Follow our Curator and Website[summitreviews.biz] to see more high-quality reviews regularly.

First and foremost, Silent Hill 2 is a psychological horror centered on the mind of its protagonist, James Sunderland. After receiving a mysterious letter from his supposedly dead wife, he sets for the remote town of Silent Hill, where he first met his now lost love, hoping to find her again.

The psychological aspect is very prominent, and every location has plenty of details that reflect how the events that transpired there are interpreted by James’ mind. How the line between reality and fiction blurs the more you progress, in a subtle but steady way, gives the narration a sense of mystery and uncertainty perfect for this kind of story. The few NPCs encountered are peculiar and well-characterized, and linked to James himself in more subtle ways than one would expect. Overall, the story of Silent Hill 2 is involving and well-written, and will stay interesting for the whole run.

Despite the iconic fog masking most of the layout of Silent Hill’s exterior, solid attention to detail can be seen in the making of most locales and areas. There are subtle elements of environmental storytelling that reinforce what’s already present in the lore files, or known by progressing in the story. The atmosphere is dark and oppressive, as it should be in survival horror, and will never make you feel like you’re safe anywhere, in a city infested by monsters and horrors; even “safe rooms” will not feel as safe as they could in other titles of this genre, and that’s an intentional choice to keep the tension high.

You’ll explore Silent Hill and its environs solely on foot, through maps that, generally, have a good degree of openness and aren’t entirely linear, but also couldn’t be defined as ‘open-world’. In fact, aside from optional areas you’re free to explore if you stumble upon them at all, most other sections of each level are barred behind critical items tied to story progression. There’s usually a precise, formulaic order in which you’ll acquire them and gain access to further parts of that map. There are no outright ‘secret’ areas or items to find, but there are many secondary locations that often house missable weapons, interactions and lore items that can make your run more interesting, and in some cases, less troublesome, if acquired.

As with most survival horrors, being attentive, opening all containers and looking behind every corner is essential to scavenge enough ammo and healing to survive the frequent enemy encounters, and also collect notes, diaries and puzzle-related items. Exploration is interesting and compelling, given that you won’t know what to expect next, in a world where reality and figments of James’ mind intertwine the more you press forward. Other than always showing your position in a well-made layout, your map will automatically mark locked doors, important devices and landmarks; getting lost won’t ever be an issue.

You’ll fight several kinds of monsters, each representing a specific trauma from James’ past, during your travels in Silent Hill. On the Hard difficulty at least, each of them is a serious threat: just a few attacks can kill you, and earlier on these creatures are tough to defeat, and can also revive if you don’t make sure they stay dead by hitting their corpses. Most of the enemy moveset is melee, although some of them also have ranged attacks; dodging with near-perfect timing is an essential mechanic, as is learning each monster’s attack patterns to know when to strike in melee without risking a painful retaliation. Using ranged weapons gives you a decisive advantage, but ammo is scarce for most of the adventure, and should be saved for bosses and more demanding combat sections with multiple enemies.

Unfortunately, the enemy variety is low, and soon enough you’ll be tired of fighting the same three or four archetypes recycled over and over. This doesn’t get better at any point, and I don’t see a reason why in this remake they couldn’t have added some more variants to spice up the gameplay. The melee system is weighty and satisfying to use, however, it’s also inconsistent and, at times, inaccurate. Boss fights are unique, and have hidden mechanics for you to figure out in most cases. For example, some of them are just tests of endurance where you don’t actually need to damage your foe, while others are more classic fights that may have specific weak points or ways to damage your enemy that aren’t immediately apparent; overall, they’re challenging and well-designed.

There’s a high amount of puzzles in each area, often mandatory to progress. They’re mostly logic-based, and involve figuring out a combination, a code, or restoring a specific pattern of images, with the help of found documents or hints nearby the puzzle area. None of them are extremely difficult, but some will definitely test your patience and problem-solving skills. There are no levels, currency or other character progression to speak of. The only way James becomes more powerful is with the gear he acquires in the form of better weapons, most of which aren’t automatically found but are instead secondary, missable items.

one of a kind experience

Out of all remakes put out recently, this is the one that got it the best. It feels familiar and old school, while at the same time, fresh and absolutely gorgeous. I'm having a great time coming back to its world. What a great game.

-----

De todos os remakes lançados recentemente, esse é o que mais acertou. Ele é ao mesmo tempo algo familiar e das antigas, mas também repleto de novidades e belíssimo de jogar. Estou adorando voltar a esse mundo! Jogão.