My sincerest apologies to all the Silent Hill 2 fans out there, but the closest I’ve ever gotten to playing it was today via Roblox.
Creator Shapic2 has ported every inch of the classic horror game’s levels into Roblox and you can explore them with other block people for as long as you’d like. There are empty streets, graveyards, forests, and fog. Lots and lots of fog.
I ignored Shapic2’s warning that “this is not the best way to experience Silent Hill 2,” and logged in. Just like the real game, I woke up at the observation deck with a photo of James Sunderland’s dead wife in my inventory. There were a few other players standing around in the parking lot, none of whom looked like they were from Silent Hill. One guy was dancing.
As far as remakes go, Roblox Silent Hill 2 is a little crude. Other than the photo, you can pull out a gun, flashlight, or dance moves at any time. I took the dirt path down to the graveyard and made my way to the abandoned apartments without seeing any monsters.
Shapic2 says the port is mostly a proof-of-concept for getting Konami’s official assets into Roblox’s engine and not meant to be an actual recreation of Silent Hill 2 in its entirety. As a spooky tour through a game I’ve only really heard about and seen in trailers, it’s still pretty impressive.
Especially the fog, which is as blinding as it should be. Even when I knew nothing was going to crawl out of the darkness, the dreary Silent Hill 2 soundtrack was enough to keep me on edge as I slowly approached the graveyard. When I got there, someone dressed up as Pyramid Head ran by me. I’m pretty sure he’s supposed to be hanging out in the apartments later on, but maybe he got lost.
Thankfully, you have the option to teleport to any location whenever you want. You can visit the apartments, the prison, the hotel, and even the control room where the dog ending happens. All of it is just as grimey and dark as the original except for the other players wearing angel wings and cowboy hats who occasionally show up.
Shapic2 is probably right that this isn’t the way you should experience Silent Hill 2, but I’m still impressed at how well they’ve recreated the atmosphere in Roblox of all things. If you want the real thing, Bloober Team seems to have that covered in its surprisingly faithful remake from last year. I, however, won’t be playing that so that I can tell everyone that the only time I’ve ever stepped foot in Silent Hill was in Roblox.