We have a legitimate reinterpretation of Silent Hill 2 here, which strikes a balance between the new and tried & tested. The developers treat the original material very respectfully - be it the soundtrack, which seems familiar yet refreshing, individual noises and sounds in the world, which for some have nostalgic undertones, or the presentation itself, which uses today's technological possibilities to make the story more intimate and positively unpleasant.

A short comment in between:
If you ask around, you will notice a certain “fatigue” towards remakes and remasters. And I don't want to deny the basic ideas that lead to this.
More than ever, we should be dealing with new things and be cultivating fresh ideas - and that applies to pretty much all aspects of life, but also to the video game industry.
In the end, I am evaluating the product in its final form. In this, it is very clear that the developers have approached it with a lot of respect and have brought in a breath of fresh air. Which is immensely remarkable - because a "good" remake of Silent Hill 2 could be called one of the most difficult achievements in the gaming industry.

I don't want to go into too much detail, but I would like to say a few words about the positive aspects:

• The soundtrack and sound design are phenomenal.
  The developers have managed to expand the soundscape in a meaningful way. The noises the monsters make are fascinatingly "unnerving". And you shouldn't be surprised by the soundtrack when Akira Yamaoka provides his successful reinterpretations.
  
• The level design and the "red thread" are masterfully conceived.
  I never felt lost or unnecessarily confused. I found exploring the city at the beginning particularly exciting and was happy to be able to explore other spots and buildings in the town.
  Some of these scenes are hauntingly beautiful thanks to the designs and the right placement of lightning.
  
• The cutscenes and the dialogues in general are absolutely superbly voiced and are emphasized with almost disturbingly good facial expressions and gestures. James' inner conflicts or the pain of the other characters are clearly brought to life.
  This is where you particularly notice the improvements from the remake - where previously some scenes were either voiced or written too "on the nose" for technical reasons (i.e. facial animations weren’t that detailed), the interpersonal interactions and vague facial expressions are now the main factors that drive the story forward.
  One might say that especially these dialogues from the original made the atmosphere so “dream like”. Though if the omission of these “dream like” features make the remake better or worse is up for debate.
  I for one don’t miss really them - It's just different in a good way.
  
• I really like the redesign of the monsters.
  It's kinda like how you remember them but there also have been so many details added to these creatures. I guess it's also because of the new camera system that you can make out the details.
  Either way - very good stuff!
  
• And the combat system is secretly a stroke of genius!
  Instead of offering the player an expanded range of combat options, they are “only” presented with a modernized combat system “without tricks” (yes, the dodging is perhaps a bit too much, but more on that later).
  But what makes it so special are the enemies themselves!
  Depending on the type of enemy, they behave differently. Some hide, others dodge or even grab James. This means that the fights have a fundamentally unforeseen component and the confrontations are often a risk. Because it is not always possible to avoid getting hurt. And I love that!

Hmm, that was a little bit more than just a "few words". Oh well...

But you shouldn't be surprised if the remake isn't perfect - there definitely are flaws and unlucky aspects that should be mentioned:

• Some areas of the game do feel a bit drawn out.
  I mean... well no, pretty much all areas, except for the town at the beginning, feel about a quarter “too long”. It's as if they were simply adding a few more rooms where you look for “item X” in order to progress further.
  
• This means that the "pacing" doesn't feel well thought out either.
  In general, in the last half you jump from one area to the next where you "search for items in tight spaces". Sometimes there isn't much time to think about what's happening.
  Don't get me wrong, many of the rooms are really well designed and the general gameplay is fun - but once you're too aware of the "gameplay loop" the mood gets a bit lost.
  
• The combat system really is fun, but it could also be a buzz kill for some people.
  You get way too much ammo & health items. And the ability to dodge is too much the key to success.
  Like it's if James ain't no ordinary guy, but a retired MMA fighter.
  (Though the longer the fights take, the more he'll grasp for air and the more time it takes for him to attack. So even this is kind of thought out - if you don't use any firearms.)

The last (although big) negative aspect is the PC port itself.
The issue being “frame pacing”. In short, the game and the protagonist’s animations stutter at irregular intervals.
To be more precise: Let's say, there is a second where the GPU outputs 60 frames of the game.
In the first 1/2 second the GPU outputs 40 frames and in the last half only 20 frames.
So, you get 60 FPS but because the gaps between the frames are not even, the game seems to be running "too fast" and "too slow" almost at the same time.
This problem seems to be so bad, that even the animations in the game are affected by it. Which really is unusual and not good.
It's noticeably with any type of PC (even with a RTX 4090!!!) but it's more present on slower machines.
I played the game with a RTX 3080 Ti and a 4K TV with HDR & VRR – I noticed the problem, but not enough that it distracted me too much from the experience.
There are mods that minimize the problem to a certain extent. But it would be sensible if Blooper Team solved the problem and therefore made the game enjoyable for more people.
But unfortunately, all we can do at the moment is hope.
Therefore, my motto - for a horror fan, "Silent Hill connoisseur" and/or curious person – is:
You can try out the PC Port. But keep in mind the 2-hour return period!
There have been enough bad PC ports in recent years and the feedback to the developers through a refund should be clear enough.
And technical issues of this kind can be fatal for an atmospheric experience like this game.
So, 70€/$ for this is... actually unacceptable.

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Edit: One day after I posted my Review, Blooper Team released Patch 1.04 which fixed several gameplay and graphical issues.
Sadly, the stuttering still persists and it also kinda made "ghosting" much worse.
One easy workaround at least seems to be the use of "DLSS" or "TSR".
So yeah... it's not the solution I was hoping for, but it shows that Blooper Team is listening and doing their best!
It's certainly much better than how the Dead Space Remake was handled. ;_;
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But to sum up:

It is indeed not a perfect remake. But the fact that we even have a Silent Hill game in this form is nothing short of a miracle.
Personally, I would have absolutely nothing against a remake of part 1 and 3 - if Team Blooper learns from the rough edges of this game and improves on them.

With that in mind - Silent Hill 2 Remake is a remarkable game with an astounding love for details (visually and auditory (seriously, these devs are crazy!)) and a good eye for world building and engaging Gameplay.

So yeah, if you got curious then you should certainly give it a try!
Just... keep in mind that James likes to stick his hand into everything....

... I'm serious :)