The the original Silent Hill 2, setting a creepy, oppressive tone arguably to greater effect than its visuals. The music throughout is ambient and minimal, consisting mainly of droning chords punctuated by ominous thuds. With the participation of original composer Akira Yamaoka, the Silent Hill 2 remake sounds every bit as good as the original, if not always balanced.
One of the most iconic sounds of Silent Hill is that of the radio static that plays whenever James gets near an enemy. In the original Silent Hill 2, this served as a warning to the player, since its fixed camera angles meant they couldn't always see monsters coming around the corner. In the remake, this is somewhat less important due to the implementation of a free third-person camera, but even so, it's such a recognizable part of the original game that the remake would be foolish to leave it out. Unfortunately, the radio is missing a crucial feature.
Silent Hill 2 Remake's Radio Is Way Too Loud
And No, You Can't Turn It Down
In the PS5 version of the SIlent Hill 2 remake, the radio sound effects come out of the DualSense controller speakers. Unfortunately, this means the radio is far too loud, sometimes drowning out the game audio, even when it's turned up to louder settings. The radio is an important aspect of the game audio, sure, but not the only one; the ambient noises and monster squelches are every bit as necessary. The issue is that the DualSense speaker is slightly tinnier than the average TV's, and significantly closer to the player's ears. As a result, the static sounds much louder than it did in the original game, and ruins the balance of the overall audio mix.
Silent Hill 2 Remake: How The Map Size Compares To The Original Game
The Silent Hill 2 Remake aimed to expand the beloved horror game in more ways than one, increasing its overall quality and size over the original.
And to make matters worse, there's no way to turn down the radio static volume in the game's settings. That's somewhat surprising, since such a setting existed for the original game, when all the sound came from a single audio output. It is possible to adjust the overall controller speaker volume by navigating to the Accessories section of the PS5's main settings menu, but this affects all titles on the console, and can be a hassle to readjust each time. Unfortunately, the best solution is simply to wear headphones, which isn't ideal, but does the trick.
A Great Addition, But One That Needed Refining
SH2's Radio Increases Immersion, At A Price
There was a clear intent behind using the DualSense speaker to emit the radio sounds: it hammers home the idea that the radio is a separate device, creating a more immersive experience akin to 3D audio. In a sense, the player almost feels as if they are James, holding the radio and keeping an eye out for enemies lurking around the corner. Along with the Silent Hill 2 remake's other DualSense features, like sensitive haptic that responds to certain in-game sounds, it's easy to see how this was intended to envelop the player in the game's atmosphere.
The remake includes an achievement called Radio Silence, which players can obtain by turning the radio off through their entire runs.
Its implementation here is just slightly flawed, and could've benefited from just a little bit of refining. An in-game setting to turn down the radio volume would be a simple yet invaluable fix, preserving the balance of the Silent Hill 2 remake's sound without sacrificing immersion.
Silent Hill 2
-
- Top Critic Avg: 87/100 Critics Rec: 95%
- Released
- October 8, 2024
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Language, Sexual Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Bloober Team
- Publisher(s)
- Konami
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Franchise
- Silent Hill
- Platform(s)
- PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
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