Warning: this article contains mild thematic and environment spoilers for Silent Hill 2. The Silent Hill 2 remake is the most miserable experience I’ve had with a game in recent memory. With an opening sentence like that, you’re probably expecting to read a very negative critique of developer Bloober Team’s recreation of Konami and Team Silent’s survival horror classic.
But, in this very rare occurrence, complete and unrelenting misery is actually a positive. The original Silent Hill 2 is perhaps the bleakest, most sombre game ever made and Bloober Team has successfully preserved its miserable magic, ensuring this remake is a deeply effective descent into genuinely uncomfortable terror. That journey begins with sound and vision.
The thick, opaque fog that conceals the town of Silent Hill is part of the story’s instantly recognisable iconography, and the remake’s impressive modern volumetric effects mean it feels thicker and more isolating than ever. Moving away from the monster-infested streets should feel like an escape, but instead you’re forced to find shelter in some of the dankest, most depressingly disgusting residences you’ve ever seen. Much of Silent Hill 2 is themed around a descent, and there’s a clear gradient in the visual texture of each area that communicates that downward spiral.
Locations initially feel unkempt and abandoned, such as apartment blocks with peeling wallpaper and empty cupboards. But push onwards and the architecture becomes inc.
