Series X, with a small deadzone helping it feel tight to move the reticle around.
SILENT HILL 2 offers up difficulty options for both combat and puzzles. If you play on standard difficulty, as I did, I suggest being as patient as possible during melee combat.
The enemies will react to being hit, except for the few attacks they have that ignore damage. Getting hit a few times is enough to have you on death’s door, and healing items are not plentiful. A press of the Y button uses a ‘health drink,’ while holding the Y button lets you get a larger heal from a syringe injection. Both items are found in the environment, sparingly at best, on higher difficulties.
Adult themes handled with care
SILENT HILL 2 delves into some heavy topics. The voice acting and music work in conjunction to elevate these moments above most video game storytelling. You’ll meet a woman named Angela who is obviously full of pain and regret. As you learn her story, it is heartbreaking. Unlike The Medium, I felt Bloober did a better job adapting real-life horrors, thanks in part to the success of the original.
The music is iconic, so much so that fans of the franchise have been extremely happy that the Return to Silent Hill movie is reusing themes from this title. Akira Yamaoka’s music is some of the more iconic in the horror genre, hell, in video games in general, if you’ve played this title. It perfectly captures the bleak, depressing hopefulness present throughout the story.
Life is beautiful and terrible. James, Angela, and everyone’s choices have profound impacts on them and those in their lives. SILENT HILL 2 remains near the top of the horror genre as it rarely relies on jump scares. They’re still there, of course, with mannequin horrors happily scaring the bejesus out of you from time to time.
James’ main task is to walk through endless corridors, figuring out how to get through each building, one section at a time. These apartments and hospitals are full of excellent environmental storytelling. Puzzles require combining items in a rudimentary inventory, as the UI is as minimalist as possible.
Everything is in service of showing the sad, desperate loneliness that the people of the town are feeling as this supernatural horror rises around them. There are a ton of video game tropes, like puzzles that would never happen in real life. It all holds up because this world isn’t normal.
The morbid, miserable rust world returns, full of Pyramid-headed horrors with sound design that constantly keeps you on edge. The radio static that signifies an enemy’s presence grates on your eardrums, pushing you to either flee or face them head-on. Everything in Silent Hill either wants to trap you forever or push you as far away as possible.
Graphically, the game looks fantastic, using Unreal Engine 5 to brilliantly recreate the original game’s maps. Performance felt perfect on Xbox, with the only noticeable issue being reconstruction artifacts in shadows and puddles. This is an Xbox Play Anywhere title, and it ran great on my PC, with occasional stutter that UE5 can’t seem to avoid on the platform. However, it does not run well on the Xbox Ally X handheld.
Wrapping Things Up
SILENT HILL 2 is a fantastic remake. It uses the skeleton of one of the PS2 era’s best titles and improves upon it with fantastic graphics, excellent new voiceover work, and, as an Xbox Play Anywhere title, there isn’t a better storefront to buy it on.
SILENT HILL 2
Played on
Xbox Series X | Xbox PC
PROS
- Looks and runs great
- Excellent Voice Acting
- Keeps the original’s amazing OST (not always a given)
- Xbox Play Anywhere support
CONS
- Melee combat is still weak
Strange how this is really the PC version. Glad to see ol Gargamel here cope even harder.
Strange how it doesn’t really matter what port it is. The review is for the Xbox version, not the PC version. God forbid a guy enjoys anything else I guess.