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James Sunderland in Silent Hill 2, a blonde-haired man in a khaki coat.

Can You Play Silent Hill 2 Without Playing Silent Hill 1? Answered

Silent Hill 2 has a special place in the heart of many horror fans and Bloober team has remade the game for a new generation. But can you play Silent Hill 2 without playing Silent Hill 1? Here’s the answer.

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Can You Play Silent Hill 2 Without Playing Silent Hill 1?

Yes, you can play Silent Hill 2 without playing Silent Hill 1 (or just Silent Hill). While Silent Hill 3 ties in heavily to the events of Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2 barely connects to the plot of the original. Instead, rather than being a conventional sequel, it tells a new story set in the town of Silent Hill.

All you really need to know, and you’ll pick this up playing the game, is that Silent Hill is a messed-up place. In the first Silent Hill game, there’s a cult that makes things a little worse, but Silent Hill 4: The Room reveals that Silent Hill has always been a town where the supernatural takes root.

The canonicity of the Silent Hill comics is questionable, but between the movies, the games and so-on it’s clear that no-one is really in charge of Silent Hill. The cult may think it is, and there’s talk of a slumbering god. But ultimately, those who are guilty, or who believe they are guilty, end up being forced to confront their demons, sometimes literally.

For developer Bloober Team it’s got to be a strange position to be in. They’re remaking a sequel to a game that isn’t readily available legally, unless you want to pay silly money on eBay. But it’s still a better choice than Silent Hill 3 which not only brings back characters from the original, it relies on you knowing how that game ended.

So, the answer to can you play Silent Hill 2 without playing Silent Hill 1 is yes, since it’s more of a follow-up than a full-blown connected sequel.


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Chris McMullen
Chris McMullen is a freelance contributor at The Escapist and has been with the site since 2020. He returned to writing about games following several career changes, with his most recent stint lasting five-plus years. He hopes that, through his writing work, he settles the karmic debt he incurred by persuading his parents to buy a Mega CD. Outside of The Escapist, Chris covers news and more for GameSpew. He's also been published at such sites as VG247, Space, and more. His tastes run to horror, the post-apocalyptic, and beyond, though he'll tackle most things that aren't exclusively sports-based. At Escapist, he's covered such games as Infinite Craft, Lies of P, Starfield, and numerous other major titles.