Every Silent Hill 2 (Remake) Area Ranked

I recently replayed the “Silent Hill 2” remake for a bit of fun, and I was blown away by how entertaining it was on a second playthrough.

There are some excellent mechanics and some genuine scares, but most of all I found the variety in level design to be refreshing the second time around. How would I rank all of the game’s areas?

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

OK

11 – Western South Vale

Story-wise, Western South Vale is where James meets Maria for the first time. That’s about the only interesting thing that happens.

There’s a slightly intense part where you run through a horde of enemies, but it’s over quickly and isn’t very impactful. There’s a segment in a Movie Theatre but there’s nothing of note within – not even any enemies. All in all, an underwhelming part of the game.

10 – South Vale Otherworld

It’s cool to see the opening areas of the game in a new, dark layout, but otherwise literally nothing happens in South Vale Otherworld.

You fight some random set-dressing enemies as you travel from Brookhaven Hospital to the Historical Society. As filler an area as you can get.

Good

9 – Eastern South Vale

Eastern South Vale gets bonus points for being the opening of the game – the wind rustling through the cornfields and the dense, foggy streets created one of the best opening horror atmospheres I’ve ever played.

The streets themselves, however, are quite bare for gameplay. The only enemies you fight are the basic ones with just your wooden plank on hand, and the jukebox puzzle isn’t really a puzzle at all – you collect a few items and then move onto Wood Side Apartments.

8 – Lakeview Hotel Otherworld

I’m cheating a little bit for this one – the actual Lakeview Hotel Otherworld is a segment where you walk through the ruined / burning hotel and fight no enemies. If it was just that I’d rank this area last … but I’m also going to include the endgame parts as well because they happen right after.

The back-to-back fights against the two Pyramid Heads and then Maria are both good. Not great, but it’s a chance to blow through all the ammo you’ve saved across the game.

Great

7 – Wood Side Apartments

After the wide open streets of East South Vale, the tight corridors and apartments of Wood Side Apartments felt a lot more intense. You actually had to get up close and personal with the horrors of Silent Hill.

Collecting those three coins and fitting them into the story also made for a neat puzzle. Not my favourite puzzle of the game, but I liked how thematic it was in hindsight.

As a quick aside, you might have noticed that I ranked the earlier areas in the game lower than the later ones – that’s because Silent Hill 2 is one of those games that genuinely gets better as it goes. Not many games can claim that accolade.

6 – Bluecreek Apartments (Otherworld)

Bluecreek Apartments is kinda like the Otherworld version of Wood Side … except not really, as it’s an entirely new area. That might sound wishy-washy but it makes sense if you’ve played the game.

I really liked the central clock puzzle and how it unlocked various doors, and this is the first time you “fight” Pyramid Head. Or, if you’re a coward like me, you run away for a few minutes until it ends.

5 – Brookhaven Hospital Otherworld

A trend you’ll notice in my ranking is that the Otherworld sections don’t fare as well as their normal counterparts – usually because they’re remixes of the same area. The Otherworld section that got closest in quality to its normal counterpart, however, was Brookhaven Hospital.

The back-to-back puzzles where you have to break three locks on a box and then find two rings made for a nice challenge, and then the Pyramid Head chase / Maria death scene was one of the most intense moments in the whole story.

4 – Lakeview Hotel

When you reach the Lakeview Hotel, you know you’re in the endgame. You’re given some of the toughest puzzles (like the ballerinas) and dangers (like the no-item section where you can’t even fight back) in the game.

I should also mention the story relevance of this area – this is where James watches the videotape and finally remembers the truth about Mary. No other moment in the game gave me such a hollow, vulgar feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Amazing

3 – Toluca Prison

I’ve seen some people say Toluca Prison is one of their least favourite areas, perhaps because it doesn’t live up to the original. I for one loved it.

I really liked how the weights unlocked the various animal wards, and the monsters crawling on the walls in the darkness was the scariest this game ever got.

2 – Brookhaven Hospital

A derelict hospital was always going to be a scary location. Even then, “Brookhaven Hospital” knocked it out of the park and then some.

It has one of the best horror atmospheres of any Silent Hill area (such as the Pyramid Head jump scare which made me wet myself), and the gameplay with the swinging-thingy boss fight and finding the three wristbands was excellent.

1 – Labyrinth

The Labyrinth is the depths of James’ depravity and, by extension, the best area in the game.

It has a couple of phenomenal bossfights with Daddy and Eddy, and the rotating cube is one of my favourite puzzles. Nowhere else in the game was as intense and uncomfortable.

Aaaaaand that’s my list! You can check out some of my latest blog posts below: