GamesHorrorSilent Hill 4: The RoomI love Silent Hill 2, but remakes would be better off as second lives for games that truly need itWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesHorrorSilent Hill 4: The RoomI love Silent Hill 2, but remakes would be better off as second lives for games that truly need itWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Konami)
Remakes and remasters have become a constant thrum in the release schedule. It’s easy to understand why. Reliable name recognition, a pre-established fanbase, and an already-designed game make for a smart investment. Yet, at the same time, it’s a paradoxical approach that does a disservice to what makes gaming unique as a medium. Simply put, the games thatneedto be revisited and granted a second chance, the near-misses, are never the ones that get the opportunity.
(Image credit: Konami)
Remake review(Image credit: Konami)How was Bloober Team’s big remake anyway?Read our Silent Hill 2 review to find out!
Remake review
(Image credit: Konami)How was Bloober Team’s big remake anyway?Read our Silent Hill 2 review to find out!
(Image credit: Konami)
How was Bloober Team’s big remake anyway?Read our Silent Hill 2 review to find out!
The reason Silent Hill 2 was chosen to be the series' first full remake, skipping over the first game, feels easy to guess – it’s the most popular. It deserves that label, too. But as someone who recently played through all the games back-to-back, it’s also the easiest to return to (if only it were actually available on modern storefronts, though). The original Silent Hill 2 remains a great game, warts and all. Remaking it cashes in on that rep rather than thrusting it into the spotlight that it never really left.
Oh hi, Henry
(Image credit: Konami)
(Image credit: Konami)
Tantalizing, yes? Would I recommend it? Uh, not really, no. Henry’s apartment plays home to odd and deliciously unsettling events, but in practice quickly turns into a cumbersome level hub and place to dump gear. If that’s not enough, the second half of the game is a long backtracking sequence meshed with an often horribly buggy escort mission as you travel with your neighbor, Eileen.
For as slick as Silent Hill 2’s remake is, you could just as easily clean up a version of the old game, slap it onto digital storefronts, and it’d still be one of thebest horror gamesever made. Silent Hill 4: The Room will never have that honor, as much as fan patches over the years have sought to address those issues. It’s easy to see how technical improvements could better realize the game’s failings, from how SSD-support could allow for less cumbersome trips back to the titular room, or allowing Eileen to simply navigate an environment without becoming distracted counting the teeth in the maw of a Sniffer Dog.Even the game’s chief designer told us the game could be a “pain in the ass”.
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Dawn of the ‘makes
(Image credit: Capcom)
Likewise, Until Dawn’s recent remake feels largely pointless as a game already playable on modern consoles, especially as the visual direction looks worse too. It’s always remained a great game to bust out for a chilling evening with friends. But its narrative choices are born from a legacy of overly-ambitious story-led games that didn’t get that chance to shine.
(Image credit: Quantic Dream)
Though that’s another point entirely. I’m not sure I can bring myself to truly suggest Fahrenheit gets a remake. But I would love to see something else refine that ambition, as I don’t feel Quantic Dream’s later games were able to match it either. So too, for as divergent as Silent Hill 2’s remake sometimes is in its moment-to-moment design, the plot beats are all too familiar.
When I play Silent Hill 2 or Resident Evil 4’s remakes I’m left thinking ‘I’d love to be playing something of this quality, but genuinely new’. If publishers can’t bring themselves to revisit the near-greatness of their flawed releases like Silent Hill 4, at least start taking some of the swings that created them in the first place.
Want to play some more Silent Hill?Our best Silent Hill games list might help you work out where to begin. Playing Silent Hill 2?Take a look at our tips and tricks!
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
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The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
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Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2
Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
3
Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4
Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5
Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”