The Silent Hill franchise, created by gamemaker Konami, follows the mysterious town of Centralia, Pennsylvania. The town tests the fate of those who enter through a series of dangerous challenges that drive them to madness. One of these victims being 29 year old James Sunderland, who throughout the story of the game, is drawn to the eerie town in search of his dead wife.
One big difference is the change in art style. In the original Silent Hill 2, the characters appear less shaded, and the animation style appears to be similar to other games created in the early 2000s, whereas in the Silent Hill 2 remake, the characters have been completely redrawn and reanimated, resulting in more realistic body movements. Konami has also redesigned the entire map, going into depth by animating every bit, from the trees to the reflections in puddles.
One of the first noticeable differences is the increased quality in voice acting. In the original, the conversations throughout the game feel very unnatural and overdramatic. The remake fixes this, making the conversations flow more easily, as well as making them sound more human. In addition, the general storyline is more fleshed out, as there is a new sense of symbolism throughout the boss fights and the puzzles, along with two new endings, as well as one of the endings being completely rewritten.
Along with the remake being much harder than the original, the gameplay is over 10 hours longer than the original. This is something new for the series, as most of the previous Silent Hill games have been noticeably shorter and have been easier to complete.
Horror games have made a big comeback in recent years. Just like another popular horror series, Resident Evil, Silent Hill has grown largely since the game came into the mainstream and is a more relevant franchise in the horror game community.
The remake of Silent Hill 2 is completely worth its high price. I have read a lot of bad opinions about the game but I strongly disagree with the negative takes. This is some of Konami’s best work and the remake goes much more into depth of the artwork and the storyline of the original, and gives more credit to the amazing whole of the work put into it.
