Right now the fans of Silent Hill 2 They are waiting for its remake by Bloober Team in the hope that they will do it justice. After all, it is not only a classic of survival horror but also a master class in psychological terror.
Although still a bit skeptical, I am also one of those who is interested to see how the remake turns out. In preparation for it, I decided to give the original another spin, which remains just as terrifying 23 years after its release due to several factors that make it truly unique and unforgettable. Here I tell you what they are. Spoiler alert in case you haven’t played the original.
Silent Hill 2 has an atmosphere that keeps you uncomfortable the whole time
Let’s start with the first thing that will make you feel uncomfortable throughout Silent Hill 2: its atmosphere. Even from the first time we see James in that public bathroom, that dark and strange atmosphere invades you.. Especially if you’re aware that in those first moments, James is watching you.
Furthermore, it changes as we progress through the game and ends up feeling like a journey into the darkest part of the human soul, just like James’ journey. We go from a somewhat foggy town to an industrialized hell plagued with blood and strange devices similar to torture machines..
All this is enhanced by the tremendous sound design it features. Silent Hill 2. Most of the time there is no background music. You just hear your footsteps or the static on the radio telling you that there are enemies nearby. Not to mention some very effective audio jump scares.
When there is music, by the hand of maestro Akira Yamaoka, This is added based on what we have just witnessed. From filling us with a strange melancholy to making us feel physically ill after a brutal revelation. The ethereal and strange atmosphere permeates absolutely every one of its elements.
Their fear comes more from uncertainty than from physical enemies.
Despite Silent Hill 2 It is classified as a survival horror game and does not have some aspects of titles like Resident Evil. For example, Here your inventory is practically infinite, you don’t have to worry about managing resources. You can take anything and keep it for as long as you deem necessary.
This mainly stems from the fact that there aren’t actually many physical threats present in the game. Yes, there are monsters lurking around, but you really only need to take down the bosses. The rest of the enemies can be avoided with proper skill, although of course you can eliminate them so you don’t have to worry every time you have to explore. Still, you can’t help but feel watched.
Silent Hill 2 It’s more focused on creating a pretty tense environment for the player at every step. Most of the scenarios are very dark and fill you with uncertainty about what lurks in the shadows. While the radius is an indicator of danger, it doesn’t tell you exactly where the enemies are. This, along with the sounds of each monster, without knowing where they are, fills you with stress.
Particularly towards the end of its story, the game starts to play more with your expectations and your mind. This is particularly truer in the hospital and the historical society. There are a couple of pretty effective scares here that don’t come from any physical presence. It’s all achieved with that feeling of being in constant danger. I won’t spoil the surprises for you so you get scared at the right moment.
Although Silent Hill 2 It doesn’t force you to manage your resources, its safe environment will make you do so. You’ll want to have those shotgun shells available in case you encounter a very powerful beast. However, the strongest enemy of this title is your own mind that makes you expect the worst.
Silent Hill 2 does not underestimate the player’s intelligence
Most video games these days are either fairly linear or have very clear objective markers so you know what to do. Silent Hill 2 It has none of that, as it fully trusts the player to find the way forward. It only gives us general goals and we learn how to accomplish them.
Throughout the game you find some writings and memos with some hints of what you need to do but they don’t tell you exactly the answer. There’s even the possibility that some of the things you need you’ll find entirely by chance or by exploring on your own. But this also leaves you open to unpleasant surprises.
This also extends to the legendary puzzles of Silent Hill 2. Even if you indicate at the start of the game that you want the lowest difficulty level for them, you will still find some very good challenges for your mind. Also, with most of them there are hints about how to solve them, but they still don’t give you a concrete answer. You have to experiment and even draw from your own knowledge outside the game.
The most brilliant thing is that even in these moments its developers tell us stories that stay in your mind and fill you with disturbing images. Some of the riddles’ clues tell us the fates of bloodthirsty criminals or even heartbreaking stories of depression. Plus, while you’re resolving them, you can’t help but fear that some creature is out there waiting for its chance to attack while you’re busy.
Its story and characters are wonderful in terms of subtext.
Of course we can’t leave aside the history of Silent Hill 2 which is still being discussed 23 years later. This is due to the different nuances it presents and the different ways in which certain events and even their characters can be interpreted.
There are quite a few theories regarding the game, such as that its main characters represent the deadly sins or that its biggest reveal is there from the beginning of the game. The best part of all is that not having a concrete answer will make this title stay in your head for quite a while.
Silent Hill 2 It’s also a game that will make you more uncomfortable the more you know and read beyond what’s presented on the screen. Not much is said about its characters at the moment, But the way he acts and some of the texts in the title give us some pretty uncomfortable truths.
Add to this the character design, which is disturbing in itself, but has a much more terrifying meaning. This shows how well thought out this sequel was and the huge amount of themes that Team Silent wanted to address at the time in an excellent way.
Silent Hill 2 is still worth it even without a remake
Obviously the remake of Silent Hill 2 It could be a great way for new generations to approach this story. Even so, the original remains an enjoyable experience with very effective horror to this day.
While Bloober Team might have a herculean task in doing it justice, The reality is that if you follow the steps of the original without making additions that completely alter its design, you are already on the other side. All that would be needed would be a graphical improvement and making its controls more responsive for a modern audience and that’s it.
Silent Hill 2 is considered one of the best games of all time, and for good reason. It goes beyond simple survival horror to give us one of the most complex and terrifying works of today and I think that will continue no matter how many years pass since its original release.
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