After receiving a letter from his late wife,
James traveled to the place where they shared many memories,
Hope to see her again: Silent Hill.
There, by the lake, he discovered a woman who bore a striking resemblance to her…
“My name…is Maria,” the woman smiled. Her face, her voice…she just looks like her.
Experience chilling visuals and visceral sound on the latest hardware, hailed as the best masterclass in psychological horror in the series.
Before I get into that, I want to talk about my test equipment and setup. The game was released on Steam Deck with a “Playable” rating, but that was quickly changed to “Unsupported,” so I played it all on the gaming desktop (specs below).
I recently started silent hill 2 On my Steam Deck since a recent patch is said to have really improved the experience, but after loading it up and trying some settings it looks terrible to me and struggles to maintain 30fps.
On my desktop, performance is definitely more consistent and I can push quite a few settings and maintain 60+fps while playing games with the controller. Since I last played, I believe they’ve injected FSR 3.1 support, so that should theoretically improve performance even further.
Staying on the technical side for a moment, at launch there was very severe stuttering when I crossed zone boundaries, but I found that the patch at least partially improved this.
As I’ve already mentioned, I’m a big kid when it comes to horror. However, I heard so many compliments silent hill 2 I love listening to my favorite gaming podcasts (shout out start playing) talking about it, I decided I wanted to try to remake this game. I was a baby and I did have to play a lot of happy games in a short amount of time, but I had a lot of fun with Silent Hill.
if you are not familiar with silent hill 2it’s definitely more of a psychological thriller (my type of horror in movies), but there are also scary and disgusting things.
You play as James Sunderland, who travels to Silent Hill in Maine to find his dead wife Mary, who sent him a letter three years after her death. You’re here to solve the mystery, and the now empty town is surrounded by a thick fog and filled with scary and weird creatures ready to do you harm.
if i’m honest silent hill 2 It’s incredible! The writing is excellent, the team does an impeccable job of creating a memorable atmosphere, which in itself made me want to quit the game, and everything looks incredible.
The gameplay overall feels good (see some nitpicks below) and I’m glad I’m playing it, even though I often say out loud “why would I do this to myself” which doesn’t sound like much to a player playing this game rare.
You can adjust the difficulty of combat and puzzles separately, which is nice because I’m definitely a puzzle lover, so I lowered the combat difficulty in hopes of making it less scary (with mild success).
The sound team did a fantastic job on all fronts. The atmospheric sounds are amazing, but the eerie sounds made by the creatures you encounter are something else. The team does a great job using sound to draw players into the horror of Silent Hill.
What are my pickinesses? The aforementioned stuttering is really bad at startup. I haven’t played enough of the game since the patch came out to know how much it’s been fixed, but there’s still some kind of stuttering, even though it’s significantly better.
Plus, you just walk in the doors and push them open, which really bothers me. I always expected to press A or X to open the door, but pressing the buttons does nothing. I feel torn when it comes to saving.
On the one hand, I love the convenience that modern conventions offer, being able to save anywhere. However, silent hill 2 Keep using save points, I think that’s probably a better move. It feels more thematic, like the save points are giving you hints of the game’s true story.
Fighting with the Plank (the first weapon you get) feels awkward to use. I’m sure this is at least partially intentional, but regardless of the team’s intentions, it’s definitely something I don’t like.
Honestly, if you don’t like horror movies, I’d say I do enjoy the storytelling aspect silent hill 2but it was difficult to pass because I was so scared.
This isn’t a game for everyone, but if you think you can handle the horror and horror, I’d definitely recommend playing it silent hill 2 On the platform of your choice. Maybe I’ll work up the courage to finish it before next Halloween.
