SILENT HILL 2

Holy pizza in a bowling alley! The Silent Hill 2 Remake is even better than the original! Yeah, I know. That's blasphemy. How dare I even think such a thing... The original Silent Hill 2 is a timeless classic and one of the best games ever made. I know. What I don't know is if I will ever feel the need to replay it again after experiencing the Bloober team remake. Sure, the original's voice actors gave unique performances that are worth experiencing again, but I honestly think the new voice cast did an amazing job in their own right. What the Silent Hill 2 remake definitely does better is the combat. Killing the horrors of Silent Hill has never been more fun, but SHR does it without making James feel like an unstoppable killing machine. He is still vulnerable and obviously not some kind of seasoned combat veteran. I also loved the new lore that comes in the form of notes, puzzles and whole new locations. Silent Hill has never felt more like a real town that has gone to absolute hell. Offcourse it doesn't hurt that the Unreal Engine 5 makes it all look better and more horrifying than ever. Silent Hill 2 is without a doubt my game of the year 2024!

There are extreme FPS drops; I've seen drops of up to 8 FPS. I'll ask for a refund. It's a shame they're releasing such a poorly optimized game.

This game is a remake of one of my favorite games of all time, one I still hold up as a nearly perfect. This game does a number of things right, but also makes some odd changes. Pros to me: 1. The atmosphere is absolutely stunning. Bloober team has managed to capture the spirit of the original town. 2. The graphic polish is wonderful. The effects of the glow up are absolutely beyond the pale of what's expected with remakes. The closest I can compare to his glow up is the original Resident Evil when it was remade for the Nintendo Gamecube. 3. Exceptional voice talent. In spite of my love of the original game, I was never convinced of the "talent" of the original voice over work, I know some love it, but it was never something I could get behind. The new actors are able to grasp and perform the emotional complexities of the characters. Now for some cons... 1. Pacing has taken a hit. The original game was a masterwork of pacing. This new retelling moves things around oddly. The opening of the original game is now complete only when you get to Neely's Bar and complete a puzzle there. (To explain this, the original opening ends on a note that is only compelete here about an hour into the game.) Yes, it give the game more length, but, it also makes the pacing feel slower than it really should. 2. A fan theory was given more weight. While I won't say what that theory is in a review as it could affect some players enjoyment. And the neutral. The combat is much smoother, and more fun but now is no longer optional in most situations. Being able to run past monsters is now more difficult in the tighter confines of some spaces. My final answer is this: I recommend this game to horror fans who never played the original, and to people who did play the original, however, I recommend considering how much you want to experience it to decide what the price range you're willing to spend on it. If you're on the fence, wait for a good sale to make sure. Thank you.

Performance-wise, the game is an absolute mess. Frame rate drops, stuttering, and sluggish responsiveness kill any sense of immersion. A horror game thrives on atmosphere and timing—two things that crumble when technical issues constantly rip the player out of the experience. On modern hardware, there's simply no excuse for these kinds of hiccups, especially when the original ran more smoothly over two decades ago on far weaker systems. Graphically, it’s a perfect example of how “better” visuals don’t equate to better presentation. The remake swaps out the iconic, grainy fog and subtle lighting with overly polished textures and sterile lighting effects that strip the game of its moody atmosphere. The original's limited draw distance and soft, film-like quality weren't technical limitations—they were deliberate choices that enhanced the psychological tension. In trying to modernize the visuals, the remake misunderstands what made them effective in the first place. And worst of all, the remake is inferior in tone, execution, and artistic integrity. The original Silent Hill 2 was a masterclass in minimalism and psychological storytelling. The remake, by comparison, feels bloated and emotionally tone-deaf, flattening the ambiguous, disturbing themes with heavy-handed delivery and awkward pacing. Even the voice acting and character animations seem lifeless, draining the emotional depth from every major scene. In short, the Silent Hill 2 remake doesn’t just stumble—it falls face-first into the fog, unable to find its way back to what made the original an enduring masterpiece. It’s a grim reminder that nostalgia alone can't save a remake that doesn’t understand the legacy it’s trying to honor. I would much rather have the original Silent Hill 2 on PC come to GOG as part of the preservation program, with full support and fixes for modern hardware and operating systems.

Bloober team, please fix this game, it crashed basically everytime it launched and was a painful game to play.