Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition is the best way to play the original game on PC

The words… you can read them! | Image: Team Silent/Konami, Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition

The Bloober Team-helmed remake of Silent Hill 2 comes out next week — and according to reviews, including our own, the team gets it mostly right! — but that’s four days and a weekend away. While patience is a virtue, sometimes we’re not always virtuous. Luckily, Silent Hill fans — in particular, the group of 15-plus modders who have created Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition over the last six years — have just the thing to get you through to the remake launch.

If you have a gaming PC and can’t wait, or if you’d prefer to head back to the foggy memories (and town) of your youth, but not necessarily the foggy graphics, you should consider the Enhanced Edition fan project that released its 10th and final update to the survival horror classic last month. Here’s an hour-long (!) video going over all the newest changes.

The latest update includes “enhanced environmental assets, restored flashlight reflections, improved water visuals, true 60 fps FMVs, a ton of general game improvements” on top of the Enhanced Edition’s major upgrades like widescreen support, higher-definition graphics, upscaled fonts, and so much more. The official site has comparison images between the myriad versions of the game, so you can get a sense for how it looks. Here’s a good example, with the PS2 version on the left and the Enhanced Edition on the right. 👀

To get started, you’ll need the PC port of the game installed — both the North American and European versions work. The PC game has been considered abandonware for years, so it’s up to you to find a copy. This might be a good place to start. But once you’ve got that installed, download the Enhanced Edition mod from their website and follow the instructions. You’ve got this! I even managed to get it running from my Steam Deck, if that’s your thing.

And if you really want to change things up, consider this recently released camera mod from Zealot Tormunds, which adds an over-the-shoulder third-person camera option (à la the recent Resident Evil remakes) or a first-person camera, if you really want to reimagine Silent Hill 2.