Evaluation: Silent Hill 2 (2024) provides yet one more layer of interpretation

How do you remake a narrative that lives in interpretations?

In “Misplaced Recollections: Silent Hill Chronicle,” a prolonged doc revealed by Konami and Group Silent in 2003, the builders wrote that there’s no canonical ending to the unique Silent Hill 2, which has 4 fundamental conclusions relying in your actions. Many narrative subtleties with regard to the characters, the city outdoors of cutscenes, and scattered notes discovered within the recreation have taken on totally different meanings for various individuals. After greater than 20 years of current fan theories and meticulously crafted wiki pages, James Sunderland’s story stays a foggy amalgamation of figments.

And now, right here is Bloober Group’s Silent Hill 2, reimagined underneath the norms of the present recreation trade zeitgeist. Even after the Resident Evil remakes paved the best way for the likelihood, it’s nonetheless odd to see. The preliminary trailers showcased a well-recognized but modernized presentation, switching to an over-the-shoulder digital camera and snappier, up-to-standard fight. As soon as previews appeared, builders at Bloober Group reassured each interviewer that it’d be devoted to the unique to a painstaking diploma — even some members of the unique group concerned within the remake wished extra adjustments however have been overruled.

Throughout my first playthrough, which lasted over 17 hours, I may sense the designers’ hesitations about what to change on the partitions of each rusty hall. As you possibly can decide up from my playtime, in comparison with the 2001 recreation (which was about 10 hours lengthy), lots of the authentic areas have been expanded. The stuff you love are, for probably the most half, nonetheless current. However there’s an array of adjustments, some delicate, some daring, that problem that familiarity, leading to an intriguing revisit.

As early Gameplay streams appeared to point, some encounters — like the primary monster sighting contained in the tunnel — have been altered. While you work together with sure areas and objects, the sport performs a record-scratch animation with a selected music cue. I gained’t point out another instance, as they’re enjoyable pockets of nostalgia value (re)encountering by yourself. The implication at giant, nonetheless, which is capitalized on by some new textual content entries and collectibles, is that the sport is certainly taking part in round with the concept that you’ve already skilled the occasions of Silent Hill 2 at the least as soon as, each from a narrative and nearly meta perspective as a returning participant.

I’d like to let you know intimately how this all performs out in the long run, however I can’t. For one, assessment embargo restrictions prohibit me from describing the brand new two endings; I can solely point out their existence. I couldn’t describe them anyway, although, since I didn’t get both throughout my first playthrough — it was the “Maria” ending as a substitute. Talking with friends who additionally had entry to the sport earlier than launch, these additions are nonetheless being unraveled and found as different individuals progress in new recreation plus and attempt to discover a new collectible sort. Someone on the market has possible seen them already, however the particulars gained’t (or shouldn’t) be out within the open till after the sport’s launch.

The Silent Hill 2 remake doesn’t go to the lengths of Remaining Fantasy 7 Remake, reimagining a basic in a daring method to increase the narrative into uncharted territory. James nonetheless plunges by the identical fundamental areas as within the authentic. The “Maria” ending stays (roughly) equivalent. The opposite endings are in place as puzzles to resolve, including scattered enigmatic items for returning Gamers to search out, introducing story outcomes to the present listing. However except for the scavenger hunt expertise of discovering these endings, there are some basic adjustments to the bottom recreation that each broaden and, on some events, tone down what got here earlier than.

On the Gameplay aspect of issues, my largest considerations previous to taking part in this model have been across the digital camera and total ambiance, which go hand in hand. The mounted angles of the unique have been a staple for a purpose. Strolling down a darkish hall towards the digital camera with out understanding what was in entrance of you till it appeared within the body or the angle modified was all the time terrifying. The environments themselves, equivalent to the long-lasting Toluca Jail, thrived within the technically restricted grittiness of the PlayStation 2 period. The change of perspective to a shoulder digital camera means being nearer to all the pieces and having free rein to discover areas, however I used to be afraid that it might essentially change the oppressive tone of the unique.

Fortunately, that’s removed from the case. The Silent Hill 2 remake does an important job at asphyxiating you utilizing its new perspective. Whilst you’re now ready to decide on the place to look always, enemies can nonetheless sneak up on you, with Mannequins doing all types of peekaboo interactions — in a similar way to Stalkers in The Final of Us Half 2, hiding behind furnishings and at occasions escaping from you after being sighted to search out one other shock spot. Adjustments in traversal, equivalent to having interconnected rooms with out doorways separated by a loading display, or areas to crawl or squeeze by, can be utilized by enemies.

It’d sound clichéd to speak about darkness in a horror recreation, however that’s a facet that the remake captures from the unique to a triumph. James’ flashlight can solely illuminate a lot of the display, and the flickering of that flashlight, which — like the unique — alerts you to shifting enemies alongside the radio’s static, is terrifying each time it momentarily leaves you in a pitch-black room crammed with monsters. Their presence can generally be a bit too ample, which at finest helps to make you’re feeling unease, equivalent to listening to the fixed crawling of Spider Mannequins till you’ve taken all of them down or moved elsewhere, and at worst appears like an annoying reminder that the remake has a contemporary fight system, and the designers launched extra encounters to justify it.

By way of the story, most cutscenes current adjustments. By way of the brand new character likenesses and voice performing, your mileage might differ. The unique recreation’s campiness, whereas charming, has been refined, though there’s some stiffness in the best way the solid reads traces that feels by the way devoted. It’s a few of the precise story scenes, nonetheless, that current a extra drastic change.

Silent Hill 2, just like the franchise as an entire, depicted mentions of sexual abuse, suicide, and despair, amongst different darkish matters. In Bloober Group’s model, there’s a disclaimer about this every time you begin up the sport, together with a QR code to a Konami web site with an inventory of sources. But, a few of the most annoying imagery or direct mentions of mentioned matters throughout dialogue (particularly round Angela, Pyramid Head, and Mary’s videotape) are extra delicate now. Contemplating Bloober’s previous observe report in video Games like The Medium, which dealt with these matters poorly, to say the least, these adjustments ring as a cautionary technique of not repeating previous errors. None of them change the story per se, but it surely’s an fascinating determination inside the context of Silent Hill 2. There’s a case for correctly revisiting tropes and depictions that haven’t aged nicely, together with latest instances, like Useless Rising Deluxe Remaster. For Silent Hill, nonetheless, lessening the iNFLuence of sure moments could make a few of the most unfastened narrative particulars reduce weight whereas piecing the story collectively.

However right here’s an instance of the alternative that finally ends up being a shocking standout: James’ interactions with Maria when she’s tagging alongside. Sure, it falls into the AAA trope of an NPC companion not with the ability to get pleasure from some quiet time for greater than 5 minutes. However Maria’s new interactions and dialogue are becoming. She feedback on sure areas in addition to your actions with a enjoyable and flirty aptitude that serves the character. Having the ability to correctly discover the strip membership Heaven’s Night time intimately whereas additionally getting a brand new cutscene are additions that carry substance. They’re fleeting, small moments within the grand scheme of fundamental story beats that add a steadier presence with out being intrusive.

This subtlety is current within the Silent Hill 2 remake as an entire. A number of the scariest components of the unique are these you couldn’t see or comprehend at first look. The recurring whispers, the footsteps within the jail, the occasional scream from an unknown individual. All of them added to the strain with out the must be blunt about it. The designers behind the remake have retained these components, understanding that accessing higher tech doesn’t need to equal fixed spectacle. Now you can see the rust and mildew of Silent Hill in 4K, however increased constancy doesn’t make any of the locales any extra inviting.

It’s an fascinating time to revisit Silent Hill 2, contemplating the unique has been in an abandonware state for years now, and the one remastered model accessible isn’t nice. Within the official sense, the remake is the present retelling of the story. It’s a devoted interpretation of the occasions that transpired, capturing many of the huge and small story moments whereas fleshing out some particulars in between. When contemplating the legacy of the unique recreation over the previous 23 years, nonetheless, it’s onerous to think about the Silent Hill 2 remake will be capable of replicate that as nicely, for followers to spend a long time discussing its new endings and narrative additions with contrarian analyses. On the very least, it’ll make for an additional figment to theorize about.

Silent Hill 2 shall be launched Oct. 8 on PlayStation 5 and Home windows PC. The sport was reviewed on PlayStation 5 utilizing a pre-release obtain code offered by Bloober Group. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These don’t affect editorial content material, although Vox Media might earn commissions for merchandise bought through affiliate hyperlinks. Yow will discover extra details about Polygon’s ethics coverage right here.