Silent Hill 2 Remake Mannequins terrified me despite the slick combat

The Silent Hill 2 remake has blown our expectations out of the water and emerged as a win for Konami and Bloober Team and a true modern revival of a highly influential, cult classic horror game. With that of my colleague Kazuma judgement As my only real frame of reference for the full remake, I waltzed into Silent Hill as happy as a clam. That cheerful peace did not last long at all. The atmosphere and the scares (especially those damn mannequins) of Silent Hill 2 remake really got to me, despite how easy it is for James to clear out the town’s supernatural inhabitants.

This is one of those “No, Stephanie, it’s just you” moments, but I’ve long been under the impression that the clunky controls in old horror games were a deliberate choice by the developers. That part of the fear comes from how difficult it is to maneuver yourself out of dangerous situations and fight or escape from horrific enemies. That was the idea I had after playing Residential evil Way back when I was on the PlayStation and gave up out of frustration because my six-year-old brain couldn’t understand the puzzles, the English, or the controls.

Well, it turns out Capcom didn’t make it Residential evil difficult to deal with on purpose, and it wasn’t Residential evil unique. Tank checks were just one normal part of life for games, and all the other PlayStation games I played happened not to have them. Other horror games I played all contributed to the story I formed in my head. When I got the Fatal framework I thought this would increase the tension. Same with the Siren games. Horror games feel bad to play because it accentuates the fear. That’s just the way it is, I thought. Nothing really challenged this worldview, so I spent over twenty years with that idea.

Fast forward from 2001 to 2024. Bloober Team and Konami unveiled the poorly received battle trailer for the Silent Hill 2 remake with the over-the-shoulder camera for James. It’s not that bad at first, but then we see him mowing through crowds of iconic enemies with a variety of melee weapons and firearms. There is very little of the oppressive and solemn atmosphere that made it such a beloved horror game to begin with.

Looking at this again, the music is probably the main culprit as to why people reacted so badly then went there. It sounds a bit like something you’d hear in a trailer for something more generic and action-oriented. James uses all of these weapons in the original game, so rifles and shotguns are nothing new. However, the battle is central. From a marketing perspective, I understand the decision to make a battle trailer to show the differences between the remake and the original. I also understand that you have to use exciting music for such sequences. But given the emphasis on psychological horror, perhaps something more subdued would go over better.

I was at camp and felt very anxious about the remake after seeing this trailer. The Bloober team said it didn’t really agree with the way Konami marketed it, but it helped track record didn’t look that great overall. I was still convinced that for maximum creepiness, a horror game shouldn’t be too good or too easy to control, and the Silent Hill 2 remake was starting to look way too polished for me. It reminded me a lot The last of us And Resident Evil 2 remake– both fine and great games, but very different from what Silent Hill 2 going out to do.

Community fears were quelled after their release Silent Hill 2 launched to rave reviews. The vast majority of people loved it. The Bloober team did it. It was an absolute home run. I eagerly installed my copy of the game and booted it up, the opening hooking me and making me forget all my doubts about the game. It wasn’t so bad fighting a strange reclining figure while exploring the misty streets. Wood Side Apartments was starting to get a little creepy thanks to the claustrophobic hallways and annoying mannequins, but it was fine. Bluecreek apartments? Creepy, but still okay. I patted myself on the back as I mentally apologized to Bloober Team as I wandered around taking in the title city.

And then I arrived at Brookhaven Hospital. Oh my God, I have arrived at Brookhaven Hospital. To be clear, I got the game when it came out and it actually took me a month to finish it because I really had to pump myself up to get through it from this point on. It didn’t matter that I had over a hundred rounds for my pistol and a good third person shooter. It didn’t even matter that I followed guides while playing so as not to miss any collectibles, meaning I knew exactly where enemies were and when they would appear. Admittedly, the lack of confusion or trial and error, thus leading to frustration, was the likely reason why fear predominated in my thoughts. It was difficult to remain afraid of the Shibito, for example Siren when finally I was more irritated with them.

Enter the other world Silent Hill It’s always been a nasty place, with all those blood-stained walls and rust and all. It’s nasty, disgusting, macabre… Any synonym of these words or general sentiment is a good and appropriate way to describe it. I did not remember when you used to feel so scared or nervous when you wandered around the above mentioned areas. Maybe it was because the original had a more distant camera angle, or maybe it was because I played it with friends (meaning I was only in control for a fraction of the playtime).

It’s really impressive that I stayed scared in the Silent Hill 2 remake for basically the entire journey. I know that I can destroy any enemy that comes my way on Standard. But that didn’t calm my nerves at all. Chris “Real gorilla‘Redfield van Resident Evil 5 could have been the playable character, and probably me still would have struggled to get through most of the game. The environmental design is phenomenal. Almost all locations in the game are dark, cramped and dingy. Still, each explorable room or hallway is so short that it’s hard to really get used to it. There’s always a new place to explore, where there’s a good chance the noise will start up and a monster will jump over you.

And that’s where I think the real horror of the game comes from: the sound design. It’s not enough that the city is the subject of nightmares through James’ eyes. It has to be done sound also like a nightmare. The music is deeply disturbing, even when nothing is happening. The fact that the monsters don’t sound like a living thing at all also contributes to creating a . The radio noise really adds to that feeling of unease. That Mannequins only set it off for a brief moment helps increase the paranoia as you look around every corner to try to jump on it before it jumps at you.

Man, I was so tired of mannequins. As a naturally jumpy person in real life, I really didn’t do well with the way the game can chew you up with virtually every facet of its design just to throw scares into the mix. Yep, I can take out the mannequins and such without much trouble. However, that doesn’t mean I won’t be scared when these unholy ambassadors jump out of Hell’s mall at me. I’ve read some comments online about how their prevalence and their jump scares can diminish the experience. Honestly, I understand where they’re coming from, even if I don’t agree with it. The risk of having to hear their vicious banter or see their jagged thighs jump towards me kept the anxiety from stagnating during hours of play.

The Silent Hill 2 remake is the first horror game I’ve played in a long time where I experienced a real rollercoaster of emotions until the end. It really dawned on me how wrong I was about how the real horror is in bad control systems, and I’m not mad at the correction at all. Maybe one day I’ll be able to pick it up and get through the story, terrifying sound design and terrible jump scares be damned. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for Bloober Team, that won’t happen anytime soon.

Silent Hill 2 is immediately available on the PS5 and Windows PC.

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