Recent reviews by Dex

Earns its place as the fifth Silent Hill, alongside the original Team Silent 1-4. An utterly fantastic experience.

Inferior to Killing Floor 2 in nearly every way - but still a bit of fun. Will probably be in good shape in 2-3 years time.

It's Resident Evil 4.

What the ♥♥♥♥?

Just dudes being bros.

It's peak.

Majima my beloved

It's difficult to put into words just how much I adore this game. I am enamoured with it.

If a remake can make you feel exactly how the original felt then you know it has done something right. This made me feel that way and so much more. Silent Hill 2 is a heavy game - it's nearly impossible to walk away without having felt something. To go through these emotions all over again is a privilege and a testament to just how hard Bloober team clearly worked on this title.

From the get go the performances from the new actors are nothing short of stellar. The real star of the show is Luke Roberts' and his portrayal of James. His performance is one of the best I have seen in any game. His eyes and body language speak a thousand words when the dialogue offers nothing but silence. For a game laden in metaphor and interpretation, to have an actor this good takes everything to the next level. From the very start of the game right through to the end James comes across as ultimately a much more complex character than the original could ever portray.

I also have to commend Salóme Gunnarsdóttir's performance, specifically as Maria. The new Maria is vastly superior to the old. So much more sinister and haunting. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about her Mary, however, as I think the original had so much more of an impact especially in her reading of the letter to James.

I'm a huge fan of the gameplay side of the remake and not just for the modernisation of the combat. I played this game with the HUD completely turned off and I'm so glad I did. Nearly everything in this game is diegetic - it doesn't require HUD indicators to tell you about key pieces of information. James' jacket will become increasingly bloodied as his health lowers, and his movement animations will clearly show how close to dying he is.

The audio design, which is easily some of the best I've ever heard, will tell you everything you need to know about your surroundings. Where enemies are and when they're about to attack is very clearly telegraphed in the audio. When I played the original Silent Hill 2 I couldn't believe how good the audio was, and now I think the remake has surpassed it in almost every regard.

Almost. As much as it pains me to say it, the newly composed soundtrack from Akira Yamoaka is not as good as the original Silent Hill 2. A lot of the most iconic tracks have received a lot of love but ultimately lack the magic that the original score had. I also think these tracks are placed way too far back in the mix during cutscenes to make them as impactful as the original game. Music during gameplay is much better than those found in cutscenes, and the more industrial and haunted tracks are still as oppressive and impactful as they ever were.

When listened to in isolation, the music does have a little something else to it. The new compositions are laced in nostalgia and a sense of longing that is perfectly fitting for a remake over 20 years after the original. Everything is almost a little sadder, a little more sombre than the original score, and it complements the remake and its overall themes and tones so well... I personally just love the original score that little bit more.

I played through the entire game on Hard/Hard and I have to say the pacing felt excellent throughout. Combat often felt terrifying and the puzzles were engaging. I was a little worried puzzles would carry some of the crazy noughties puzzle logic that can be found in older games, but I'm happy to say they were absolutely fine and really enjoyable in most cases. There was very little friction despite being on the hardest difficulty, and every level of Silent Hill had really fine-tuned pacing.

I'm sure I could gush forever about this remake. It's by no means perfect but it is ultimately a fantastic companion-piece to the original. The fact that there's debate about which one is better goes to show just how good this game is and how much of an impact is has already had on the franchise.

I really have to commend the developers on this one. Not only did they understand what made Silent Hill 2 special, they have also understood why and how remakes can be so much more than a simple re-treading of old ground.

Hearkens back to a simpler time of fun, short and bombastic campaigns. Fulfils the Space Marine fantasy and then some, but is ultimately ruined by exceptionally bad audio mixing across the board.

Much better than launch, as good as Deep Rock Galactic with similar chaotic shenanigans