this past year I've finished the first three silent hill games, while 1-3 are good games the original silent hill 2 is on another level. the story and its conveyance is so remarkable, the game still haunts me to this day. everyone (who played) knows exactly why it is deemed as a horror masterpiece.

getting something new for the SH franchise was a big happy surprise for me; however from the start my expectations were really low for the remake. not that I didn't want to be an optimist and sulked, rather I knew that at no level of quality a remake can replicate the same atmosphere and feel of the original, it simply can not have the same fabric.

the original had fixed camera angles, which were VERY important for the story telling. and of course they'd omit that (not blaming, modern games don't do that anymore) in the remake so from the get go, you have a very different game at hand. low poly graphics and limited amount of probs within the environment (and also how the wasn't a physical light rendering on ps2, all had to be texture work) in the original were due to the limitations of the time and all these forced the creative design behind these clever fixed camera angles and the vast atmosphere building made through textures, music, game sounds and "light".

conveying a message with limited resources is very hard. but less is more, and the original accomplished it despite the hardships thanks to the each articulate design element it had. and that's exactly why the original will always remain a classic, and this will be just a modern take on it, not a "remake".

so having these in mind, I went through the game as taking it for what it is for me- a modern take, a different game based on a classic. and I did enjoy it as a horror game. also akira yamaoka did wonders again so even for that this game is definitely worth playing. but do play the original first, or afterwards. but definitely play it.