Please note that I’m still playing through this game, so my opinions are subject to change; furthermore, there are certain game elements or mechanics that I’m yet to experience.
PT
Before we kick off this review, let me start by saying I’m a complete Silent Hill newbie – I’ve had little to no experience with the series; I’ve never owned a previous title. I’ve always gravitated more towards Resident Evil, and whilst I love the grind-house style in RE7, I felt indifferent towards the gothic horror approach Village took – it just wasn’t scary. In fact, its most chilling moment felt like a page taken directly from PT’s book.
I don’t blame Capcom; people still yearn for Silent Hills today. And rightly so, PT was phenomenal for what it was, which is why you can understand the outrage that followed when the project was canned, and Kojima parted ways with Konami.
It’s one reason I’ve never played Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain; my copy from 2015’s still sealed. Before anyone calls me a Kojima fanboy, I think Death Stranding as an overall package is trash (though I haven’t played the Director’s Cut on PS5 – future review, maybe?). Still, the man produced stupendous dubs during his time at Konami – where was the loyalty?!
Anyway, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t buy a PS4 in anticipation of Silent Hills; Norman Reedus (during the height of my Walking Dead obsession) and Hideo Kojima sounded like a match made in heaven at the time. Even today, a part of me wishes I lived in a dimension where that game exists, but I don’t, so I’ve had to settle for the next best entry in the series: Silent Hill 2!
HD Collection
I picked up a PS2 copy on Silent Hill 2 on eBay (please don’t ask me how much I paid – much more than I’d like to admit). But I think it’s worth it. I’ve never played the Silent Hill HD Collection, and I will most likely never.
If you didn’t know, the HD Collection bombed due to a game-breaking bug; however, it was actually the mist’s omission from Silent Hill 2 that was the nail in the coffin for many. This is because Konami lost the original source code, forcing the studio to rebuild the game from the ground up.
Because of the seventh-generation technology, the newer versions could render more open-world assets quicker, meaning there was no need for the mist. Still, some smart-ass executive at Konami failed to see what made the game so special in the first place, the got-damn mist!
I totally understand all the criticism, especially regarding the mist’s absence, because almost immediately during my time with the original version of Silent Hill 2, the combination of navigating through the thick fog and hearing those ear-curdling sounds created a level of anxiety that holds up with the best horror games today.
Gameplay
Silent Hill 2 is creepy even for first-time players in 2022. I like that this game doesn’t explain itself much, either. Your key objective is to find James’ wife, but besides a park of significance, the game doesn’t tell you where or how to get there. I think it’s fair to say you’re left to your own devices – navigating through the mist, avoiding the creatures that occupy the town. Before any OG fans come at me for this statement, how is one supposed to know that the apartment keys were at the end of a random f–ing side street!?
There’s also the argument that this game was slightly outdated (mechanically speaking) in 2001, and it’s a shame it can’t match the stellar storytelling. The movement is like a tank control system – you use left/right to change James’ direction and up/down to move forward/backwards. I strongly recommend starting off with the d-pad to get familiar with this mechanic, as you’ll need to (sooner rather than later) master the art of evasion.
Combat could also have been better adaptive – rarely do my hits register when an enemy NPC has fallen to the ground, instead having to wait for them to get up and repeat. I’m only using a melee weapon right now, so we’ll see if this carries over to the guns. These factors won’t affect your experience too tough. Whilst I’m far from finishing it, I can already see why it’s regarded as the best horror game of all time. I haven’t even come across my first puzzle yet!
Regarding Silent Hill 2’s graphics, I started playing with an HDMI upscaler hooked up to my monitor – I found the apartments and other indoor areas too dark and downright ugly. The chilling background noise on top of that gave me such a torrid time; I Googled where the flashlight was (it makes you appreciate how far along we’ve come a long way since gaming walkthrough magazines. Still shoutout PowerStation Magazine).
However, the game looked absolutely stunning when I played it on a small portable TV using only the scart leads, and it essentially gave me a new lease to explore the apartments. Everything was clear; I could see and appreciate how refined this game looks; as a sequel, I’m sure it was everything you could want it to be.
Summary
I somewhat see why the Silent Hill community felt tired of the franchise after Homecoming. Though I’ve not personally played that or Downpour, I’ve watched enough YouTube walkthroughs (SHN, if you know, you know) to tell that they’re BTEC versions of 2 and 3 (that’s one for my UK peeps). It failed to capture the essence that made Silent Hill 2 so special.
It still saddens me that Silent Hills will never be a tangible thing. However, there is hope on the horizon as rumours of a Silent Hill 2 remake for PS5 circulate. But given Konami’s history in the last 10 years, they’re not precisely fan-focused, so the likeliness of that coming to fruition is slim – in other words, I have more chance of dating Ari Lennox.
Still, Silent Hill 2 on PS2 is a phenomenal title that is a must-play for fans of the psychological-horror genre. I’d even go as far to say the mist justifies its steep asking price online. For any of its technical shortcomings, it makes up for plenty with a truly chilling open-world, and a story that supposedly makes the player think. I’m incredibly excited to see which ending I experience. I’ll be sure to update this post once I’ve finished it. Peace out!
