4/5 ★ – DeluxeSamuel's review of SILENT HILL 2.

The 'Silent Hill 2' Remake is not only perfect example of a fantastic horror game, but in the value in breathing new life into older games via remakes. I don't play a lot of horror games, usually because I find them stressful, between the horror itself and the nonsensical puzzles. But I have to say that I loved 'Silent Hill 2'. I never played the original game, though I had always heard good things. Its' mesh of story, atmosphere and lore always intrigued me and I've always been meaning to get around to it. But with it being on old hardware and short of an emulator or a good port (as I heard the HD Collection wasn't great in some areas), it was always something that I pushed back in favour of something else. Thankfully the remake came along and it felt like the perfect opportunity to finally play it and I'm so glad I did. However it does mean that I have no original to compare it to and so will not know where it falls short in comparison to the original. I thought 'Silent Hill 2' was fantastic and it lives up the legacy that the game has presented to me over the years. If you don't know, Silent Hill 2's story follows 'James Sunderland' after he receives a letter from his late wife, inviting him to join her in their "special place" in the titular town of 'Silent Hill'. The story hooked me immediately here and I was invested in uncovering the mystery and horror behind the letter and town as a whole. 'James' is usually a pretty solemn protagonist, never raising his voice and generally speaking with a quiet sadness. He is generally kind and good natured to the other characters he interacts with, and I felt compelled to pull him through the struggles and madness that the game throws at him. Whilst 'James' is an empathetic character, he is cooky enough to fit the world of 'Silent Hill', as like every other character in the game, he never seems to question what is going on in the world around him. There seems to be some unspoken, mutual understanding, at some level, of what is occurring in 'Silent Hill', as every character seems fairly understanding of the horrors to a degree. That's not necessarily a slight however. I did find it odd at first as no one really mentions it much, but it added a unique charm to the universe that didn't feel as immersion breaking as you'd first expect. The story itself is interesting, if a little unclear at times. You piece a lot of the story together in subtext and environmental information, as much as you do in cutscenes and spoken dialogue. But if you're as oblivious as I seemingly was sometimes, then you may miss some of that info and find yourself looking up the answers to the lingering questions online. The atmosphere in this game is second-to-none. The fog itself is the game's real treat, especially in the early game before you find yourself indoors more. Not only is the scenery fantasticly unsettling, but the knowledge that the game's creepy crawly monsters are around any corner makes it all the more uncomfortable (in a good way). Especially those "Mannequins" which made me jump multiple times. The game has multiple endings though they're less about making a hard decision and more about taking into account the way you play the game. It's certainly a unique, albeit rarely used way to implement endings and I do think it's done really well here. It also locks the less serious and less-likely-to-be-canon endings to 'New Game+', which is smart choice in my opinion as it would refrain from new players accidentally stumbling into them in a first run. The combat isn't complex but it's fittingly enjoyable. You have a melee option in the form of a plank or a pipe and you have your guns, which are slowly parcelled out over the game. It keeps it simple here and I like that just fine. A couple enemies have particular weak spots and each enemy has their own attack patterns and whilst it's not difficult (I only died once the entire game on 'Standard' difficulty), you can die easily if you're not prepared or skillful enough. I did find that it was quite easy to stockpile ammunition by simply resorting to melee in the majority of fights. It may have just been the 'Standard' difficulty I was on however, that may have been more generous with supplies or dodge windows that I was able to do so, so unless you're looking to take it easy, you could probably afford to crank the difficulty up on the first playthrough. I would also like to give praise to the game's maps. It's usually a pretty underrated aspect in games as a whole but I found them particularly great here. It's nothing crazy on the surface but they were invaluable to my completion of the game, especially as a first time player. You would usually find a map at the start of the area and it would show you the layout of the entire area, but as you explore it will constantly update; showing you which doors you tried to open that are inaccessible, which points of interest have been "completed" and so on. Not only was the map really simple to follow but it mostly stopped me from doing unnecessary running around as I tried to figure out where I was going and what I was doing. It may seem a simple thing but was a huge bonus for me that stopped me from potential frustration. It's also not a very long game however. I was able to beat the story mode in 15 hours. That's with being as thorough as possible and trying to collect everything I could, short of using a guide. If you're only planning on playing this the once then it might not hold a lot of value for you, but I'd say that with the all 8 endings, the hardest difficulty, all the collectibles and a couple more playthroughs down the line just for the sake of it, I'll likely be ballooning up my playtime by a large amount personally. Anyway, I had a blast with 'Silent Hill 2' and part of me is itching to start up another playthrough sooner rather than later. I'd also be highly interested in seeing any other future remakes in the series but for now, I'm very happy with the game.