Remakes are something to celebrate if done correctly. However, there is a lot of pressure put on developers to make the game equal to or even better. HD remasters are considered “lazy” ports and are rarely accepted today, but the full-on remakes have been some of the highest rated games of all time.
Bloober Team had the odds stacked against them, and they came out swinging. Silent Hill 2 is one of the best remakes ever made next to Resident Evil and Dead Space. Not only is the voice acting believable and phenomenal, but the soundtrack is riveting and haunting, the combat is visceral, and the visuals really make you feel like you are in Silent Hill. Bloober Team put themselves into the stratosphere and now officially trusted by most gamers to continue with further remakes.
This generation of consoles has struggled more than ever in finding their footing with exclusive games outside of Nintendo. Sony has so many IPs in their backlog that it’s a huge wonder as to why they don’t bring them out. Microsoft has almost no exclusives this year (thus the lack of a category) as well as PC having little to offer in terms of exclusivity outside of better graphics and frame rates.
I hope Astro Bot is a clear message to the suits up top at Sony that you don’t need guns, $400 million budgets, and live service to make a successful game. Astro Bot features nearly every PlayStation exclusive character and hopefully this lets them know that we want these games back. Astro Bot is a fantastic platformer that surpasses even the best of Super Mario Galaxy that its heavily inspired by. With the best use of the DuelSense controller, and the use of textures in both sound and touch, Astro Bot soars as one of the best games ever made. Period.
Nintendo slowed down a bit this year with releases. There weren’t any big budget heavy hitters like Tears of the Kingdom or any new Metroid title. This is the Switch’s last full year before the Switch 2 releases next year (allegedly), and the system has had a solid year-after-year result.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Echoes of Wisdom takes what everyone loved about Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom and added the traditional 2D element to it while also making Zelda playable for the first time in the series. The game encourages players to be creative and make their own way through these 2D levels without needing to be completely restricted by the developers. The game plays with the Zelda lore a little bit and is one of the best 2D console Zelda games in recent history.
As new retro horror games take over and try to capture the nostalgia and strangeness of the 90’s and early 2000’s, horror games like Mouthwashing really show us not only how close we can come, but also how far away we are still. Mouthwashing is, sadly, another psychological horror walking simulator. While it does its job well, I would love to see more details about this world and the strangeness that the crew delves into. A lot of space horror games tend to rely heavily on the Aliens franchise in terms of using space only as a background wallpaper and nothing else. We don’t get to feel the suffering in space; while it’s hinted at, the main focus is the slow descent into madness that the crew experiences, which we’ve seen time and time again.
That’s not to say Mouthwashing does a bad job at this. At least the characters and short story line are cohesive and make sense, rather than spinning out into a collage of psychedelic visual effects that mean nothing to the players such as Layers of Fear. What we get is a little background on each character and the chance to actually see a personality develop between them, which is hard to pull off in such a short run time. The game can be finished in less than three hours, and the narrative and storytelling quickly stray from traditional walking simulator conventions for more metaphorical visual effects to represent mental states of sanity. The mission for your crew involves transporting a product, which I won’t reveal to avoid spoiling a significant plot point, across a lengthy shipment haul. A mistake by the captain causes the hull to breach, and then the entire ship is flooded with expanding foam to seal hull breaches. Your mission is to complete the mission and return home. On board are five crew mates. The crew consists of a nurse, an engineer, his intern, the captain, and an additional crew member.
You spend the first half of the game getting to know them, completing simple objectives like “Talk to Swansea” and “Bake the Cake.” There are only two hallways in the entire game, which you can explore outside of the scripted areas later on. Some of the scripted areas feel the most like a “walking simulator,” where you can simply run away from obstacles or explore as the world changes around you. There are a couple of neat gameplay ideas, such as using a blacklight to find codes that only the captain can use to access doors, as well as a certain recipe in the kitchen. The scene only uses the others once, but I won’t reveal their details to avoid major spoilers.
The visuals are reminiscent of PS1 graphics with blocky characters, flat pixelated textures, but surprisingly decent lighting effects. The game boasts a stunning visual aesthetic that surpasses most other games in this genre. The effects are outstanding, and the grotesque designs of some scenes are truly remarkable, not to mention the excellent sound design. Sadly, there isn’t really any music other than ambient sounds. The game does have a creepy and unsettling atmosphere, but nothing that will scare the pants off of you.
Overall, Mouthwashing is a decent new retro walking simulator with space horror elements. It’s not revolutionary and doesn’t do anything we haven’t seen before, but the story is decent enough and feels like it gets its message across during the short play time. The characters aren’t anything memorable, but just intriguing enough to want to know what happens to them. The visuals feel retro, and there are some cool effects, but some better music would have helped here.
The quality of minimalist games varies greatly. Games like Gris, Planet Lana, Inside, Little Nightmares, etc. are sidescrolling titles that have a focus on one or two things. Visuals alone typically tell the story, which can be challenging to master. Neva seems to nail the story, which is rare for these types of games. The only voice acting in the game is Alba, your character, who grunts and calls out Neva’s name. Neva, a dog or wolf god, is fighting back against a blight that has swept the land. Everything has been overtaken by black goo disguised in strange white masks, and your mission is to uncover the cause of this calamity before it destroys all life on the planet.
The story requires a lot of player interpretation, but it’s quite obvious what is going on. We don’t have names, lore, history, or anything like that, but it’s an obvious good vs. evil story, and Alba obviously has a strong bond and love for this God, Neva. There are ups and downs, close calls, and tragedies in the story as you fight your way through everything. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the story is very touching. The gorgeous animations and art mixed with the astounding soundtrack by Berlinist will wrench a couple of tears from you; it nearly did for me. Most of the game focuses on skilled platforming with triple jumps and some puzzles here and there. There are also some extras you can collect, but they require a bit of thinking, and some of the most advanced platforming in the game requiring surgical precision on distance and height.
The game uses white to indicate what you can do. Bright white lines adorn climbable platforms and walls. At times, you must solve puzzles by striking white gongs, which can move platforms in various ways. As the game progresses, these challenges escalate in complexity, yet they remain surmountable. The game consistently introduces new elements to the player, leaving me astonished each time. Just when I thought I saw everything the game had to offer, something new came along. At times, you can ride Neva and use her for combat; new enemies will emerge, surprising you with their unique fighting styles. Even some puzzles will be enemies themselves. One of my primary concerns with brief games such as these is that they reveal all their features within the initial hour, leaving you trapped in an endless loop of gameplay that quickly loses its allure. Neva consistently introduces new elements or modifies familiar elements to keep you engaged. I love this so much.
Combat is simple as it contains only a three-hit combo, but the enemies are the real challenge. You must learn their patterns and attack animations, and then dodge, jump, and attack accordingly. As previously mentioned, the game introduces new enemies in unique ways. You can roll through enemies and some of their projectiles, but some might be in the air, some might throw things, and some might be huge, including bosses. In some fights, you can use Neva to stun enemies, which can be advantageous. However, in other fights, Neva may not be available, resulting in reduced damage and a reliance on pure skill. Some fights were so tough I restarted over a dozen times because my timing was off. Multiple enemies pose a real challenge, and the game lulls you into a false sense of security early on—that the combat is simple and easy and something you don’t need to focus on.
The game never becomes dull or boring because everything, including the scenery, is constantly changing. The game is absolutely stunning to look at with so much color and vibrant displays of black. Playing with an OLED screen is a must, as the colors pop and come to life. The game’s short duration of about 4–5 hours may turn most people away, but the sheer variety of what’s changed up with so few enemies and a simple gameplay loop is superbly done. I couldn’t put the game down, as I wanted to see these two succeed and find out what caused this blight in the world of Neva. The game and its characters are truly captivating, and I eagerly anticipate more.
I know what you are thinking. “What are you thinking?!” During my recent quest to acquire and purchase licensed games from the past, I came to realize how much I miss those days. Was that really the worst the game industry had to offer? Unbeknownst to us at the time, the emergence of DLC was just the beginning of the end. We all hated licensed video games. They were considered shovelware, holiday slog, garbage, only for children, and any other name you can pick. While most were terrible, they were some decent ones. Despite their occasional low budget, they ensured the publishers’ financial stability, allowing studios to continue developing AAA games without the fear of shutdown. If you showed me a live service game in 2005 and the damage it caused to the industry, I would buy five copies of every licensed game to ensure that it never happened again.
So, what did happen? Well, games got more expensive. Even the most affordable game in today’s market can cost nearly a million dollars, even with a simple license agreement to a popular franchise. Most license deals were with companies like Disney, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Warner Bros., and the occasional older movie license such as The Evil Dead or Marvel. Forget being cheap today. As prices increased, most studios became increasingly greedy, acquiring smaller studios and retaining them for their own use. Disney gained notoriety for this practice, leading to the closure of Black Rock Studios, one of the most cherished game studios during the mid- to late 2000s. They are also famous for shutting down Junction Point Games, who made Epic Mickey for Wii. Black Rock Studio was a fantastic racing game studio that produced the MotoGP and ATV Offroad Fury games, as well as Pure and Split/Second.
Sadly, many decent licensed games didn’t sell well because of the vitriol surrounding them. Gamers simply detested these games, with some vowing never to purchase even one. Many of them felt like quick money makers or cheap cash grabs, catering primarily to children. Other licensed games, such as Marvel vs. Capcom and Def Jam: Fight for NY, received positive feedback and excellent sales. The Indiana Jones games from LucasArts were decent enough. There was even a game based on the movie The Great Escape, but it didn’t review well. The James Bond license was a massive success from the 90’s to the late 2000’s as well. The majority of these rental-fodder games were enjoyable, and it’s surprising how few received negative reviews. Another example is the excellent Kim Possible: What’s the Switch?, which is a really good platformer. However, due to the license itself and its appeal to a younger audience, it was not purchased.
There was also a craze for super hero video games, which lasted from around 1990 to 2015. Superhero games are in decline, failing to keep pace with the popularity of films. Think about why this is. The majority of these games were inexpensive and quickly licensed, occasionally featuring a rare AAA title like the Batman: Arkham series from Rocksteady Studios or Spider-Man 2 from Treyach, a company that has exclusively produced Call of Duty games since 2008. You might only be familiar with AAA titles like Spider-Man games or the occasional fighters like Marvel vs. Capcom or Injustice on the DC side, but the majority of these games were designed for children. Games such as Marvel Super Hero Squad, the latest LEGO Marvel games, Teen Titans, Superman Returns, and many other poorly reviewed superhero games were not supported by a substantial budget. During the holidays, they sold exceptionally well and contributed significantly to revenue. That’s all they were useful for.
What’s even worse is that most licensed games today are live service games. Fighting games such as MultiVersus, super hero games such as Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Marvel’s Avengers, and many others are incredibly unpopular with most gamers and feel like they ruin what once was great. Publishers prioritize games that generate substantial cash flow and cater to a broad audience, particularly parents who may be gullible and easily exploited. The predatory models have always existed, even 20 years ago, but they weren’t as easily accessible and well known. The emergence of HD consoles marked the beginning of DLC and microtransactions, but even then, we had access to real content at a fixed price. Some were good, and some were bad, just like the full video games themselves. Once the smartphone market gained momentum, it quickly spread to the console realm, a phenomenon that many had sworn would never occur. In the early 2010’s, developers were talking about how microtransactions were the future of staying in business rather than talking about making quality products that people actually wanted to buy.
These days, licensed games are usually reserved for AA or AAA budgets such as the recent Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 by Insomniac Games or the upcoming Wolverine game by the same developer. The soon to be released Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has a massive budget from MachineGames who brought us the most recent Wolfenstein games. However, the large onslaught of cartoon focused games that release during the holidays are…gone. I honestly really miss these releases even if they were terrible. A lot of us grew up with them as kids as that’s all our parents would get or our grandparents or aunt didn’t know any better and got us a game on a cartoon they know we watched a lot when we were over. These games releasing was part of the holiday feeling that I would get every year. Negative or not it was part of what made a lot of people’s childhood special.
The yearly releases were something that just felt familiar and we could always look forward to either loving or making fun of. The yearly releases for the Harry Potter games were hit or miss, but it was always fun to see what would be done next with the series. Barbie, Shrek, Cars, Batman, Superman, The Godfather, Scarface, the list goes on. Not all were for kids, but many were, and it seemed the larger budget games were saved for teens and adult audiences. Long gone are the days seeing four different versions of a Spider-Man game that played differently on every platform. Seeing those boxes in the stores meant the Christmas cheer was around the corner and you either hoped or would dread seeing that cover as you ripped open the paper.
While I don’t have any photos of myself as a child opening video games during Christmas here are a couple more recent photos and a video.
Disney has a long and dark history with video game studios and the entire industry in general. Many developers and studios want more creative freedom with the property, and Disney constantly holds their hand and shoots down great ideas. Warren Specter, the creator of Deus Ex and the infamous flop Tabula Rasa, aimed to explore a new genre of games and create a dark Disney fantasy game. However, the Wii version he produced was a disjointed mess. The game’s ambition exceeded the capabilities of the console it was designed for, yet its release came too late for the company. Disney wasn’t pleased with the poor sales of the game and weak reception. The biggest issue that Epic Mickey faced was the terrible camera, and this game needs constant camera work to play correctly.
Epic Mickey is a strange game still. It takes some time to fully understand the game. It doesn’t play like a typical platformer and aims to be something else. I wanted to immediately explore, collect, and paint, but the game doesn’t let you do much of this early on. The game takes place in the Fantasia universe of Mickey, where he serves as The Apprentice to the Sorcerer. The Sorcerer created a world, and Mickey got curious one night and dumped a bunch of thinner inside and went and hid. As time passed, the consequences eventually caught up with him, and now Mickey finds himself inside this world, armed with the magic paintbrush. There’s a light and dark theme that has you using Paint or Thin enemies and bosses to get a different ending. When you defeat each boss, this will also determine which side receives more tank upgrades.
Once you get past the prologue, the game opens up a tiny bit. There is a main hub town that requires Sparks to open new portals to one of the five worlds. Players can find Sparks in the world or through the completion of both side and main quests. This is where the game gets a little frustrating, as side quests are missable. Each world features a primary hub area, but once you complete that world, you can no longer access the subsequent areas. I found it annoying not knowing that part of a quest was here, and once I finished, I was told the quest can no longer be completed. Most quests are tedious fetch quests, and obtaining a Platinum trophy doesn’t necessitate collecting every item. I found this very odd as well, as it feels there’s no point to 100% the game. You only need to finish maybe 70% of the side content to get every achievement or trophy.
Navigating through the cramped levels feels strange. Areas with outlines require painting, and areas with brighter and vivid colors can be thinned. To create platforms, locate hidden chests containing pins, and navigate the area, you must undertake this task. Certain side quests require painting specific objects, a fun but underutilized mechanic. Early on in the game, I didn’t use the brush all that much. Many things appeared to require painting, yet there was no justification for it. I noticed numerous buildings and objects with missing parts, but where was the enjoyable “Paint everything for a special item” quest? Maybe for a cool outfit?
Due to its sparseness and the ability to avoid most enemies, combat is incredibly easy in this game. Depending on the ending you want, you can paint enemies to make them fight for you or thin enemies to make them disappear. If you paint enough, you can send sprites out to “possess” enemies to fight for you, but I never used this feature. The game solely presents challenges in the form of boss fights and animatronics, which necessitate thinning before a physical attack. You can save caged Gremlins to simplify certain aspects of the game, like stopping enemy generators, but the game’s simplicity makes this unnecessary. I found most of the enemies to be annoying and a hindrance to platforming, especially since many would respawn later.
Another puzzling gameplay element were the E-Tickets. These were completely useless. Every so often someone will offer to make something easier to allow you to purchase a spark or something similar for e-tickets. You can purchase items from shops like hearts, tanks, and permanent upgrades, but the availability of these items is limited. Most of the E-Tickets are for concept art, and I always had more E-Tickets than I could ever want. They are scattered throughout the game and have the ability to reappear. At the start of the game, I devoted a significant amount of time to collecting every single one in sight, only to discover that they would reappear upon my return or even upon my death. I would have liked to spend more tickets on outfits or customization options like paint color or brush type.
For the most part, Mickey’s momentum and physics feel good. He’s a bit floaty, especially in the 2D levels, but it works. Mickey can do a jump and slam move, a spin move, and a triple jump. The more advanced platforming sections present the biggest challenge in the game, but they also offer the most enjoyment. You can complete the 2D levels, which are transition levels, in around 30 seconds. Each level features concept art and two film reels. You use these to unlock items at the cinema, with approximately 64 available throughout the entire game. However, you only need half of these for the achievement, and permanent upgrades aren’t really necessary. Halfway through the game, you receive various items such as a TV to distract enemies, a clock to slow down time, and an anvil to crush enemies, among others. I never used these except on rare occasions, as combat is mostly avoidable. With the exception of a few puzzles and boss fights, I rarely used these.
The visuals are fantastic, with some of the darkest for a Disney title to date. There are numerous melancholic landscapes in black and white, blending dark hues with sporadic bursts of brightness. Everything appears perilous and gloomy, yet it maintains a striking beauty. Unfortunately, most of the game’s content is forgotten much like its characters. Platforming takes precedence over combat, painting, and a cohesive level design. Only boss fights and a few puzzles provide occasional challenges. Navigating levels is a bit of a nightmare due to their haphazard design and layout. Purple Lamp did a great job fixing what they had to work with from the original game, but it needs more, and I doubt we will ever get it. The story isn’t even enough to bring the game up a notch or two, as it’s elementary and childish, which is in stark contrast to the tone of the entire game. It feels like a Saturday morning cartoon story that would put a toddler to sleep, which is a crying shame. Overall, it’s well worth a playthrough for platformer and Disney fans. If you hated the original, this might just be enough to change your mind.
When you think of revolutionary games that utilize a game system’s specific features, you think of Nintendo. That was what I was thinking the entire time I played Astro Bot. It feels as though Miyamoto personally created it. Is it possible that after three decades we finally have a platformer on Sony platforms to call its own. I’m not referring to an exclusive game from a third-party studio that could potentially be available on any other platform. . The PS5 exclusively offers a unique experience. Playing Astro Bot gave me the same giddy feeling as when I played Super Mario Galaxy for the first time. This killer app is a game changer for Sony’s PS5, but why did it take four years to release?
I went into this game with low expectations. Just another cutesy platformer. I didn’t anticipate that this would match or even surpass the quality of LittleBigPlanet and Tearaway. I was unable to put the game down, and Astro Bot brought a smile to my face for an unhealthy period of time. You don’t seem to understand just how enjoyable and addictive this game is. In just three days, I completed nearly 100% of the game. I haven’t sat down with a game like this in years. I can’t remember the last game I did this for outside of the recent release of Silent Hill 2. The game is just pure, raw fun.
First off, let’s get the Sony branding out of the way. This is a PlayStation fan service specifically designed for those who have grown up with the PlayStation brand. While you can find all the modern games from the last two generations here, Team Asobi has dedicated their efforts to nearly every franchise that Sony has released or was known to be exclusive, helping to shape the PlayStation identity. Each level features a variety of bots, puzzle pieces, and occasionally a secret level. The bots that make cameos from other franchises are identified by gold face button logos on their icons. There’s usually 2-3 per level, but each “galaxy” has an exclusive PlayStation-themed level. God of War: Ragnarok, Uncharted, and even Horizon are obvious choices. However, the Loco Roco and Ape Escape stage almost brought me to tears. This could have been a whole new Loco Roco game on its own. I was so stunned and shocked when there was a whole world dedicated to such a forgotten Sony IP.
One of my favorite things about the cameos is that Team Asobi didn’t outright tell you who they are. For obvious reasons, they cannot reveal the identities of third-party-owned names, but part of the fun lies in identifying the character based on the description they provide. There are 300 bots in the game, and at least a third of those are cameos. When I saw bots for Vib Ribbon, Intelligent Cube, Klonoa, Journey, Strider, and various other popular and more obscure characters, I was shocked and cheered with joy. However, what helps here is that the Astro Bot characters are charming, cute, and full of emotion and expression without any voice acting outside of grunts and shouts. The blue LED displays on their faces and their white bodies may appear generic and plain, but these two simple elements, along with some slapstick humor, effectively recreate the personalities of other video game characters.
Astro Bot’s storyline isn’t particularly noteworthy. Astro Bot, like most Nintendo IPs, is primarily about the experience. A green bully alien has stolen the parts of your PS5 mothership, and it’s up to you to defeat him. The Sony branding is on point with PlayStation logo gold coins, face button shapes littered everywhere, the Astro Bots riding on PlayStation consoles, and so many Easter eggs. By adopting Nintendo’s strategy of not requiring a deep and involved story with voice acting, the game is unrestricted by a mythos or timeline. The story was adorable and fun, and the end credits stage was a blast to play.
When it comes to playing Asto Bot it’s an absolute treat and the game just feels so good to play. The momentum, physics, weight, gravity, and all of those things that make platformers like Mario as iconic as it is are fantastic and feel like no other platform out there. Your Bot will start out at a walking pace and slowly pick up speed. You get a spin attack, a punch attack, and your rocket boots can be used to as laser cutters to attack enemies as you jump over which is vital to master as some enemies can only be defeated this way. Bouncing around levels on various environmental objects such as jelly, inflated balloons, and other items just feel so good. Part of this is due to the DualSense’s amazing sound based vibration function and the haptic triggers. No other game has used the controller this well. Playing this game reminds me of the E3 2006 demo of Sony stating that the PS3 graphics are so good you can tell textures apart. Well, here you can feel textures. It’s insanely good and accurate. The jaggedness of a zipper pull, the sloppy jelly, various floor textures like grass, water, metal, cement, etc. It all has a unique feeling and the audio textures play through the controller speaker. The speaker is always going and it adds a sense of depth to the game I have never experienced before.
Astro Bot places significant emphasis on texture in the game, with each world offering unique features. There are enemies that repeat, but they are usually dressed to match the theme of the world, and these enemies are well tuned and adjusted for the speed and momentum of the game just like a Mario title. When you spot a specific enemy and are able to gauge their speed and how you move around the world with them, you know that something magical is happening. This is crucial for the significantly more complex special stages, which demand incredibly precise platforming and present immense challenges. There are also a few speed run stages available. I can’t express just how well tuned this formula is. Team Asobi has this nailed down and has literally made the next best 3D platformer since Super Mario Galaxy. I would never say that statement lightly.
Bosses are unique, fun, and multi-staged, with their size filling up the entire screen. Various accessories, such as the bulldog horizontal boost, the chicken vertical boost, the dual-arm punching springs, the monkey tambarines, and even an elephant backpack that sucks up various fluids to create platforms, are available in certain stages. You use these during boss fights, timing their attacks, learning their patterns, and reacting accordingly. Mini-bosses are present in some of the bonus stages, and they are all thrilling to battle against, possessing a unique and intimidating presence. I will say that my only complaint about the game is the one-hit kills. This is a stark difference from an easier and more forgiving game like Super Mario Galaxy. Boss fights permit two hits, while the frequent checkpoints facilitate easier navigation. However, during the hardest challenge levels, there are no checkpoints. These levels can be extremely lengthy, and repeatedly restarting the same level can become frustrating. Only the most skilled players will have a slim chance of completing them.
Sadly, once you’ve collected everything in the game, there’s nothing else left to do. You can easily achieve a 100% completion rate and platinum status in less than a week, which is a positive development. I never wanted the game to end. I wanted more, and hopefully this is a series that will stay and continue to innovate. The finely tuned and perfected platforming, mixed with PlayStation branding, a new cute Bot character that can show a ton of emotion and expression with no voice acting, and the best use of the DualSense controller to date make for a fantastic package. This is a unique and rare type of game that comes only once every decade. Great platformers are extremely rare due to the precise nature of the genre’s formula, which is difficult to get right. With Team Asobi’s flawless execution and impressive artistic and technical visuals, this game is an obvious choice. If you love platformers, this game is for both kids and adults.
“They actually did it!”, I exclaimed. As soon as I saw the opening scene and played the first 20 minutes of the game, my jaw dropped. I don’t know what happened, but Bloober Team, against all odds, managed to make one of the greatest remakes of all time and put Silent Hill back on the road to recovery. Following the disappointing releases of Downpour and Book of Memories, along with the subpar HD ports of Silent Hill 2 and 3, many people dismissed the series. The previews for Silent Hill 2 were quite unimpressive, giving the impression that Bloober was concealing a potentially terrible game. However, it’s also possible that they were concealing the game’s true quality to surprise everyone. It’s hard to say, but the game is far from lazy.
If you played the original game on either PC, Xbox, or PS2, then you are in for a treat. For those who haven’t: Welcome to Silent Hill. This is undoubtedly one of the most terrifying games I’ve played in recent years, and the utilization of Unreal Engine 5 brought me immense relief. The effects that Bloober used here would not have been possible with UE4. The ray-tracing, lighting effects, fog, and insanely detailed texture work are gorgeous, and I drank in every second of this game. Thank goodness this didn’t come to previous-generation consoles, which would have required UE4. This is truly a next-gen title. A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to play the fan-made Enhanced Edition for PC, and I can confidently say that Bloober did not opt for a copycat remake. Instead, they infused the game with their unique style, incorporating new areas to enhance gameplay without causing it to feel bloated and monotonous. Bloober has extended some dialogue and cut scenes, resulting in a more organized game overall. I had a blast finding memos, photos, and the new Glimpses to unlock trophies. There is also a New Game+ feature, which is awesome. Although your items don’t carry over, you receive a new chainsaw as a melee weapon and can unlock more endings, including two new ones specifically designed for this game that don’t have trophies attached to them.
The combat and camera are the two biggest deals of the remake. Taking a cue from Resident Evil, they positioned the camera behind James, adding a more cinematic flair that was both much-needed and welcomed. Melee and shooting combat is brand new here, with fantastic enemy designs to kill and squash. The melee combat is punchy, and James delivers his grunts and shouts with a tremendous deal of passion and fervor, resulting in a satisfying experience. The camera will sway and bounce slightly with each swing, and James will hesitate for a split second on the third hit of the combo, committing his entire body to the final swing, creating an impactful crunchy effect. The DualSense controller is essential for this, as it enhances the entire experience, not just during combat. When your radio goes off and an enemy approaches, you can hear it through the controller speaker, and the DualSense vibrates with every crunch, shout, and scream.
The ranged combat is satisfying as well. This game features the same three weapons, and you must use ammo sparingly and wisely. Use melee whenever you can to conserve ammo. You can deal with one or two enemies, but some rooms will throw three or four at you, necessitating shooting. The revolver, rifle, and shotgun all return; ammo for the shotgun and rifle is very rare. Only save them for bosses. You also receive a 2×4 equipped with nails and a lead pipe, which is the only melee weapon available aside from the chainsaw in NG+. My only complaint about the game is that Bloober didn’t incorporate enough weapons in more areas. I would have preferred to see a few more guns, or at the very least, more melee weapons. There’s no upgrade system, but that’s fine, as it’s not needed. Some people may question this. Thankfully, the game provides great feedback when you shoot enemies. For example, hitting a limb will cause them to fall to the ground, and shooting them in the head will cause them to stop in mid-walk. It’s very satisfying, and I have no complaints about the combat system at all.
The game could have potentially deteriorated during the exploration phase. Bloober needed to update how to navigate the game for a modern audience. Silent Hill is known for being cryptic, especially in the puzzle department. There are numerous granular options available for customization. You can customize the combat and puzzle difficulty as well as adjust the HUD as much as you want. The game’s main areas feature a larger central puzzle that players uncover, necessitating the discovery of specific items within that level. Bloober does a competent job guiding the player with lights, blood trails, debris, etc. Additionally, it’s essential to explore each door, as it bears markings identical to the original. This map system has always garnered high esteem and performs exceptionally well here. You won’t get lost easily, and Bloober did a commendable job making every hallway and room stand out. One of the biggest issues with the original game was the abundance of bland-looking rooms and hallways that seemed to always look the same. Bloober added a lot of detail and made every location feel dreadful and haunting. The atmosphere is stunning and truly frightening. I didn’t care for the newly added pushable carts. These never solved any puzzles and felt like pointless filler. When the carts are pushed 6 feet away and into place the handles drop down and lock the cart telling you it’s in the right spot. Climbable areas are marked with white cloth which is a nice touch.
I cannot emphasize enough how significantly Bloober enhanced the atmosphere and feeling of Silent Hill 2. The game features a remastered soundtrack and eerie ambient effects. Upon entering the town for the first time, the majority of players will find it unforgettable. The fog, which is choking and claustrophobic, is accompanied by strange alien sounds that play when enemies are near, random rusty bangs, the scraping of Pyramid Head’s sword on the ground, and fantastic animations of monsters that seem almost human. The distant, dark hallway barely illuminates the contorted bubblehead nurse, who twitches in response to your approach. The flashlight serves as your sole source of hope and comfort. After so long, just stepping back into the foggy town is a sweet reprieve from the cramped and delirious buildings. The Otherworld areas are equally as nightmarish and fear-inducing. You will be on edge during the entire game.
The new voice acting is also phenomenal. While the original voice acting was inconsistent, I was astonished by the exceptional quality of the new rendition. The actors effectively convey every emotion, demonstrating genuine care and commitment to their roles. James sounds sad, lost, and human. Eddie’s actor masterfully portrays his psychosis on the verge of madness. The characters in Silent Hill 2 were few, and their appearances were brief. Some may find this distasteful, as it appears to be a departure from the current practice of creating games with numerous hours of voice acting. The game heavily relies on the players’ interpretation and reading of the memos. The game does not explicitly reveal what is happening to James, what these monsters are, or why Silent Hill is set up the way it is. The town is a character in the game. Silent Hill is known for dabbling in the human psyche and mental psychosis of people.
Silent Hill 2 is a surprising love letter to the series, and I fully endorse Bloober doing more remakes and even a new Silent Hill game. They haven’t had the greatest track record in terms of gameplay. Despite the unfavorable reception of Layers of Fear and Blair Witch, they successfully created a captivating experience here. The new camera and combat are punchy and responsive, the visuals are stunning, the added areas are fun, and I honestly didn’t want the game to end. At the end of the game, I felt empty and immediately started a New Game+, something I never do. As a longtime fan of Silent Hill from my childhood, that first game scared me so much that my mom had to return it to the rental store. I greatly appreciate it and can’t wait to see what the future holds.
Silent Hill 2 is considered one of the best horror titles ever made. This is my second playthrough of the game. I first played this on PC as well almost 20 years ago. I was a teenager, and I can’t even remember if I finished the game. Silent Hill 2 differs significantly from its original PS1 title. The game focuses more on atmosphere, surrealism, and how things affect people mentally. You follow a man named James Sunderland, who is searching for his wife Maria in the town of Silent Hill, Maine. The story is a little disjointed and doesn’t always make sense, but I think that’s intentional. The game focuses on themes and characters that have no connection to James. Are they manifestations of the town’s pain in human form? There isn’t much exploration of these people’s back stories, despite their frequent appearance. Despite the lack of a third act or a definitive ending will be on the player to make of it what they will. The story is open for interpretation, but remains interesting.
I like how more straight-forward this game is. While the map is an essential tool for figuring out where to go, this series kind of made that a staple. As you progress, your map will mark off areas explored, doors tried, and objects found, aiding in exploration. I still find the puzzles somewhat obtuse, especially on harder difficulties, which make the clues more vague or sometimes nonexistent. For a first-time playthrough, I recommend the easiest combat and puzzle difficulty so you actually finish it. Puzzles involve finding combination locks, and you must either decipher written clues or photos. Some are obvious, while one literally requires you to guess the combination. Finding keys, sometimes through multi-tiered layers of unlocking, is a significant part of advancing through the game. When you receive keys, it’s clear where they lead, and the town map typically circles your next objective. However, navigating inside buildings complicates the process. Most players will tend to become frustrated when they have to attempt every door on the map, especially when there are enemies present. That’s why I recommend starting at the easiest difficulty to gain a better understanding of the game before taking on another challenge. Even starting normal can make the game feel unbearable at first when you don’t know where to go.
Silent Hill 2 improves on the first game’s combat. Auto-aim works much better, but ammo conservation is a must for boss fights. You get a handgun, shotgun, and rifle, as well as three different melee weapons, and that’s it. When you are just fighting one-to-one, you should use your melee weapon, but on the easiest difficulty, ammo is so plentiful that I could use a gun through the last 3/4 of the game once I collected enough. During the first half of the game, you will wander through the main town of Silent Hill, but you should stick to the sidewalks, as this is where all of the items, including health and ammo, are located. You can avoid most enemies by running past them, but the ominous atmosphere compels you to engage in combat. The enemies in the town respawn anyway, so there’s no point. On harder difficulties, the combat is more challenging, but in most areas you won’t face more than two enemies at a time. You must also kick the monster once it’s down, or it won’t completely die and can come back up. Most enemies are slow and easy to learn their patterns from. The game’s final bosses require the rifle, which boasts the rarest ammo count. The shotgun is powerful but slow at close range, and the handgun is your main firearm for the entire game.
There aren’t any mini-games or side quests here. Basically, you just try to get from A to B alive and watch whatever cutscene you come across. There aren’t any collectibles, either. With a guide, I was able to finish the game in about 4 hours, so it is surprisingly shorter than I remember it being. This was originally a technical showcase for the PS2 during its first year on the market. The fog and lighting effects in this game blew me away when I watched a neighbor play it. If you try to play this game on your own, you may get frustrated early on, turn the game off, and never come back. I highly recommend your first playthrough with a guide. I used the official BradyGames guide for Xbox and had a blast the entire time. I honestly did not want the game to end. I thought the game could tell me more, and I wanted to explore the “alternate” areas from the original title. I never experienced significant frustration with the guide, except for the repetitive nature of the interior locations. The overwhelming number of hallways you traverse gives you a sense of familiarity among them.
With that said, the atmosphere is something I absolutely couldn’t get enough of in this game. The eerie and exquisite soundtrack, the intricate designs of the enemies, and the overall aesthetic appeal of the game captivated me. I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see too much of “alternate” areas, and the boss fights are a bit too straight forward and disappointing, but they look cool. I honestly wish there were more enemy types in this game, but what’s here is still memorable and iconic. The fog that covers everything is now an integral part of the game’s aesthetic, rather than a necessity for these consoles to render the visuals and reduce draw distance. I did become somewhat fatigued by the frequent requirement to traverse narrow hallways, as this game contains an abundance of them. There’s too much focus on item hunting and not enough on exploration. I’m surprised the game wasn’t more combat heavy—at least in certain areas—given how much the combat and controls have improved. The voice-acting was sporadic and inconsistent, as anticipated. The mystery of the endings is my biggest gripe. Interacting with certain objects can lead to unexpected endings. The series’ staple endings are difficult to acquire, and even with a guide, I struggled. Thankfully, this game is worth multiple playthroughs, so you might want to consider it.
Overall, Silent Hill 2 is a fantastic horror title, with the Xbox and PC versions being the superior choices. I played with the Enhanced Edition mod this time around, and it looks as excellent as it will get without an official remaster or remake. It combined the best assets from all versions to make it playable on modern systems equipped with controllers, ultrawide screens, and proper FOV fixes, among other things. The texture work is remarkable, and I loved every second of it. The soundtrack is excellent; I actually listen to it outside of the game. The sound effects are also iconic and haunting themselves. They will stay in your head forever. While the characters themselves may not be particularly intriguing or profound, the town of Silent Hill stands out as a unique character in its own right. With so much to reveal and is concealed, you want to see everything. I would even consider this an unofficial HD remaster. If you haven’t played Silent Hill 2 yet, this is the way to go outside of the Xbox version.
thebinarymessiah.com 
Yeah, it's pretty damn awful. Notoriously one of the worst games on the PSP. A 4 was actually being generous.…