The Silent Hill 2 Remake includes a pitch-perfect recreation of the original game’s sound design, with one small problem. Sound is a vital element of the original Quiet Hill 2, setting a creepy, oppressive tone arguably to greater effect than its visuals. The music throughout is ambient and minimal, consisting mainly of droning chords punctuated by ominous thuds. With the participation of original composer Akira Yamaoka, the Silent Hill 2 Remake sounds as good as the original, if not always balanced.
One of the most iconic sounds of Silent Hill is the radio static that plays when James approaches an enemy. In the original Silent Hill 2This served as a warning to the player, since the fixed camera angles meant that they could not always see monsters coming around the corner. In the remake, this is somewhat less important due to the implementation of a free third-person camera, but even so, it is such a recognizable part of the original game that the remake would be foolish to leave it out. unfortunately, The radio is missing a critical feature.
Silent Hill 2 Remake’s radio is too loud
And no, you can’t turn it down
In the PS5 version of the Silent Hill 2 Remake, the radio sound effects come from the DualSense controller speakers. Unfortunately, this means The radio is way too loud, sometimes drowning out the game audioEven when it is turned up to louder settings. The radio is an important aspect of the game’s audio, sure, but not the only one; The ambient noises and monster squelches are every bit as necessary. The problem is that the DualSense speaker is slightly thinner than the average TV and significantly closer to the player’s ears. As a result, the static sounds much louder than in the original game, ruining the balance of the overall audio mix.
Related
And to make matters worse, There is no way to lower the radio static volume in the game settings. This is somewhat surprising, because such a setting was for the original game, when all the sound came from a single audio output. It is possible to adjust the overall controller speaker volume by navigating to the Accessories section of the PS5’s main settings menu, but this affects all titles on the console, and can be a hassle to readjust each time. Unfortunately, the best solution is simply to wear headphones, which isn’t ideal, but does the trick.
A great addition, but one that needs refining
SH2’s radio increases immersion at a cost
There was a clear intention behind using the DualSense speaker to emit the radio sounds: it hammers home the idea that the radio is a separate device, Creating a more immersive experience similar to 3D audio. In a sense, the player almost feels as if they are Jacob, holding the radio and keeping an eye out for enemies lurking around the corner. Along with these Silent Hill 2 Remake’s other DualSense features, like sensitive haptic feedback that responds to certain in-game sounds, it’s easy to see how this was intended to immerse the player in the atmosphere of the game.
The implementation here is just a little flawed, and could have benefited from just a little refinement. An in-game setting to reduce the radio volume would be a simple but invaluable fix, preserving the balance of the Silent Hill 2 Remake’s sound without sacrificing immersion.